Paul and Gilbertha both woke up with the sun shining in their little bedroom window the next morning. Things had been so crazy the past few days. His dad did take care of the cattle to help them out before his parents went home to Knoxville, but Paul knew today he needed to get out to the barn to check on the cattle. The girls were late for their morning milking. He knew he still had to get his work done, no matter how they both were feeling. He sat on the bed, finally dressed in some ranchers clothes, a light blue-gray buttoned up shirt and darker gray slacks,….and he felt Bert softly grab his hand. Paul tried to smile at her and moved himself closer to her. His lips found her forehead in a kiss and his fingers smoothed back her dark messy tendrils of hair. "I'm gonna start some of the work with the cattle and I'll get a couple shovels….and we'll….do what we need to do…." Paul sighed and she nodded and lay back against their pillows. Bert loved decorating their home and their bedroom was a special, pretty place. She loved a lot of pillows on their bed in soft earth toned colors, oranges and browns and tan….and sky blue. "Want me to help you get dressed?" Paul offered.
"Do I have to get dressed?" Bert asked. She didn't even feel like moving from that soft bed with the soft, smooth blankets, but she knew she must at some point.
"Not if you don't want to….I guess." Paul nodded. "As long as you're comfortable, honey."
Paul quietly left and went out to the barn and Bert stayed in their bed for a while. She felt like she could go back to sleep and stay that way the rest of her life….but she knew that life goes on and she would move on with her life. It wouldn't always be like this. Bert knew she wouldn't always feel this sadness and depression and physical and emotional pain, and things would get better. These Scars would surely heal.…..she just didn't know how right now. She managed to get up and made her way, dressed in her summer nightgown that went almost to the knees, across the dark wood floor. She walked barefoot into their little kitchen and stared at the little wooden box sitting on the kitchen table and she went over, picked it up and stood there staring at it with tears streaming down her cheeks. Bert gazed up at the ceiling, crying and whispering silent prayers. She didn't know how she was going to do this.
Paul came in to see her there in the kitchen. His heart broke to see her standing there, still in her short linen nightgown that was still stained on the chest and wrinkled from sleep. Her black hair a mess, and tears stained her face….Bert looked at him helplessly and swallowed back more tears. Paul put his hands in his front pockets as he slowly walked towards her and with tears in his soft eyes, he placed a hand on her back and half embraced her. "We're going to be alright…It's going to be okay, honey…." Paul shakily whispered and felt tears drop. "We have each other…..we'll be just fine….." Paul felt helpless. He shut his eyes as tears came to both of them and he felt her form rested close up against him. He tried to wipe away the tears that slipped down her cheeks and Paul cried too. Sniffling and wiping away tears from his eyes. "I wish we didn't have to do this either…but we'll get through it together, Sweet." He sniffed and let out a rough breath and took her hand softly in his and they walked outside. Bert felt the summer grass and dirt on her bare feet as they walked to the barn to pick up the shovels. They walked through the Colorado buffalo grass again to a little space on their property spread with Orange Paintbrush flowers, away from the ranch house. It was a beautiful sight aesthetically….but Bert wished they didn't have to be there, doing what they were having to do. They both wished this was a horrible dream they would both wake out of….but they knew it wasn't. Paul set the little box in the grass among the Orange Paintbrush flowers. Bert picked a few and she decided she would press them in a book later. She knew she would NEVER forget her baby. She would never forget Paul Jr.'s sweet face. She would never forget seeing or holding him, but she needed something. Something to remember him by. She had no true memories with him….except in pregnancy. The changes in her body that he and her other pregnancies gave. Feeling him move for the first time….that feeling had been new to her, as her other pregnancy losses had been very early miscarriages. Still…..She needed something visual to remember her baby, Paul Ivor Bardrick Jr. Orange was her favorite color, so that made her feel a little better for a moment.
Paul sunk his shovel into the ground and turned up the dirt and grass, surrounded by the Orange Paintbrush. Bert tried to help him dig the small grave….but later she stepped back and sat down in the grass among all the Orange Paintbrush flowers and she cried with her head down. Paul stood up straighter and looked over at her with tears forming in his eyes again. He sunk his shovel into the earth and went over to her. Paul crouched down next to her and she was still crying, with her hand on the little box. Bert looked at Paul. "I cant do it…I can't do it!...I'm the reason we're doing this….Me." She cried and tears poured from her eyes. "He was perfect in every way!" Bert cried and felt Paul wrap his arms around her. "I'm the reason…..Whether it was my body or not….it was me!" she said sorrowfully.
"Don't say that, Bert." Paul whispered. "It was not you…..It wasn't your fault. It may have been your body, but it wasn't your fault. God just decided to take him….for whatever reason…."
