Going Overboard

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Nicole looked miserable. “I was afraid to tell anyone. I didn’t want anything to spoil the wedding…or this vacation.”

  “But your doctor,” Andi said. “Surely she knew. I can’t believe she let you come on—”

  “I didn’t exactly tell her about it.”

  “Nic!” Bowie yelled, his face red.

  “I had to be here! We all did! And first babies are supposed to be late!”

  Chance drew a deep breath. “None of this matters now, guys. The main thing is to get her inside.”

  “You’re right,” Andi said, drawing strength from his calm voice. “Let’s go.”

  As the men helped Nicole to her feet, fluid rushed down her bare legs.

  “Oh my God,” Bowie said. “Now she’s leaking.”

  “It’s okay, Bowie,” Chance said, his voice amazingly gentle. “That’s part of it. She’ll be fine.”

  “Easy for you to say.” Nicole doubled over with another pain.

  “Aw, geez,” Bowie said. “We didn’t finish that birthing class, either.”

  “You’re about to get a crash course,” Chance said. “Let’s go.”

  It took all three of them to lift Nicole, who kept convulsing with pain, up to the deck of the houseboat, but they eventually accomplished it.

  “My bed,” Chance said. “Hold her right there and I’ll open it up.”

  Andi and Bowie supported Nicole until Chance returned. Nicole looked pale, but Bowie looked white as the plastic deck chairs.

  “Bowie and I will get her into bed,” Chance said to Andi. “My briefcase is on the back top bunk. Take my cell phone out of my briefcase and call 911.”

  “And what do we want, a boat?” she asked.

  Nicole moaned. “No boat.”

  “A chopper, then.” Chance said. “That’ll be quicker, anyway.”

  Andi shook her head. “I doubt they could land on our minisize beach.”

  “Then they’ll have to land on our maxisize roof.” Chance’s smile was grim. “The size of this monster has to come in handy for something.”

  Andi found Chance’s briefcase and decided to stay in the back to make the call so she wouldn’t alarm Nicole by whatever she discussed with the operator. Several frustrating minutes later she replaced the phone and hurried down the hallway.

  “Are they on their way?” Bowie called out as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Not quite.” She stopped in her tracks. “What the hell’s this?” She stared at Chance stretched out unconscious on the bed and Nicole sitting in a deck chair beside the bed.

  “He passed out,” Bowie said as he rubbed Nicole’s back. “And Nic says she feels better sitting up than lying down.”

  “Passed out? Is he okay?”

  “Sure. He did the same thing in the tenth grade before his big date with Myra Oglethorpe. Intense stress affects him like that sometimes, I guess. He’ll come around in a few minutes.”

  “So he does have a weakness,” Andi murmured.

  “Yeah, and he’s going to hate that this happened to him right now.”

  Andi turned to Nicole. “You really feel better sitting?”

  Nicole nodded. “I think Chance hated seeing me in pain. He—ah!” She gripped the arms of the deck chair as another contraction grabbed her.

  “By the way,” Bowie said, continuing to massage Nicole’s back. “What did you mean not quite with the chopper? I don’t like the sound of not quite.”

  “Our timing’s not great. There were several car pileups during a sandstorm on the freeway, and medical helicopters are in short supply. I gave them our approximate location, told them to look for the houseboat wedged sideways on the beach. They said that should make it easy to find us. They’ll show up when they can.”

  “And in the meantime?”

  “They asked if we had anyone here with experience delivering babies, and I said yes.”

  “Unconscious, but experienced,” Bowie said.

  “I didn’t know that he’d passed out. We can hope he comes around, but in the meantime, you’d better go scrub up.”

  Bowie’s gaze locked with hers and she watched the uncertainty fade and the determination grow. She decided she would wake Chance up, if only to witness his brother taking charge of a situation.

  While Bowie tried his best to sterilize his hands and arms at the kitchen sink, Andi moved Chance’s laptop to the floor, unscrewed the tabletop and converted the second set of benches into a double bed. She kept up a conversation with Nicole as she worked and checked her every few seconds. The pains were very close together.

