“Nervous?” Aaron asked.
“No, scared to death,” Conner said. His face did look a little pale, Aaron thought.
“Take a couple of deep breaths. Amy says she just started and it's liable to be awhile, considering that it's twins, and considering this is her first,” Aaron said.
Conner nodded as his long legs ate up ground. Aaron hurried to catch up. When they stepped into the clinic Sandy and Susan were both waiting.
“They're getting her ready for the other room,” Sandy said. “Sit down and relax for a moment, she'll be ready and you can go in. Steve and Jessie are both with her, so don't worry, Honey.”
Conner thanked her and sat down, smiling sickly. A second later Jake walked in and sat down grinning.
“How's she doing,” Jake asked.
“They're getting her ready for the other room,” Conner said, repeating what Sandy had told him. Jake nodded as did Aaron.
“What, you know what the other room is about?” Conner asked.
“Not a clue,” Aaron said.
“Sure,” Jake answered. “The other room is where they had Lilly. It's just the room with the table and the stirrups,” he said.
“Oh,” Conner said. He winced.
“Easy, Buddy,” Aaron said.
“Yeah,” Jake added. “Remember what I said? Once I was in there it was no big deal: I was so... So involved that I just stopped paying attention to all the stuff that had made me squeamish and I was fine.”
“Yeah,” Conner said. “I didn't remember you telling me that.”
“Yeah, but I did, and it will be okay,” Jake assured him.
Amy wandered over, her hands clutching the lower part of her stomach as though she truly were holding it up. She stopped and kissed Aaron and then ruffled Conner's hair and kissed him too. “She's almost ready,” she told him. “A few more moments.”
Mike nodded, and then laughed a short uncertain bark. “The mothership. James said it and for a split second I didn't know what he was talking about at all. Then it hit me, Wow!”
“Yeah. Lilly was the mothership, now Kate... I guess I'll be the mothership soon. Then it will be Arlene's turn to be the mothership,” Amy said.
“Remember how I said,” Conner said to Aaron, “that I never think about smoking anymore?” Conner asked.
“Yeah.” Aaron asked.
“Well I could use one right now,” Conner said.
Susan came out with two cups of coffee, handed one to Conner and the other to Aaron. She looked at Amy. “You can't have any, Honey. She turned to Jake. “I'll be right back,” she told him.
Amy sighed. “I can't sit here either, it's too uncomfortable. I've got to go lay down.” She started to bend, but all three men jumped up to help so she wouldn't have to. She kissed Aaron, then Conner and Jake, and headed back to the ward in a slow shuffling gate.
Sandy came back in quickly. “Come on, come on,” She told Conner. She turned to Amy who was partway down the hallway. “You too, Amy. She wants you to be there. I have a chair in there for you.”
“Already?” Conner asked. His hand held the as yet untasted cup of coffee.
“Already,” Sandy agreed.
Conner looked back at Aaron and Jake and they all laughed. He handed the cup of coffee to Jake.
“Well, get in there,” Aaron told him.
He turned and followed Sandy back into the room.
~
Conner walked into the room and right to Katie. Amy walked down the other side of the bed and carefully sat in the chair Sandy had put there for her.
“Honey? Can you hear me, Honey?” Conner asked. He held Katie's hand. She squeezed so hard he had to fight an urge to pull free.
“Honey, hang in there,” Sandy said.
Steve popped his head out from under the blanket that covered the lower half of Katie's body. He folded the blanket back across her midsection.
“Water just broke,” he said to Jessie who was across the room. Jessie stopped what she was doing, came across the room, poked her own head under the blanket briefly and then came right back up.
“She's fully dilated too,” Jessie said. She noticed Conner and smiled. “Coach her breathing as the contractions come. She's about ten minutes apart right now, but they'll speed up soon.” She turned to Steve. “I'll take number one you take number two?” She asked.
Steve nodded.
Katie turned her head to Conner. “You okay, Baby,” she asked in a whisper.
Conner swallowed hard. “I'm okay, are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?”
