Chapter 5

Two days after the photo session, Prudence went into labor. Constance called Bobby in a panic.

“Drive her to the hospital,” said Bobby.

“I can’t drive! I’m freaking out!” shrieked Constance.

“Constance!” he yelled, into the phone. “She needs you right now. She’s always been there for you. Now it’s your turn to be there for her. Come on, baby ... it’s easy. Just put her in the car, and drive to the hospital. They’ll take it from there.”

“Okay, okay,” moaned Constance.

“Stay there with her,” said Bobby. “Mamma wants to be there to help her. I’ll get Mamma and meet you there, okay?”

“Okay, okay!” said Constance, sounding a little stronger. “You’ll be there, right? Promise me you’ll be there!”

“I’ll be right there with you,” he said.

“Okay, okay!” She slammed down the phone.

Mirriam was taking a nap. She’d worked that morning at the mill. He went in and kissed her awake, taking the opportunity to cop a quick feel of her breast.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sleepily, as her eyes opened. “Stop that!” She brushed is hand away.

“Prudence is in labor,” he said softly.

“What!” She shot up as if there were springs in her back. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I just did,” he said, grinning.

She was ready within minutes. She dressed comfortably, because she was going in the labor and delivery room with her friend, and might have to stay all night. It would all depend on how the labor went.

When Bobby got to the hospital, he saw Prudence’s car in the parking lot. They couldn’t find Constance in the emergency room, and went on up to the floor where labor and delivery were. Constance was there, pacing. When she saw them she threw herself in Bobby’s arms and gripped him tightly. Mirriam took the time to raise one eyebrow at Bobby, who grinned back, and went to tell the nurse who she was, and be taken to Prudence.

Constance was frantic, and remained that way until Bobby forcefully took her head between his hands and put a lip lock on her. She stiffened, then moaned, and then wilted. He caught her and sat her in a chair in the waiting room.

“Why’d you do that?” she said, her eyes still not focused.

“You were a little crazy,” he said. “I had to get your attention.”

“You sure did that,” she said, her voice dreamy.

“Now that you’re calm ... did you bring your mother’s suitcase?”

“Suitcase?” Constance’s eyes cleared and she gasped. “I forgot!”

“Then let’s go get it,” he said, grinning. “We probably have plenty of time.”

Constance had been on an emotional high already. Bobby’s kiss had calmed her panic, but had only ratcheted up her emotional state.

They took the truck, and Constance scooted over next to Bobby and clutched his arm.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I’m just so nervous.”

“This happens all the time,” he said. “She’ll be fine.”

“Easy for you to say,” she said. “All you did was get her pregnant ... you don’t have to have the baby! She sounded like it hurt so bad.”

Bobby drove silently for a minute. “She told you, huh?”

“That you’re the Daddy? Yes.” She didn’t pull away. “Besides, we saw you doing it, remember?”

“You never said anything about it,” he said.

“What was there to say?” she asked.

They arrived at the house and Constance jumped out. She ran to the house and returned almost immediately with the suitcase. She put it in the bed and got back in.

Again, she scooted over and took his arm.

“Are you ever going to kiss me again like that?” she asked.

“Do you want me to?”

“Maybe,” she said.

Doctor Michael Foster extracted his fingers from the vagina of Prudence Harris, and announced that effacement of the cervix had reached the point where it was necessary to move to the delivery room. The mother was doing all right, now that her friend was here with her.

Thirty minutes later, Doctor Foster cupped his hands and squatted, like a catcher, to receive the baby that fairly burst out of her distorted vaginal opening.

Prudence gave a sigh of relief as her latest push produced the desired result. She lifted her head weakly, trying to see.

“A boy!” announced Doctor Foster. “Quite handsome too. I’d say he’s at least six and a half, maybe seven pounds.” He handed the baby to a nurse, who wrapped it in a towel and took it to do all the things that they do to newborn babies.

Prudence stared at her abdomen, which wasn’t so full or strained as it had been, but still seemed too large.

“What’s going on?” she panted.

“It’s time to push the second one out,” said the doctor. “Just like you did before, Prudence. Give me a nice, big push when you feel the next contraction.”

“Second one?” Prudence sounded lost.

“Twins!” gasped Mirriam. She leaned over to kiss Prudence on her sweaty forehead, and then wiped it with a towel.

“I suspected as much,” said Doctor Foster. “But I wasn’t sure, and didn’t want to give you false hope.”

“Twins?” Prudence moaned. Her face twisted, as her abdomen rippled with a contraction.

“Big breath!” said the doctor. “Now ... puuuuuuuuuuuuuush!”

Bobby had finally fallen asleep, after hours of sitting and waiting. He would have gotten up and walked around, but Constance fell asleep on him. She had turned to face him, and used his lap as her pillow, while she stretched her legs out on the couch they were sitting on. It had been a problem, for a while, because as she rubbed her cheek on the front of his pants, to get comfortable, it had gotten lumpy. She’d pretended not to notice, and was so tired she just closed her eyes and fell asleep.

