Chapter 7

Tyler Scott Nolan was five weeks old when his oldest sister went into labor. Breeanne had quit her job two weeks after Tyler was born, since they didn’t offer maternity leave of absence. So, she spent her free weeks helping her mother with Tyler. It was while she was rocking and burping Tyler, after Carol had nursed him, that she felt a sudden deluge of wetness in her maternity sweatpants. Looking down, expecting to see blood, all she saw was a wet spreading stain. Luckily, Carol was right there to reassure Breeanne, though this was her second child. Carol took her son from her daughter, so she could get dry. Breeanne didn’t immediately begin having cramps, but about two hours after her water broke, they began. Since Marley was home, she helped and took notes, as she would soon be going through the same things. It was late in the afternoon, so with Marley keeping Tyler, Carol drove her daughter to the hospital, first calling Eddie to inform him. He promised he would meet them at the hospital, since he was all but finished at school for the day, and being a Friday, for the week. When he arrived, Breeanne was in a room being checked by her obstetrician and an attending nurse. Eddie and Carol waited for them to finish, then Carol went to check on her daughter while Eddie called Edward to update him. Luckily, he did not have duty. Steven was updated by Marley, who heard everything from Carol. Edward arrived at five-thirty.

Breeanne was having contractions, though not that close together. Her doctor wanted to send her home, but since this was not her first child, he decided to wait. As it turned out, Breeanne endured fourteen hours of labor before giving birth to a seven-and-a-half-pound girl, who they named Nancy Marie Nolan. The birth certificate listed the father as unknown, just like her first child. Eddie and Carol were not happy that their daughter was open to ridicule. Edward had offered to put himself down as the father, but Eddie talked him out of it, incase it was revealed that Eddie was both his and Breeanne’s father. While Breeanne was in labor, Carol had gone home to feed Tyler and relieve Marley of his responsibility. She decided to bring the whole family back with her, and she just stayed in the waiting room with Tyler, where any of the rest of the family could take him over, if she were called upon to be with Breeanne. After Nancy was taken to Breeanne for her first feeding, she was tearful for the opportunity to be a real mother for the first time, and Carol was very penitent for making her give up her first child. By Saturday afternoon, the family went home, to allow Breeanne to care for her baby girl under the watchful eyes of the nurses, and to attempt to get some rest. Two births down, one to go.

Between the birth of Tyler and Nancy, Eddie had taken two opportunities to meet with Sandra, since she was ostensibly in her fertile period. While Carol was home caring for Tyler, Veronica was a frequent visitor. This was after she got off work, of course, but she was looking forward to the time she could put in for maternity leave of absence, since her company offered it as one of her benefits, though management was surprised she would need to take advantage of it. Her coworkers were congratulatory and happy about her condition. There were comments about her husband finally staying in port long enough to get the job done. She was effervescent about her impending happy event, which she communicated to Carol many times. After Breeanne brought Nancy home, Veronica was happy to help out both mothers with their young offspring, in order to keep in practice. It was finally determined that Breeanne and Marley would ‘bunk’ together, and Eddie converted Marley’s room to a nursery capable of housing three babies. That way, each mother would have a sanctuary to go to, when not actually caring for a hungry, or soiled baby. The trick would be to determine which mother had to get up at night. Eddie solved that problem by partitioning off the individual cribs and putting a baby monitor in each cubicle, then putting the receiver to the individual monitor next to the respective mother’s bedside. In theory, the baby that fussed would be loud and clear for its mother, but subdued, or muffled somewhat for the other two mothers. It worked sometimes.

Two weeks after Nancy’s birth, Marley was miserable. She was almost regretting getting knocked up, because she felt like a beached whale. Despite all her youthful vigor, she sometimes felt enervated. Her moaning and groaning about her discomfort was becoming tedious for Carol, but she tried to encourage her young daughter to tough it out! Some evenings, after dinner, and with Eddie watching television, Marley would sit on his lap, letting him stroke her distended abdomen. Carol often sat in her chair, holding Tyler, and chuckled at the spectacle. It was on a night when Nancy was nearly a month old, during one of these events that Carol heard Eddie suddenly intake his breath and exclaim:

“Marley! Did you just piss on me? You’ve got you and I all wet. Now my chair is going to smell of urine. Get up, Sweetheart!”