"Why…" she whispered weakly and pressed her face into his chest and shed tears on the blue fabric of his shirt. "Why…." Bert whispered in tears. She felt sorrow and sadness and depression….helplessness….and now a hint of anger. He kept saying they were going to be alright but he wasn't feeling like this….as far as she knew. He didn't feel this as deep as she did! She wished she could get him to see how she really felt. Bert couldn't really explain it to him. Paul knew she was hurting though.
"I'll take over from here…." Paul whispered and smoothed back her messy, wavy black hair. "Mmkay?...I'll do the rest…" he whispered and held her a second. She sat there crunched up in the fetal position, crying and either staring at the little box on the ground, or with her eyes shut as tight as she could stand it, she cried more tears. Paul dug the rest of the little grave, with her crying and staring at him numbly as he dug up the Colorado land. She just stared on blankly and Bert felt the summer breeze blowing by, whipping loose tendrils of coal black hair lightly across her sad, tear soaked face. Paul slowly grabbed the box when he was finished, and he felt Bert lay her hands on top of his.
"No!...I want to!…." Was all she managed to say while she cried. And so they both set the little box in the ground together. Paul heard Bert whisper an old Catholic prayer, "O gaping earth! Receive the body formed of you by the hand of God and again returning to you as its mother; for what has been to his image, the Creator has already reclaimed, Receive then this as your own." When finished she made the sign of the Cross. Paul had filled in the little one's grave with earth and for some time they both just sat there in the Colorado buffalo grass. Silent. They both just couldn't speak for quite some time. They were numb.
"He wasn't baptized…." Bert said quietly after awhile.
"He doesn't need to be…..babies go straight to Heaven." Paul said, confident in his belief and that fact….and he wrapped his arms around her thin, tall frame. "Its done….." He whispered.
"Oh Paul….Oh Paul!..." Bert cried and her body shook and she put her head down and then she felt him lift her chin with the crook of his finger.
"Its done…" Paul whispered softly and kissed her. She had tears in her brown eyes and so did he. "Please….have faith with me…I'm not talking about your religion here….but have FAITH….Believe that WE are going to be just fine….Whether we have a child or not."
Bert managed to nod her head and shut her eyes again while she cried. "I….I still want a baby….I want him….I still want…." She said, with the tears streaming. Maybe she wasn't making sense. She didn't know. She didn't care. Maybe she was going crazy?! That was it, she thought at last…..She let out a long breath and she felt Paul embrace her again. She cried as he held her. He cried. They sat there in the Colorado buffalo grass among the orange paintbrush flowers for what seemed like hours.
"We'll discuss it later…." Paul whispered, kissing her and smoothing back her black hair. "We're…not.. ready…" He whispered roughly. Bert nodded, knowing what he was saying was the truth. Paul thought he was mature at 22 years old, but he had a feeling that this hardship was helping him become even more mature and grow up even more. Hurt does that sometimes….if only you let it.
Paul gazed as Bert slowly walked by herself back to their little ranch house. Rest might be good for her, he thought. He went back to the barn to be alone and do some more work with the cattle. He stood in the barn, trying to brush out a cow's coat, but he couldn't focus on his work. One stroke of the flat brush, and then he'd lean his head and arm against the soft reddish brown fur. Another stroke of the brush and then he stopped. He was alone other than the cattle and he really let it all out. He cried and mourned and prayed. "I don't understand, Lord!" He prayed helplessly. "I desire….fatherhood. I want to do it right. I want to be the kind of man my father is. I know I can do it!...Bert and I would make wonderful parents…..I know we would!…we feel so ready. We've wanted this since we got married…." Paul cried. He didn't know what else to say to the Lord…..so he was silent for some time and went back to the little ranch house. He saw Bert at the stove. She turned over a cut of meat with a spatula and glanced at him.
"What are you doing?" Paul questioned numbly. Bert looked and saw there were tears in his eyes.
"What does it look like? Cooking…." Bert felt numb too… She turned her attention back to the food she was cooking in a cast iron skillet on the cookstove.
"You go lie down….you need your rest." Paul said and held her by the shoulders. "I can cook my own food…."
"I'm your wife….I need to take care of you…." She told him.
"….I need to take care of you…." Paul said. "Please…go lie down….sleep for as long as you want to."
"I've done nothing but sleep….I don't want to sleep! I can't sleep anymore….I….I want things to be normal again….." Bert said at last and dropped the plate she was holding and it crashed and broke into pieces on the floor. She was angry and sad and tired and depressed all in one. Paul held her face in his hands and she cried. "I'm tired of crying too!...That's all I do! Cry…sleep! Or do absolutely nothing! I'll go crazy and the next thing we know, you'll put me in a mental institution! " she cried and yelled at him.
