Mary and Alvin Ch. 23

Mary came into the room, accompanied by the nurse. She was wearing a hospital gown. In her hand, she held a tangle of wires that emanated from under the gown.The nurse helped her into bed, and raised her to a near sitting position.

"I assume this is your husband?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, this is Alvin."

The nurse nodded and smiled at him. She slipped Mary's gown up to above her belly and attached the wires to the fetal monitor.

"Everything is looking fine right now," she said. She tucked the gown back in place and swabbed Mary's arm. While she inserted an IV, she explained to Alvin that it would be used both to keep her hydrated and to administer pain medication as it was needed. And maybe blood, Alvin thought, but then pushed that notion aside.

The nurse helped Mary put her feet into the stirrups and bent down between her legs. In a moment, she looked up at Alvin, nodded, then patted Mary's hand. "Your baby's on it's way. The doctor will be here in a little while to talk to you."

As the nurse lowered her legs from the stirrups, Mary felt a sudden rush of wetness. "Well, that makes it official," the nurse smiled, "Your water has broken."

When she had cleaned Mary up and left them alone, Alvin pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down, taking Mary's hand. With every contraction, she squeezed it tight.

"How long was Bonnie in labor with your girls?" Mary asked Alvin after one particularly agonizing contraction.

"Charlotte was an easy birth, she was out in just a little more than three hours. Jennifer was an ordeal."

"How much of an ordeal?"

Alvin looked out the window. "Boy, it's still coming down hard."

Doctor Fournier came in before Mary could press him further.

"How are we doing?" she asked, checking the monitors.

"He's doing just fine," Mary said, shooting Alvin a look, "I'm in agony."

The doctor laughed. She placed her hand on Mary's belly and stood silently for a minute. Then she raised Mary's legs back into the stirrups and examined her.

"Alright, try to relax if you can, it's going to be a while."

Mary puffed out a deep breath and lay back. "It's not so bad to be an only child, is it?" she asked.

Alvin laughed. "Well, our child is going to have a niece or nephew pretty much the same age. Almost like a twin."

"Good point," Mary replied, before moaning from another contraction.

Jennifer and Danni arrived and joined them. They were better at keeping Mary distracted with small talk than Alvin had been, but still, she could not concentrate on conversation as the time between her contractions shortened.

"So have you decided on names?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, we have," Mary replied, between groans.

"We have?" Alvin asked.

"Yeah."

"I guess we have," he shrugged.

Dr. Fournier came back and added some pain medication to Mary's IV, and things became a little easier after a while.

The sky grew dark, illuminated by an occasional flash of lightning. Alvin checked the time. It had been four hours since they had left the house. Danni went out to the waiting room and brought him a bag of chips and a can of soda from the vending machines.

At eleven o'clock, Dr. Fournier came in and examined Mary once more. "You are at ten centimeters, dear."

"So, this shit is almost over?" Mary groaned.

"Well, it could still be a couple of hours."

"Jeezum fucking crow."

Alvin did a double take. "What did you just say, honey?" he asked with a grin.

Mary glared at him. "You and your dumb, dumb dick," she muttered.

Alvin's phone buzzed. It was Charlotte, returning his call. He promised to call her back when the baby was close and hung up.

Just after midnight, Mary knew the time was near. The contractions no longer felt separate, each one seemed to flow into the next. Jennifer rang the call button, and Dr. Fournier rushed in, followed by a different nurse than the one who had been there earlier.

"Let's deliver this baby," the doctor said as she moved into position. Alvin wrapped his arm around Mary's shoulders and took her hand in his. Danni sat close to her on the other side of the bed and held her other hand. Jennifer called Charlotte and put her on speaker phone.

"Breathe, sweetheart, breathe," Alvin said, as Mary began to push. Her legs were cramping, her back was aching terribly, but she pushed and pushed again.

Danni patted Mary's face with a cool, damp cloth. "You're doing great, honey," she told her.

"The baby is crowning," the doctor said, "Keep pushing, almost there."

The final rumbles of thunder were fading in the distance when Mary bore down one last time, squeezing Alvin's hand so tightly that he thought it might break, and Hannah Jean Faulkner entered the world, whole and healthy and surrounded by love.

***

Alvin could not drink another cup of coffee. His stomach was churning, and the caffeine was not working anyway, he could hardly keep his eyes open. He tried to focus on the television, hanging from its wire rack on the waiting room wall. Some numbie was selling knives, a big set of them, twenty, thirty frickin' knives. You only need one damn knife if it's a good one, he thought.

He stood up, stretched his back and looked around for the remote control. He suspected the big guy from Northport was sitting on it, and he'd been asleep for at least an hour.

He wandered over to the magazine rack and browsed through it for the third time. He'd looked though the Time already, although it was two months old, and the Field and Stream and the Sports Illustrated. He had even flipped through People, despite not knowing who any of the people in it were. He was seriously considering taking one of the Highlights from the bottom rack, maybe play Find The Hidden Pictures or see if Goofus and Gallant had anything to say about maternity waiting rooms, when the door opened and Charlotte stuck her head out.

"Come on in, Daddy," she said, looking happy but exhausted.