  “I’ll get every pillow on the boat, so we can prop you up,” she told Nicole. “But I’d feel better if you’d move this program to the bed. Otherwise Fifi’s liable to land on the floor, and it’s not very clean.”

  “Fifi?” Nicole managed a weak smile between pains.

  “Or Gigi. I figured you’d want to go with something French to please your mother-in-law.”

  “Oh, Andi.” Nicole’s eyes rounded in horror. “She’s gonna kill me for this. She wanted to videotape the birth.”

  “With subtitles, of course.”

  Nicole started to giggle. “Andi, thank God you’re—oh, sh—” She clapped her hand over her mouth before the swearword came out.

  “I’d advise you to go ahead and swear,” Andi said. “Trust me, the baby won’t pick it up, despite Mrs. Chauncey M.’s theories.”

  “What theories?” Bowie came around the counter holding his hands in the air.

  “Tell you later. You’re on duty. I’m going to get pillows. I’ll be right back.”

  “Get my camera!” Nicole called after her as Andi raced down the hall.

  10

  WHEN ANDI RETURNED with pillows and towels in her arms and the camera shoved down the front of her suit, she found Bowie kneeling in front of Nicole. He was talking to her softly, his hands still in the air to keep them clean, while Nicole dug her fingers into his shoulders.

  “Just hang on until it’s over,” he murmured. “That’s it. Quick little breaths.”

  “I must be hurting you,” she gasped out.

  “Not at all. Just hold on.”

  “There.” Nicole hung her head and relaxed her grip. “That one’s past.”

  “I’ll fix the bed,” Andi said, “and then I’ll try to wake Sleeping Beauty.”

  “Yeah, I’d feel better if he was in on this,” Bowie said.

  Andi walked around them and made a backrest of the pillows as she listened to Bowie help Nicole through another pain. “If you didn’t finish the childbirth classes, how do you know the breathing techniques?”

  “Watching ‘ER,’” he said.

  “Thank God for television.” Andi set the camera on a nearby shelf, where it would be handy, before crouching in front of Nicole. “I’m going to help you over to the bed now, okay?”

  “Okay.” Nicole gripped her hand tight when another pain hit.

  Wondering if Nicole had the strength to break the bones in her hand, Andi held on until the contraction passed, and then she finally got Nicole settled on the bed. “We’ll have to get that bathing suit off, Nic.”

  “But what if Chance wakes up?”

  “Hey, sweetheart, this is no time to be—”

  “Let’s get her a sheet if it’ll make her feel better,” Bowie said. “That’s how they do it in the hospital, anyway.”

  “Bowie, I love you,” Nicole said, her eyes teary. “Don’t you just love him, Andi?”

  “Yeah, I’m crazy about him. You got yourself a winner, there, sis.” Andi leaned down and kissed Nicole on the cheek. “Sit tight. I’ll get you a sheet.”

  She returned quickly, helped Nicole out of her bathing suit and draped the sheet over her, forming a tent over her bent knees. None too soon, apparently. Just as Andi was adjusting the sheet, Nicole let loose with a swearword Andi had never heard her use before.

  Bowie looked startled. “Nic? You okay, babe?”

  “Don’t yo
u babe me,” Nicole said, panting. “And wake up that worthless brother of yours. It’s showtime.”

  Andi stifled a chuckle as she looked at Bowie. “Guess I’d better rouse Marcus Welby. Watch over her.”

  Nicole took one look at her husband, gave a loud groan and started swearing again. “I hate men!” she cried, breathing hard. “Every one of you can take a leap off the Sears Tower, as far as I’m concerned. And take your pride and joy with you!”

  Bowie patted her knee. “We will, I promise. Right after we bring another delightful little girl into the world.”

  “I’m never letting her have sex,” Nicole said darkly.

  “She’ll be a nun,” Andi promised as she dampened a kitchen towel at the sink and walked back to the unconscious Chance. She wiped his forehead until he stirred and moaned.

  Nicole continued to swear a blue streak during each contraction.

  Andi figured her sister must be getting close to zero hour. “Let me know if you need me over there,” she said over her shoulder as she applied the damp towel to Chance’s face.

  “I may need an interpreter,” Bowie said.

