CHAPTER 5: Mallory
"I'll be online this afternoon, so we'll do our errands after the runion, okay?" I called to Ben from the office, which was across the hall from the kitchen.
"All right, Mal," he said. Then I heard him groan, "Aw, shit!"
"What happened?"
"Oh, nothing, just spilled Mr. Clean all over the floor," he grumbled. I shook my head and laughed. Don't get me wrong—I love Ben more than anything in the world, but when it comes to cleaning, he's all thumbs, as Mom would say.
I took a sip of my root beer float as I sat down at the desk and turned on the computer and WebCam, which Ben's parents had gotten us for Christmas last year. That's all I've been craving during my pregnancy, and not the usual stuff, like pickles and ice cream, or peanut butter, bacon, and banana sandwiches. It's a good thing Claudia isn't here, I thought as I waited for the computer to boot up. If I know her, she'll be drinking them like the world was ending. In case you're wondering, Claudia's still the same junk food addict she's been since I've known her. It's a miracle that she hasn't gained tons of weight or suffered terminal acne.
Within minutes, I saw everyone else, and Kristy was sitting directly across from me. I half-expected her to be wearing her green visor. "Hi, you guys!" I said excitedly.
"Hi, Mal!" Jessi called.
"Okay, this meeting of the Baby-sitters Club is now in session," Kristy announced in that professional, let's-get-down-to-business voice that we all knew too well. Needless to say, we practically laughed ourselves sick. I even heard a rumor that those were her first words when she woke up after her appendectomy. That's Kristy for you!
"So, how are you guys?" Mary Anne asked as soon as we'd calmed down.
"Oh, we're doing all right," I said, wiping some foam off my lip. "We just can't wait for the twins to be born."
"That's wonderful," Dawn said. "When are you due?"
"In a few weeks, but the doctor says that since I'm having twins, it could be any time now," I answered. "By the way, do me a favor: if you ever consider having a baby, make sure it's the middle of winter, because summer is the worst time of year to be expecting. I'm just glad I can have all the root-beer floats I want."
"Save one for me, okay, Mal?" Claud requested, and another round of laughter ensued.
"Boy, you're lucky," Kristy commented. "I couldn't even keep one down if I tried."
All of a sudden, there was dead silence. We were just sitting there, pondering what Kristy had just said. Then it hit us: Kristy was pregnant! (I really shouldn't have been that surprised, since I was probably the only one who knew.)
"How far along?" I asked.
"Two months," she answered. Then she started crying, too. That was a real surprise, because Kristy rarely cries. Claud excused herself and left the room to, I assumed, get Jason.
"I'm sorry, you guys," I said, concerned. "I didn't mean to upset anyone."
"Oh, that's okay," Kristy sniffled. "I'm so, so happy for us, that's all. And don't worry, the doctor says these mood swings I'm having are only temporary. I can't wait until they're over. I feel like I'm on a yo-yo with my emotions here."
Jason came into the room and put his arms around Kristy. "Shh," I heard him say. "It's okay, love."
"Love". That one word really made me smile. Kristy once told us that when Jason was consoling Karen after Andrew's bike accident, that's what he called her. That's one of several reasons why we made him an associate member.
The next thing I saw was Abby putting four fingers over her mouth and fanning herself with her other hand. "Oh, damn, why do I always cry?" she whimpered. She reminded me of Sandra Bullock's character from Miss Congeniality, and when Kelly Clarkson won American Idol. Call me crazy, but I still wish she'd done that. Naturally, it got a big laugh.
I also remembered that One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest had been my senior class play. Ben and I had worked backstage, and Benny Ott, who'd played Harding, actually did that during a rehearsal. I'm just glad it didn't happen during a performance, because the director and his assistant would've had to play rock-paper-scissors to figure out who'd get to wring his neck.
"Well, I should be going now," I said as soon as we pulled ourselves together. "Ben and I have some errands to run."
"Okay," Jessi said. "'Bye, Mal."