"Thought we'd be here all night," Alvin said.

"Poor you," Charlotte rolled her eyes.

Alvin entered the birthing room for the second time in a month. Jennifer sat up in bed, her eyes bleary, a tangle of damp hair hanging across her face. Mary stood on her right, stroking her head, while Danni sat to the left, leaning shoulder to shoulder against her wife.

Alvin stepped forward. "There's somebody here wants to meet you, Daddy," Jennifer said in a hoarse voice. She struggled to lift the tiny bundle in her arms, so Mary took it from her, and gently handed it to Alvin.

He looked down into a pair of deep brown eyes.

"Daddy, meet your granddaughter, Bonita Maria Ortega-Faulkner."

"Bonita?" he asked, looking up at her.

"For Mom, and it's the Portuguese word for beautiful. Maria for Danni's Mom." She touched Mary's hand. "And for Mary."

Alvin nodded, an impressed expression on his face. "I'd say you done a wicked good job of naming." He kissed the baby's head. "Hello, Miss Bonita," he said. He kissed her again, then sat down on the edge of the bed. Danni took Bonita from his arms. He turned to Jennifer, leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Your mother would be proud of you," he said, "I am very proud of you."

Mary could hear the weariness in Alvin's voice. She was suddenly aware of his age. She stood and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, we have our own little one to get back to," she said. Alvin nodded, kissed Jennifer again, then rose from the bed. Danni stood, cradling Bonita in front of her. Alvin touched the baby's face and then Danni's. He kissed Danni and then Charlotte, and Mary took his hand and led him from the room.

They walked out of the hospital into a still, cool night.

"What time is it?" Alvin asked.

Mary looked at her phone. "Almost five."

"Jeezum crow, no wonder I'm so tired."

Mary took his arm. "Remember the promise you made me when you proposed?"

"That we would have a baby?"

"No, the other one."

Alvin unlocked the car, and opened Mary's door. "Oh, to live a long time?"

"Right," she said as she got in, "You need to take it more seriously now than ever."

He leaned in and kissed her. "I'll do the best I can," he said.

"See that you do. You promised."

They drove through the silent town and down the dark country road. There was a dim light on in the living room when they arrived, and Diana's car was still in the driveway.

"Oh, Jen asked that you check on the stock when he got home," Mary said as they got out of the car.

"You didn't tell her I'm too old for that sort of work?"

"You are not as funny as you think you are, honey."

Diana was asleep in Alvin's recliner. Hannah slept in her bassinet on the couch beside her. Mary gently shook Diana's arm until she awakened.

"Boy or girl?" she asked as soon as she sat up.

"A girl. Bonita."

"Everything alright?"

"Everything is fine," Alvin said, "Thank you for staying with Hannah."

"Yes, thank you," Mary said as Diana gathered her things. "By the way, how is Rachel settling in up at UMO?"

"Seems to be doing fine," Diana replied, "I'm hoping that college will bring her out of her shell."

"I'll walk Diana out and then check on the critters," Alvin said. He escorted his sister to the car. She gave him a hug and a kiss. "Good night, grandpa," she said with a grin.

"Grandpa," he muttered as she drove away, "Jeezum crow."

He walked out to the pasture and opened the gate. A shape moved toward him in the dark. He recognized Virgil, and patted the donkey's side as it came up to him.

"Keeping an eye on things?" Alvin said, "Because I might need a hand these days."

He checked in the barn. The alpacas were all asleep. When he came out of the barn, he looked to the east, where a line of light had appeared on the horizon. He thought about standing with Mary on the top of Cadillac Mountain, watching the sun rise. I made promises, I need to keep them, he told himself.

The house was quiet when Alvin entered. He walked to the foot of the stairs and heard Mary's voice, speaking softly from the bedroom. She's talking to the baby, he thought, smiling. Wearily, he walked up the steps. It was dark in the upper hall, only a faint light glowed from the nursery door. He looked in and saw Mary, sitting in the rocking chair. Her robe was open, and Hannah was at her breast.

"My sweet little girl," she muttered, in a voice barely audible to Alvin. "Mama loves you, sweetie. Your Daddy loves you."

She began to hum quietly.

"That's a song my mama sang to me when I was little." She kissed her baby's head and began to softly sing.

"Come along with me to our little corner of the world

Dream a little dream, in our little corner of the world

We always knew, that we'd find someone like you,

So welcome to our little corner of the world."

She looked up and saw Alvin in the doorway.

"She's gone back to sleep," Mary whispered. She slowly rose and laid Hannah down in her crib. Alvin joined her there, and they stood together, looking down at their daughter.

After a moment, Alvin kissed Mary's cheek. "You look exhausted, love," she said in a quiet voice, "let's get ready for bed."

Alvin took one more look at Hannah while Mary left the room. Lucky little girl, he thought, you sure look like your mama. He turned and switched off the lamp, then went to the bathroom to clean up and undress.

When he entered the bedroom, Mary was already under the covers. He slipped in beside her and she snuggled close to him, leaning forward and kissing him goodnight. She rested her head on his shoulder as he reached over and turned off the light. She looked up at the ceiling, where the painted stars glowed brightly.