Chapter 36 – A Bundle of Joy

Lee and Amanda understood why Billy had liked William so much. He really was a funny guy. He apologized several times for teasing Amanda and admitted that he was the one you had to watch out for at the office. He loved playing practical jokes and keeping everyone on their toes.

He told them that he had placed his daughter at the park while knowing that she would stay as far away from the action as possible. Through her whole life she was one of the least observant people he knew. It was actually his wife's idea to enroll her in the agency. She had dreams of her daughter following in her husband's footsteps. William knew it wasn't going to ever happen though. They had many discussions about it and finally his wife agreed with him. The next day she brought home paperwork to enlist Marcia in the military. William let out a huge sigh at the memory and said he thought at first she was joking. Unfortunately she was dead serious. She wanted to be able to tell her friends that her daughter had an important job and cutting hair wasn't in her vision. William confessed that he was afraid that if she convinced Marcia to join, she might actually make it part way through boot camp. He was just as convinced that at some point, they would dump her into a cannon and shoot her to the moon.

William decided that the only way to convince his wife that both ideas were ridiculous was to let Marcia join the agency. Thankfully in his position, he was able to use his clout to get her enrolled. He made sure everyone involved knew the situation. After she joined, it didn't take long for them insist that she needed to go. She was even worse than William had told them. So William sent her to Wisconsin Dells to be his eyes and ears. She seemed intrigued at first, but soon found the whole thing boring. When she asked her dad if all cases were this dull, he told her that the stakeouts could be tedious. She was definitely not suitable for this kind of work. He hadn't counted on her making moves on Louie though. He was relieved that Louie didn't seem too interested. Harold was kind enough to keep him up to date on what she was doing. The two of them had kept in touch the whole time, which is why Harold had been willing to hire her. Of course, Marcia had no idea that she was handed the job. Instead, William told Marcia that getting the job was up to her and part of her mission to prove herself. It was imperative that she was hired there and he had made it very clear to her that he would not accept any excuses for her failing her first assignment. Harold pretended he didn't know who she was when she showed up. To make it seem realistic, he had really made her grovel for the job. She was a good worker at first because she feared her father's wrath if she got fired. As time went on, she realized that Harold was desperate for the help and she became lazy. She was no longer meeting Harold's standards. He told William that she would have to move on after the summer season was over.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, William had already enrolled her in salon school for the fall semester. Maybe she would surprise him and excel at it. If she did, he would help her buy a building and build a business. If it truly would make his daughter happy, then it was important to help her to obtain her dreams. It was always possible that she would surprise everyone and succeed at such a career. Certainly stranger things had happened. William felt that he owed this explanation to Lee and Amanda after playing such a mean trick. He apologized again and they assured him that they weren't offended by it but that someday they might get him back. He chuckled and welcomed them to try.

William needed to get going to pack so he could catch his plane. He told them that he would meet with them the following afternoon. He was looking forward to thanking them in person. He also would bring them plane tickets for their trip home so they wouldn't need to use their own money. He promised to pass their love onto Billy too. He was sure it would help Billy's recovery knowing that two of his best had solved the case. They promised Francine that they would call her before they headed back. Then they said their goodbyes and hung up. Afterward, they sat for a moment to absorb everything that had just been discussed. They needed a moment to enjoy the exhilaration of knowing that Billy was alive and was going to be okay. Rodney decided to give them some privacy.

"I can't believe he is alive," Amanda admitted. "I kept hoping somehow it was possible, but I honestly thought we would be told in the end that he didn't make it."

"I know," Lee nodded in agreement. "I'm glad we came out here. I'm glad you agreed to come out here with me," Lee added as he looked at her fondly.

Amanda smiled and said, "The note said Zulu Blue."

Lee laughed and said, "Let's get out of here. I think we should go buy some steaks for the campfire tonight. We can see if Kevin and Lorraine want to join us and cook them at their campsite. We need to celebrate."

"That sounds like a great plan to me!" Amanda agreed.

They headed back to the park, but stopped on the way to buy 4 huge steaks along with all the extras for a nice steak dinner. After parking the car, they headed for Kevin and Lorraine's campsite. As they got closer, they could hear voices coming from the area. The voices sounded stressed, pained and loud but they couldn't distinguish any words until they got closer.

