New Life
Nighttime had
fallen over the Quest Compound in Maine. It had been another seemingly endless day. Jessie hated these days . . . the forced inactivity, the endless
hours of waiting. She did her school
work and prowled the house, but that was about it. Her father had made it clear before he left that she was to say
inside. He was afraid that wandering
the grounds, even with all the security, wasn't safe. So he had made her promise to stay inside as much as she
could. Jonny and her father had been
gone now for over three weeks. Dr.
Quest had explained to her that they would send no word. They would not alert Julia in any way. But that didn't make the not knowing any
easier.
She missed
Jonny horribly. And she worried
constantly. He had been so obsessed
with finding Julia. She didn't care. As long as Julia left her and her family
alone she could do whatever she wanted. But Jonny was absolutely fixated. He wanted her eliminated one way or the other. And Jessie knew that he would prefer her dead. She wished fervently that he would just let
it go. It was over. It didn't matter any more. But she knew it mattered to him. She had argued when they decided not to go
to the counselor any longer. She didn't
think he had resolved all the issues and felt they should have continued to
go. But he had insisted he was
fine. And the counselor had agreed so
she had finally given in. But he hadn't
been fine. He had just covered it up
well. And as time went on and she got
bigger and bigger she saw that brooding look more often . . . like something
was eating away at him from the inside. She had tried to talk with him about it, but he would just laugh and say
it was her imagination. But after the
attack by Julia and Lorenzo it had gotten really bad. The black moods came on more and more frequently. And they began to grow apart because of
them. So she hadn't been surprised when
he came to her and said that he and Race were going after Julia. She had been expecting it. She knew that after that episode her father
wouldn't sit back and wait any longer. And Jonny was too much like her dad to sit idly by either. And she also knew that no matter how much
she wanted him to stay, she had to let him go. He had to do this . . . for his own sanity. She just hoped that finding and eliminating any threat that Julia
posed would lay his ghosts to rest forever.
Shifting in
her chair, she looked over at Dr. Quest. He sat contentedly, reading a book. He seemed to have infinite patience. Must come from being a scientist and having to wait for results all
the time, she thought. She envied
him his ability to settle into that waiting mode. In that respect she was more like Jonny . . . she hated to
wait. She would have much preferred to
be with them hunting for Julia than sitting here.
She shifted
again, trying to ease her back, and looked at the television set. She didn't even know what she was
watching. Some old movie,
evidently. An old western . . . shoot
'em up, cowboy. She sighed. And shifted yet again. She simply couldn't get comfortable. Hadn't been able to all day. Even lying down this afternoon hadn't helped
any. Her back ached abominably. She would be so glad when this was over . .
.
"What's wrong,
Jessie?" Dr. Quest was frowning at her
in concern. "You look so pale this
evening."
She smiled at
him. "Nothing. I'm just having trouble getting
comfortable. The bigger I get the
harder it is to find comfortable positions. And when they start to kick it becomes particularly bad."
Benton
chuckled. "I remember Rachel
complaining about the same thing. Jonny
used to get wound up and would kick continuously for 20-30 minutes at a
stretch. Nothing she did would settle
him down. I worried about it, afraid
something was wrong. But he was
restless, even then. Rachel said he was
just impatient to be born."
Jessie
laughed. "That's Jonny. No patience whatsoever. At least they haven't been restless
today. They've actually been very quiet
which is a nice change." She shifted
abruptly, a brief spasm of pain crossing her face. "Uhhhh . . . "
Benton sat up
in alarm. "What . . . ?"
"Back spasm,"
she said, breathing a little heavily. "Nothing to worry about. I've
been doing this for months."
"What?! You never said a word. Maybe I should call Dr. Mason . . . "
She smiled at
him kindly. "I've talked with her about
them already. She says it's just
because I've carried the kids so much out in front of me. Maybe if I get up and walk a little. That sometimes helps." She struggled to slide forward enough to get
up. Any more she almost always had to
have help getting to her feet. She was just
so out of balance!
Benton rose
quickly and came over to help her. She
struggled briefly finally gaining her feet. As she stood rubbing her back with both hands, Benton looked at her
closely. With a sudden thrill of alarm
he noticed that the positioning of the children had changed. During the entire pregnancy, as well as
carrying them in front of her, Jessie has also carried these kids high. She used to complain that they regularly
kicked her in the diaphragm causing her to get the hiccups. But they weren't high now. They had shifted dramatically and were
riding very low. He suddenly remembered
that Rachel's labor had started in her back, too.
