Chapter 6: Two New Members of the Tribe Are Born

Jason watched as his two lovers slowly lost their girlish figures. Not that he was any less attracted to either of them, in fact, it was just the opposite, and to him they never looked more beautiful. This was one of the things that he regretted about leaving the valley before Anna gave birth.

“I can’t go down there again. I just don’t have the energy anymore.”

“Then don’t Maria; this is not a race. Let it go for a while, just concentrate on the baby.” Jason said as he rubbed her shoulders, helping to relax her obviously tense muscles. He marveled at how her body looked, how they both looked, from the back you would never know that they were into their eighth month. Although they had both lost their waistlines and their hips were slightly more pronounced; it wasn’t until they turned sideways, that their extended bellies became obvious.

“Ooooh, that looks good,” said Carlita as she entered the bedroom after her morning workout; “I’m next. Then you can join me in the shower.”

“Maybe I’ll join you as well.”

Jason laughed. “I don’t think there’s room in there for the five of us; but you can join me after I take care of Carlita.”

Their showers took nearly an hour and by the end, Jason could barely stand but boy was he relaxed.

All during the pregnancy, they had seen their obstetrician and had taken natural childbirth classes. Jason had been introduced as the father of both babies, which earned him more than a few withering looks from the feminists in the group and hidden looks of respect from the expectant fathers.

As their due dates approached, they confirmed their final arrangements with the birthing center of their local hospital. Because money doesn’t just talk, it screams, when faced with any obstruction to its owner’s desire, they were able to share one of the birthing rooms. This way Jason, as coach, could be available to both expectant mothers.

Their contractions started within an hour of each other. Jason got the car packed and ready, while the ladies changed and prepared themselves for the event to come. From early afternoon, the contractions were sporadic at first, but by late evening, they were regular and more frequent. Maria and Carlita made a game out of this first stage of active labor. They went to the kitchen and with each contraction paced around the breakfast table and after the contraction passed, they squatted.

“Should you two be doing that,” Jason asked with a worried expression on his face.

“Absolutely, it will help us to dilate faster. In the valley, many of the women continue their workday as if nothing has changed. Anna told us that she only stopped working about two hours before her child was born.”

When the time between their contractions was about five minutes, Jason called their doctor.

“Okay, since you’re about an hour away, I think it would be a good idea for you to leave now; I’ll meet you there.”

The hardest part of the trip was the very beginning; getting two very pregnant women in to the back of his SUV. As they traveled, Maria said, “I hope our water doesn’t break, it would be a shame to ruin the leather seats.”

Jason looked at them both in the rearview mirror and just smiled. “Don’t you worry about the seats, just pray that we don’t hit any traffic jams, or I’ll have to deliver the babies myself.”

When they reached the center, the women were wheeled into the facility, while Jason parked the car and checked in at the desk.

“We have a little bit of an issue,” the attendant at the front desk exclaimed, “Your insurance company is refusing to cover both of the women. They say that they can’t both be your common law wives.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for the one that they refuse to pay for,” he said as he handed her his credit card.” Would a fifty-thousand-dollar deposit be sufficient for now?”

The attendant accepted the card and was more than a little shocked when the charge was approved.

“I anticipated this happening so I made arrangements with the credit card company. Can I go in now?”

“Have a seat over there; a nurse will be out shortly to get you.”

When Jason finally was let inside, he found both women in their birthing chairs and their doctor calmly talking to them. “It looks like you both are doing great. It shouldn’t be long now. I wish all my mothers kept themselves in as good shape as you two.”

She turned as Jason came into the room. “You cut it a little close, but they’re all set now for the final push so to speak. I’ll be back in a little while to check on them again.”

Jason assumed his position as coach between them, offering his right hand to Maria and his left hand to Carlita, just as the head nurse entered the room. He looked up just in time to catch the expression of absolute disgust on her face. Apparently, she had just been told that he was the father of both babies. He was grateful that she did not have a scalpel in her hand because she looked like she would have castrated him if she could.

And then the next contraction hit.

“Okay, concentrate, breathe and push,” he coached to them. After about a minute as the contraction passed he wiped Maria’s forehead as she smiled up at him; and then he turned to Carlita so he could do the same for her.

“You did this to me. You just wait until we get out of here. We’re going to see if you can breathe and push and deal with the pain.” She still had his hand in hers and suddenly he felt as if his hand was just run over by a truck.

Thankfully, the doctor returned and after examining both of them, announced that the crown of the head was clearly visible. “You’re almost done; one more good push should do it.”

It actually took two. Carlita’s baby came out first, right into the waiting hands of the doctor. She had just enough time to hand the newly born baby girl to the head nurse and get in position in front of Maria when she gave one last push and her baby came into this world.

“Okay coach, you can step outside in the hall for a few minutes while we clean up here and check out the babies; but from what I could see they are both very healthy and very beautiful baby girls. Now go, daddy.”

Jason was allowed back in about thirty minutes later. Both women were holding their newly born girls to their chests and had smiles a mile wide on their faces. He looked down at each, gave four kisses and looked as proud as he could be.