Elena widened her eyes and shook her head quickly. “No. I am fine. The baby will come when it is ready.”
Zita saw the girl’s fear. There was a high infant and maternal mortality rate in Guatemala, where Elena had lived and often the ‘doctors’ in the poorer areas didn’t have the proper qualifications.
Carmen clucked her tongue, but didn’t say anything else.
Zita checked the time. “The bus will be here soon.” Her words brought on a flurry of activity as Alejandra kissed her son and handed him to Zita, and the other girls gathered their things together. In a very short time, they were out the door.
It was quiet for a moment, until Julio started crying. With a sigh, Zita carried him out into the garden to give the others some peace. He was always upset when Alejandra left, and a walk around the garden usually settled him, but today Zita was tired. After her sisters had left yesterday, she’d been busy helping the girls with last-minute homework. By the time it was done, she was too tired to investigate law school as she’d planned.
But she would do it today. Her mother would take the girls through their English lessons in the morning and she would be able to sit down in peace with her computer.
“Zita, come quickly!” Her mother’s call was urgent.
Zita hurried down the path to the house and rushed inside. “What’s wrong?”
“Elena’s waters just broke.” Carmen had a mop in her hand and was cleaning up the mess.
“Any contractions?”
“No.”
“Ahhh,” Elena screamed.
“Yes,” her mother amended.
At Elena’s scream, Julio started crying again. Beatriz and Teresa were standing to the side, wide-eyed, and Beatriz looked frightened.
“Teresa, take Julio and Bea into the living room,” Zita said, giving Teresa the baby. “I’ll be in shortly.” She turned to her mother. “I’ll grab her bag from upstairs.”
Carmen nodded, holding onto Elena’s hand.
Zita rushed up the stairs and grabbed the small suitcase Elena had packed for the hospital. When she got back downstairs, Elena was screaming again.
“I’ve called the doctor,” Carmen said. “She’s going to meet us at the hospital. You’ll be all right with the others, won’t you?” She took the suitcase and left the room without waiting for an answer.
“Of course.” When the contraction was over, Zita helped Elena out of her chair and through the front door to the car that Carmen had waiting. Elena climbed inside and Zita strapped her in. Moments later, they were gone.
Zita sighed. Elena would be fine, she was sure, but life was going to get a little more hectic in the next couple of days with another baby in the house. She walked back inside into the living room, where Julio was still crying and Beatriz was close to tears herself. She gave Bea a hug. “It’s all right. The pain is part of labor. Elena’s going to be fine. We’ll go and visit her when the baby arrives, but right now we should get some work done. Why don’t you go clean your teeth and we’ll start the lessons?”
“OK.”
Zita took Julio from Teresa. “Thank you.” She clucked and soothed the baby boy while Teresa and Beatriz got ready. When he’d calmed, she put him in his rocker and gave him a toy to play with. Then she began to teach.
***
By the end of the day Zita was exhausted. Julio had been grizzly all day and she discovered he was teething. She’d had to dig through all the baby things they had from one of the previous foster babies to find a teething ring. It quietened him down for a little while, long enough for her to take the girls through their English lessons. They’d both picked up the language quickly and were almost ready for school. She would have to talk to the Office of Refugee Resettlement and see if she could get them into the local school.
Checking the time, she called her mother to check how Elena was.
“We’re almost there,” Carmen said. In the background Zita heard moans and screams. “We can see the baby’s head. Pushniñita!”
Zita held the phone away from her ear as Carmen yelled encouragement to Elena. “Call me back,” she said and hung up. A few minutes later the phone rang. “She is here,” Carmen sobbed.
Zita smiled, tears in her own eyes. “Are they both all right?”
“Sí.They are fine.”
“We’ll give mama and baby a chance to rest. Can we visit after dinner?”
