Confirmation
Travis arrived to pick Kelly up at her aunt’s home at six so they could go to the early showing. A little boy with a mop of strawberry-blond curls answered the door.
“Hi. I’m Travis and I’m here for Kelly.”
The little boy stepped aside for Travis to enter. “I know. I’m Benny.” The youngster stuck out his hand. “I just told her.”
“Thanks.” Travis stared around the grand foyer of the old Antebellum mansion. The marble floor gleamed in the light from the heavy chandelier over their heads. “You must be the man of the house now. Tell me, Benny, how is it managing a house of females all by your lonesome?”
“Oh, I’m not alone. My grandpa is here, but he stays out back on the patio. He likes the fire pit.”
Wow, I guess the little guy is like Kelly and can read minds and see ghosts.
“Yah, pretty cool isn’t it?” the little boy said with a broad smile. “You’re a good projector. Can’t you hear, too?”
He looked at the boy surprised. “I don’t think so, but I’ve never tried.”
Travis watched the little fellow scrunch up his face as if about to pick up a huge set of heavy dumbbells. ‘Do you hear me now?’ The little boy smiled when he saw the color drain from Travis’s face. ‘See, I knew you could do it, but I’m really screaming. You should practice with Kelly. She’s way better than me.’
“Hey, Travis,” Kelly said as she skipped down the wide staircase with her pale hand sliding along the polished banister.
“I win, Kelly. He can hear. We were just talking.” Benny held out his hand; palm up. “Pay up!”
Kelly opened her purse, took out a crisp one-dollar bill, and placed it above the little palm. “I’m no welcher, but he’s gonna have to prove it to me.”
‘Can you hear me, Travis? Tell me how much Benny bet me that you were a receiver as well as a projector of thoughts.’
“I can hear you just fine. He bet you a dollar.” Travis watched Kelly smile and drop the dollar bill into the grinning boy’s hand.
“Thanks, Travis.” Benny hugged him around his waist. “You just made me a dollar richer.” He ran past Kelly up the stairs.
“And you just made me a dollar poorer,” Kelly said and kissed Travis on his whiskered cheek. “But I’m glad Benny was right.”
“Umm, that was nice,” he said and brushed his cheek on her golden curls. He wrapped his arms around her and stood holding her until they heard Ruby clear her throat.
“Do you two need a room?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Aunt Ruby.”
“What? You’re both consenting adults. You know our views on that sort of thing.” The older woman hobbled through without her cane. “Dalton just called. Julia’s gone into labor. They’ll be over soon with the midwife. Would you and your young man mind helping to fill the birthing pool with warm water?”
“Where?” Kelly asked, excited.
“On the patio by the fire pit.” A tear rolled down Ruby’s cheek. “I’m so happy Ben is going to see his granddaughter born. Maybe he’ll pass through the veil once he sees that.”
“What’s going on, Kelly?” Travis asked in dismay.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone the Michael Bay action for some Julia and Dalton La Pierre action. Marsha Jean has decided to make her grand entrance into the world tonight.”
“What?”
“My cousin, Julia, is having her baby girl and we’re gonna help.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Melanie and Benny came running down the stairs with a half-inflated kiddy-pool.
“We got the pool,” Benny yelled as they flew by. “You guys get to fill it up.
“What the hell?” Travis asked in their wake.
“We DuBois women prefer to use midwives and natural birth in a pool of warm water. It’s less stressful on the baby and the warm water helps to ease the back labor for the mother.” Kelly picked up a two-gallon plastic bucket and handed it to Travis. “This may take a while.”
Travis peeked into the open utility room and smiled. “Y’all have a garden hose?”
“There’s one on a spool out back. Why?”
“Don’t worry, I got this.” Travis followed Kelly out to the back yard and disconnected the green plastic hose from the nozzle.
They pulled the caddy with its hundred-foot coil of garden hose into the utility room. Travis disconnected the hot water line from the washing machine and connected the brass fitting from the end of the hose. Benny stood in the door curiously watching the goings on. Travis handed him the end of the hose.
“Take this out to the pool and yell when you have it in there.”
The little boy grabbed the nozzle and began tugging green hose off the spool as he walked across the patio. ‘This was a great idea, Travis. I bet Uncle Dalton wouldn’t have even thought of this. I’m at the pool now.’
‘Okay, be careful, we’re doing hot water first.’ Travis turned on the faucet to release a slow, steady stream of hot water. ‘Hey, buddy, let me know when the pool is half full, then we’ll change it over and start to cool it down.’
‘Okay, Travis. I will.’
“You know you just received the highest of praise.”
“What?” Travis stared with his sparkling hazel eyes.
“When Benny said you did something better than his Uncle Dalton, you received his highest compliment. As far as Benny is concerned, Uncle Dalton can do no wrong. It’s about the same with Mel, but she’d never admit it. She’s grown a pretty hard shell since her parents passed.”
“What happened to them?”
Kelly patted his arm. “I’ll tell you about it later. I get the feeling we’re going to have a lot of down time while Miss Marsha Jean is making her way into the world.” Kelly looked out across the patio and her smile faded.
“What is it?” Travis asked as he watched Benny filling the birthing pool. Steam danced up in tendrils above the plastic pool and the water streaming from the hose.
“I don’t know, but I’ve had the feeling that someone has been watching me. I keep catching glimpses of shadows out the corners of my eyes. Maybe I’m just tired. I had to make two rushed trips to Shreveport and then back here to help Aunt Ruby. It’s just starting to catch up with me.” Kelly rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands.
“Well, when we get the water ready and the kids fed, you can go outside and relax by the pool,” he said with a broad smile that earned him a playful slap on his shoulder.
They ordered two large supreme pizzas from Pizza Hut and sent the children to their rooms with full bellies and complaints about having to miss out on the excitement.