"'Bye, you guys," I said. After a seemingly endless round of good-byes—and I'm surprised Abby wasn't doing a Peter Griffin impression and pretending to throw things and people over the side of a ship—I turned off the computer and WebCam, finished my drink, and put my glass in the dishwasher.
It was great to see my old BSC friends again. I also knew that Kristy would be just fine. After all, if I was able to get through her stage of the pregnancy, so would she.
After we left Lowe's with our wallpaper, we stopped at Babies "R" Us to pick up the formula, mobiles, and some diapers. The mobiles we'd picked out had all kinds of animals on them, namely koalas and kangaroos. I guessed that they not only reminded Ben of Australia, but they'd also give the twins some insight of where their father came from.
That evening, we finished putting up the wallpaper—which looked like the Australian outback—and hung the mobiles over the cribs. "Well, that should do it," Ben said.
I nodded. "Well, I think I'll call it a night," I said.
"Okay, Mal, I'll be up in a few minutes."
"Good night sleeping keep bedbugs weeping."
"What?"
"Claudia once told us that's what her grandmother used to say. I don't know what it means, though."
"Oh, okay. 'Night."
As I drifted off to sleep, I hoped the twins would come soon.
At the crack of dawn, I woke up needing to go to the bathroom, which was right next to our room. As soon as I got there, I saw a trickle of blood and water on the floor. "BEN!" I shouted.
He was in the bathroom doorway in a flash. "It's time?" he asked.
'Yeah," I said, grimacing in pain and falling to my hands and knees as I felt the first contraction.
"Are you sure?" Ben asked as he helped me up.
"Positive."
"Okay, just sit tight. Everything's under control."
"Okay."
Ben rushed back into our room to get dressed. "Your bag is on the floor," I heard him call as I hurried back into the bedroom. I got there just in time to see him fling the closet door open, toss me the first dress that was hanging there, and a pair of sandals as I got out my undergarments and put them on. All the while, he was grabbing the bag and tossing it on the bed while he got the first jeans-and-Hawaiian-shirt combo he could grab. I'm surprised he didn't fall headfirst into the closet.
A few minutes later, after Ben called our parents and the doctor, we were on our way to the hospital. Ben was driving pretty safely for someone who was about to become a father. I guess all those years of being in charge of three rowdy brothers paid off.
We pulled into the hospital entrance, where an orderly was waiting with a wheelchair. After Ben and the orderly helped me out of the minivan and into the chair, he parked the car, and we went inside. Ben signed me in on the way to the delivery room, and the nurse helped me change clothes, then into bed and hooked me up to an IV and fetal monitor. "How are you feeling, Mal?" he asked. I gave him the thumbs-up sign, despite how much pain I was in.
Dr. Weber arrived shortly thereafter, and after examining me, said, "Well, Mallory, you're ten centimeters dilated. Also, since you're having twins, and it's still this early, we may have to do a C-section."
"That's okay, I understand," I said.
Around noon, I was being taken to the OR. Ben was walking beside the gurney, and had already put on the surgical smock, cap, and mask, which was tied around his neck. "Now don't pass out when she delivers the first baby," I told him. I was, of course, referring to the part in Look Who's Talking, Too, when Julie is born—by way of C-section, of course—and James passes out when the doctor brings out the retractor. What a wuss!
"I won't," Ben laughed, giving me a kiss before tying up his mask. "See you later."
Finally, I was lying on the table, surrounded by sterile drapes, so I couldn't see what they were doing. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, considering how loopy I was from the anesthetic they'd given me.
About twenty minutes later, we heard a baby's cry. "Here she comes," Dr. Weber said, handing the baby to a nurse, who was waiting with a towel. "Baby girl, born at 12:41."
"Andrea Sue!" Ben cried.
Then about two and a half minutes after that, another baby cried, and the doctor announced, "Baby boy, born at 12:43."
"Justin Michael!" Ben exclaimed. "Mal, you did it!"
Unfortunately, I didn't hear him, because I was starting to get really dizzy. "Mrs. Hobart?" the doctor asked—at least I think that's who it was.
"Mal?" Ben asked uneasily. "Mal?!"
"She's losing blood!" I faintly heard a voice yell as I blacked out.