"Jessie," he
asked urgently, "how long ago did the kids drop?"
She looked at
him curiously. "They've been shifting
for several days now. I feel like I
have a bowling ball between my knees most of the time."
"And how long
have you been having back pain?"
"I told you,
for months."
"But it's been
worse than normal today?"
"Well, yeah,
but I didn't really think anything about it. I have good days and bad. Today
has just been a bad one."
He watched as
she caught her breath and stiffened, another spasm running through her
back. She reached out desperately and
grabbed for the chair to steady herself. Oh, God, she's in labor, he thought. And she's early. A
full month early! He reached out
for her and began guiding her toward the stairs. "Do you have your bags packed?"
"Yeah. They're upstairs. Why? What . . . "
"I want you to
get your coat and go out and get in the van. I'm going to call Dr. Mason and have her meet us at the hospital and
then I'll get your bags and meet you in the car."
"But . . . "
"Don't
argue! We need to hurry."
She opened her
mouth to protest again but all that came out was a strangled scream. Benton whirled to see her grasping the
banister in a frantic effort to stay on her feet. The contraction that rippled through her belly was strong and obvious. He snatched up the cellular from the hall
table and thrust it into his pocket. Then he grabbed Jessie and began leading her toward the garage. Screw the bags. He would come back for them later. He needed to get Jessie to the hospital, now!
Benton dodged
two orderlies and a scrub nurse as he entered the hospital room where Jessie
currently lay. He had dialed Barbara
Mason as he was leaving the Compound but only got her service. He left an urgent message for her to call
him on the cellular phone and then set it on the dashboard. Next to him, Jessie was trying desperately
to breathe evenly and time her contractions. As he approached the main road he saw one of the security personnel move
to block the road. As he put on the
brakes the phone rang. He snatched it
up and barked into it, "Barbara?"
"Benton. What's up?"
"Jessie's in
labor . . . hard labor. I'm heading in
your direction right now. I'm almost to
the main road."
Barbara
swore. "I'm not in town. I'm at the Kennebec Valley Medical Center in
Augusta. They're all trying to come
tonight. Come straight here. How far along is she?"
Benton looked
over at Jessie. She was rigid, right in
the midst of a heavy contraction. "Breathe, Jessie! Don't hold
your breath. Come on . . . Twelve or
fifteen minutes apart, I think. Her
water hasn't broken yet, though."
"How did she
get that far along without you realizing it?! God, Benton, get her here, fast!"
The trip to
Augusta was little more than a kaleidoscope of images. He drafted two of the security personnel to
run interference and they made the trip as quickly as they could. Beside him he could hear Jessie struggling
as contraction after contraction struck her. In between them, he could hear her muttering to the children, begging
them to be patient and let her get to the hospital before they insisted on being
born. Somewhere on the outskirts of
Augusta her water broke.
Benton
approached the bed where Jessie lay. She looked exhausted already and he knew she still had the hard part to
go. They would be moving her to
delivery any minute now. As he came up
she rolled her head and looked at him. He reached out and took her hand.
"How are you
doing?"
"I wish this
was over."
"I'll
bet. But it shouldn't be long now."
She suddenly
began to pant desperately and her body went rigid again as yet another contraction
hit her. She grasped his hand so
tightly it went numb. "Where is
he? Oh, God, he promised he would be
here." Tears ran down her face as she
struggled. "Daddy! Daddy, help me, please . . . I need him,
Daddy. Please bring him home." Finally the spasm eased and she lay limp in
the bed, still crying. Benton thought
his heart would break. "I want Jonny,"
she whispered brokenly. "Please, I want
Jonny . . ."
Benton leaned
over and put his arms around her. "I
know, darling. He'd be here if he could. Just hang on. It will be over soon . . ."
She clung to
him frantically. "Please don't leave
me. I need someone with me. I don't want to be alone . . . " She sounded so afraid.
Benton was
sharply reminded of that day in Dr. Mason's office when she had made the same
plea to his son. And he knew he
couldn't leave her. He stroked her hair
gently. "I'm here. I won't leave. I promise."
Benton stood
at the head of the delivery couch watching helplessly as Jessie struggled. She was bathed in sweat and her hair hung
lankly around her face and shoulders. She grasped the anchor rails in the death grip, panting heavily. She let out a sharp scream followed by a
breathless "I'm . . . gonna . . . kill him. I . . . swear . . . I'm . . . gonna kill . . . him when he . . . gets .
. . back."
From the other
end of the couch Barbara Mason grinned. "You're doing fine, Jessie. Just
keep it up."
