Christmas With Family
Chirstmas With Family
Sequel to Flight To Paradise
©1999-2000
By Sarah
Chapter 17
Sarah tucked Brian into the bed and kissed his forehead gently, backing
away as he turned over in his sleep, clutching the covers tightly.
Sarah smiled and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her quietly.
She walked down the stairs of the now quiet house and passed a window on
her way to the living room.
"Its really snowing, isn’t it?" Jackie asked as she came up behind
her.
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, there must be a foot on the ground already."
Jackie smiled. "A foot and a half, Harold measured it. He was
trying to get out the back door before and couldn’t, its been snowing steadily
since you found Nick and Kevin outside."
Sarah smiled back and followed Jackie to the living room where Kevin was
helping Elaina to stand.
"Thanks for dinner and everything, Aunt Jackie, but we have to be going,
we stayed a little long," Kevin said.
Jackie shook her head. "I don’t think
so, Kevin, you three are staying the night. You can’t even get outside,
let alone be able to drive. The snow is still falling, get comfortable,
you’re here for the night," she said. She left the room and went
into the kitchen.
Elaina looked at Sarah with a pained look. "Is she right? The
snow is that thick out there?"
Sarah nodded. "Yeah, it’s over a foot deep. Let me fix up the
other guestroom for you guys, you can get comfortable for the night."
"Umm, Sarah, do you mind taking me upstairs and helping me find something
to wear?" Elaina asked.
Sarah nodded. "Sure, let’s go," she
said. She led Elaina to the stairs and helped her up, leading her
to her room, going to the closet and pulling a bag out from the floor.
"We put all my old clothes from when I was pregnant in here. Jackie
told me to bring them here for you, since you and Kevin are staying in
Kentucky for the next year or so," she said, untying the top of the bag.
She rummaged through the bag for her old nightgown when she heard Elaina
gasp behind her.
"What’s wrong, Elaina?" Sarah asked, turning to face her. Her
face turned white as she saw something hit the floor.
"Umm, Sarah? I think my water just broke," Elaina said. Her
face screwed up in pain and she let out a small scream.
"Oh, God, of course it has to happen now," Sarah said. She stood
up and led Elaina to the bed, lying her back against the headboard.
"Stay here, use your breathing, scream if you need anything, I'm going
to get Jackie," she said. She ran out of the room and down the stairs,
going to the kitchen. She found Jackie, Harold, Kevin, and Brian
all sitting at the counter, talking.
"Sarah, honey, what’s wrong?" Brian asked, putting down his mug and
starting for her.
"You aren’t going to believe this. Elaina’s water broke," she said
breathlessly.
Jackie ran past her and up the stairs, and
Kevin hurried over to her.
"Laney? My Laney? Her water broke?" He asked, confused.
Before Sarah could reply, a scream ripped through the air and Kevin ran
to the stairs.
"That’s an affirmative," Brian said jokingly.
"Brian, this is no time to joke. Grab the phone and get upstairs,"
Harold said, hurrying past them.
Sarah felt numb as she grabbed the phone off the counter and dragged Brian
upstairs with her. She led him to their room and gestured for him
to take Katie out, who was crying because Elaina’s screaming woke her up.
"Elaina, I need you to keep breathing," Jackie said. She looked up
at Sarah and she suddenly realized what she should do.
She dialed nine-one-one on the phone and waited as the phone rang, then
finally someone picked up.
"Hi, um, my cousin just went into labor and we cannot get out of the house,
we’re snowed in," she explained as calmly as possible, pacing next to the
bed. She winced as Elaina screamed again and listened as carefully
as possible to the woman on the other end.
Sarah nodded as she listened to her instructions. She ran into the
bathroom and grabbed some towels out of the cabinet, bringing back to her
bedroom. She set them on the floor by the bed and shooed Harold and
Brian out of the room, leading Kevin to Elaina’s side and gesturing for
him to take her hand.
"Ok, Jackie, we have to deliver the baby," Sarah said quietly as she took
her mother-in-law aside.
"Ok, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it," Jackie said breathlessly,
her hands already spotted with blood.
Sarah took a deep breath and listened to the operator on the other side
of the line. "Ok, she said that an ambulance is on its way, but its
going to take some time, she’ll give us instructions until then," Sarah
said. She led Jackie back to the bed and sat in front of Elaina,
instructing Jackie what they had to do.
"Elaina, don’t push," Sarah called to her, trying to make herself heard
over Elaina’s screaming.
"I’m not, just make the pain stop!" She screamed.
Kevin looked nervously at Sarah. "She’s, um, breaking my hand," he
said quietly.
Sarah nodded. "You see, you should’ve been there the first time,
it was even worse," Sarah said, holding the phone next to her ear by her
shoulder. She remembered how Kevin was away over-seas when Elaina
went into labor, she was there with her the entire time. When Elaina
had finally had Courtney, Kevin arrived the next morning. He apologized
profusely for missing the birth and promised to be with her for their next
child.
‘Well, you can’t be anymore involved than this,’ Sarah thought as she saw
the baby’s head start to crown. She took a deep breath and described
to the operator what she could see and asked what to do. She followed
instructions and, about a half-hour later, she was holding a baby in her
arms.
"Kevin, Elaina, it’s a boy," she said, smiling. She wrapped the little
baby in the towels on the floor and tied a shoelace from one of Brian’s
sneakers around the umbilical cord like she was instructed. She smiled
next to her at Jackie, who was smiling brightly, wiping blood off her hands
with another towel.
"See, I told you it would be a boy," Elaina said breathlessly.
Kevin chuckled. "Yes, you did, you were right."
Sarah looked up at the door as it opened the rest of the way and Nick stood
in the doorway. "Whoa, what on earth did I miss?" He asked,
running his hands through his ruffled hair.
"You can’t tell me you just slept through that," Kevin said.
"Slept through what?" Nick asked.
"Idiot, Elaina just had her baby," Brian said from behind him, hitting
his head.
"Whoa," Nick said, looking at the baby in Sarah’s arms. Sarah laughed
at his expression. "He even looks like Kevin when he first wakes
up," he said jokingly.
"Hey, stop that, that’s my son," Kevin said.
Sarah shook her head. "I don’t know, Kevin, I think he’s telling
the truth," she said. She looked up at Kevin as he moved around the
side of the bed to look at his son.
Kevin cracked a smile. "Yeah, he kinda does," he said.
Sarah smiled as she handed Kevin the baby and took the towel from Jackie,
wiping off her hands and arms. She backed away from the bed as the
EMTs came in the room and started loading Elaina and the baby onto a gurney.
"Hey, what’s the baby’s name?" Sarah called to the two of them as
they walked outside to the waiting ambulance.
Kevin looked down at Elaina, who nodded. "I believe, Nickolas Scott
Littrell Richardson will do," Kevin said.
Sarah smiled and looked up at Nick standing
next to her, who had a shocked look on his face. She waved as the
ambulance rode away slowly down the street and sighed as Brian took her
in his arms.
"Merry Christmas, Sarah," he whispered.
Sarah chuckled and looked at Brian. "Merry Christmas, Brian," she
whispered in reply. He leaned forward and kissed her gently, then
turned and led her back into the house, slowly closing the door as the
snow lightened to a dusting.
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