Evelyn had finally coaxed Rafe and Danny away from the water to come and have lunch. She'd laid everything out on the blanket and Danny was in his father's lap pushing his hand away when Rafe tried to feed him.
The boy was so determined in everything he did and feeding himself was something he wanted to try on his own. Rafe looked at Evelyn, unsure what to do. "It's all right. When he wants you to help him, he'll let you know." She reassured him.
"I just want to make sure he eats."
Evelyn smiled and shook her head. Rafe was such a good father and worried about every little thing, but he was going to have to learn that his son had a mind of his own. She had learned that the hard way.
Danny started to squirm in Rafe's lap and tried to get up because he wanted to walk. So Rafe got up, stood the boy on his feet and held his hands as they started across the sand. Danny pulled his hands out of Rafe's grasp and tried to keep his balance as the sand shifted under his feet. He fell and tried to push himself up as the sand shifted again under his small hands.
Rafe stood and watched as Danny wobbled after standing up and grinned at his stubborn son. That boy is determined. He thought.
Evelyn sat and watched this with such pride. Pride in the patience her husband had in trying to help and pride in her son for wanting to walk. He was growing so fast and she knew that he would be walking very soon without help from his father or her.
As she watched this, she felt another contraction come. This one felt different because she also felt the baby turn again and it was starting to move down. She looked at her watch and they were coming faster now. It had been twenty minutes since the last contraction and Evelyn knew the time had come to go to the hospital. It was going to take some time to get home, so as she promised him she would, Evelyn called to her husband. "Rafe, we have to go."
He stopped and turned around, not sure he'd heard her right. But a nod from her told him he'd not misunderstood. He picked up Danny and rushed back over to her. "How far apart?" Was all he asked her.
"They're coming twenty minutes now."
"Twenty minutes! Christ Evelyn, why didn't you say somethin' sooner!"
"I'm saying something now because by the time we get back to the house, we'll have to get to the hospital."
"You stay here and I'll go get the car."
She saw the panic he was in and tried to calm him down. "By the time you go home, get the car and come back for me we could be at the hospital by then. Besides, I really want to walk."
"You can't walk now, you're havin' a baby!"
"Well you certainly can't carry me, can you?" She reasoned with him.
Rafe sighed. "No."
"Then lets pack up the basket and get Danny home. We'll have to have someone come stay with him."
"I'll call Danny when we get home." Rafe decided.
"All right." Evelyn packed everything away and Rafe helped her up. He folded up the chair and the blanket as Evelyn held Danny's hand. They looked at each other because they knew they did not have the time to let him walk, so Rafe was going to have to carry him and he sighed. "The chair isn't that heavy. I think I can carry it all right." She told him.
Rafe would have preferred to leave the damn thing there. "Like hell you will." He told her and after picking up the basket and the chair with one hand, picked Danny up in his other arm. "You ready?"
"Let's go." And they headed up the beach.
Rafe was trying not to rush but knew they were running out of time. Danny was trying to squirm out of his father's hold and Rafe was quickly losing his patience and called his son by his full name, "Daniel Rafe McCawley, stop that! We have to get home."
The tone of his voice surprised the boy and he stopped squirming. He looked at his father with wide eyes not sure what was going on.
"Rafe." Evelyn admonished him gently. "He doesn't understand what's happening."
"And I don't have time to try and explain it to him." And they kept walking.
By the time they got back to the house, Rafe dropped the basket and the chair on the porch, put Danny on his feet and rushed into the house. Evelyn heard him on the phone, putting in a call to the barracks. "Just get over here as fast as you can." And she heard him slam the receiver down in the cradle. He came back out on the porch, looking absolutely frantic.
"Rafe, you've got to calm down. This could take hours yet."
"You're havin' a baby!" He shouted at no one in particular.
Evelyn would have laughed if she knew her husband weren't so scared. "Rafe, you've got to calm down." She repeated. "You're scaring Danny."
Sure enough, the little boy had tears in his eyes, too stunned at his father's outburst to cry. Rafe had never lost patience with his son or ever raised his voice around him. Today he had done both and the child didn't know what to make of it. Rafe closed his eyes and sighed and crouched down to look at his son. "I'm sorry Danny. I shouldn't have shouted."
