Page 87 of Under the Influence

“You thought your labor would be like Oana’s,” I tell Edith softly while handing Sean to Journey. “But your body works differently. With the next baby, we’ll know what symptoms to look for. Each time we think it might be happening, we’ll rally the troops. No one’s going to mind if we jump the gun.”

Edith and Journey share a smile, letting go of what didn’t go right tonight and focusing on how the baby was delivered safely.

With the late hour, Journey and Donovan aren’t able to stay long. The rest of the family will have to wait until tomorrow to visit.

While Sean sleeps, Edith remains awake and restless. I climb into the uncomfortable bed with her. We face each other without speaking. Edith’s edginess fades the longer she looks at me. Finally, she closes her eyes and sleeps. We doze for a few hours before Sean begins to fuss. This will be our life for a while, stealing naps whenever the baby is asleep.

Journey and Donovan are back by ten in the morning. They take turns cuddling Edith and Sean. Clover and Erin arrive a few minutes after Edith’s parents. I hug Clover like I might fall apart without her help. She laughs at my dramatics, but I feel her worried about this new little person in our lives.

I’m forced to steal Sean from Donovan so I can foist the baby on Clover who keeps to the corner like she might need to run. My middle child eyeballs her brother who barely wakes up despite all the commotion.

“He looks like you did as a baby,” Clover says, mellowing out when she accepts her little brother won’t do much of anything right now.

Erin and Clover take turns holding Sean. My mom also settles on the bed next to Edith and hears my wife’s unhappy tale of nearly having the baby in the car.

Over the day, Edith shares the story a dozen times. She cries the first few rounds, remembering how scared she was and the way things didn’t go to plan. When Lola and Val arrive, Edith leaves out many of the more upsetting moments and sheds no tears. I smile at how she edits herself to protect Lola who is nearing her own due date.

By the time Edith is recounting what happened to Jared and Christine near dinner time, she has turned the upsetting situation into a funny, “can you believe that shit” story.

Once the sun has set and we’re alone again, Edith and I rest in bed and watch each other.

“I want to go home tomorrow.”

“Only if you promise to be lazy and let people take care of you,” I insist while wrapping my arm around the back of her body. “Sean will sleep a lot during the first few weeks. This is your chance to recuperate before he demands more attention.”

“Will you also promise to rest when we get home? You’ve barely slept.”

“We’ll be surrounded by your people at the homestead. I view the next few weeks as a vacation where I can focus only on you and the baby.”

Once at the homestead, we have regular visitors, bringing food, watching the baby, and entertaining Edith. Clover bunks in Lola’s nearby house but spends her days at my place.

When Edith gets hormonal and needs cheering up, Tuesday always appears. They cuddle together and call each other names.

Lola sticks close to the homestead as her due date approaches. Val seems nervous about what’s about to happen. He’s paranoid about missing signals and Lola having the baby in the wrong place. One afternoon, I find him staring into the distance while Edith and Lola talk inside.

“Explain the name Lina to me again,” I insist, waking him from his paranoid thoughts. “How exactly is that honoring Poppy?”

“Her real name is Pauline.”

“Why call her Poppy?”

“Christine gave fun names to her first two daughters. Then, she married my bio-peepaw who wanted something dumb and family-related for my ma. So, they smashed his name Paul into her name Christine. But Queen Meemaw knew she had given her daughter a lame name. So, my ma became Poppy.”

“Is this bio-grandfather planning to visit? Will I need to pretend to give a shit what he thinks?”

“No. He doesn’t come to West Virginia. I think he’s scared of King Peepaw Jared’s mustache. I don’t mind never knowing my bio peepaw. Jared and his mustache are far superior.”

Nodding, I act like I’m processing this information, but I really want to get Val’s mind off what could go wrong with Lola’s delivery.

In the end, everything goes perfectly. Lina is born big, healthy, and blonde. Though everyone says she looks like Poppy, I also see a lot of my firstborn daughter in the baby.

Soon after Lina is born, I come face to face with my fear. Sitting on the couch, I hold my third child in one arm and my first grandchild in the other. They’re weeks apart in age. Every year on their birthdays, I’ll be reminded how I started over at forty-two.

Edith and Lola must take a million pictures of me holding the two babies. They also cry in between oohing and awing over the sight. Val stands back, smirking and nodding. Clover looks at me, full of pity before cracking up and laughing hard enough to wake the babies.

My awkwardness eventually fades, and I admire the two babies staring wide-eyed at me. My son is a gift I didn’t know I needed, and my granddaughter already has me wrapped around her finger.

Memories from last year flood my mind. I’m a different man than I was when I met Edith. I push myself harder, expect more from the people around me, and build bigger dreams.

---