“It's not too bad,” Katie told him. She immediately groaned as another contraction started.
Katie tried to catch her breath, but it seemed almost impossible to get. The pain from the contraction was everything. Spreading out into her stomach, flowing up into her ribs, down into her thighs. It was everything, all she could think of. Compared to the pain, Jessie's voice was like a small voice calling from a mountain top. The wave of pain rolled on and the voice came nearer. She was able to focus.
“Stay with me, Honey. Now push... Push.” Jessie told her. And as much as she did not want to push, she did anyway. Steve Choi kept track of her blood pressure on her other arm, and even though she wasn't supposed to move that arm she couldn't help it as the fist curled into a ball and the arm rose from the pillow it had been propped on.
“Breathe, Honey,” Conner coached. “Breathe.”
“I love you,” Katie said as she turned and looked at Conner.
“I love you too,” Conner told her.
She turned to Amy. “Thank you, Aim. I love you too.”
“Amy squeezed her hand. “Always, Baby, always.” She told her.
“Oh,” Katie groaned as another contraction started.
“Go with it, Kate,” Jessie told her. Don't push, just ride it out.... That's it,” Jessie told her.
“Don't push,” Conner repeated. He patted her hand and swallowed hard.
“Breathe, Kate. Don't forget to breathe,” Jessie told her. “Nice deep breaths.”
“Breathe,” Conner repeated.
Katie breathed in deeply and then groaned again as another contraction started.
“It's okay,” Jessie told her. “Once again, ride it out, Honey. Don't push.”
Katie breathed deeply and felt the contraction begin to ease.
“Now, Kate, this next one might come quickly,” Jessie told her. “And this time I want you to push. We have one ready to greet the world.”
Sandy moved up next to Jessie with a stainless steel pan lined with a soft blanket.
“Oh my God,” Katie moaned, “Oh.”
“Push, Kate... Push.” Jessie said calmly.
“Push, Baby,” Conner repeated.
“Push, Baby,” Amy added as she held her hand tightly.
“That's it … That's it,” Jessie told her. “Push, Honey. Okay... Don't push. Ride it out. Sandy?”
Sandy dipped down with the pan. “Okay... Okay,” Jessie said. “Breathe Katie, Breathe. Deep breaths,” Jessie said as she moved backwards with a small baby in her hands. She put the baby into the pan as Conner watched in awe. Susan stepped in and clamped the umbilical cord, and a moment later Jessie clipped it. Susan whisked the baby away.
Steve was now positioned between Candice's legs. The first baby had been easy, the second was a little bigger.
“Okay,” Steve said. “Once more. Give me one good push, Kate,” he told her.
“Okay,” she answered between gasps for air.
“Deep breaths... Lots of oxygen, Kate.”
She breathed deeply as the contraction mounted. She pushed hard while breathing deeply again. “Here it comes,” she gasped. “Ohh!”
“Push... Push, push... Good... That's good. Okay, okay, breathe, Katie, breathe, Katie” Steve told her.
Katie gathered her strength and pushed once more and the baby slid out easily into Steve's hands as though it had never intended to be any trouble at all.
Steve
had no sooner delivered the baby, than the first baby had let out a squall that made all the pent up breaths explode into joyous laughter. He held the baby a Susan clipped the umbilical cord and then cut it. As if on cue the little boy in Steve's hands let out his own cry as if answering his sister. Steve carried the baby to the table, where he suctioned his nose and mouth clear, then cleaned him up a little before he wrapped him up and then took the little boy to Katie. Katie was already staring in wonder at the little girl who wiggled and cooed in her arms: Her eyes wide and watching. She made room for the little boy as Steve lowered him into her arms.
“One of each,” Conner said from above her as she marveled at the two babies cooing softly to each other.
“You make it sound so easy,” Katie said as she looked up and caught his eyes. She smiled.
“Never,” Conner said quickly. “I meant, perfect. Like one for each of us to spoil,” he said quietly. His eyes were fixed on the babies, not her, but they shifted back to her when she spoke and she could see the tears perched on the lids.
