Chapter 9

Beau decided that he had to hang around until the baby was born. Both John and Elsie had urged him to do so, and he was easy to convince. Life on the farm was a whole lot like it had been back in Alabama when he had been growing up. He'd lived in a big family with no slaves, so he was used to doing the necessary farm work. He found that he actually enjoyed the work because it reminded him of his very pleasant childhood.

Elsie had a midwife lined up, and she lived only about three miles away, so she felt like she was in good shape, no matter what might happen. Well, she should have known that something would happen to mess up her blissful delivery.

Her water broke in the middle of the night, of course, doesn't it always? Since Beau was the one with two arms, he rushed to the stable to hitch the mule to the buckboard. When the ride was ready, John insisted that he should be the one who drove to fetch the midwife. The mule was docile and used to John's awkward one-armed handling, so there should be no trouble. Besides, he was Elsie's husband, so he should be the one who did the fetching.

John was not to be dissuaded, so he drove off in a pelting rain. Meanwhile, labor pains had already started for Elsie to the point that she needed help just to move around. Beau helped by spreading the old sheets on the bed to soak up the expected blood and other stuff and then helped Elsie to remove her clothes and to lie down to wait for the midwife and the inevitable.

John returned in due course with the midwife, both of them soaking wet despite the slickers that they had been wearing. The midwife had thought ahead and brought a change of clothes wrapped in oilcloth, so she was able to get comfortable before starting to work with Elsie.

Meanwhile, John also changed clothes while Beau took care of the mule in the barn. After that, both men sat down in the kitchen and started to drink coffee to "calm their nerves." After the fourth pot of coffee, neither one could face another cup of coffee, so they fell to talking about what to do after the baby came. If one listened carefully to the conversation, it seemed apparent that Beau was not going anywhere, short of necessity. Both men had grand plans of how to raise the child, no matter whether it was a boy or a girl. Furthermore, John insisted that, if Elsie wanted it, there would be more than one child fathered by Beau.

The midwife showed up in the kitchen every once in a while for some coffee and to report on Elsie's progress. She maintained that Elsie was progressing normally for a first child, and it should appear by noon, but probably not before then. Both men groaned at that, but the midwife had expected the reaction. She had enough experience to know that, except for the pain of the delivery, a birth was always harder on the husband than on the wife. What she didn't know was that there were two de facto husbands. Oh, well, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

One of the settlements reached between the two men was that Beau would take over for John if something happened to him. Nobody was expecting any problems, but this seemed like a good time to John to settle the matter. Beau was very happy to accommodate John's heart-felt desire, because he felt the same way. Whatever might happen, Elsie and the children were going to be cared for as long as it was within the power of either man.

The midwife was almost exactly on the mark with her timing. It was 12:20 when the men heard the first cry from the new life in the bedroom. Both men jumped up and ran to the door, and it opened just as they got there. The midwife came out, holding a new baby boy. She led the men back into the room to visit with Elsie while the midwife got the baby cleaned up.

When the two men got to Elsie, she was still covered with sweat, but both men bumped heads as they leaned over to kiss her. All three laughed, and Beau moved back to allow John the first kiss. John got a damp cloth from the commode beside the bed and lovingly wiped Elsie's face. That was when she announced the name for their new son: John Beauregard Harris, and she wanted to call him "JB." That name rang a bell with both men, and they were happy to go along with Elsie on her choice.

The midwife fixed some broth for Elsie and left JB with her to nurse after the simple meal. The midwife then fixed a late lunch for all three of them, since none of them had eaten any regular food since supper the night before. In honor of the occasion, Beau paid the midwife her $2 fee and threw in a $1 tip out of sheer happiness. The woman was amazed to receive the money from Beau, but she was quite happy to get so much money for so little time invested. After lunch, Beau hitched up the mule for John to drive the midwife home.

It was about 2:00 PM when John left, and it was still lightly raining, but nothing like what they had driven through the previous night. The only questionable part of the short trip was over a rather wide, but bridged, creek. The bridge had been there for some time, so nobody expected any problems, just the aggravation of having to move around outside in the rain. It wasn't even a very cold rain, just cool enough to make the warmth from the slickers a welcomed addition. They left, and John promised to hurry back home.

Beau did some chores ordered by the midwife while Elsie and JB caught up on their sleep. It was not long after the chores were finished that Beau also nodded off. When Beau woke up, it was already dark, and John had not returned home! Beau was torn about what to say to Elsie. John was way overdue, but Beau did not want to worry Elsie over what might be a trivial matter. The rain was now pelting down again, so John may have been persuaded to stay over at the midwife's home until the weather cleared a bit. There was certainly no great need for him to rush home now that the "emergency" was over.