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“WHAT TIME IS IT?” KENNEDY rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t meant to doze off, but she soon came to realize that childbirth was nothing like the movies where your water breaks and in minutes you’re screaming and writhing in agony. With nothing better to do, she had leaned up against the window and let exhaustion overtake her.
Willow swept some hair off Brandy’s sweaty brow. “Almost eight. You were out forever. I’m glad you got that sleep. You really needed it.”
Kennedy felt guilty for not being more useful. “How are things going? Is she doing ok?”
Willow smiled faintly. “You can ask yourself, you know. It’s just labor. It’s not like she can’t talk.”
Kennedy felt herself blush. “Ok, how are you feeling?”
Brandy winced. “Contractions are starting to hurt now.”
“She’s in the transition stage,” Willow explained. “The good news is her body’s figuring out what it needs to do just fine. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll start pushing soon.”
“What? Don’t we need to take her to the hospital?”
“First of all, the hospital wouldn’t do anything for her but throw on a bunch of monitors and push an epidural that she doesn’t need. But if we were in town and had access to a midwifery, then yes, we’d take her there, but did you see that tree? The entire back half of the truck is pinned down, and even if we found a way to lift it off, we wouldn’t be able to get very far with the tail end dragging on the ground. Anyway, women have been delivering babies without men in white coats telling them how to do it for millennia. So what I need you to do is promise me that you won’t freak out, and if I ask for your help, you just have to tell yourself to get over any nerves or squeamishness or anything else, buckle down, and do what I say. Got that?”
Kennedy swallowed down a wave of nausea and nodded.
Willow held her gaze. “I’m dead serious. You don’t freak out on me, and you do exactly what I need you to do when I need you to do it. Have you ever seen a live birth before?”
Kennedy was sure that whatever blood she’d had left in her brain had rushed to her feet by now.
Willow shook her head. “Never mind. Just remember, when you’re a doctor, you’ll have to do all kinds of more stressful things than this. So here’s your crash course. Ready? And you listen too, Brandy, because I think your time’s coming up. When it feels like you need to push, that’s your body telling you what to do. Kennedy and I are going to do our best to keep you squatting over the seat. You put your forearms here like this, and one leg on my knee and one leg on Kennedy’s knee, and that way you’ll have gravity on your side. When the urge comes, it’ll feel like you’re making a really big poop. I’m not going to try to put it in any nicer language than that. You’re going to feel like you’re forcing out a ten-pound piece of poop. You’ve probably seen in the movies where the mother screams and yells and thrashes around wasting all her energy, but that’s not what you’re going to do. You’re going to stay nice and quiet and focus all your strength on bearing down. Not yet. Your body’s not quite ready, but it will be soon, and when that happens, you just let us know, and Kennedy and I’ll be here ready to help you. You can do this, right?”
Brandy’s voice was choppy. “Do I have a choice?”
“No, you don’t. But don’t worry about that. Your body knows just what it needs to do. Kennedy, you ready? I want you to sit right there, and, Brandy, you put your knee on top of hers so it will sort of be like you’re squatting. In between contractions, you just sit back down on the seat and try to get some rest. Are you doing ok? Are you warm enough?”
“I think I have to pee.”
“That’s totally normal,” Willow said. “Here, Kennedy, hand me that coffee cup.”
Kennedy was trying to convince herself that now would be no time to faint. Willow was right about one thing. As a doctor, she’d have to help people in all kinds of situations just like this, except she’d always planned to do it in a warm, sterile hospital room, with clean clothes, gloves, and plenty of nurses to assist.
“I think it’s starting.” Brandy’s voice was tense.
“Just lean up here.” Willow helped her rest her forearms on the dashboard. “Lean up here and when the contractions come, we’re going to lift you up off the seat a little bit, and you follow your body’s cues. This is going to be just fine. Kennedy, why don’t you pray for us?”
It wasn’t until then that Kennedy detected the hint of fear in Willow’s voice. She would never get over how good of an actor her roommate could be.
Praying out loud would at least focus her attention on something besides the sweating, laboring woman squatting on her leg. “Dear God, thank you that you’re always with us. Thank you that you’ve kept us safe so far.”
Kennedy wondered what else to say. Her breath was choppy, and she hoped that it wasn’t an indication that she was about to have a panic attack. She remembered what Willow said. She’d be in lots of situations even more stressful than this as a doctor, and she’d have to stay rational. Have to keep her brain from shutting down.
“Lord, please help Brandy’s baby to be just fine. Help everything to go really smoothly. Help her to not be in too much pain.”
Kennedy had to pause every few sentences and think about what she wanted to pray for next, but she always found something. After praying about everything she could think of for Brandy and the baby, she prayed for Willow and then for Nick and then for all of Willow’s family in Copper Lake, and before she knew it she was praying for anybody who might have been injured in last night’s earthquake.
She didn’t stop there, either. She prayed for the whole state of Alaska. Right about the time she began praying for her parents and their ministry to North Korean refugees living in China, Willow interrupted with a loud, “This is it. Kennedy, get ready.”
Kennedy didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to be getting ready for, but she immediately stopped talking and held her breath.
“Come on, Brandy,” Willow coaxed. “One or two more pushes and it will all be over.”
Over? What was Willow saying? Was Brandy’s baby really about to ...
Brandy let out a loud grunt, Willow reached her hands down between her legs, and just as Kennedy felt sure she was going to pass out, a sound like a cat meowing snapped her out of her near panic.
“Here she is,” Willow crooned. “She’s absolutely perfect.” Her tone switched from gushing to demanding. “Kennedy, the blanket.”
She handed Willow the blanket, thankful her brain was still in control of her body.
The baby cried faintly while Willow sang out, “Are you cold, little sweetie? Here. I’m just going to wrap you up like this, and then we’ll let your mama keep you nice and warm. What a good baby. You did such a good job being born.”
Kennedy wasn’t sure if Willow had said something funny or if she was just disoriented from the stress, but she sensed now would not be an appropriate time to laugh and clenched her jaw shut.
“You did so well,” Willow told Brandy. “Your baby is so proud of you. Look how she’s watching you. Do you know what you’re going to name her?”
“I was thinking something like Rylee.”
“That’s a pretty name.” Willow leaned down and sang out in a high-pitched voice, “Hi, little Rylee. Hi, sweet baby.” She looked again at Brandy. “You can go ahead and talk to her. She knows your voice.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell her what a good baby she is. Tell her what a good job she did. Tell her anything that’s on your mind.”
Brandy leaned over her newborn, nuzzled her cheek, and whispered, “Your daddy will be so excited to meet you.”