"And STOP saying I love you and we're gonna be alright!...You're like a damn broken record!" Bert yelled. She tried to busy herself and got a different plate of food ready for him, all the while yelling at him and telling him like it is.
"But Bert…." Paul said quietly. He came up behind her and softly rubbed his fingertips on her upper arms.
"But nothing!,….Just….just leave me alone…..don't touch me….you're smothering me!" Bert pushed him away with one arm while tears streamed down her cheeks. She slammed down his plate of food on the table and turned to go into their bedroom but stopped at the door and looked at Paul. "You don't know how badly I feel…..and you DON'T know what's going to happen in the future. So STOP acting like you do! You're not GOD." Paul just stood there and took it. He was silent and just stared at her.
"This was probably our last chance at having children….and that makes me feel so much worse!"
"Bert, you don't know…."
"YOU don't know!" she yelled at him. "You don't know either!...You're a man! You have no idea how hard this is for me! You have no idea!…I have had two uteri my whole life and I didn't know it till a few days ago….and I feel like a freak!...I'm basically recovering from both childbirth and a partial hysterectomy…..my body's reacting crazy…..and I may still have a uterus now but…but I don't know if it even works right…..the other one I had really didn't do it's job!" She cried and put a fist to her mouth. She felt horrible she was yelling at him so much….She never usually yelled at him like that. She didn't even know why she was doing it. It wasn't like her. Sure she'd get a little ticked and would say something bold….but never yell and scream at him.
We need to talk about this together…later…." Paul said softly.
"Fine…" she told him sharply. She was angry and sad and depressed. A whirlwind of emotion and bunches of hormones that were trying to regulate themselves. Bert went into their bedroom and curled up on top of the soft blankets and dozens of pretty pillows…but she never slept. She cried till her eyes went dry again, and she thought and prayed. She didn't know what else to do.
"Babe, where are ya?!...Babe?!..." Eddie called. "Babe, I'm home!" He had just gotten home from the night shift at the White House Biscuit Company.
"Good morning, honey…" Helen smiled, stepping out of their bedroom. She was still sleepy, her hair was messy from trying to sleep and she wore a short maternity nightgown in a light yellow print. She almost couldn't fit in it anymore even though she let it out once or twice, but it was all she had and she knew she wouldn't be pregnant for much longer. With money being tight too, they couldn't really afford anything new anyway.
"How was your night at work?" Helen smiled, sighing happily as he put his arms around her and kissed her.
"Oh…busy as usual." Eddie said. "How were you without me last night? Hm?...Miss me?" Eddie grinned, flashing his pearly whites. Helen chuckled and kissed him on the lips again and looked into those gorgeous brown eyes of his. "Yes I did, honey….." She sighed happily again and closed her tired eyes as he kissed her forehead. "Baby kept me up most of the night….I hardly slept. I swear, he must be a little boxer like his Papa is!"
Eddie grinned a little. "That reminds me…I got invited to go over to a fight again. I would like to get back in the ring!" Eddie was quite the boxer. He loved a good fight! Mixed martial arts. Ju jitsu. Anything of that sort. He went once in awhile out of their little town of Dubuque to compete out of town.
"Oh honey….I don't always like you with your boxing! Sometimes you come home all beat up, bloody and sore…." She told him.
"Okay, Babe…." Eddie smiled, taking her hand and kept kissing it. "I won't. Promise…."
"You really promise?" she looked up at him with those daring soft brown eyes.
"Yes. I just said I promise!" He laughed. "C'mon Babe." Eddie smiled and kissed her again. Then he couldn't look away from those soft and sexy brown eyes of hers. "Love ya…my sweet Aviado Babe…."
"I love you too." Helen smiled. "Now let me just guess what you would like for breakfast?! Sunny side up eggs and bacon!"
"Nope…no time for that, Babe…." Eddie raised his eyebrows. "Dad and I have a surprise for you…."
"And what just that might be?!" Helen chuckled.
"Got it out in the front….but you close those peepers!" He said and closed her eyes with her own hands over them and he guided her out to the front room. "No peeking!" Eddie said, laughing as he and his father, John Henry Walbrun came in with something wooden and heavy.
"No, no, no!...No peeking!" Eddie teased. "I see you peeking, Babe!"
"I'm not!" Helen insisted. "What did you get me? My birthday was several months ago!" she laughed.
"Its for….someone else's birth day." Eddie grinned, coming up behind his very pregnant wife and softly grabbed both of her hands and uncovered her eyes. Helen looked at what they had brought in and an infectious smile lit up her face and she looked at her husband. "Oh Eddie!...You bought the baby a brand new crib?!"
Eddie smiled proudly. "Even better than that…..I made it myself! Dad helped me. Taught me how and everything!" John H. Walbrun worked as a carpenter/contractor, and Eddie worked with his dad on different projects. He was well on his way to becoming a master carpenter.