"Kevin, the baby is coming now! Why did you let them have our car? You knew the baby could come at any time. I need to get to the hospital," Lorraine was shouting at Kevin.

"Sweetie, I have to go call for an ambulance. I wouldn't be any good driving while you are in such pain. Please, just relax and I'll run to the phone booth. I'll be back in less than fifteen minutes. I promise," Kevin pleaded with her.

"NO! You can't just leave me. Kevin this baby is coming now. You are going to have to deliver it!" Lorraine announced in no uncertain terms.

"ME? I can't deliver a baby. I definitely can't deliver my own baby," Kevin whined in desperation. The thought of delivering a baby terrified him.

"OH MY GOD KEVIN, it hurts so bad! You have to help me. I need drugs now," Lorraine pleaded.

As soon as the realization sank in that Lorraine was in labor, Lee and Amanda dropped the load of food they were carrying and began to run. As they entered the camp, Kevin was standing there like a deer in headlights. He saw them burst in and his anxious face almost instantly turned to relief. "Amanda! Lee! I'm so glad to see you. Lorraine's water broke about fifteen minutes ago. She won't let me call an ambulance. I can't deliver a baby. I have no idea how. I need to go call for an ambulance, can you stay with her?"

"Of course!" they echoed each other. Kevin sprinted down the trail towards the office. Amanda walked into the tent to see how Lorraine was doing. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that the baby was already on the way. Lorraine was dilated 10 cm. This baby wanted out and she wasn't going to wait for an ambulance.

"Lee, I'm going to need your help!" Amanda shouted out to him over Lorraine's current contraction screams.

"Me? What can I do? Amanda, I can't help deliver a baby!" Lee said as he took over the deer in the headlights look.

"You can and you will. I can't do this by myself so get in here," Amanda commanded.

Lee reluctantly hurried inside the tent while trying not to look at Lorraine's private areas all exposed. He found his face flushing as he realized that he wasn't going to be able to hide from this whole scenario.

"Should I go boil some water or something?" he asked hoping it would be a way not to have to be in the tent with them.

"No, that's just in the movies," Amanda responded as she pulled out some beach towels she found in the corner. Lorraine saw what she was doing and gasped, "There are regular size towels in that bag over there."

Lee hurried over to retrieve them. He didn't feel very good. His knees felt weak and his head was swirling making him feel like he could faint. Amanda suddenly noticed how white he looked.

"Lee, can you come sit with Lorraine? All you need to do is to hold her hand and encourage her. She will probably squeeze your hand pretty hard though so just be forewarned."

Lee rushed to Lorraine's side. He was so grateful that Amanda was giving him a task he might be able to handle. He grasped Lorraine's hand and began telling her how great she was doing.

"Good, now the two of you just focus on each other and I'll do the hard stuff," Amanda suggested hoping to keep Lee from fainting while keeping Lorraine's mind diverted from all the pain she was feeling.

"Your baby is so close to coming out. I think if you really concentrate on pushing hard during your next contraction, she just might pop right out. Let's try, okay Lorraine?"

"I'll try," Lorraine promised in a weak voice.

The only thing Lee knew about giving birth were the things he had seen on tv or in the movies. The one thing they always talked about was for the mom to do her breathing. "Lorraine, focus on your breathing. I think it is supposed to help with the pain or something," he suggested as she gripped his hand tighter. He used a nearby towel to wipe some of the sweat off her face and chest.

Lorraine nodded and began focusing on her breathing. A few minutes later, another contraction began and Amanda excitedly said; "now Lorraine, push with all you have. Push!"

"Come on, you can do it," Lee took over as cheerleader. "She's almost here. You got this Lorraine." Lee couldn't resist taking a quick look over at what Amanda was doing. The baby's head was out now and she was clearing away all of the mucus so the baby could breathe. He couldn't help but admire her even in this role. She was truly an amazing woman. Sometimes he wondered if there was anything she couldn't do. Even when she was scared, she always seemed to find a way to conquer her fears and continue on.

The contraction had ended so Lee took the time to reach into the cooler lying just within his reach. He was thankful to see that the ice had been in it long enough to have partially melted. He soaked the towel in the ice cold water and then wringed out the access. He used the towel to place on top of Lorraine's head in hopes of helping her flushed face. He had barely finished when the next contraction began.

