Little Charlie (Blogophilia 40.12)
Walking slowly in the dark room, the wall felt weird, kind pebbly and wrinkly. Something was wrong, no light switch. Where was I going? Fear rose inside. A light appears in the doorway. Soft music surrounds her. It was some band she had heard on the radio in Mommy’s car.
“I don’t want this night to end…”
Relaxing, she floats on the melody, while the harmony colors the surrounding air.
“It’s closing time, leave with me again”
“Ooh, Jimmy!”
Emily sat straight up in bed. It sounded like the cat next door. Wonder what time it is? Crawling out of bed, she went to her window to see. It was cold. Looking down, she found her pajama top had scrunched up over her tummy. Oops. Had anyone seen it? It didn't matter, tummies were fine to show. The waistband on the pants were loose, and she pulled them up. The rest of her wasn’t, though.
“Owww!!”
That wasn’t a cat, it was Mommy. Quietly, she made her way down the hall, running her hands along the wall to guide her in the dark. The crack in the Living Room doorway felt like the one from her dream. Some dancers were moving around on the TV, singing the same song from her dream. Mommy’s eyes were wide and filled with pain, trapped under Daddy’s head. Was Daddy hurting Mommy? He had once by accident. They had been outside fussing about something, and he bumped her into the corner of the porch. There were stitches in the back of her head when they got back. Daddy had been sorry about it and was really sweet to her the next few days and it never happened again.
“OOOOOOOH!”
“Huh?” Daddy was always slow waking up.
She twisted again, holding her sides.
“The baby!” She was panting. “I think he's coming.”
He blinked and sat up, releasing her from the trap.
“Do I need to call your Mom to get Emily?”
Emily knew what was coming next. Mommy didn't like stupid questions.
“What do you think, Cowboy?” She hissed. “Call the doctor! If you don't hurry, I'm going to have him right here.”
The phone went flying off the table when he reached for it. Daddy hit his bare foot on the table as he got up and yelled bad words as he hopped towards it. Picking it up, he found the button for the doctor’s office. It only took one scream for them to say to head to the hospital, and they'd meet her there.
“Hey!” Emily came out from the dark hallway.“What's going on?”
He looked kind of mad she was up, but stopped himself from yelling. Instead, he softly said. “Little Charlie is ready to be born. Be a good girl and get the suitcase at the foot of our bed and get your slippers on.”
“SURE!” And Emily made a beeline back to her room.
The baby! This was so cool. Mommy said at dinner she was going to Grandma's tomorrow. Now she would get to see him first. She about dove into the slippers at the end of her bed. She grabbed the flowered hoodie on the floor, so she wouldn’t get cold. Two more seconds, and she went to her parents’ room.
She normally wasn't allowed in there. Mommy said it was her private space. Other than the two person bed, it wasn’t any different from her room as far as anyone could tell. The clock on their nightstand said 1:15. Wow. I’m never up this late. The case was where Daddy said it was. She made a quick glance at the makeup lined up on the table, but kept going. It wasn’t playtime. Charlie was coming and it was serious. She came back into the living room dragging the case by the handle. There was a huge puddle at the base of the sofa. Leaving the hoodie on top of the case, Emily giggled.
“Mommy! I didn't know you needed to go potty!”
They both looked at her and started laughing until the next contraction hit.
“Oh, my GOOOOODD. Jimmy!” Mommy panted. “I FEEL him.”
“Breathe, Kathy!” Daddy yelled and everything seemed to slow down and her face relaxed a little. “Quick, get down on the floor.”
Daddy helped her off the sofa. It took him a moment to realize he still had the phone in his hand, and he dialed 911 with a confused look on his face. Mommy saw it and started struggling to take her pajama bottoms. Daddy lifted the phone away from his ear and looked at Emily.
“Honey. I know this is weird, but could you help take off Mommy's pants. We got to let the baby out.”
“But...”
“Now.”
Emily knew not to say anything else. Mommy brought her hands to her hips and the four hands tugged them down, tossing them off to the side. Everything underneath was red and swollen, kind of like Molly’s little brother when he had his diaper changed that one time. She came up to Mommy's head and rubbed the tears off her face and whispered.
“It's alright, Mommy. It was an accident.”
Mommy pulled her face down and gave her a big kiss. A small smile was on her face. For all the chaos, everyone was pulling together.
“Sweetie, don't ever.... Oh, God!...change.”
Daddy started talking to the 911 operator.
“Yes, Ma'am. My wife is having a baby...”
Tucking the phone in to his shoulder her knelt down between her legs. Emily decided to make herself useful and took the wet stuff over the drying rack next to the washing machine. Eww, gross. There was a pinkish tint to them. They didn't smell like pee, either. I hope I’m at school when Grandma washes them, she though.
“Katherine Simpson Morris... 32... No Ma'am, this is her third...”
Third? Emily thought to herself. I'm the only kid here. She walked around the sofa behind Daddy, trying not to look.
“Aaahhhhhh...
“James T. Morris ... Our daughter is with me... seven... Hang on... Emily, hand me those pillows off the sofa.”
She held up the first two and Daddy pointed toward Mommy's head. Emily understood and tucked them under her shoulders. The tears were back and she tried to brush them away. This really must hurt. Emily got scared.
“...11765 Everly Rd, Doraville...yes, the water has broken, let me look...”
“Oh, my GOD, Jimmy! I feel his head!”
Daddy looked up.
“Oh, LORD.”
Emily came around and looked where Daddy was looking. Mommy's privates were expanding. There was something round in the middle and it was getting bigger. Was she having another accident? Without looking at her, he shouted.
“Emily, go open the door for the Firemen.”
She backed away stopping at the end of the sofa, keeping her eyes on what was happening. Daddy was too busy to notice.
“... I can see the head... O.K... One more push, Honey...”
Mommy squinched up her face.
“Ohhhhhhh.”
Then it happened. A pinkish wrinkly thing came out from between Mommy's legs with an audible pop, followed by the rest of him. The first cry came and her baby brother was laying on Mommy's tummy, crying. Mommy and Daddy were crying and hugging each other. The sound was like when the angels sing in church. Feelings of hope and love filled her, and she began to cry, too. Wow, that was so cool. I can’t wait to tell Riley and Maddie she’d seen the whole thing, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Maddie would like it and want all the gory details. Riley would probably throw up.
The first fire truck was just pulling up to the curb when she finally opened the door.
“The baby came!” Emily squealed to the first Fireman as they rushed through the door. They blew past her like a breeze.
One of men poked and prodded Mommy and asked questions, while the other talked on the radio.
“Yes, dispatch. It’s a boy… He looks pretty good... Yeah, we’ll transport them.”
It was going to be a new adventure.
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Topic (When the Angels sing)-Jay Sole
Pic guesses Hope (in blog), Light (in blog), angel (in blog), love (in blog), cupid, peace, dove, Expectation.
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