Birth of Lucille Scott, part one

Ralph was displeased. He had been sound asleep, they both had been, when the hard knocking at the door awoke them. After realizing that there actually was a need via a sharp conversation with his wife Leta, he hurriedly put on a pair of pants and stumbled through the house to the door.

“What?” he demanded irritably as he opened it. The cold autumn air whisked through him and into the house.

In the shadow he could see Leta’s older brother Aaron standing in the doorway.

“Aaron?” Leta inquired. She, too, had left the comfort of their warm bed to learn who was knocking.

“Christ, Aaron,” Ralph moaned, “it’s four o’clock in the morning.”

“The baby’s coming,” Aaron said calmly. “Flo wants Leta.”

“Is everything all right?” Leta asked with uncertainly. While it was time for Aaron’s wife Florence to deliver, the devoted sisters-in-law had lost a friend early in the summer during a complicated breach delivery.

“Come into the house,” Ralph ordered. “We’re letting all the cold air in.”

“No time,” Aaron said. “The pains are close.”

“Let me get dressed,” Leta said, as she started to return to the bedroom.

Ralph grabbed her shoulder. “Hold on,” he ordered. “You can’t just leave. It’s four in the morning.” Then he turned back to Aaron. “Get in here.”

With a gruff sigh, Aaron walked in and Ralph slammed the door closed, which almost immediately awoke Vivian, Leta and Ralph’s toddler, who began to cry.

“Shit!” Ralph growled. “Now, let’s figure this out.”

Leta had pulled away from her husband. “There’s nothing to figure out, Ralph. Florence is about to have a baby. She wants me there. I’m going.”

“But what about our baby?” Ralph demanded.

“She’s fine,” Leta answered. “Just go in there and rub her back, and she’ll go back to sleep.”

“How long are you going to be gone?” he returned.

“I don’t know, Ralph” Leta replied. “However long it takes.”

“What if she needs to have her diaper changed or gets hungry?” Ralph persisted.

“We don’t have time for this,” Aaron muttered loudly enough for both of them to hear. He was standing right at the door with one hand holding the doorknob.

As if to confirm the urgency, one of Aaron’s horses whinnied.

“Ralph,” Leta said with finality, “it will be all right” Then she turned to Aaron, “I’ll be ready in a minute.

Five minutes later, she was sitting beside him in the carriage, and Aaron was pressuring the team to go more quickly. Sensing the urgency of the situation, the horses complied, making for a bumpy ride.

To be continued.