“You're gonna cry,” Katie said as tears of her own rolled across her cheeks.
“I guess I am.” Conner agreed as the tears slipped over the edge and fell from his eyes. He smiled, laughed and then wiped at his eyes with a tissue that Steve Choi handed him.
“They'll all be close enough to play with each other, grow up together,” Amy said. “I...” Amy stopped in mid sentence. “Oh...” She looked at Candice and then Jessie. “I think I might... I might have,” she looked down at the floor, nothing, but she had felt a rush of warmth and the insides of her thighs felt wet. “I might... I need Aaron, I think mine is coming. My water broke.”
The room turned into an instant hive of activity. Steve and Jessie steered Amy to another bed as Sandy ushered Conner out and Aaron in. They passed each other in the doorway both grinning foolishly.
~
Conner stood with Jake and watched the sun poke over the mountains in the South. The air was cold. The kind of cold that seems to amplify every little sound. Looking down toward the three mills he could see that the stream was iced over except for a clear run of water that started about twenty feet before the water came into contact with the wheel.
“Been a long one,” Jake said. Lilly had just been out to nurse little Jake. She was now back in with Amy.
“Yeah,” Conner agreed. He was a little worried for Amy and Aaron.
Just then Bobby Teals stuck her head out the door. “Jess said to tell you it's coming,” She said, and then ducked back inside.
'Well, hell. Let's get back inside,” Jake said.
“Yeah,” Conner agreed with a smile. “I better go tell Kate too.”
They stepped back inside just as Bobby was opening the door to the clinic area. The sound of a baby crying came to them as the door opened. They both turned to each other and smiled.
~
Conner sat next to Kate, holding her hands. The babies were sleeping in the nursery.
Bobby peeked into the room, and then opened the door wide. Steve and Craige came right behind her carrying patty in her bed. Sandy was right behind them with the baby wrapped in blankets. Aaron and Shar came next, then Jessie and Lilly.
They carried the bed in next to Katie and then set it down carefully.
“Hey,” Katie said as her eyes met Amy's. They both teared up. “Wish I could have been in there with you. You spent so much time with me.”
“It's okay, Kate. I know you would've been. Lilly was aces.”
Katie reached across and squeezed Amy's hand.
“A little boy,” Amy said. “He's everything.”
TWELVE
December 8th
The Nation
“See, this whole area down here,” Josh asked. “It fronts the cave. Thin soil, the rock is right there. There is nothing above it. We wouldn't have to worry about icicles. You can see it swings out, the overhang I mean, about fifteen feet or so and shoots straight up more than sixty feet. If we came in just under that, so we're still back from the overhang itself, there would be no chance of ice damage, see?” Josh asked.
They were standing near the ledge of the second cave, where it dropped down into the third valley. Josh and Shar had built a barn in part of the space, and now Josh envisioned a greenhouse that could provide them with fresh vegetables year around, built under the long overhang that covered the ledge. Conner nodded, visualizing what Josh wanted to do in his head. “So, you will build from there, arch the wall out and then use the heavy plastic sheeting to build your wall,” Conner said.
“Exactly, right,” Josh agreed. “Then we have a year around green house, under the ledge so it's protected from falling ice, stone, whatever else might be there. We get some good soil in there, build it up a few feet deep. We'll have sunlight year around, the sunlight itself would probably heat it most of the time. You have sixty feet of rock wall above and behind it that will absorb that sun and release it all night long. We might have to expend a little heat a few times during the winter if we had really overcast days, or it was really cold.”
Conner nodded. “You could use those leftover aluminum support beams to build your front. There are dozens of them leftover from the barn builds. That would be solid, and that would be putting them to good use too. They have a natural built in curve, there's your arch you need right there. But I would use the heavy clear plastic sheets. Then you will have a permanent structure.”
“Heavy plastic sheets?” Josh asked.
