Read Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) Online
Authors: Kathleen Reagan
“Baby,
you will be alright.
I know you
are scared but I will be here with you until the midwife gets here.
Just hold my hands through the
contractions. Baby, do not hold your breath, it will tire you out too
quickly.
Now breathe.
Take slow deep breaths.
Look at me.
Now breathe with me.
Good girl.
Has it passed?
Good.
See you can do it.
We will get through it together.
Joan, I want to wait a while before calling the midwife.
She will want to send me away and your
mistress needs me right now.
We
have a guest down in the parlor.
If you will have Jenkins show him to my study and tell him to make
himself at home and help himself to the liquor cabinet.
His belongings are being sent from his
rooms at the club.
If you will see
that he is shown to his rooms when he is ready.”
That taken care of John returned his attention to Eirian
just as the next contraction hit her.
It was even more intense than the first one, but he had her breathe with
him and talked her through it.
She
had just barely relaxed from the second contraction when she was hit with the
third.
Even John knew that was too
soon.
He was a little panicked now
himself.
Things were progressing
too fast.
When the next one hit
almost back to back she began to trash about.
John held her face in his hands and put his face almost nose
to nose with hers, “You must calm down now baby.
You have work to do.
I am here with you.
We can
do this together.”
“Let
go of me you incredible fool.
You
try pushing this out of your body and see how calm you are.” Her eyes got
huge,
“Oh John, I am sorry.
I didn’t mean it.”
She began to cry.
John
could not help but laugh.
“It’s
alright sweetheart.
I do not blame
you for feeling that way.
You
really are being brave.”
She
was hit again with an even stronger contraction and she couldn’t suppress the
moan that escaped even though she was trying so hard to be brave.
“Where
is that woman?”
John was beginning
to panic himself.
She was only
supposed to take a message to Jenkins to take care of their guest.
Things were going too fast.
They needed the midwife now.
Eirian
was moaning with each contraction now.
He had to do something. “Sweetheart, I hate to leave you even for a
minute, but I need to call Joan back from downstairs.
Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
He rushed out the door and went to the
head
of the stairs.
“Joan, Joan I need you right now!” he
yelled down the stairs.
He
immediately heard several sets of rapid footsteps coming up the stairs.
He had already turned around and was
headed back to the room when he heard Eirian scream out in pain.
He ran back to the bedside to find her
straining to push the baby out.
Oh
God, the midwife was not going to make it.
What was he going to do?
Just then he heard the footsteps entering the door behind
him.
“John,
move aside and let me check her.”
Gone was any hit of humor. Andrew was using his professional voice.
“You don’t think I am going to let
you touch her do you?
You sure as
hell aren’t going to be checking anything.”
John snarled.
“Have you forgotten that I am a
physician as well as a scoundrel?”
Just then Eirian was racked with another contraction.
She began pushing again.
“Seriously John, the midwife is not
going to make it.
Are you prepared
to deliver you own child?” He stared into John’s panic stricken face,
“I though not.
Move aside and let me check her before
the next contraction starts.
Eirian, honey, all kidding aside, I am a trained physician.
I can help you if you will let me.
I need you to relax your legs so I can
see if the baby is coming down the birth canal.
A little wider please.
Look Daddy, do you see the baby’s hair?
You are going to have a baby soon Eirian.
I need you to work with me on the next
contraction.
John, sit behind her
with your legs on either side of her. Let her rest against you between
contractions, but when she is having a contraction pull back on her legs and
hold them back so she can push harder.
Now Eirian, I need you to hold your breath and push really hard with the
next contraction.
Here we go.”
Drew encouraged them both through
the next contraction and the next several.
“We are getting close now,” he said as he massaged the
perineum and tried to stretch it so that it did not tear.
John appreciated his help, but he was
not sure he liked his best friend touching his wife so intimately even now
under these circumstances.
“We should have us baby in the next
push or two.
When you feel it
coming on hold your breath as long as you can and push really hard until I tell
you to breathe.
Here we go, let’s
have a baby now.”
Eirian followed
his instructions and pushed with all her might until she let out a triumphant
scream as their baby girl slipped into the world.
“Congratulations, it’s a perfect,
beautiful, little girl.”
John and
Eirian were holding each other and crying with joy, as the baby wailed
indignantly. “Joan, wipe her off and wrap her before you hand her to her
mother.
Eirian you did a great
job.
You were a lucky lady.
Most first time mothers are in labors
for hours, usually all day.
Have
you been having pains today?”
Drew
questioned her as he waited for the contraction that would expel the
afterbirth.
“Well my back has been hurting all
day and I had been having catches in my side that made me double over like at
the dinner table.”
She replied.
