Tales of the District

The nurse called the doctor who arrived in under a half an hour. She measured Claudia’s cervix and declared it to be 6 centimeters dilated. In moments, a stretcher arrived, and attendants maneuvered a moaning Claudia off the bed and onto the stretcher. Audrey and Rita Jane followed as they pushed the stretcher down a long hallway, onto an elevator and into the delivery room.

Audrey and Rita Jane stood on either side of Claudia, holding her hands, rubbing her back and giving her words of encouragement. Rita Jane was officially the coach, but it was soon clear that Audrey, having already had four children, knew how to anticipate what Claudia needed better than Rita Jane.

Rita Jane mostly held Claudia’s hand and let her squeeze as tight as she needed to during the contractions. Claudia’s cries of pain disturbed Rita Jane deeply. When a particularly bad pain struck, Rita Jane ran into the hallway looking for someone to help Claudia. The nurse offered an epidural, but Claudia didn’t want any painkillers. She bravely endured each contraction, and Rita Jane felt pride and love as she watched her partner endure the pain.

After several hours of active labor, Claudia fell asleep. Rita Jane offered to go to the cafeteria for coffee. She stopped by the ICU. Dave was alone with Dan. He left Dan to go talk to her.

“She’s in labor,” Rita Jane said.

“How’s it going?”

“It’s pretty awful. I don’t know what’s normal. How long can this go on?”

“With a first baby, a long time.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Well, I’ve heard of labor lasting up to three days. But they wouldn’t let Claudia go on that long. At her age, she’s a high-risk. If she doesn’t deliver within 24 hours, they’ll perform a cesarean.”

“Do you mind if I go in for a minute?” Rita Jane asked. Dave nodded, and slumped down in the chair, looking as though he would fall asleep right there.

Rita Jane sat down next to her friend and took his hand. Keyed up on adrenaline, she felt both exhausted and hyper-alert.

“It’s started, Dan,” she whispered. “She’s having the baby. God I wish you were with us. You have so much more patience than me. I just want this to be over with. I want all of this to be over with. I want to wake up and have the baby here, and have you sitting up in bed, all better, holding the baby.”

She stroked his arm, avoiding the tubes connecting him to life. “You better not die on me,” she said, more angrily than she had intended. “I mean it.”

She concentrated with all her might on the image of Dan, alive, healthy, happy, holding the child. With all the power at her disposal, she willed her friend to live. Sitting on the chair next to him, clasping both of her hands around his, she bent her head and prayed.

She returned to the delivery room feeling somewhat calmer. Claudia was still sleeping intermittently. Rita Jane sent Audrey out to take a break, and settled in next to her partner, waiting. The doctor had also left the room to check on another patient.

She must have dozed herself, because the next thing she remembered was Claudia saying, “The baby’s coming.” And sure enough, there was the top of the head, and the doctor was telling Claudia to push and Audrey was holding Claudia’s hand and reminding her to breath, and Rita Jane was looking on in amazement. Claudia rallied a last burst of strength pushing as hard as she could, and the next thing they knew there was a bloody, screaming, baby boy. All three women gasped at the child. Rita Jane had been convinced that it was going to be a girl, but then she realized a boy was perfect. She looked at Claudia who said, “Now we know what to name the baby.”

Rita Jane nodded.

The doctor cut the umbilical cord and passed the baby to Claudia who held him close to her heart. “Hello, Daniel Canavan Connors Spencer. Welcome to the world.”

Rita Jane left the delivery room to tell her family and friends, who had been anxiously awaiting the news. “It’s a boy,” she said proudly. He’s beautiful, and Claudia is fine, too.”

Her mother hugged her. “Congratulations. That is great news. Now you need to go get some rest.”

“I need to go tell Dan first,” Rita Jane said. “Will you come with me?”

As they walked through the maze of corridors between obstetrics and ICU, Rita Jane realized there would never be a better time to tell her mother about Claudia.

“Mom, you know before when I said that I wasn’t a lesbian. Well, I’m still not sure if I am, but Claudia is my girlfriend. Or partner. Whatever you want to call it.”

“We figured that out, dear.” Leigh said. “We didn’t believe you were going to raise a child with a stranger.”

“But I didn’t lie to you,” Rita Jane insisted. “At your house I was telling you the truth. We weren’t together then.”

Her mother murmured, “Uh huh.”

“I swear to God, I wasn’t lying,” Rita Jane said, but realized she didn’t have the energy to argue further. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me, too.”

They arrived at Dan’s room. He looked amazingly peaceful despite the tubes and machines that connected him to life. Dave saw her through the glass window and left the room.

“It’s a boy,” she said. “We named him Daniel Canavan Connors Spencer.”

“That’s a wonderful name,” Dave said.

“Do you mind if I tell him?” Rita Jane asked.

“Of course not,” Dave said.

Rita Jane crossed herself reflexively before entering Dan’s room, a gesture that startled her. She sat down next to his side and took his hand.

“I’ve got good news,” she began. “Claudia had the baby. It’s a boy. We named him after you.” She fought back tears. “Listen Dan, you have got to get better. We need you, and your son needs a father. You have absolutely got to get better. Do you hear me?”

Dan lay unresponsive.

“I mean it Dan. I absolutely will not have you go and die on me right now. You’ve got to get better.”

The tears were close to coming. She stood up to leave and when she bent over to kiss him, she could have sworn she saw his eyelids flickering.