“Right. We bought back some on our first trip. We found about a hundred sheets of the stuff. Four feet wide, eight feet high. It's quarter inch thick stuff. You're not going to bend it in a foot or so length, but over eight feet it will bend to fit the slight arch of the beams. There is a seal that runs between each piece of it. The panels are clear, but ribbed, you really can't see through it, I mean colors, shadows, but it will allow sunlight and ultraviolet light rays through. We never used it. It's in the big storage room, at the very back. It will be tough to get out of there and up here, I bet, but it would be worth it. It would make a much nicer job. I think we had something like that in mind for it initially,” Conner finished.
Let's go look at it,” Josh said excitedly.
~
The mineral baths were empty, David saw. He wondered if he had been played for a fool. On the heels of that thought came another, maybe she just wants to talk: To say she wishes that nothing has ever started between them. And yet another thought after that one. What had started? Anything besides an innocent brush up against each other? An awkward moment that was able to pass in time, but apparently not in memory?
She must be hanging onto something, David thought. He looked around the empty room. Decided to leave just in case she really was coming, and got to his feet. What was he thinking of doing here? Cheating on Arlene? That was an action, not a flirtation. Even so, he actually found her attractive and hoped she was coming here to say yes. He sat back down instead of leaving.
The note she had sent was in his pocket and he pulled it out and read it for the hundredth time. The was no enlightening caused by this fresh reading. She simply asked him to meet her here after dinner. He had taken dinner in the main cave, she had seen him, and he had come from there to here. He had also bought a joint with him. He didn't know if she would even try it, but it would help him to calm down. Maybe he could convince her to try it.
From the night he had ended up pressed against her body: The night she had been so excited about the population numbers and stepped so close to him in her excitement, they had both caught each other looking. He would catch her eyes on him and know that they had been there awhile, and she had caught him more than a few times. The thing was, he didn't believe it was an accident at all. Did you accidentally stand too close to someone. Press your body against theirs. Was that really accidental, or was it an invitation? That was what was driving him crazy.
He heard her before he realized she was there. He jumped and then turned around
fast.
“I didn't mean to scare you,” Janna said.
“This thing has me on edge, it's not your fault,” David said honestly.
The silence held for several beats. Janna came and settled in beside him.
“So where are we?” Janna asked at last. She hated to ask, but it was the question she needed to have answered. A younger woman might wait all night to see if it was answered; a girl. She was not a girl, but she was also not the kind of woman that found herself in these circumstances either.
“I thought... Wondered where we were myself,” David said.
“That is not an answer, David.” She locked her eyes with his. Her hand fell on his thigh and set it on fire. He could feel the heat from her fingertips.
David bit at his lower lip. “I didn't know about you... In that way, and then I did. I had never thought about it: Never, I swear that is true, and then I felt your body against mine and that was it. I knew it and I knew I wanted you.” David managed the words, but could not look at her.
“I don't want to come between you two,” Janna said quietly.
“It's not about that,” David said. He showed Janna the joint he had slipped from his pocket. “Try it?”
“I never have... Is it pot?”
David smiled. “Home grown, not very potent. We grew some wild. Call it an ice breaker.”
“I don't know,” Janna said.
David shrugged. “It could just ease us into an honest conversation... No pretense.”
“It does that?”
“It can,” David said.
“I'll try a little,” Janna said at last.
David lit the joint, inhaled deeply and then passed it to Janna.
She took the joint and copied David. A second later she was choking on the smoke. David patted her on the back as she got her breath back. “It's horrible,” Janna said.
“No... It works... Small puffs, go slow since you have never done it before. Inhale it, hold it a few seconds and then let it go.”
“I don't know, David.” She said. But the thing was, it had already done something to her. She had a funny warm feeling that was spreading through her body, and the worries she had come into this room with were gone. Not gone, she amended, not so much in evidence. She decided she liked that: Not so much in evidence was a much better way to put it. She looked up when David spoke her name. “What?”
Earth's Survivors Box Set [Books 1-7] Page 132