“John, she truly is amazing.
She has been in labor all day and
entertained us at dinner no less.
Madame, you were obviously made to have babies.”
Eirian grabbed John’s hand again as
she was hit with another contraction.
She could not understand what was going on.
Drew reached forward to press on her abdomen.
“Well Madame, it looks like your job is
not over yet.
We have another baby
that wants to make its appearance.”
Eirian was dumbfounded.
John whispered “Twins? You are not
serious are you?
This is no time
to joke.”
Drew instructed Eirian to push again
with the next contraction.
Things
did not progress as easily this time.
Eirian worked for several minutes to push the unborn twin from her body,
but was making no progress.
“Honey, after the next contraction I
need to check you.
It may be
uncomfortable, but I must check the baby’s position.”
The contraction over, Drew deeply palpated Eirian’s
womb.
The look of concern on his
face terrified John. “Honey we have a bit of a problem. It is not uncommon with
twins that one will be upside down.
This baby is breech and you are not large enough to deliver it bottom
first…” before he could finish John moaned and turned white as a sheet.
Drew thought he was going to have two
patients on his hands.
“Let me finish.
We need to turn the baby.
It may be painful, but you can do it
Eirian.
All right, we will start
after the next contraction.
I know
it will be difficult, but do not push again until I tell you it is alright.”
Eirian whimpered, but tried so hard not
to scream through the next contraction.
As soon as the contraction passed Drew placed the side of his open hand
on the lower part of Eirian’s womb and pushed up lifting the baby away from the
birth canal. He then placed one open hand at the top and one at the bottom of
her womb and slowly working them rotating them clockwise.
Drew continued working between
contractions as John watched the baby slowly rotate into place.
“Alright Honey, push with all your
might the next contraction.”
In
three more contractions Eirian’s son, who like his sister, entered the world
screaming his displeasure.
John was showering Eirian’s face
with kisses.
He was so grateful
that Eirian had been delivered safely of not only one,
but
two babies.
He could not believe
his good fortune.
Eirian was still in shock.
She had never considered it might be
twins.
A boy and a girl, she was
so blessed.
She felt another
contraction, but this one was not as strong as the others.
She looked up at Drew and he laughed,
“Not another one this time, it is just the after birth trying to be
expelled.”
Soon that process was
completed as well.
Drew checked
her one more time and pronounced her successfully delivered of two of the most
handsome babies he had ever seen.
He left it to Joan and the midwife, who had just arrived, to see to cleaning
her up and getting her comfortable.
John stayed with her the entire time
offering his support and congratulating her on a job well done.
After kissing his sleeping wife one
more time went down stairs to thank Drew again for his help.
When he entered the study he found Drew
pouring himself a stiff drink. “Hey hero, pour me one of those too.
Drew, no words can express my
gratitude.
Eirian and I will be
forever in your debt.”
He grabbed
his old friend in a bear hug.
“It was nothing. I just decided the
only way I was going to get your wife into bed with me was to deliver her
babies.” Drew could not let John get too comfortable after all.
“I take it all back.
You are an ass.”
John laughed. “Seriously, you did a
great job.
I did not know
physicians delivered babies, but I am so grateful you did.
After losing Johane in childbirth, I
was terrified.
I would not survive
another loss like that.”
“It was nothing.
I enjoy helping new lives into the
world.
It is not that physicians
don’t deliver babies, it is just that most women, and their husbands, prefer to
have a woman attend them.”
“We are going to have our hands full
with three babies in nine months. I do not know whether to be proud or
embarrassed.”
John laughed.
“Three?” Andrew was confused. Little
John and the other children had been asleep already when they arrived so Andrew
was not even aware of the baby’s existence.
John realized his mistake and wished
that he could take his last statement back.
He knew that Drew would be like a dog with a bone and not
turn loose until he had all the juicy details.
“Well old man, you surprised
me.
Let me see, you were married
just over seven months ago and tonight you were presented with not one, but two
nice big healthy babies.
No
premature babies there.
Who would
have thought you had it in you. Not what I would have though was your style old
man. I have to tell you, if it were my wife, I’d be saying that those babies
had better be looking a lot like me.”
“That, my friend, is none of your
business.
I would appreciate you
not speculating on my children’s conception, as it is also none of your
business.
You would be wise to
remember that I do not take slander of my wife kindly, even from my oldest
friend.”
“You know I am not thinking anything
more than what everyone else is thinking.
They are just too polite to mention it to your face. It happens in the
best of families, it just seems out of character for you is all I am saying.
You are usually so proper and such a
rule follower.
This little miss
must have really gotten under your skin for you to cast caution to the wind and
defy convention.” Drew said.