Caleb’s eye twitched.
“Ah,” Maxwell said with a nod. “I see. Well, the problem is that your baby is facing the wrong direction. See her head? It should be going the opposite way, towards your birth canal.”
“The problem?That’sthe problem? Why didn’t you - “ Caleb suddenly sucked in a breath and his whole expression changed. “Wait. Did you sayher?”
“Oh.” Maxwell smiled. “Yes. It’s a girl.”
Benji squealed with happiness and hugged Lark tighter as he rushed to his brother. “Caleb! You’re having a girl, too!”
Caleb’s worries melted away into a huge smile of joy. “I am!”
“That’s wonderful,” Pierce added. The smile on my brother’s face warmed my heart. As much as we liked getting on each other’s nerves sometimes, I knew he was truly happy for me - for us.
“Dude!” Theo cried. “There’s gonna be two of them. Finally, some girls in this house! It was turning into a sausage fest with all these guys in here.”
Caleb and Benji both glared at him.
Theo wilted under their dagger-like gazes. “I was just kidding.”
The doctor cleared his throat. “Hold on a second. I know everyone’s excited, but…”
“What?” Caleb asked. “It’s not that big of a deal, is it? The baby facing the wrong way?”
Benji winced in sympathy. “Well, it kind of is… I remember reading about it in all those baby books. It basically means you need to have a c-section instead of giving natural birth.”
All the color drained from Caleb’s face as he whispered, “What?”
“He’s right,” Maxwell confirmed. “We can book a time closer to your due date, if you’d like - “
“No, no, no.” Caleb shook his head, his eyes wide. “I don’t want a c-section!”
“But… Youneedto have one,” Maxwell said simply.
Theo squeezed his shoulders. “Maxy, I think you should give Caleb some time to think about it.”
For a moment Maxwell seemed like he wanted to argue, because in his mind, he couldn’t understand what the problem was - but he heeded Theo’s advice and sighed. “All right. I’ll give you a moment. I’ll be outside when you need me.”
The two walked off. An apprehensive dread hung in the air. I sat next to Caleb on the table and put my arm around him in an attempt to be comforting.
“I can’t do it,” Caleb murmured. There was a tremble in his voice. “I don’t want to.”
“Caleb,” Benji said. “If the baby can’t be turned, there’s nothing you can do. It’s just not safe to try and give birth naturally.”
“Turn her around then,” Caleb demanded.
“I’m sure Maxwell can try,” I said. “But... you should be prepared in case it doesn’t go as planned.”
Caleb screwed his eyes shut and threw his head back with a groan. “I hate this. I don’t want another surgery.”
Benji glanced back and forth between Pierce and I. All three of us wore sympathetic frowns. The situation was difficult. I knew Caleb had a rough time with hospitals and illness, but to see him reduced to an anxious mess because of the trauma made my chest ache.
“Caleb,” I said gently. “Do you want to talk about this another time? It doesn’t need to be resolved today.”
“How else is my baby going to be born?” Caleb said. He placed his hands on his swollen belly. “I can ignore it now, but she’s gonna need to come out sooner or later. What am I supposed to do then?”
His breaths were coming out short and quick. I put my hands firmly on his shoulders and told him, “Breathe, Caleb. You can get through this the same way you’ve gotten through everything else in your life.”
That seemed to calm him down, if only a little. He leaned against me with a heavy sigh. “I’m scared, Adriel…”
