Mrs. Watkins looked at me sympathetically, and clucked her huge red,
wet tongue. Her tangled grey hair formed a rough halo around her face.
"Don't you worry none, honey," she comforted. "The doc'll git here all
right."
Then she had another pain.
Watching her, I thought I had never felt so alone in my
life--dreadfully alone, although there was one human being in the room
with me and strong indications that there would very soon be another.
I began to review the pitifully little I knew about officiating at
births--just in case. First, you had to be sure the baby cried, so it
could start breathing properly. Second, you had to tie its umbilical
cord. That was as much as I knew.
I wiped my forehead and glanced at Mrs. Watkins. She was gazing at me
now, her dark eyes full of compassion. I had a feeling that if a stove
and a pan had been handy, she would have climbed out of bed to make me
some hot tea.
For her benefit, I summoned what I hoped would pass for a brave smile.
"I'll be right back," I said. "I'll just get some string and--can you
think of anything else I might need?"
"You look like you might need a good stiff snort, honey!" Her merriment
thundered behind me as I slipped out to the linen closet.
On the bottom shelf of the linen closet was a pile of string, salvaged
for months past from neatly wrapped and tied packages of clean laundry.
I gathered great handfuls of the string, thrusting it into the curve of
my arm. Then I happened to notice the heavy, folded rubber sheet that
we lend to customers with small children. That, I reasoned, might come
in handy.
A large round head appeared in the doorway of the garage, announcing
itself with a cough. "You the lady that rents cabins? I want a cabin.
How about renting me a cabin?"
"Not now!" I snapped. "I'm busy! Can't you see I'm having a baby?"
After the head had disappeared I surveyed the linen closet
distractedly, wondering what else I should take. There were stacks and
stacks of snowy sheets, pillow slips, towels, bath mats and wash
cloths. There was the untidy pile of tooth brushes, pajama tops,
slippers, hot water bottles, blouses, and odds and ends that customers
had left and failed to come back for. There were extra blankets,
pillows, boxes of toilet paper and soap, coat hangers and water
pitchers. None of it seemed especially appropriate for the occasion.
I went back into cabin 3. I threw the string onto a chair and held up
the rubber sheet, not knowing how to suggest, in a delicate way, that
it might be wise to put it on her bed.
She got the idea immediately. She replaced her false teeth, from which
she had been deriving solace again, and said, "I'm glad you thoughta
that, honey. I don't wanna cause you no more trouble than I got to."
She heaved up her mountainous body while I slipped the rubber sheet
under and adjusted it so that it would be smooth and comfortable for
her to lie on.
A horrified expression shot over her face. "Cnpes! I hadnt ought to've
pushed myself up like that. I'm afraid we're in for it now. I--oh,
cripes!"
My heart pounded in my throat as I realized that I was about to become
a midwife, whether I wanted to or not.
"Oh, wait!" I pleaded. "Please wait! The doctor will be here in just a
few minutes."
"Honey," she gasped, "I can't wait. You oughta know that. Cripes, I
wisht Rodney was here! That man ain't never around when I want him,
only after the kids is born, and then all he does is git me that way
again!"
"Can you wait just one minute?" I beseeched. "I'll get my medical
book--I didn't think of it till just now--please, oh, please wait!"
I staggered out the door and along the sidewalk until I reached our
door. I threw myself into the living room, tore open the door of the
bookcase, and snatched out our heavy, important looking medical book.
I was starting back toward cabin 3 when I heard the anguished shriek of
a very young human being. I froze in horror.
"Already?" I must have said it out loud because David, who had appeared
from nowhere, said, "Huh? You better take care of Donna, Mama. She's
sure crying--don't you hear her?"
"Oh, is that Donna?" I was so relieved I could have kissed him. I
hurried into the children's bedroom, David jabbering about something
loudly and excitedly behind me.
Donna was holding up one small fat hand. "Donna hurta finger!" she
wailed. "Mama kiss it."
Apparently she had hit her finger with one of the blocks she was
stacking into piles. David was still talking excitedly.
"Oh, be quiet!" I said. "Whatever it is you're talking about, it can
wait. I'm very, very busy. Now hush and go play."
I kissed Donna's upraised finger and, turning to leave again, noticed
that she had been stacking more than just blocks. Her soft, stuffed
dolls and teddy bears formed the base of a pyramid of toys that
culminated, two feet up, in her little rocking chair.