ATOP Chapter Seventy

Mac was later to call it one of the most terrifying days in all of his entire life. But also one of the most wonderful.

It had started in the middle of the night, Katie's pains. She had lain awake for nearly an hour, muffling her groans into the pillow before he woke up, instantly alarmed, and almost angry at her for not waking him up earlier. She only laughed between breaths and told him it was nothing to worry about, that it wasn't quite time yet. But her face was white. It wasn't until the sun started to rise that she finally allowed him to drive her to the hospital... and he drove much faster than he should have.

He had never felt so miserably helpless before, not even when they took his leg off, as he pulled his rickety old farm truck to a stop in the hospital parking lot, hearing Katie's moans of pain. She was trying to stay quiet, for his sake. That only made him feel worse. He was out of the truck almost before it stopped rolling, scooping her up in his arms. Her face was chalk white, but she smiled up at him.

"It's okay, Mac, everything's gonna be alright. Lots of… women… have babies…" her voice trailed off and she sucked in her breath. He couldn't answer her, he was too darn scared. He just quickened his pace, bursting through the emergency room doors and startling the nurses.

He always had held a healthy appreciation for nurses and on that day, it grew even more. They assured him they would take care of his Katie, that everything was just fine, that it would go quickly. And she was off to a hospital room within just a few minutes. He never left her side for a moment, although that feeling of helplessness kept growing and it was just awful. The most he could do was let her squeeze his hand when the pain got too bad.

Then the doctor came in and ordered that Katie be taken straight to the delivery room. Mac stood to follow and they let him, all the way down the hall, but at the doorway of the delivery room, the doctor stopped him. 

"I'm sorry, Mr. Scott, fathers not allowed. If you go down the hall and turn right, you'll find the waiting room."

"The waiting room?" Mac scoffed. "I intend to stay with my wife."

"I'm sorry," the doctor repeated with a nonchalant shrug. "I can't let you in. But she'll be fine, you don't have to worry."

Mac curled his hands into fists and grit his teeth. He could hear Katie's voice, weak and pleading, and it was driving him wild. She wanted him… she was calling for him. He glared down at the doctor, angry enough to squash the little man. The doctor glanced nervously to the doorway, starting to edge inside. Katie was crying now.

"Please," she begged. "Please, I need Mac. Please let him in."

Mac reached out and gripped the doctor's arm in one big hand, thus ending his retreat.

"You let me in there or I'll…" he glanced around as if to find something sufficient to complete his threat. "I'll toss you out the window, that's what I'll do. Katie wants me an' I'm gonna be there for her, come hell or high water. Or fat little doctors."

The doctor glanced him up and down, his face pale. He tugged at his arm and Mac let go. 

"Fine, Mr. Scott," he said with as much dignity as he could muster. "But it's highly irregular. Highly…"

Mac didn't wait to hear another word. He slipped past the doctor and went to Katie. Her face was flushed now, her damp hair plastered to her forehead, tears running down her cheeks. He knelt beside her, holding her hands in both of his.

"I'm here, sweetheart," he murmured, his heart aching. He hadn't realized it was like this. And why did it have to be? Why must his poor Katie have all the pain, when the baby was half his anyway? Life wasn't fair. 

She smiled at him, but the next moment squeezed her eyes shut, gripping his hands so hard it hurt as another pain shot through her. She didn't cry out, just held on to him as tightly as she could, her breath coming in short, shaky gasps, until the pain passed again and she had a moment of relief. He reached up to brush her hair back, pressing kisses to her forehead. 

"This… baby…" she whispered, her voice faint. "He's gonna be big… and strong… gonna look… jus' like… you…" 

"But he'll have your eyes, Lintie," he whispered back. "Beautiful eyes just like yours."

Looking back at that day, Mac was never sure just how he managed to survive. It seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of years and yet it was only six hours… or so Katie told him. He always suspected her of exaggerating. By the time it was halfway over, he had his head down, keeping his teeth clenched together while Katie clung to his hands and breathed hard. He didn't know what else he could do… but he sure wasn't leaving her alone, no matter what. And suddenly the loud wailing of a baby filled the room along with the doctor's announcement,

"It's a healthy baby boy, Mrs. Scott."

"Oh, thank God," Katie whispered breathlessly, dropping her head back wearily. Mac almost jumped to his feet, staring in shock at the red, wrinkled little baby in the doctor's arms. The room was tipping wildly from side to side and then spinning in circles. He felt himself falling and Katie gasping before everything went completely black.