"That's . . .
what . . . you said . . . twenty . . . . minutes ago . . . AAAAAHHHHHH!"
"I know. But it won't be much longer. Now get ready. When I tell you, you push just as hard as you can . . .
ready? Push!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Again, push
. . . keep breathing, Jessie, come on . . . we're almost there . . . I can see
the head . . . get ready . . . push . . . again . . . it's coming
. . . it's coming . . . got it!" and Dr. Mason stepped back holding a tiny
form. She struck the child gently
between the shoulders and it began to wail weakly. Gasping, Jessie struggled to see as Dr. Mason caught the child in
both hands and handed it off to one of the nurses. She grinned at her as she settled back at the end of the delivery
couch. "We have your daughter. Now let's get your son. Here we go again. Get ready. Push! Again. Push. Come on Jessie, you can do
it . . . "
"No . . . I .
. . can't. I'm too . . . tired. Please . . . no more." She leaned back, exhausted and gasping for
breath.
"Yes, you
can! Just a little more. One more good hard push should get it. I can see his head . . . come on. Get ready . . . now, PUSH!" With one final, heroic effort Jessie pushed
for all she was worth and was rewarded by Dr. Mason's satisfied, "Got
him!" And a minute later a second small
cry could be heard. This child she
brought forward and laid on Jessie's stomach. He was tiny and wrinkled and completely covered in blood, but
Benton thought he was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He looked at Jessie. She was sweat-soaked and exhausted and tears
ran down her face but the look of joy was unmistakable as she gazed at her
son. The nurse came over and laid the
little girl next to her brother. Jessie
reached out a tentative hand and caressed both children. Then she looked up at Benton Quest.
In a hoarse,
tear choked whisper she said, "Oh, God, they're so beautiful . . . " Benton couldn't say a word and it was in
that instant that he realized that he, too, was crying.
Jessie opened
the door to the nursery and moved quietly to the cribs that sat in the center
of the room. She gazed down at the two
sleeping children. The feeling of awe
still persisted even two weeks after their birth. They were so tiny! But
even this young she could see distinct personalities developing. She thought they looked alike. Both of them had lots of strawberry blonde
hair. It was like they combined their
parents hair color and came up with something right in the middle. Their eyes were different, though. Jonny had his father's blue eyes while Rachel
had her mother's green ones.
She suddenly
realized that those blue eyes were staring at her. Her son was awake. She
leaned over and smiled at him. "Good
morning, Jonny. How are you this
beautiful morning? Uh huh, you're wet,
that's how you are." The child waved a
tiny fist her. She laughed and quickly
changed his diaper. Then she picked him
up and looked at him closely as she held him. "You know, you look more like your father every day." She walked over to the rocking chair sitting
the corner of the room and sat down. It
was feeding time. Positioning the boy
comfortably, she started to rock as he suckled.
"Are you going
to be like your father, too, Jonny? I hope so. He's pretty
special. I've known him for a long
time. We kinda grew up together. Your grandfathers work together and have for
a long time. I remember the first time
I met him . . . we were only about six years old. I don't think he liked me much at first . . . after all, I was a
girl." She smiled down at the boy. "I think he's a little afraid of the idea of
your sister. I'm not sure he quite
knows what to do about the idea of having a little girl. Your grandmother Rachel died when he was
very young. So you have no uncles or
aunts. He grew up in a house full of
men. Just your grandfather Benton and
grandfather Roger and your uncle Hadji. At least until I came to live with them." She laughed. "You should
have seen them. They really couldn't
figure me out. They learned though."
She picked the
boy up, placed him on her shoulder and patted his back gently. After he burped she lowered him to her lap
and sat looking at him with a small smile. "It's going to be wonderful when he gets home. Things have been really hard the last year or so. I couldn't have made it without him. He cares so much. He's been so impatient for you to be born. He's really excited. He's already talking about all the things
he's going to teach the two of you. All
the things the four of us are going to do. You see, all of his life he's traveled all over the world with your
grandfather Benton. It's really a lot
of fun. And he's really looking forward
to being able to do that with you. There are so many places he wants to show you." She reached out and caressed his cheek
gently. "It will be a little while
before we can do that, though. You have
to be a little older first and we still have to go to college. But we have all the time in the world." The child yawned and his eyes began to
droop. She picked him up and cuddled
him against her again, singing a soft lullaby, as she gently rocked him to
sleep.
Outside the
nursery door Benton stood silently watching her with her son. And he offered up a silent prayer that his
absent son would actually be home soon.