“I’ll call from the hospital when I go in,” she promised, and thanked her again for the little French outfit for the baby. “I hope it’s soon. Like tonight.” She laughed. “I can’t even eat anymore. I can hardly breathe, and I have heartburn all night.” It sounded awful to Alex, but Brigid had her fondest wish and looked ecstatic. Alex reported the visit to the nuns at dinner. They couldn’t wait for the baby to be born, like a houseful of doting aunts. And as soon as they got up from the table, Brigid called.
“I’m in labor!” she told Mother MaryMeg victoriously. She had gotten to the hospital twenty minutes before and reported that she was two centimeters dilated, which the superior knew wasn’t impressive. She had a long way to go before she’d have her baby in her arms.
“We’ll all be praying for you,” the superior said in a loving tone. “It’ll be over before you know it. Try to get a little rest now.”
“I feel great!” she said, on an adrenaline high.
“Rest anyway,” she told her, and reported to the others that Sister Regina was in labor. Everyone was excited at the news.
Alex called Bert and they made a lunch date for two days later. He had editing to give her on the new book. She didn’t tell him about the movie, because she was beginning to think it wouldn’t happen anyway.
—
There was no word from Brigid at breakfast the next morning, which didn’t seem to concern anyone, much to Alex’s surprise. “Should we be worried?” she asked the mother superior.
“Not at all.” She smiled at her gently. “She went into labor about seven o’clock last night. I’d have been amazed if it had been born by now. It’ll probably be sometime late this afternoon, or maybe tonight.”
“Tonight? How long does it take?” She had never thought about it before and didn’t know. She had no female relatives and lived with a houseful of nuns, and no one she knew had ever had a baby.
“For a first baby, average would be about twenty-four or thirty-six hours. And she was in the very early stages of labor when she called us. That barely counts. I’m sure she’s hard at work by now.”
She had guessed accurately, and when the superior called the hospital from her office to check on her, the labor and delivery nurse at the desk told her that Brigid Dylan was in full-on labor now, and at five, which the superior, who was also a nurse, knew meant she had hours to go. Many hours. Hard ones. Especially with a baby that size.
“How’s it going?” she asked with concern. Brigid was still one of hers, in her heart, even now that she was married.
“About how you’d expect, with a first baby, and a big one, at thirty-seven,” the nurse told her honestly when she had identified herself. “Maybe tonight,” or a C-section, they both knew, if it took too long, but she wasn’t there yet, and the nurse said she wasn’t even ready to push. It was going to be a while.
Alex stuck her head in the door at two o’clock to ask if there was any news, and Mother MaryMeg shook her head and smiled. “I’m sure she’s fine.” The nuns had made bets after breakfast and one of them had said midnight, which made Alex wince. Most of them who were nurses had guessed between eight and ten o’clock that night. Alex felt sick thinking about it for her, and wondered if Brigid had known what she was in for.
They had just finished dinner at eight o’clock when Patrick called them at Brigid’s request. He called the nuns right after he called his parents. Mother MaryMeg came back to tell them. “Brigid has her baby. It’s a boy. Ten pounds, two ounces, forceps delivery. He was born at seven forty-one. Mother and son are fine.” The superior beamed at them, and one of the nuns at their table commented that that wasn’t bad at all. Twenty-five hours for a first labor was shorter than it could have been, especially with a big baby. Alex wondered if Brigid would agree. She couldn’t even imagine it. Twenty-five hours of labor. It sounded like a nightmare to her.
“I won! I won!” one of the older nuns at a back table called out, and Alex felt like she was at a bingo game. “I said seven forty-five.” The other nuns cheered and Alex asked Mother MaryMeg a question.
“What’s a forceps delivery?”
“Kind of like a big clamp to help get the baby out, if the baby is big. Like we use in the kitchen.”
“Oh God. I’m never having children,” Alex said and meant it.
“You’ll be surprised. She’ll forget all about it by tomorrow with the baby in her arms.”
“I hope so,” Alex said with feeling, while the older nun collected her winnings from the others at her table. They had each bet a quarter and she’d won more than six dollars. “When can we visit her?”
“I’d give her till tomorrow. She’s going to be worn out tonight, and busy with the baby, even if it wasn’t a long labor.” Alex still couldn’t get over the fact that twenty-five hours was considered speedy.
She went to see Brigid the next day at the hospital at lunchtime. She had dark circles under her eyes, and was sitting at an awkward angle as the nurse showed her how to nurse the baby, and she broke into a broad smile when she saw Alex. The baby was sound asleep in her arms and wasn’t interested in nursing. Brigid said Patrick had just gone home to get some sleep, they’d been up all night admiring the baby. He had a face like a rosebud when Alex looked at him, and she kissed her friend. The nurse took the baby from her then, put him in a little bassinet, and wheeled him off to the nursery for a while.
“How was it?” Alex asked as she sat down in the chair next to Brigid’s bed.
“Awful, worse than anything I could ever have imagined. I thought I was going to die when he came out. But worth every minute of it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
“You’re insane,” Alex told her and Brigid laughed.
“Isn’t he beautiful? He looks just like Pat.” Alex couldn’t see it and thought he looked like a baby, but he was very pretty, and very big.
“Sister Ignatius won six dollars thanks to you last night.” They both laughed at that. “Six twenty-five actually. They had a pool on what time he’d be born. I was worried sick about you.”
“It went fine,” Brigid said, looking serene. “It was just really bad for the last four or five hours.”
“I’m having my tubes tied immediately,” Alex said, wincing, and they talked quietly for a while. She was happy for her friend. She had everything she wanted now.
“I guess I won’t be writing for another twenty years or so,” Brigid said sheepishly. “I don’t have your dedication or your talent. I wanted to write a book but I guess it will never happen.”
“You’re a mom now, you get a pass.” She kissed Brigid as they brought the baby back and put him in his mother’s arms. He was crying loudly and wanted to be fed. She was trying to figure out how to do it as Alex left the room and went back to the convent, feeling happy for her.