Becoming the Storm
61 Rebirth
MY PARENTS and Dani’s parents were waiting with the rest of us. Mom, Anna, and Sylvia, of course, were right beside Dani’s bed. They weren’t about to let their little girl go through this alone. Debbie and Dolly were both going through sympathy pains and wanted to touch their sister. Dani clutched my hand when Dawn suggested I might want to leave now and let the women handle what women have always handled. I scowled at Dawn.
“I was just kidding,” Dawn laughed. “Part of the reason to have a home birth is so the father is right where he needs to be to welcome his child into the world. Danielle, you are doing great, honey. Do you want to squat or use the bath for the next part? Brian will hold you and help you into any position you need.” Dani got through another contraction. She relaxed her grip on my hand and I could almost feel my fingers again.
“I think it’s time, Brian,” she whispered. “Will you get behind me like we practiced?”
When we practiced, our mothers, sisters, and what seemed like half the women in the clan hadn’t been in the room with us. But this was my Dani and my baby. My clothes hit the floor and I crawled into the bed to a couple of gasps from assorted women. I got behind Danielle and she leaned back against me. She immediately relaxed as I put my hands on her tummy.
“You are fully dilated and ready to have a baby,” Dawn said. “You can push with the next contraction.”
“Okay, little one,” I whispered. “We are ready for you.” Dani looped her arms outside mine and gripped my hands. “I love you, Danielle.” Then the contractions began in earnest.
I’d like to say she just pushed and a baby popped out. Of course, life isn’t like that. In spite of the fact that she was only in labor a total of about eight hours, a lot of that time, it seems, is spent in pain. All I could do was hold Dani, help her with her breathing, and encourage her. Getting the baby out was all up to her and the baby. The good thing about all that pain is that when she was finished, we had a beautiful little baby girl.
“She’s beautiful!”
“She’s so tiny!”
“Congratulations!”
“I love you!”
“Oh, my. Can you say ‘American Express’?”
“I have a granddaughter!”
“I love you!”
It was pretty chaotic. And messy, of course. As our daughter lay on Dani’s chest, lazily sucking at a nipple, Dawn checked her vitals under Angela’s watchful eye. I think Angela was more awake and alert for our daughter’s birth than she had been for Theresa’s. She and Dawn fussed around with a tape measure and a hanging scale.
“Eighteen and a half inches. Five pounds, nine ounces,” Dawn announced. She wrote the information on the birth record that would be submitted to the state for a certificate. “Official time of birth, 12:05 a.m. on January 1. Happy New Year!”
Happy New Year. Happy New Life.
As soon as Dawn had things cleaned up, Dani and I were covered, both for warmth and modesty. Our daughter had quit sucking and was content to lie between her mother’s breasts as she slept with our hands touching her. I looked up and nodded to Samantha. She took off. A few minutes later, our fathers had entered the room and got their turn at touching the baby and kissing the mom on her forehead. Both Dad and Bart squeezed my shoulders.
“What’s her name?” Dad asked.
“I’m hoping you plan to honor your grandmother, rest her soul,” Bart said. “Hildebrand is a good name.” Sylvia smacked him. Everyone else was uncertain whether to laugh or take him seriously.
“When everyone is here, Dani will tell you her name,” I said. We’d talked long into the night about what to name our child. Of course, we had a male equivalent, but Dani was certain she was carrying a girl from the moment she knew she was pregnant. Only two other people knew our decision and they had approved. Over the next ten minutes, all our casa gathered in the room. I mean the master suite is big, but it was pretty damned crowded. When Samantha returned with her parents, Dani was getting pretty tired and ready to just sleep. I had to agree, but we wanted the formal naming in front of our casa. Dani summoned Rose to one side of the bed and Hannah to the other. They got up on the big bed with us.
“La Madrina. Matrón,” Dani said formally. “Brian and I would like to introduce to you and our casa, our daughter: Alexandra Delight Frost.” Sly and Lily were crying and Samantha had them wrapped in her arms. Rose and Hannah placed hands on top of ours on our daughter.
“Alexandra Delight Frost,” Rose said softly. “Welcome to Casa del Fuego, the Clan of the Heart, and the Tribe of Delight. We all promise to nurture you, love you, and do whatever is necessary to protect and support you. We all love you. We each love you. The River of Life flows on.”
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