"Push!" Lee and Amanda said at the same time. Lorraine pushed and the baby slowly slid the rest of the way out. As Amanda began cleaning her up, the little girl let out a loud healthy wail. That was when Lee realized that Kevin had not made it back yet. He had missed the amazing birth of his own child. As Lee had adjusted to the situation, he realized how childbirth was truly a miracle and he was overwhelmed with the emotions of watching this little baby come into the world. He also realized that if he ever did have a baby, he would do everything in his power to be there for the birth.

He watched as Amanda wrapped the baby in a beach towel and placed her on Lorraine's chest. At that moment, all of the memory of the childbirth pain melted as Lorraine gazed down at her newborn baby daughter.

Amanda stepped back to give them both space. She took a spot next to Lee while they watched the new mom bond with her baby. Without even realizing she was doing it, she slowly leaned against his chest. Lee noticed though and found himself enjoying the closeness of sharing this special moment with her.

Suddenly Kevin burst into the campsite followed closely by Rodney and Harold.

"Oh man, I knew you wouldn't wait until you were out of the park," Harold whined. Then he smiled and said, "We will have to use a picture of the baby on the advertising brochure next summer."

Lee and Amanda quickly exchanged confused faces. Was it possible that Harold seemed almost accepting of the child being born there?

Rodney jumped in and offered, "Harold and I have just had a long talk about what has been going in his park. I think he might be considering making some changes now that he knows the truth."

"Hey guys, can we talk about that later? I would like my husband to meet his daughter!" Lorraine yelled out. Kevin turned beat red as he rushed to her side and began caressing his daughter's face. "The ambulance is on the way," he told Lorraine as he gently kissed his wife's face. "She's beautiful. Does she have all her fingers and toes?" he asked anxiously.

"I didn't count them, but does it matter?" Lorraine asked him.

"No, she is perfect!" Kevin proclaimed.

Rodney headed back to the office to meet the EMT's so he could guide them back to the campsite. Meanwhile, the rest began talking about Harold's plans for next season.

"I realize that I haven't done the park any favors. It is a beautiful park and more people should enjoy it. I also have decided that it is time to allow the caves to become an attraction. I want it to be controlled though. I would like it to be separate from the park itself since it would draw a different type of crowd of people. I'm hoping to have some people with knowledge of that history to head that up," Harold said as he looked at Kevin and Lorraine. "Would you be willing to help me out? I know you have jobs so you couldn't be here all the time, but maybe you could help organize it. I would love your help and enthusiasm. I think that between the three of us, we could put this place on the map. What do you say?" Harold asked.

Kevin and Lorraine looked at each other for a few seconds without talking and then Kevin said, "We would love to! If we can create something profitable enough so that we could afford to quit our jobs, we would move here. This place is amazing and we didn't even see everything during our stay so it would give us more time to research further. Thank you for asking Harold!"

"That's great Harold," Amanda gushed. "I'm glad you plan to make this experience into a positive one. My family and I will definitely return one day and visit again!"

"Hey maybe you and Lee can have your honeymoon here," Kevin suggested.

"Maybe," Lee answered with a wink at Amanda. She couldn't help but smile as she played along.

Rodney and the EMT's rushed into camp. Soon there was all kinds of activity as they checked both Lorraine and the baby over to make sure they were both okay. After loading them onto a stretcher, they began to wheel it out of camp. She had them stop so she could say her goodbyes to Amanda and Lee.

"It was really fun meeting you both. Someday you will have to tell us the entire story of what happened here this week. Thank you so much for helping me bring this beautiful life into the world. I will never forget you. Someday she will have a name and I will make sure she knows the story about you both," Lorraine said as Amanda gave her a kiss on the cheek and Lee followed suit on her opposite cheek. They both then kissed the baby and stepped back so they could be on their way to the hospital. Kevin had watched the whole exchange and quietly said, "She has a name."

Lorraine's head shot up off the stretcher to look her husband in the eyes. "She does? Are you going to share it?"

"I think it worked out just like I said. I told you that the situation would help us pick out the name. I don't think there is any other name that makes more sense," Kevin declared.

"What name?" Lorraine insisted to know.

"Her name is Mandy Lee," Kevin said with a smile.

TBC