NB: Cradle Time-chapter 9
Copyright © 2000
by SamPast and Huggedlots
The Baby's Here!
It was early
February, and Heather was due any day now. She had been extra cranky and
irritable the past two weeks, which had made Maggie extra cranky and irritable.
Bob was trying to stay cool and be patient with his daughter, but she had ended
up over his lap a few more times than he would have liked.
Bob knew that what Maggie
needed was love and extra reassurance that she would still be loved when the
new baby was here. Bob and Heather had tried to get Maggie more involved with
the last minute preparations.
They had bought
several baby name books and told Maggie she could pick out some names. If it
was a boy, they wanted to name him after Heather's dad. His name was James.
That means they needed a "J" name, because in the Jewish religion,
you named babies after relatives who have died.
Maggie skimmed the
"J" section of the boys' names. "Hmm, let's see," Maggie
thought. "I like Justin, Jimmy, Jeremy, Jeffrey." She looked up at
Heather and Bob. "Hey, how ‘bout this one? How
about Joshua? We could call him Josh."
Heather smiled.
"That's a beautiful name, Maggie."
Bob smiled, too. "I
like it, also. Okay, but we're not sure it's going to be a boy. We need to pick
out some girls' names, too."
But Heather was sure it was
going to be a boy. They had waved their right to find out the sex of the baby,
wanting it to be a surprise. But she was sure she was going to give her husband
a little boy.
Maggie was happy to be
involved in choosing a name for the baby. She was hoping it was a boy, too. She
wanted to always be her daddy's princess. Sure, a little sister would be nice,
too. She could play dress-up and give the baby her old clothes, but Maggie
thought a boy would be better. She prayed every night her mommy would have a
boy.
Finally, one day, a week
after Heather's due date, the family was relaxing at home, when Heather cried
out. Maggie rushed into the living room. "MOMMMY!
Are you all right?"
Heather nodded. "Yes,
sweetie, I'll be fine. Go get Daddy. He's out in the garage."
"Why, Mommy?"
Maggie asked nervously.
"Honey, my water just
broke!" Heather explained calmly.
Maggie looked
down and saw a puddle of water on the living room carpet. "Oh,
my god!"
She ran outside without her
coat on or her shoes. "DADDY! DADDY! Come
quick!"
Bob saw his daughter.
"Margaret Anne, where are your shoes? And your coat?
It's 30 degrees out."
"DADDY! Mommy's water broke!"
Bob rushed into the house
upon hearing Maggie's words. He ran into the living room. "OH, hon, are you all right?"
Heather smiled. "I'm
fine, hon. Help me up, though. We need to get to the hospital."
Bob helped Heather up.
Maggie ran to get her mom's bag. They had practiced this run many times before.
Heather had even gone in a few times with false labor. But now her water broke;
this was the real thing.
Bob called Heather's
obstetrician and she said she'd meet them at the hospital. He also called
Charlie and told him to meet them there, too.
An hour later, Maggie
waited in the waiting room with Charlie, Lisa, Nana, Grampsie
and the twins. Everyone had come out for the big event. Charlie had even placed
a call to Heather's mom, Julia, upstate to tell her Heather was in labor. She
was going to drive down that night.
Maggie, Jenn, and Robin sat
quietly for the first hour, looking at books and magazines. Then Maggie started
getting restless. She said, "I need to walk around. I'm so nervous."
Jennifer asked Charlie,
"Daddy? Can we take a walk?"
Lisa looked at Charlie. She
didn't trust the three of them. Charlie said, "Sure, come on, I'll go with
you."
"But
Daddy! We're big
enough to go by ourselves!" Jennifer whined.
"Jennifer Lynn! This is
not the time or the place. If you want to walk around, I will go with you. And
that's that!" Charlie said, trying to stay calm.
"Oh, okay, fine!"
she said.
Lisa frowned.
"Jennifer, come over here," she said quietly.
Jennifer walked over to
Lisa slowly. "Yes, Mommy?"
"Would you like to
remember the day your cousin was born, by me putting you over my knee in the
waiting room?" Lisa asked.
Jenn shook her head.
"No, Mommy," she said.
