Arch’s beautiful brown eyes sparkled above his mask.
“How ya doing, sweetheart?” His voice sounded like heaven to me.
“Better now you’re here.” Actually, I was better when they gave me the stuff that made me woozy, but he made me feel pretty darn good, too.
Suddenly, my few moments of tranquility erupted into more chaos. The team on the right was yelling for me to “Push.” The team on the left was telling me to “Breathe.”
Breathe. Push. Breathe. Push. I couldn’t do both at the same time. What was wrong with those people?
My wonderful husband let me squeeze his hand as hard as I could without wincing. What a trooper. He kept his lips close to my ear and whispered, “You’re doing good, baby. You’re doing good,” over and over again. From somewhere under the sheet covering my spread legs, I heard Dr. Johns say, “Almost there.”
Before I could ask almost where, a baby screamed at the top of his lungs.
“It’s a girl, Bertie,” Dr. Johns announced.
I thought I was hearing things. I was supposed to have a boy.
“We got a girl. Isn’t that wonderful?” Arch sounded genuinely happy.
A girl? What had they done with my boy the sonogram had said I was supposed to have? “A girl.” It sounded really nice.
Petey would be very happy about it. She never wanted a “stinking brother.” I would have been happy with either one. As long as it was healthy. By the sound of my new daughter’s cries, she at least had a good set of lungs.
Besides the fact the ordeal was over, the best part was our daughter could wear the name Lois Jamie with pride. There was no other way to explain it except . . . Divine Intervention.
Arch cut the umbilical cord, and I got to hold our baby for the first time. As I looked her over, I couldn’t believe that, with Arch’s help, of course, I had made this tiny, perfect person. She was beautiful.
Daddy rubbed her cheek and then let her cling to his finger. Hers were so tiny wrapped around his. I watched the expression on Arch’s face as he stared down at his brand new daughter. He’d given me more happiness than I ever thought possible. I loved him deeply in a way I could never describe.
His gaze shifted to mine, and I thought my heart might stop beating. It was all so overwhelming. As he looked at me, I wondered aloud, “How can I ever repay you for bringing so much happiness into my life?”
His mouth formed the softest, gentlest smile I ever saw. “Just promise you’ll always look at me with that light in your eyes.”
For the rest of the evening and the whole next day, I felt like a queen, especially when I looked at my little princess. Petey was so proud of her little sister she dragged several strangers from the hallway in to take a look at Lois Jamie.
“I picked her name. Mommy was sure it was going to be a boy, but I knew I was going to have a sister,” Petey told a grandmotherly lady who made a big fuss over the baby and her big sister. The kindly woman asked if she could hold the baby, and I agreed. Her cooing and gentle tones were repaid by Lois Jamie’s ear-splitting cries.
“She has good lungs,” the lady said. “Maybe she’ll be a singer.”
“That’s it.” Petey started jumping up and down and clapping her hands. “We’ll call her LoJ. Almost like a very good singer’s name. Maybe she’ll be famous someday, too.”
An elderly man came to the door. “Are you ready to go, Patty?”
She handed LoJ back to me. “She’s beautiful,” the woman said, then turned to Petey. “So are you, little lady.”
My oldest daughter beamed.
Before Petey invited her in to see the baby, the woman and her husband had been standing in the hallway with several other people. As the woman re-joined her husband, who was evidently hard of hearing, I easily heard her tell him, “Would you believe they are naming that sweet little baby after that hussy who used to live next door to us?”
“Which hussy?” he asked.
“The one who used to leave her bathroom curtains and window opened while she sang in the shower.”
“I remember her. Lorna Jackson.”
“That’s her. She was such a hussy.”
“Yeah.” He had a longing in his seventy-plus-year-old voice. “She was good. I liked watching her sing.”
They were so cute together. I tried to picture Arch and me at that age.
By then, his hair would have fallen off his head and started growing out of his ears. I would have gray hair and carry a purse that would have to match my purple coveralls because I was sure I’d still be working at my garage. By then the name would be changed to Bertie and Daughters.
Millie and Mavis stopped by to check on us. Each took turns holding little LoJ. They were as giddy as school girls. Mavis had adjusted well to life without Wyatt. Neither cared about having papers that said they were divorced, so Mavis gave him an allowance. He lived in a different city and promised not to darken her door again. She once told me she’d have paid him twice what he asked just to be free of him.
Millie appeared to have fared well, too. She wasn’t alone in her big house any more, and with Mavis she constantly had irons in the fire. Some of which, I was sure, would eventually give me a heart condition since I was responsible for putting Sweet Meadow’s dynamic duo together in the first place. They appeared to be having the time of their lives. Maybe that was what I should concentrate on.
