Not
in my house! I repeated. But-but-but Ma’am, stuttered Maud, the baby is coming!
I don’t care, I said, through clenched teeth. Not in my house! I was still
putting up my Christmas decorations, the tree still had to be decorated, the
new drapes that I had ordered were coming in two days, I had also planned to
start my baking on the weekend and there was no way in hell that I was going to
allow any baby to be born in my house! The woman screamed out in pain and Maud,
with tears in her eyes pleaded with me to help her. Take her around the back to
the new kennel, I told Maud. ‘In the kennel?’ she asked. Did I stutter Maud?
But the dogs! Are you hard of hearing Maud? I said the new kennel, take her to
the new kennel! Maud huffily went to help the woman. Maud could be a little
stubborn at times, but the new kennel had never been used. The dogs refused to
enter it and Maud always said it was because it looked like a prison with the
huge grill doors, but as far as I was concerned it was good enough place for
the ‘migrant’ to have her baby in. It was clean and airy, the dogs’ beds were
huge and, after all, Jesus
was born in a stable and look how He turned out!
After the woman was settled in comfortably I went to get my medicine bag. What
an irony, I was also the Midwife for this area of the parish so I had to
deliver the baby. Maud met me at the door to tell me that the woman’s water
broke so it would just be a matter of time. I just prayed that it would be so
as I hurried with the bag. The baby was born about four hours later, it was a
girl. Maud cut the umbilical cord and I checked the baby thoroughly to ensure
that all was well. We then rested the baby on the Mother’s chest. She was
overjoyed because she had always wanted a girl. The Reverend Julian, with the
sleeping baby in his arms and the boys, came into the kennel and they gathered around
their mother. The boys gushed over their little sister and they both wanted to
hold her. Not yet I said, you all need a bath first. I stepped out of the
kennel and went to my room. I sat on my bed and wept. This was how Maud found
me a couple hours later. She held my hands and said she understood what I was
going through. Maud was like a sister to me and I told her mostly everything
that mattered to me. She, more than anyone else, knew how hard I fought to
maintain my own space and keeping my border intact. After drying my eyes I
asked her what were we going to do? The baby had changed the dynamics of the
situation. I could not let the baby and the mother remain in the cage but at
the same time I did not want them in my house. Maud then suggested that they
stay with her in her quarters around the back for a few days. ‘For a few days?’
I asked incredulously. Maud you don’t know these people! She said she would be
fine plus she did not keep anything of value there. Okay, I said, just remember
you can’t say I didn’t warn you. I fixed my face where my mascara had smudged
when I was crying and then went back outside. With the help of the Reverend we
moved the mother and her children to Maud’s quarters. It was getting late and I
was thinking that Reverend Julian needed to go home. When I asked him if he was
ready to go he said that if it was not a bother he could stay the night. I
asked him what would his wife say if he didn’t come home, and that’s when he
told me that his wife had gone to visit her sister in Canada and would be away
for two weeks. Oh, I said, in that case you can sleep on the sofa bed in the
den. I had bought pajamas and under clothing as a Christmas present for one of
my elderly associates (that’s what he said he wanted), he was the same size as
the Reverend so I unwrapped the present and gave it to him. Whenever I go to
get my teeth clean at the Dentist I was always given a goodies bag that
included a toothbrush so I gave one of these bags to the Reverend. I also told
him that after he took his shower he was to let Maud know so that she could
bring him a cup of tea and something to eat. She would also take his clothes
and have them washed and ironed and ready for the next day. I told him
goodnight and retired to my bedroom, all the time with an uneasy feeling that
things were about to change. 
No comments:
Post a Comment