Sitting in the co-captain's chair, Norman's attention was glued to the harbor before them. Although the skies had remained overcast all morning and a low fog lingered over the water's surface, the seas had calmed and the snow ceased. Absently sliding a finger under the edge of the makeshift cast supporting his shattered wrist, he struggled to scratch the itch produced by healing bones.
He flinched as he belatedly caught sight of Sig's spiral bound notebook sailing across the wheelhouse and, having ducked in the nick of time, smacked against his shoulder. Glaring at his brother, Norman turned silently back to staring out the windows, searching the distant shore. "What the hell happened up here? This place is a mess…" Edgar held up his hands defensively, widening his eyes with a half-sarcastically mouthed 'sorry' as Norman trained his dark glare on him and bent to retrieve the notebook and half-dozen pencils scattered across the wheelhouse floor. Returning the items to Sig, Edgar motioned to the sickly green bruise under the skipper's left eye.
"How's the shiner?" The youngest brother grinned as his question earned him a dark look that asked 'are you serious?' When Sig failed to humor him with an answer, Edgar sighed and flopped his arms against his sides in exasperation. "Oh, get a grip, Sig. It was an accident…none of us saw it coming, not even you." Quickly retreating a couple steps as Sig rounded on his brother with dark blue eyes flashing, Edgar felt fear for the first time in a month.
"Get a grip, Edgar?! We nearly fucking lost Norman and Jake and you're telling me to get a fucking grip?! When you sit in this chair and watch as your men are nearly washed over the side –"
"Stop it, both of you. I'm sick of listening to you go after each other like this. Yeah, Jake and I nearly died, but we didn't. Jake gets to go back to his parents and sisters and I get to hold Renée again…and in another month we'll all be able to come back for Opies." Both Sig and Edgar fell silent as Norman's hoarse voice interrupted Sig's tirade before lapsing into a coughing spasm that racked his body. His brothers were tense with worry as they waited for the coughing spell to subside. The storm that nearly claimed the two fishermen had lasted longer than forecasted, making an air rescue an impossible feat and forced Sig to stabilize his brother with limited supplies. By the time the weather had cleared, the Northwestern was ready to enter the harbor.
Soon, Norman's raspy breath was the only audible sound in the wheelhouse as the silence lengthened and the three men watched the docks of Dutch Harbor grow larger. While Sig focused on pulling in safely, Edgar retreated to the deck to help Nick and Matt secure the fenders between steel hull and wooden dock and Jake struggled to manhandle the line to the dockworker with just one arm; the young man's other arm, broken in the storm that nearly claimed Norman, was secured to his chest with a sling.
When Sig finally killed the engine, he followed Norman's gaze to the pale, golden-haired woman and smiled as he finished securing the wheelhouse. "She's looking good isn't she? Just think…in another couple months, she'll be standing there with a baby in her arms and another in a stroller waiting for us to return from Opies."
Relief flooded through the skipper as he saw the thoughtful smile brighten Norman's pasty-pale face. Giving his brother's shoulder a proud yet gentle pat, he followed the injured man downstairs and onto deck. Fighting the pain that threatened to overcome him, Norman climbed over the rail with Edgar and Matt's help. He managed three steps forward before Renée wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. Norman gritted his teeth as his ribs complained against the tight embrace.
"I missed you so much," Renée whispered into his ear before gently kissing his bruised cheek. She stepped back and smiled as he rubbed his uninjured hand over her belly, watching as the stress of the season began to disappear from his bearing. Norman fought back a groan as he knelt before her and touched his forehead to Renée's belly, his soft voice barely audible as he spoke to the twins she was carrying.
"C'mon Norm; the sooner we get you examined, the sooner I'll relax. Hey! Will you stop scratching at your wrist already? You're just going to make it worse. If you keep messing with it, I'll break your fingers!" Sig growled as Norman once again dug at the annoying itch within his wrist, earning a scowl as Norman struggled to his feet with Renée's help. Limping to the waiting truck, already laden with the men's gear, he slid into the front passenger seat with a wince. Turning back to Renée, he kissed her before she shut the door and pulled the seatbelt across his chest, holding it steady as Sig snapped it into place. He flashed Renée an encouraging smile as Sig drove to the clinic for one last check up before catching their flight to Seattle.
****
"We took some pretty nasty waves last month and Norman got knocked off his feet by a really bad one. He managed to get back up, but we got slammed again and he got knocked over the port rail. Somehow, I don't know how, but somehow he managed to hang onto the rail long enough for Nick to pull him back on deck." Sig, Edgar, June and Louise were seated around Norman's kitchen table with Renée, desert plates forgotten in the kitchen sink as Edgar explained how Norman was injured. They had finished dinner and desert over an hour ago, and at the encouragement of everyone, Norman excused himself to go to bed. Renée sat in silence as she processed the ordeal Edgar just described, playing with the linen napkin in her lap before looking back to the fishermen before her.
"But he's all right though? I mean, I know his wrist was shattered and a couple ribs were broken and bruised, but other than that, he's okay, right?" Edgar merely shrugged with raised eyebrows and glanced at Sig, who cleared his throat.
"Well, aside from that and this last bit of pneumonia, yeah. I doubt he'll be ready to go back to work in a week and a half, but if he is that's great and if not…then fine. We'll just figure out how to manage without him."
"You know he's going to be pissed at you if you leave without him, doctor's clearance or not." Sig sighed and rubbed at his forehead as Edgar voiced thoughts similar to his own, shrugging wearily.
"But what can I do? I mean, come on…think about it. He doesn't run the boat except rarely when both you and Roman aren't tendering. Unless he starts regaining his strength right this minute, he's not going to be strong enough to do much deck work except maybe running the block. Even then, I'm not sure I'm willing to put him back out there that soon."
****
The opilio season was just hours old and he was resting while the others were playing games. He'd just fallen into a deep sleep when a hand jerked him awake. Staring blankly up at the devestated look on Edgar's face, Norman winced against the pain as he rolled from his bunk and quickly went into the wheelhouse. The sight of Sig rubbing at tear-reddened eyes sent Norman's heart dropping like a rock.
"What? What's going on?" Sig jerked at Norman's raspy questions and sighed heavily. Wiping his eyes again, Sig rose and went to stand near his brother. His voice broke as he related the news to him.
"I just got off the phone with June. Renee went into labor late last night, and delivered two boys this morning. Um…shit. Norm, the babies didn't make it."
Jerking awake, panting for breath with a cold sweat running down his spine, Norman half rose in bed. He peered around the dark room of his house in Seattle and slowly became reoriented with his surroundings. Laying back down, he turned his head and smiled. Renee was sleeping peacefully next to him, stirring slightly when Norman lightly touched her still round belly. Whispering softly into the darkness, he spoke to the babies growing inside her.
"Hold on. You only have three more months to go. Just hold on for three more months, please."
****
Sorry this is so short, but it felt like it needed to be short...you know? I'm back from my vacation, and so I was able to finish proofing Chapter 6 and finish writing this chapter and begin Chapter 8. Sorry if the stats seem kinda wonky...I just can't remember the numbers for the nasty weather. Point is...weather is really nasty and stays nasty until they get into port. Is it realistic, maybe not. Is it possible, yes. Plausible, eh... I dunno. But for drama's sake, we'll pretend the answers are all yes.