Of all days to go into labor, today was certainly not that day,
thought Evelyn.It was Danny's first birthday and she and Rafe had decided to take him to the beach. Contractions had started early that morning but Evelyn knew it would be awhile before the newest McCawley made an entrance into the world, if he or she was anything like their older brother.
Rafe was unsure about Evelyn going anywhere except the hospital. He was away when she had had Danny and it was something that he always regretted. So he had made damn sure that he would be home for the birth of this child. He knew he was hovering and worrying more than he probably should, after all Evelyn had been through this before. But he hadn't and he winced every time he saw her stop and take a deep breath when a contraction would hit. How in the hell can she be so calm? He wondered. "Evelyn, are you sure about this? Because I'm not sure the beach is the best place for you to be. You should be restin'."
"Rafe, I can rest on the beach as well as I can rest here. Besides, this little one won't be here for awhile and it's going to be the last time it'll be just the three of us. I promise I'll let you know when I'm ready to go to the hospital."
He still wasn't convinced but had learned it was useless to argue with his wife when she had her mind set on something she really wanted. So with a sigh, he picked up the picnic basket she had packed for their lunch and with his other arm picked up Danny. The heaviest thing he allowed her to carry was the blanket they would put down on the sand. Before he even closed the door, he remembered the beach chair for Evelyn. He put Danny on his feet, put the basket down and retrieved the chair.
She stood on the porch watching him try to juggle everything. "Rafe, Danny can walk."
Rafe grinned at her. "Honey, he's not that good yet. He's still crawlin' more than walkin'."
"He can walk a little if he holds my hand. Please let him try, you've got your hands full already without trying to carry him."
She was stubborn. "All right, we'll let him walk." He said as he picked up the basket.
Rafe and Evelyn had always thought themselves lucky because their house was close enough to the beach to walk and he couldn't help but watch her as they strolled. He was careful to not let her see because the closer it had gotten to her due date she had become increasingly more self conscious about the way she looked. She would joke about how she felt as big as a house, but to him she had never been more beautiful. He didn't know if it was just because it was her or if all women had that same kind of beauty. He noticed the way she was with Danny as he held her hand before he would let go and toddle ahead of her and how the breeze caught her hair and blew it across her face. He noticed how she ran a hand over her large form and smiled and wondered what she was thinking about.
She knew Rafe was watching her and that's why she smiled. Even at a time when she felt like Dumbo, her husband made her feel as though she looked like Rita Hayworth.
Danny was trying as hard as he could to walk. He would toddle a foot or two and suddenly sit down. He seemed to become frustrated by the whole thing after awhile because instead of getting up again, he started to cry. His parents looked at each other and tried not to smile. He was quite serious about wanting to walk, but it was going to take patience and that was something he could not comprehend.
Rafe put the basket and chair down and picked Danny up. He held his son and tried to sooth him in the same way he would sooth his wife. He kissed the top of Danny's head and rubbed his back. "It's all right son, you'll learn. You just have to give it some time."
Evelyn smiled at this and couldn't remember when she loved Rafe more. He was so good to Danny and had a way of talking to him that she swore the boy understood. In turn, Danny had a single-minded devotion to his father and would never let anyone hold him, except his mother. It worried her sometimes how Danny was so attached to them and wondered how the new baby would change things. It was something she and Rafe had discussed many times over the last few months and felt the best thing to do was to have the boy spend as much time as possible with his father and godfather. If he could spend time with them, perhaps he would not be too jealous of the attention the new baby would be getting from his mother.
That all hinged on Rafe being home of course.
Danny had stopped crying and Rafe put him on his feet after he'd dried his eyes. He grinned at him. "Ready to try again?"
He let out a squeal and began to toddle again. The momentum pushed him forward and he fell down, but instead of crying he began to laugh. Rafe picked Danny up and again put him on his feet. "You're gettin' it son. Just keep tryin'." And he smiled.
By the time they finally made it to the beach, Evelyn was exhausted. She'd felt the baby start to turn as she walked and knew it was getting ready. She also had another contraction and it was stronger than the last. This she tried to keep from Rafe because the time he had to spend with Danny was so precious and when her labor became active, Danny would lose his father's attention. She took a surreptitious look at her watch and it had been thirty minutes since the last one. It was one thirty and Evelyn began to think that perhaps Danny and his new brother or sister would have the same birthday. She hoped this would not be the case because a birthday was a very special day and should not have to be shared.
It was out of her hands of course. The baby would come when it was darned good and ready.
Rafe had seen her face and knew she'd had another contraction. She really was stubborn and was not going to have their child until she was damned good and ready. Evelyn was bound and determined to give Danny a day at the beach on his birthday, labor or not. Lord, how he loved that woman.
He took the blanket, spread it out on the sand and helped her sit down in the chair. "Will you be all right if Danny and I go down to the water for awhile?"
"I'll be fine. You go play in the sand with your son and I'll get lunch unpacked."
He wanted to argue with her, but knew he'd probably lose. So instead he picked up the small pail and shovel and called to Danny who tried to toddle after him. He slipped in the shifting sand and refused his father's helping hand when he fell down. Rafe grinned to himself. Stubborn just like his mother.
Evelyn watched her husband and her son play together and wondered who the bigger kid was. She also wondered how things would change after the baby came and Rafe would have to divide his attention between two children. He would love the new baby, of that she had no doubt, but would he love him or her as much as he loved his son? She knew it was pointless to worry about it, but with their lives about to change again, she couldn't seem to help it.
And before she realized it, the fear of Rafe not coming home resurfaced. It was something she thought she'd come to terms with but with everything down to the wire, it suddenly made her cold with fear. More than anything she wanted her children to know their father and not learn about him from stories and old photos.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She had learned to live in the present and not worry about the future by cherishing the moments like these, spending a warm afternoon with her two boys.
As Rafe and Danny dug up wet sand and put it in the pail, he looked up to see how Evelyn was doing and she'd fallen asleep. That was probably best because the doctor had told them she would need all the rest she could get before she went into labor. And not for the first time Rafe wondered about them bringing another life into the world when his was in constant danger every time he went out on a mission. He had teased Evelyn about giving Danny a brother or sister and as much as he wanted this new baby, couldn't help but wish they'd waited until the war was over. But almost in the same thought knew how precious life was and this new life would give him even more reason to come through the war alive.
He really had it better than a lot of the boys who were being shipped overseas to an uncertain fate and away from their families for months or years. It was something he carried with him everyday and never took it for granted that he got to see his family on a regular basis. He felt so incredibly lucky to have a home to return to on a regular basis when many of the boys had to sleep in the mud, in the rain and cold. There were also times that he felt incredible guilt for having what he did.
Danny had grabbed hold of his dog tags as they played and it reminded Rafe how his life was really not his own until the war was over. And as much pride as he took in being a husband to Evelyn and a father to Danny he also took great pride in being a pilot and a Captain in the Air Corps.
When he looked up again, Evelyn was awake and unpacking the lunch. Seeing her sitting there about to have their second child while he played in the sand with his son, he knew he was the luckiest man in the world.