Danny seemed to understand his father because he toddled over to him and put his arms around his neck. Rafe put his arms around the child and stood up. He rocked him in his arms to reassure his son that everything was okay. Danny put his head down on Rafe's shoulder and closed his eyes. All was well.
While Rafe had mended fences with his one-year-old, Evelyn had gone into the house to get her suitcase. It had been packed for the last week because she had had a false alarm.
She stood on the threshold of the doorway and watched them, her two boys. And soon she would know if there would be three or maybe they would have a little girl. She couldn't help but smile to herself because she knew if they had a girl, Rafe would be an impossibly overprotective father.
There was something about a girl's relationship with her father that was so different than with a son and if they had a girl, she would be the apple of her father's eye. She couldn't think of two luckier children than hers to have the father they did.
Danny was suddenly there, having run over from the barracks. He was breathing hard because he'd run as fast as he could and the scene that greeted him wasn't quite what he'd expected. Rafe was holding his godson, rubbing his cheek against the boy's hair and Evelyn was standing there watching them. They were a pair. He smiled to himself.
He looked at Evelyn. "How are you doin'?"
Before she had a chance to answer, Rafe frowned at him and said quietly, "How the hell do you think she's doin'?"
Danny grinned at his best friend. "Well, I can see how you're doin'. But I was askin' your wife."
"I'm fine, I'm in labor. And I really want to get to the hospital now." She said matter of factly.
Rafe turned to look at Evelyn. "How far are they now?"
"Fifteen minutes and getting stronger."
He held his son not wanting to let him go. He sighed because he knew that Danny would not be allowed in the hospital but he didn't want to leave him, even if it was with his godfather. It was still his birthday and he was going to get scared when Evelyn had to leave him. He would be inconsolable if he couldn't stay with his father. "Do you know if any of the nurses are on call?" He asked Danny.
"Barbara is, I think. Why?"
"Could you see if there would be any way for her to let Danny in the hospital? It's his birthday and I want him to stay with me."
"I thought that's why I was here, to look after him."
"Well, I changed my mind. I want to keep him with me."
Evelyn stood and watched the exchange. "Honey, just get Danny and bring him. Barbara will let him stay." And she picked up her suitcase to end the discussion. She walked down the steps and headed to the car.
Danny put the basket and chair in the house and closed the door. He followed Rafe to the car and took the car keys from him. "I'll drive." Was all he said.
The suitcase was on the front seat and Evelyn was sitting in back. Rafe got in next to her and held Danny on his lap. Evelyn put her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was so tired and the hard work hadn't even started yet.
"Does the hospital know we're comin'?" Rafe asked.
She nodded. "I called when I went in the house to get the suitcase."
Another contraction hit and that got Evelyn to sit up. She tried not to cry out because she did not want to alarm anyone in the car, but that one had hurt. She looked at her watch and they were now ten minutes apart, which she relayed to Rafe. "Danny, can't this thing go any faster?" Rafe asked.
Danny had seen what had happened with Evelyn from the rear view mirror and knew they were out of time. "How the hell would I know? It's your car!" And he sped up a little faster.
It seemed an eternity, but five minutes later Danny had pulled the car up to the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital and ran inside. He came back with Barbara right behind him and she helped Evelyn out of the car. Rafe got out behind her and put Danny on his feet. "She's havin' the baby." He said unnecessarily.
Barbara arched an eyebrow at him. "Really? I couldn't tell."
She whisked Evelyn inside in a wheelchair and over her shoulder she told him, "There's some paperwork you need to fill out at the admissions desk."
She had been taken inside so quickly, Evelyn hadn't had the chance to tell Rafe how much she loved him and that she was going to be all right. She knew what was going to happen but he didn't and that worried her.
Rafe stood by the car, suddenly unsure what to do. He looked down to see his son looking up at him. "Well, son it looks like it's just you and me for awhile." And he picked him up before he walked into the hospital to go to the admissions desk.