“Oh, I don’t feel like I’m peeing, Daddy, but I feel the wetness.” She cried, jumping off her father’s lap.

With both father and daughter standing up and surveying their soaked condition, Carol took a look and commented:

“I think that was just your water breaking, Marley. I guess your time has come at last. Let’s get you two changed and we’ll wait to see if you start into labor. If you start contractions, we’ll time them and decide when to take you to the hospital. Personally, I’m glad the other shoe has dropped. Once you deliver, the three Nolan mommies can enjoy raising our little ones together.”

Eddie marveled once more about the new Carol and could only imagine how different her reaction would have been a year ago.

On her way to change clothes, Marley stopped off at Steven’s room, to let him know, and then let Breeanne know when she went to their room. The family excitement level ratcheted up a couple notches and everyone congregated in the family room. All eyes were on Marley, and she became self-conscious:

“Get a grip, people! I’m not going to split open and spew out an alien. I know I may start having contractions soon, or it may take up to about twelve hours. I just need you guys to support me, because I’m really scared!” she sobbed.

“We’re here for you, Honey!” Carol assured her daughter, then going and hugging her.

“Well, I suggest everyone go back to what they were doing, before Marley gave us both a bath. I’m going to just sit and watch TV, unless anyone objects. Marley, Honey, do you want to sit on my lap again or are you too anxious?” Eddie announced.

“Thank you, daddy, but I’ll just sit on the couch with mom and Tyler. I’m sure you’ll all know it, if I have a contraction.”

The family all settled in to await any further signs of Marley’s impending delivery. Eventually, everyone went off to bed and Eddie was awakened around four in the morning:

“Eddie, Honey, I didn’t want to wake you unnecessarily, but Marley is having regular contractions now and I think we should take her to the hospital. I’ve already called, and they’re expecting us. Do you want to go with us, or get some more sleep?” Carol asked.

“What kind of a father would I be to let my little girl go off to a scary maternity ward without me?” he said groggily.

“You know you’ll spend most of your time in the waiting room, right?” Carol reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah, but she’ll know her daddy will be nearby, just in case she wants me to hold her hand.” Eddie responded.

After going with Marley and Carol to the desk to get his daughter checked in, Eddie took his thermal mug full of homebrewed coffee to the waiting room. There were two other men and one woman already there and they exchanged pleasantries, then lapsed into their own individual zone of silence. About an hour later, Carol came in to tell Eddie that it may be a long labor, as Marley was barely dilated a ‘three’. Eddie told his wife they should take this opportunity to get something from the cafeteria. She declined, telling him she was going to remain with their daughter, and may go later, if Marley’s labor dragged out for a longer period. She did put in a call to Breeanne, who was caring for Tyler and Nancy by herself, since Steven felt he needed to be in school, where he would be texted with any updates. Eddie called the school, to let them know he would be out for the day, and gave a succinct reason why. He then sat at a table in the cafeteria, consuming his food automatically as he ruminated on the issue at hand. As his mind sought to sort out his immediate plans concerning his three new household additions, he was cognizant of the repercussions which could ensue by their requesting DNA tests for Tyler, Nancy and whomever Marley delivered. The DNA would show close maternal matches, since they were mother and daughters, but the real bombshell would be the revelations on the paternal side. Eddie was concerned that some do-gooder at the DNA lab may decide to report the findings, but since they were going through a private lab, who took great measures to ensure anonymity, he hoped his concerns were of no consequence. As he was finishing up his meal, he received a text from Carol. Marley was going into hard labor and had dilated to an ‘eight’. That boded well for a shorter labor than he and Carol had anticipated. Consequently, he went back to the waiting room.