Chapter 10

God works in mysterious ways at times. Or perhaps I should clarify that with his timing some times is, spot on. And I will have to give him the credit for not only dishing out all we seem to be able to handle but those times where just the right people are in just the right place to make life very palatable.

First off, that 'Cute as a Button' Mary did us a real nice one. Sure the new set of towels was great with many more than we could use, but the robes were a treasure.

Right after Susan wheeled the cart into the bathroom, Sandy squealed. Laughing, she dashed out to me, cutely wrapped in a yellow one. "Mary sent one up just for me," she happily cried. She did her 'I'm excited' dance, jumping and doing a twirling pirouette. It was perfect for her.

I hadn't thought what she'd look like in an adult robe, but Mary must have done a little research or had heard a description of my crew. Sending up the robe for Sandy was a nice touch.

Now the timing I was talking about happened right on schedule. Susan had just finished as I walked back into the bathroom, watching her run the brush and dryer through her hair giving the ends a little curl. Sandy was grinning broadly as Claire worked on her's.

'Somehow', I thought, 'I hope ours is going to be a girl.'. I could see Claire was so happy sharing girlie things with Sandy.

I laughed to myself as I added to that thought. 'The next two can be boys.'.

Claire was right there catching me in my little bit of reverie.

"What?"

Reflexively, I blurted out, "Just thinking it would be nice for us to have a girl and then two boys."

Zoom, up went that elevator she had attached to her forehead. On eyebrow... 'Going UP!' I could hear it, the elevator grinding up the 'Shaft' I was sure to get with the operator calling out:

'Second Floor; Neverland featuring the Not-On-Your-Life Roller Coaster

'Third Floor; Housewares and the Not-If-You-Want-To-Touch-Me-Ever-Again Cookware. Plus over in the far corner our patented sets of Very Sharp, Long Knives.'

Blanking out the rise of that image of the elevator, I smiled and said, "Just joking."

"Hey Bub," Claire said to me, "Let's just take this all one at a time."

Then she gave me an image I'll never forget. "It ain't going to be easy shoving a football sized object out of me down there. Remember, it's you who has to catch it.

"You're going to be there for all the yelling, screaming and whatever else happens ... Come hell or high water!

"Like I said, let's take this, one at a time."

I'm never going to ask Claire but I was sure the cheeks on my face wound up tinted with just a hint of green. I guess there was no reason why I shouldn't be in on it all and suffer the effects of childbirth with her. I just wasn't prepared for it, visually, right then.

My reaction was to take a swallow ... OK a HUGE gulp. But within a second Claire swatted Sandy on her butt saying, "Done Squirt."

So back to the timing I was mentioning. No sooner was Sandy up on her feet that there was a knock on the door. She made a beeline to the door and as I heard it open, more squeals of joy.

"Jim, Claire, Aunt Susan ... Come here ... Quick. Look what they brought!"

Well at the first squeal, Claire was up and wondering what the hell was going on. Then it was a dash for all of us to see what had Sandy so excited. As I got out of the bathroom doorway and far enough to see into the living room, there was a guy standing behind one cart which had some tall glasses on it.

Now I mean, Real Tall Glasses. Plus there were a couple of tubs of something on the cart too but I couldn't make out what they were.

Wheeling in behind that cart was Mary again, also pushing a cart carrying at least a half dozen liters of, you guessed it, Root Beer Soda. Plus there were some regular glasses on her cart and one of those banquet style food warmers, covering the surprise it held.

Mary said, "Hi. Thought you might like some Root Beer Floats. So, I brought along Karl to whip them up for you.

"Sorry I can't stay.

"You guys have fun. See you later."

With that she was gone. Karl on the other hand got going immediately, "I've got vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to make your floats with.

"Who's first?" he asked.

Claire and I had settled onto the settee, Susan was sitting on the edge of the bed and Sandy, well, she was her excited self, right there on the other side of the cart from Karl. It was funny because she was jumping up and down, saying, 'Me ... Me ... Me', and he acted just like she wasn't there.