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“That was sweet of you. Thanks.” He tugged the damp socks off, and quickly pulled the warm ones on, just barely finishing before the next contraction came.
It went on and on. Caleb holding her, counting with her, wiping the sweat away from her brow, feeding her ice chips in between. She pushed until she thought she couldn’t push anymore. She felt her body being torn apart. And then, finally, a rush of relief.
She fell back on the bed, breathless and limp. Panting, she looked at Caleb, and saw his gaze directed toward her mother, at the bed’s foot. His look was intense, and for the first time, she saw the fear in his eyes showing through the confident facade. The only sound from the foot of the bed was that of her mother’s hurried movements.
“Mamma?” Maya whispered. She tried to lift her head from the pillows to see. Her heart seemed to slow to a stop in her chest, and she held her breath. Caleb’s hand tightened around hers.
Then, softly, a hoarse and snuffly cry. Like the bleat of a newborn lamb. And then her mother was at her side, holding a tiny, messy, squirming, red-faced bundle, wrapped in a small blanket. “A boy,” Vidalia said. “Your son, Caleb.” And she handed the baby into Caleb’s waiting arms.
Maya couldn’t take her eyes off the baby. Her mother helped her sit up farther, plumping the pillows behind her, which she’d pretty well flattened, as Caleb sat on the edge of the bed holding the baby. He hadn’t said a word. Not a word.
As soon as Maya was upright, Caleb gently placed the baby into her arms. Filmy, unfocused eyes squinted at her, and when she touched the tiny hand, it gripped her finger and her chest contracted with a kind of wonder and joy she’d never experienced. Lifting her head, she looked at Caleb.
His face was wet. His eyes, his cheeks. He met her gaze, and smiled at her. “My God, Maya, look what you did. You’re…incredible.” And then, leaning closer, he brushed his lips over hers, very gently. She closed her eyes, sighed very softly. His hand threaded in her hair, and he kissed her again. Then he drew back and just stared at her, as if he’d never quite seen her before.
She looked at the baby. “Cain Caleb Montgomery the Fourth,” she said softly. “Such a big name for such a little thing.”
Caleb lowered his forehead to hers, and the tears on her cheeks mingled with those on his.
The sound of a motor reached Maya, and only then did she tear her eyes away from her baby. Then the lights flickered on, blinked off, came on again, and stayed this time.
“Thank the Lord,” Vidalia said. “Now, darlin’, if it’s okay, can I take my grandson for just a bit?”
Maya nodded, and Caleb gathered the baby from her arms and handed him carefully to Vidalia. She turned toward the doorway, and for the first time Maya looked beyond Caleb to see that Kara and Selene were crowded there, peering in. They were both damp eyed, too.
“Well come on in here and close the door, this little one needs to be kept very warm just now,” Vidalia said.
“Mel’s resting,” Kara explained. “Tom Cooper’s gonna sit with her so we can help out up here.”
“I turned the furnace way up, Mom, and I brought diapers and baby clothes, and blankets,” Selene said.
“Yeah, and even a little hat.” Kara held up the tiny little cotton skullcap. “They always put hats on them in the hospitals.”
Vidalia looked at the baby, obviously not relishing the idea of handing him over. But then another contraction came, and Maya, caught by surprise, cried out. Vidalia shot her a worried glance and handed the newborn off to Selene, complete with a set of instructions, which she spoke rapidly even as she resumed her position at the foot of the bed.
“Oh, God, not yet,” Maya moaned. “I can’t do this again.” It hit her that that was exactly what was about to happen.
“Yes, you can. Come on, Maya, you can. I know you can,” Caleb told her.
Panting, she waited for the pain to pass, then looked up at him. “I need to sit up. I need something to brace against.”
He didn’t hesitate. He lifted her shoulders and positioned himself on the bed behind her, just the way they had done at the childbirth class. He bent his knees so she could brace her hands on his thighs, and his chest was solid behind her.
“Better?” he asked.
She let her head fall back against him and nodded. “I think…oh, God!”
“Another one? Okay, okay, it’s all right. Breathe through it.” His hands were on her belly, rubbing circles that were supposed to be soothing. But it was his breath, and his voice, so close to her ear that gave her the most relief, the most comfort. He was here. He was actually here for her, when it had been all but impossible to be. He was not like her father, and he would never be. He might not love her, but he would always, she sensed, be there for her. And for her children.
He held her like that all through the wee hours. He breathed with her, talked to her, held her. A few feet away, her sisters took turns holding the baby, their body heat, his incubator. And as the sun came up, breaking through the storm clouds, and climbing steadily higher, Maya pushed with all the strength she had left in her.
And finally the second baby emerged into the world.
She collapsed against Caleb. And his arms tightened around her. She heard the fear in his voice when he spoke. “Vidalia…? Is he…?”
Opening her eyes, Maya looked up at Caleb’s face, seeing the stricken expression. Fear hit her hard, and she shifted her gaze to the foot of the bed, where her mother was working. But she couldn’t see the baby.
But then Vidalia smiled, and she knew it was okay. Everything was okay. The baby started to cry gustily as Vidalia wrapped it in a blanket and held it close to her. “You men just tend to jump to conclusions, don’t you?” she asked Caleb as she brought the little bundle and placed it in Maya’s arms. “Your daughter is just fine,” Vidalia whispered.