There were girls draped across each other on every other piece of furniture in the room. Bobby had called home, to tell whoever answered where their mother was. It had been Bev who answered. Once she knew her best friend was at the hospital, her enthusiasm for being there had been communicable, and they all came, in Bobby’s new car.

Bobby was shaken awake by his mother, who was smiling tiredly.

“You can see them now,” she said.

What she meant was that Bobby could see the twins, in their hospital bassinets. What Bobby thought she meant was that he could see Prudence and their baby.

He woke Constance, who rubbed her cheek in his lap again as she woke up, making Mirriam’s eyebrows rise. She had once asked Bobby if he was sleeping with this girl, and had believed him when he had answered in the negative. Constance seemed awfully at home with his manhood, though, as her hand came up, inserted itself between cheek and said manhood, and lay her head back down on her cheek. It only took a second for Mirriam to see, though, that the girl wasn’t actually trying to feel Bobby’s penis. She was just trying to go back to sleep, and her hand simply covered an uncomfortable lump.

Mirriam was trying to be quiet. She had made that decision as soon as she entered the waiting room and saw her whole family there. It was three in the morning, and the last thing that was needed was a group of eight excited teenagers all making noise as they got excited. It was for that reason that she pressed her fingers to Constance’s lips, when she shook the girl.

Now Constance’s eyes popped open, and blinked.

“Shhhhh,” said Mirriam, putting one finger to her own lips. “Come with me.”

Constance woke more, realized the import of Mirriam being there, and bounded up off of Bobby, who rose more slowly, stretching.

“Is it a girl!?” asked Constance, excitedly.

“Shhhhh!” hissed Mirriam again.

“Is it?” whispered Constance.

Mirriam smiled and nodded, and then pushed a dancing Constance out of the door, before she started making noise again.

She didn’t take them to see Prudence, though. Instead she took them to the nursery, which had the lights on day and night. There were three bassinets lined up, facing the windows. One had a name on it, but was empty at the moment. The other two had name cards that said: “Katherine Harris” and “Kyle Harris”. Mirriam stood back and waited for the young ones to figure it out.

Constance zeroed in on Katherine, who happened to be the first one she saw. She then ignored the other one.

“That’s my baby sister?” she crooned, already obviously in love with the baby. “She’s so tiny!”

Bobby had seen both names. He turned and looked at his mother, who was grinning from ear to ear. She nodded.

“She’s a baby,” he said, turning back to put a hand on Constance’s shoulder. The girl immediately tucked her shoulder into his armpit, and put an arm around his waist.

“She’s gorgeous,” sighed Constance. “Her name is Katherine,” she said, as if nobody else could read.

“Your little brother isn’t bad either,” said Bobby, conversationally.

“What?”

“Kyle ... over there,” said Bobby, pointing with a finger of the hand draped over her shoulder.

“What?” The girl’s head swiveled.

“What! ... Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh! Bobby, there are two of them!”

“Your mother had twins,” said Mirriam, grinning.

Then Constance danced again, babbling. She hugged Mirriam, and then hugged Bobby, and then looked at the babies and then did it all over again.

“Wake up!” whispered Constance, as she shook Bev awake. That necessitated waking up Linda too, because they had fallen asleep leaning against each other. “Ask me if I got a sister!”

“Huh?” asked Bev, sleepily. “What time is it?”

“Ask me if I got a sister, Bev!” hissed Constance.

Bev’s eyes opened wide, and she was suddenly awake. “A sister!? Oh Connie, I’m so happy for you!” She jumped up, and Linda flopped down, suddenly without support. She pushed herself back up, rubbing her eyes.

“Ask me!” said Constance, insistent and grinning.

Bev rolled her eyes. “Connie, did you get a sister?”

“Yes, I did,” said Constance, folding her arms across her chest. “Now, ask me if I got a brother.”

“Of course you didn’t get a brother!” said Bev, looking confused. “You just said you got...”

“Ask me!” insisted Constance again.

“Okay ... did you get a brother?”

“Yes, I did!” squealed Constance, and she started dancing with Bev, who caught on and squealed with her.

Two nurses came to frown and tell them all to quiet down. Eventually Bobby herded them all out into the parking lot and told them to go home. They wouldn’t do it until he put them in his car himself, stuffing three in the front, and four in the back. Then Constance complained that she wanted to go too. He told Flo to drive his car and put Connie in her own, getting in to drive it. His mother was staying the night with Prudence, and the nurse had told him that, as a friend of the family, he couldn’t see Prudence until around ten in the morning. Constance babbled almost half of the way home, sitting by the open window, and then, suddenly scooted over to hug Bobby’s arm again, pressing her breast into it and laying her head on his shoulder.

“You gave me a sister and a brother,” she sighed.

“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling.

“I was really mad at you ... at first,” she said. “I thought it was gross that a boy would do that with my mother.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think your mother is a beautiful woman.”

“I know that now,” she said. “I get it, now. I’m not mad any more. I understand that Mamma loves you, now. I love you too.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“You can kiss me any time you want to,” she said, looking up at him.

“That’s how things started with your mother,” said Bobby, smiling. “Are you ready to have twins?”