There in my hospital room, the two women examined LoJ and tried to decide who she looked like. It was when Millie said my baby looked a lot like Yunk Yunkoffer that I feigned being tired so they would go on their way. As they hugged me goodbye, I noticed specks of pink paint in Millie’s blue-gray hair and green in Mavis’.
“Have you two been painting?” I asked.
“Us?” Millie looked a little shocked. “Oh no, we haven’t been painting, have we, Mav?”
“Nope. We gotta go.” They ran into each other trying to make their get-away.
I couldn’t imagine what they were up to, but one thing for certain, having just given birth, I couldn’t stop them. I said a silent prayer that whatever it was, it wouldn’t get them, or anyone else, maimed or killed.
Early the next morning, LoJ and I were packed and ready for her daddy to pick us up from the hospital.
“Where’s Petey? I thought she’d come with you.” I was a little disappointed she hadn’t come with Arch.
“She’s waiting at home. She said she is a big sister now, and she could surely stay by herself for less than an hour.” Arch helped the nurse load a cart with the many bouquets I received, and our other belongings.
The baby and I were wheeled outside. After a little juggling to get everything into the car, we were on our way to our little house on Marblehead Drive. I wished Petey was with us as her sister took her first car trip, but proving she was a responsible young lady was also important.
Our street was lined with cars. Pink helium balloons flew from our mailbox. Sticks with huge mint green, pink, and white bows lined the path leading to the house. A large plastic stork was plastered to the door. People peeked out every window.
“Wake up, LoJ, all your friends and family are here to welcome you home,” I said as Arch helped us out of the car.
Inside were more people than I could count.
“We’re not going to stay and wear you out,” Mom said. “We just had to be here for the big surprise.”
“Surprise?” I wobbled a little. “What surprise?”
Petey put her arm around my waist and led me down the hallway to the closed door of our new addition to the house.
“This is why I didn’t go to the hospital with Dad,” she said. “I had to stay and help them get everything set up.” She opened the door and waved her hand like a model showing off a refrigerator on a game show. “What do you think?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. The nursery was completely done. The carpentry finished. The walls painted pale shades of pink and green, just like Millie and Mavis had in their hair. Even though we picked out the furniture with a boy in mind, I was pleased to see how well it worked for our daughter, too.
A brand new rocking chair with a big pink bow sat in the corner.
“Your mom and I got you the rocker.” Pop gave me a big hug. “Just think--our little baby has a baby.” While Mom hugged me, Pop pulled out his handkerchief and blew his nose. “Must be allergic to all this new baby stuff,” he said, and made his way through the crowd.
“Thanks, Mom. I love you. Maybe you better go check on Pop.
She nodded and followed after him.
“Who did all this?” I was awestruck.
“Everyone here did something.” Mary Lou took the baby from my arms and Barbie walked me to the rocker.
I sat and took LoJ back.
“It’s all so beautiful. I don’t know what to say.” I choked on my words and tears rolled freely down my face. “Thank you. You’re all so special.”
Millie held out her hand, and Mavis slapped a twenty-dollar bill in her palm. “Told you she’d cry.” Millie giggled and stuck the money in her pocket.
Novalee worked her way into the room. She clicked on the lamp on the chest of drawers next to the rocker. “I got you this.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“We’ve got to go,” Carrie Sue and Linc called over Arch’s head. “Deputy Kelly needs us on Highway 440. He said to tell you and Arch congratulations.” She waved and they disappeared. I heard the diesel engine of my tow truck start up and disappear into the distance.
Petey pulled back the blanket from LoJ’s face. “Hi, sis. Mavis and Millie took me to Ivey’s Department Store so I could return some of the old boys’ clothes Mommy got at her shower. I got you some pretty cool baby girl outfits.”
She slid the closet door open. Several beautiful dresses hung on tiny hangers.
“They’re beautiful, sweetheart. Some day when LoJ is old enough to understand, I’ll tell her what a wonderful thing you did the day she came home from the hospital.” I looked up at the many faces staring at me. “I’ll tell her what all of you did. Thank you so much.”
Arch started herding the group down the hallway. After a chorus of goodbyes, they all disappeared. Evidently, Petey and Arch walked outside with them because the house was quiet. I could hear the gentle breathing of the prettiest baby girl in the world. Looking around the perfect room, I had to admit I couldn’t have done a better job myself.
Warmth covered me. I could feel Pete’s presence.
“Your son and I did a good job, didn’t we?” I whispered.
The light beside me dimmed slightly. “I think so, too.” I hugged LoJ closer.
I looked at all the details so many wonderful people put into my daughter’s nursery. The border, the lamp, the coverlet, the sheets, and the pictures were covered with romping lambs. They were the sweetest things I’d ever seen. They made me feel warm and fuzzy, but most of all they let me know that I was loved.