They just left him lying on the floor and stepped around him as they washed and wrapped the baby, handing him to his proud mother. Tears in her eyes, she cuddled her little one against her heart and laid her cheek against his. In spite of all she and Mac had said, he didn't look much like either of them. At least, not yet, he didn't. And at that, she was reminded suddenly of Mac and his current situation and leaned over to stare at her husband lying motionless.

"Does that happen a lot?" she asked, not sure whether to be amused or worried.

"All the time," the doctor assured her. "He'll be alright in a minute."

Mac sat up and groaned at that very moment and Katie decided that it was okay to be amused. Thus Mac was greeted by a hungrily nursing son and a wildly hysterical wife.

"I am never… letting you… forget that…" Katie gasped between shrieks of laughter. "You looked worse than I did."

oOo

Mac had taken two frantic minutes while Katie was packing her bag that morning to call the Stewarts in Ohio and drop the breathless news. He hadn't managed much more than to gasp out a request for prayers and then slam the receiver down... almost before Donna got him to promise to call again as soon as it was over.

Donna had spent the day nervously pacing the kitchen near the telephone, praying sometimes silently and sometimes out loud. Emma was over early that morning and prayed with her a while. Emma was fidgety and restless, more so than she normally would be under the circumstances, but Donna didn't notice, her troubled thoughts being occupied by her absent daughter. After a while, Emma excused herself, saying she had an appointment in town. Her face was pale when she said it, and her hands shaking. 

"Are you alright, dear?" Donna had asked, vaguely worried, her forehead creasing for a moment as she glanced at her oldest daughter. Emma shrugged, stammering out an excuse.

"Aw, sure, I'm fine, just fine, but I gotta hurry or I'll be late," she laughed nervously and fled.

The joyful news came in the afternoon. Donna fairly leaped from her seat at the table when the phone rang, nearly missing cutting a finger off with her paring knife. The apple she had been peeling rolled under the table, not to be found until later that evening by Benjie, when Ronnie and Rachel brought the family over. It was the third time that phone had rung that day. The first time it had been the pastor's wife, who was promptly hung up on as Donna was desperate to keep the line open. The second time it was one of the ladies from the quilting circle, calling to ask if Donna could bring muffins to the next social... and she was hung up on too. The third time it was Mac, oh blessed relief! Donna fairly wept when she heard the operator's voice saying "Long distance call from Lanesboro, Minnesota, do you accept?"

Mac's accent was stronger than ever as he blurted out the news. He stumbled over every other word, and barely made sense, but Donna deciphered his meaning well enough and cried with joy. A healthy baby boy, eight pounds, by the name of James Stewart Scott, and Jamie for short... mother and baby doing well!

"Thank you, Mac, oh, God bless you both, I wish I was there," Donna cried, her heart flooding with relief. She clutched the receiver to her ear as she sank shakily into her chair again, glancing out the window as she did so. Josh and Ronnie were out in the barnyard, not far from the house, doing something to the tractor. That blasted, rickety old piece of machinery, they never were done messing around with it. Josh's tractor had finally given up the ghost during the harvest season, and now they were going to salvage the Stewarts' and see if they could manage to share it for a while.

Donna hung up the phone at last, rather reluctantly, and was already making plans for a trip out to Minnesota as she idly watched the boys out in the yard. A distant figure was tearing down the lane, skirts flapping around her legs and hair flying as it fell loose from its pins. Emma gradually came into view, waving her arms and shouting as if the house was on fire. Donna jumped up again, rushing to the door and running out onto the porch. 

Josh straightened up and stepped away from the tractor, turning to his wife in concern, and she fairly flew into his arms. They were too far from the house for Donna to hear any words, but she caught the sound of Emma's shrieking and raised her eyebrows in alarm. Emma was saying something, shouting it over and over, and Josh suddenly lifted her off her feet, spinning her around and around with a wild whoop. Ronnie was standing in the background, grinning at them both, and when Josh finally put Emma down with a breathless kiss, he stepped forward to shake his friend's hand enthusiastically.

By this time wild with curiosity, Donna tripped down the front steps and met her daughter halfway as Emma turned to run towards the house. She managed to grab her mother's hands and then stumbled, falling to her knees as she gasped for breath. Tears were streaming down her face. "Mama..." she choked out her words as she wrapped both arms protectively around her stomach. "Mama, I'm going to have a baby..."

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