  Andi grinned. “She learned to swear in Italian when Dad was stationed in Sicily. She just told you and Chance where to shove your precious houseboat.”

  Chance slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her with a dazed expression. “Is that Nicole yelling?”

  “Yeah. The paramedics couldn’t make it so we’re delivering this baby ourselves. We could use your help.”

  Chance squeezed his eyes shut. “I passed out. Dammit.”

  “Think you’re up to helping us out?”

  “Yep.” With a grim set to his mouth, he heaved himself to his feet.

  “Steady,” Andi said as he staggered slightly. She grabbed the chair Nicole had vacated and shoved it under him.

  He sat down heavily. “Hi, Nic. How’re you doing?”

  “Oh, so now I get to deal with two of you Jefferson sleazeballs.”

  Bowie peered around her tented knees. “But hon, I’m your hero, remember?”

  “I’m never letting you hero me again, you slimebucket. Oh, God!”

  Chance swallowed and turned pale.

  Bowie was concentrating on the task at hand and seemed not to notice his brother’s condition. “What should I do, Chance?” he asked.

  “Tell her to push,” Chance said, his voice strained. Sweat popped out on his forehead.

  “Push,” Bowie said, excitement lacing his voice.

  Nicole swore some more.

  “Push, sweetheart! That’s it She’s coming!”

  Andi noticed Chance didn’t look too good, but she didn’t have time to tend to him. She grabbed the camera and stationed herself at the end of the bed. Kneeling down, she looked through the viewfinder as Nicole gave one more colorful curse and Bowie gently eased his daughter into the world. She forgot to click the shutter, and tears blurred her view. The tiny baby began to cry, and so did Bowie.

  Andi lowered the camera. Some things just couldn’t be captured on film. Bowie lifted the baby, umbilical cord still attached, and laid her against Nicole’s breast. Then he leaned down and kissed his wife on the forehead, just as the whir of helicopter blades sounded in the distance and Chance moaned and slipped off the chair onto the floor.

  WHEN CHANCE CAME TO he was looking into the face of a paramedic. Dammit, he’d passed out again. Major disgrace. He struggled to sit up.

  “Take it easy,” the guy said. “Don’t move too fast. Fathers pass out all the time during deliveries.”

  “I’m not the father. I’m the uncle.”

  “So you’re the sensitive type. No reason to be embarrassed about that.”

  Chance clenched his jaw. “I’m not the sensitive type.” He got to his feet and shook his head to clear it. The houseboat was a rush of sound and motion as the medical team worked in its practical and efficient manner to clean up mother and baby and prepare them for the flight to a Las Vegas hospital. Everyone exclaimed over the healthy baby. Nicole wasn’t in pain anymore and smiled at everyone who came within her field of vision. Chance felt his strength returning.

  It really was a miracle, he thought, catching the contagious spirit of goodwill that touched everyone on board. Bowie ran around slapping the medical-team members on the back and promising to mail them all cigars. His little brother had delivered a baby, Chance thought, while he had been worse than no help. He’d been in the way. All in all, it had been an extremely humbling day.

  He watched Andi rush around gathering belongings for Bowie and Nicole to take with them. Then she handed Bowie the key to her apartment so he’d have a place to stay in Las Vegas while Nicole and the baby were in the hospital. Everyone had a duty, a responsibility, except him. He couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so useless. Or quite so relieved.

  “That does it, then,” the woman in charge said, surveying Nicole bundled on a stretcher and the baby tucked into a plastic bassinet. “We’ll transport mother, baby and father to the hospital. Here’s the phone number.” She handed a card to Andi. “I can radio someone to fly in and take you two off tonight, or the marina can send a boat here tomorrow morning. Your choice.”

  Andi flicked a quick look at Chance. “Are you okay until tomorrow?”

  “I’m fine.” And he was. With every passing minute he felt stronger…and more foolish. The least he could do to redeem himself was figure out a way to get this boat off the sand. “We can call in the morning if we need help,” he added.

  “But you’re stuck here.”

  “I may be able to do something about that tomorrow,” he said. “I’d like to try.”

  “Just the two of you, with this huge boat?”

