Ma nodded, deftly examining Maria’s bulging belly beneath her damp chemise. “Here comes another one.”
A groan built up inside Maria, rising to a guttural yell as her abdomen visibly tightened and her body writhed on the pallet. Ma soothed her with calm words as the contraction continued and her yells built in intensity. Kate’s heart broke at the pain filling her dear friend’s cries.After what seemed like ages, the contraction released its relentless grip and Maria fell back against the pillows, panting.
“Well done, Maria, well done,” Ma murmured, rubbing her back.
“This baby doesn’t want to come,” Maria said hoarsely.
“Of course it wants to come. Why else would it be fighting so hard to meet you?”
Maria shook her head. “It’s so much harder than last time. It’s stuck. It must be stuck. What if I can’t do it? What if this baby won’t come? What if something happens? What if something’s wrong?”
“Shh, your baby’s not stuck, Maria. He’s sitting a little to the left, and it might be more of a squeeze, but he’s coming all right.”
“He?” Maria whispered.
Ma smiled wryly. “Only a man would make such a fuss over something as simple as being born.” Maria let out a soft laugh, her face relaxing ever so slightly. “You rest for a bit, dear. James is right here with you.” Ma got up stiffly and came over to Kate at the fire.
“How’s she doin’?” Kate asked softly.
Ma shook her head. “All things considered, things are looking fine. Baby isn’t in the most ideal position, but he’s not breech. Things should be progressing nicely.” Ma glanced over at Maria, frowning. “She’s fighting it. She’s so tense. She has to want this baby to come. Her body is trying, but her mind is rebelling.”
Kate’s heart clenched again. “Because of losin’ Davie.”
Ma nodded, her face sad. “She must be afraid of losing another child.”
“What can we do?”
“After the next surge, I’ll try to get her to move position, to encourage the baby to the right. And then we need to be her calm, to be her joy, to remind her that the Lord has them both in the palm of His mighty hand.”
Another contraction hit and Maria filled the tiny house with her cries. After it ebbed, Ma helped her to turn onto her right side. Kate rolled a blanketand propped it between her knees to open her pelvis and sat behind her and kneaded the tense muscles in Maria’s back and hips, encouraging them to loosen and relax, making as much room for the baby as possible. And all the while Ma spoke over Maria, filling the room with her quiet assurance and the truth of the Lord’s faithfulness.
“‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff will comfort me,’” she quoted. “The Lord is with you, Maria. He will never forsake you. You are held in His mighty hands. This baby is held in His mighty hands. As the Good Book says: ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.’”
The night deepened. The wind keened around the corners of the house and rattled the door on its hinges. Pa came in, then the men retreated to the barn to catch what sleep they could. Through contraction after contraction, Ma quoted Scripture and prayed and encouraged Maria until her voice grew hoarse. And when Ma couldn’t speak any longer, Kate sang. She sang every verse to every hymn she could remember, and when in her tiredness she could think of no more, she went back to the start and sang them all again. Between each contraction, Maria rested, and each time her face and her body softened more and more, and during each surge of pain she came to a place of such focused intensity, her cries coming from a place so deep within her, that Kate couldn’t help but marvel.
Maria’s hands began to tremble. The tremors moved up her arms until her whole body shivered violently, like she was naked in a blizzard. Katelooked anxiously at her mother. Ma nodded, slowly getting to her feet from where she rested by the fire. “Not long now.”
The next contractions seemed more intense than all the others. Maria was on her hands and knees, rocking, swaying, shaking her head back and forth as fierce moans ripped from her chest. Unspeaking until now, she started yelling prayers into the night. “Jesus, help me! Lord, I need you! I can’t do it on my own! Lord, help me!”
“Yes, that’s it, Maria. Nearly there, nearly there!” Ma encouraged. “Katherine, help her up a bit; have her cling to your shoulders, hold her there. That’s it. Be strong for her.” Ma quickly gathered her supplies close. She checked for progress. “Almost there, Maria. You can do this. Your body will know when to push.”
A contraction started and Kate felt every single muscle in Maria’s body tense as she bore down. “Oh, it burns, it burns!” she cried.
“You are doing wonderfully! Keep going, keep pushing, that's it! I can see baby’s head, Maria! Dark hair just like his mama!”
The surge ebbed and Maria sagged against Kate, sobbing into her shoulder. “I can’t do it. I can’t do it!”
“Yes, you can, Maria!” Kate said fervently. “You’re already doin’ it! Your baby’s almost here!”
“I can’t. I can’t!”
“You can! Now, with your next surge, you’re gonnapush!”
Her body tightened again, and Maria sucked in a breath, threw her head back, and screamed, pushing with every ounce of strength she had in her small frame, tendons in her neck standing out, her entire body rigid with the herculean effort of delivering a new living soul into the world. And with a great gush of waters, the baby spilled out into Ma’s waiting hands. Maria gasped in relief, her breath heaving, clinging to Kate as the gusty wails of an infant filled the space her screams had just occupied.
“I knew it! It’s a boy!” Ma exclaimed proudly.
Maria sobbed happily into Kate’s shoulder. “My baby, my baby! He’s here! He’s all right!”