"Then I suggest you
watch your tone of voice and listen to me and your father. Is that clear?"
Lisa asked.
"Yes, Mommy,"
Jenn said.
"C'mon,
Jennifer!"
Maggie said, coming over and pulling on her cousin. "Your daddy said
there's a vending machine around the corner."
"Okay, I'm
coming!" Jenn answered.
Another hour later, the
girls were playing a game. Robin looked up and said, "Why is it taking so
long? Is Aunt Heather okay?"
Nana said, "Oh, yes,
sweetie. I'm sure she's fine. These things just take a long time."
"I'm bored!"
Maggie yelled. "And I want my mommy!" She got up and started to run
in the direction of the delivery room.
Everyone stared after
Maggie. No one knew what to do. Finally, Charlie stood up, and went after
Maggie. He found her in the hallway outside the delivery room.
She was crying. Charlie
went over to her and picked her up. He held her close to him. "It's okay,
sweetie. Your mommy's fine."
"They won't let me in,
Uncle Charlie," Maggie sobbed.
Charlie peeked in. He
couldn't see much. "Why don't I bring you back to the waiting room and try
to see what's going on? Okay?"
Maggie shook her head.
"No, don't leave me. Please!" she cried.
Charlie sat down on a bench
and pulled Maggie into his lap. "Oh, no, baby! I would never leave you.
I'll stay here and hold you for as long as you need me to. Okay?"
Maggie nodded. She snuggled
in close to her uncle and cried on his chest. Charlie held her close and rubbed
her back and said soothing words to her. He knew she was very fragile and he
didn't want anything to upset her further.
Lisa found them sitting
there twenty minutes later. "She okay?" Lisa
asked, rubbing her own belly. Lisa was due in two more months. Then they'd be
going through this again.
Charlie nodded. He
whispered to his wife. "They won't let her in. I tried to see in, but
couldn't. Maybe you could try to find out what's going on?" he asked.
"Okay, sure,"
Lisa said. She leaned down and kissed Maggie on the cheek. "I love you,
sweetie."
Maggie looked up at her
aunt and smiled. "I love you, too, Aunt Lisa."
Lisa smiled and went to
find out any information she could. Another hour passed. Lisa hadn't been able
to find out anything except that Heather was all right, and that she hadn't had
the baby yet. Charlie brought Maggie back to the waiting room. Now she was sitting
with Nana and Grampsie. The twins sat nearby and Grampsie was telling them stories about Bob and Charlie
when they were little.
The girls were smiling.
Robin and Jennifer kept looking up at their daddy. It seemed that he was quite
the troublemaker when he was little. Charlie smiled. He was amused by his dad's
tales, too, but knew he'd live to regret the girls hearing them.
Finally, the doctor came
out, with Bob in tow. Everyone stood up.
"DADDDDDY!" Maggie rushed at Bob. He picked her up and
swung her around. "Hi, princess!"
"Well?" Nana
asked.
Bob held Maggie to him and
whispered, "Want to come meet your baby brother?"
Maggie smiled. "It's a
boy. Mommy was right."
Bob smiled back. "Yes,
it is. And we named him Joshua. Joshua Eric."
Maggie looked at her whole
family. "I named him," she told them.
Everyone stood up then and
hugged and congratulated Bob. It was a little hard for Bob to hug everyone
because Maggie would not let her daddy put her down. She was sticking tight to
him.
Bob put Maggie down then,
and said, "Come on, sweetie, let's go see Mommy and Joshua."
Maggie walked happily into
the recovery room. Heather was lying in bed. She looked pale and tired, but she
was smiling. Maggie ran over and hugged her mommy tight.
"You did it,
Mommy!" Maggie said.
Heather said quietly,
"Yes, sweetie, I did."
Just then, the nurse walked
in carrying a little blue bundle. She laid the baby in Heather's waiting arms.
Maggie looked over at the little blue blob. She smiled. He was so little. And
he was so cute.
Bob stood next to the bed.
He said to Maggie. "This is your little baby brother, Maggs."
Then he kissed the baby. "And Joshua, this is your big sister,
Maggie."
It was a happy day in the
Clemente family.
to be continued...