  Andi glanced at him. “We’ll use leverage,” she said.

  The woman looked at them with a resigned expression, as if she knew better than to argue with tourists. “Okeydokey. I guess that’s why God made cell phones. Let’s go, gang.”

  “Bowie,” Chance said.

  His brother turned.

  “Hell of a job, Bowie,” he said. And for the first time in years, Chance embraced his brother. “Take care of those two.”

  “With my life,” Bowie said, his voice hoarse as he stepped back. Then he hugged Andi as the medics picked up Nicole’s stretcher.

  “Just a minute,” Chance said. “Let me say goodbye to my niece.” He hurried over and leaned down toward the tiny child tucked in the bassinet. Andi came up beside him, and he slipped his hand around her waist and drew her in close.

  “See you soon, whatever your name is,” Chance said, touching his finger to the baby’s soft cheek.

  “Au revoir, Colette,” Andi said, flashing a grin at her sister.

  “Colette?” Bowie said, elbowing nearer. “Where did that come from, Nic? You know I was holding out for Bowina.”

  “Bowina?” Chance stared at his brother.

  “I made it up, but it’s supposed to be the feminine version of—”

  “It’s the feminine version of blockhead! You can’t name this gorgeous little girl Bowina. Not while I’m—”

  “Okay, folks,” the paramedic said. “You can name her Fred, for all I care, but you’ll have to do it on your own time. We’re outa here.”

  Despite his faith in the paramedics, Chance followed them out to the rear deck and watched, the wind from the rotors whipping his hair, as they lifted Nicole and the baby up to the roof and got them safely inside the helicopter.

  “I’ll call Mom from Las Vegas!” Bowie yelled over his shoulder as he climbed the ladder to the roof of the houseboat.

  “And my parents!” Andi cried out as she came to stand beside Chance.

  “I’ll call everybody!” Bowie called over his shoulder.

  As he got into the helicopter, he turned to wave. “Bowina rules!” he shouted, laughing.

  “Dream on, idiot!” Chance yelled back.

  “You don’t have to worry,” Andi said from beside him. “Nicole would never let him get aw
ay with naming her that.”

  “To hell with what Nicole would let him do. I’m not letting him name her that.”

  Andi chuckled as the helicopter lifted off over the water, creating a small tidal wave on the surface. “You may not get a vote.”

  “I may not, at that. Some help I was.” He watched the blinking lights of the helicopter as it carried the little family up into the night sky. “Thank God you and Bowie came through.”

  “I think it all worked out absolutely perfectly.”

  He continued to gaze after the departing helicopter. “Perfectly? With me passed out most of the time?”

  “You bet With you out of the picture, Bowie got to shine. It may have been his finest moment. If you’d been in charge, as usual, he wouldn’t know that he had the strength to handle a crisis like this. Now he does.”

  Chance mulled that one over. The implication was pretty clear—he had been one of the obstacles to Bowie taking on his fair share of responsibility. How could he have, when Chance had always grabbed it away from him?

  He couldn’t see the lights of the helicopter anymore. “Bowie will be a good father,” he said. A picture of Bowie cradling the little girl in his arms hit him like a sucker punch in the gut. He wanted what Bowie had. Wanted it bad.

  Andi was silent for several seconds as the helicopter lights grew smaller. “Do you wish you were on that helicopter going with them?” She sounded subdued.

  Her comment took a minute to register. Their situation look a moment longer. Bowie, Nicole and the baby were on their way to Las Vegas, and he and Andi were…

  Alone. A quiver of anticipation ran through him as he turned to her. She could ease this empty feeling. She might be the only person in the world who could. Her hair was tangled from the wind created by the helicopter blades, but now only a faint breeze stirred around them. “No, I wouldn’t want to be on that helicopter.”

  “You wouldn’t?” She lifted her eyebrows.

  Memories of the afternoon came rushing back to heat his blood and tighten his groin. Those thoughts, combined with the need to hold and be held, created a desire so strong it took his breath away. An answering need flashed in her eyes and suddenly they were locked in each other’s arms, their mouths seeking, their hands searching, unfastening, stroking.