"Oh Eddie, it's beautiful! Honey, I love you!" Helen tried to get as close as she could to hug him but laughed as her very large midsection prevented her. She smoothed her hand there as he leaned in to kiss her. "You really made that?!" she whispered, smiling up at him and he was just beaming. "I could swear it was brand new from the store!...it's so well made! Oh, I love you!"
"Love you too…my Dushka."
"And you made perfect timing too!….Baby will be here before we know it, Eddie." She beamed at him. "Are you excited?!"
Eddie nodded. "Little nervous…..what about you? You a bit scared?"
"A little…" Helen nodded. "But Mama will be with me, and she knows what to do. She's a good midwife…..I'm sure I'll be just fine."
"You'll do great, Babe…don't worry." Eddie smiled and softly kissed her cheek. "When?!" He grinned excitedly, placing a hand on her belly. "Yup,...he sure is a little boxer like his dear old Dad!" Eddie chuckled, feeling the strong jabs and kicks, from his outside point of view.
"I hope its a boy too…" Helen smiled at Eddie sweetly and then she looked at him and stifled a laugh. "And how in the world am I to know exactly when?!….Mama says babies come when they want to….though that may be just her little joke." Helen giggled. "I haven't….really…noticed anything yet….I will certainly let you know, honey…."
"Hope Baby looks like you…" Eddie smiled and winked at her.
Helen sighed and smiled, grabbing his face and she kissed him. "I hope he looks like his Papa….but we'll see won't we?" she whispered.
"Yes honey….Yes,…dear that's actually-yes honey, it's a good sign! Yes, honey…yes… I know it looks gross. Yes, it should be that color. That's normal…..Yes, normal!" Frances said flatly. "...I'm sorry baby, that's just the way it is!" Frances sighed and cast her gaze upwards. Helen had called her mother a few days later nearly frantic and with tons of questions. "Yes, it means labor is soon. Honey. Honey , that doesn't mean today!...A few days….A few weeks, maybe…" Frances tried to stifle a laugh from her lips. "Oh dear….Oh….dear." She chuckled. "Honey, you just call back again if you notice anything else….we'll send your Papa to pick you up. Yes….yes, honey he's doing okay. He thinks he's good as new and wants to go back to work….but I won't let him…you want to talk to him?...yes. yes, dear!...Hold on just one second…." Frances set the phone down on the little wooden shelf and went to the front room. Fred was upright in his big armchair and was reading the newspaper.
"Fred…"
"Mhhmmmm…" Fred mumbled, reading the front page of the paper.
"Our daughter would like to speak with you…." Frances sighed, placing a hand on one of the French door handles, as she stood in the threshold. Both French doors were wide open.
"Mmmhmm." Fred grunted, getting up from his armchair and picked up the old fashioned telephone and placed it to one of his large flat ears. "Yes, Little Girl! Hello!...Guten Morgen!" He said "good morning" in German and smiled. "Yes…..Yes, your dear old Dad is just fine. Right as rain! Don't worry. Helen, I'm fine!...Helen Frances, now stop those tears!" Fred sighed but couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Helen…honey…I'm just fine." Fred said softly to calm his daughter over the phone. "Yes honey…I told you…I'm just fine." Fred stood in his wife's sewing room, with his hand resting on the telephone's little shelf and he soothed his daughter.
"Now how are you, Little Girl?" He asked her and listened a moment. "Mmhmm….Oh yes, now I would be just honored!" Fred smiled wide and proud. "…So long as you have him on my birthday!...Dear, I'm only teasing you….Baby will come when baby's supposed to..…" Fred chuckled. "You name him what you want too. ….Well, thank you sweetheart….." Fred smiled softly. "Oh.…yes….yes, you just call and I'll come right over to get you. Day or night…Yes, I mean it!...Well. yes, you could do that too. I'm sure old Burkart next door would take you. But it''ll be no trouble for me…I promise. Helen Frances, I'm fine….yes, really!... Take care. Ich liebe dich. Bye bye….Yes, you too." Fred hung up the telephone. "Oh that girl…" he chuckled a little.
"Lord help her…and Lord help me, when her time comes!" Frances chuckled just a bit…but she was a little worried how it was all going to pan out. Fred softly grabbed her shoulders and planted a kiss on the forehead. "You will do just fine….both my ladies will." He said about his wife and daughter. "Both my girls are strong and tough." Fred smiled and kissed his dear wife on her forehead and grabbed her hand lovingly. He gazed at her a few seconds, still in love with her after 20+ years.
"Now will the "woman on the warpath" be here?" Fred asked about his mother-in-law, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Yes, dear…"
"Oh just peachy…." Fred muttered, heading back into the front room. "Woman grates on my nerves!" He said to himself, sitting down in his favorite armchair. He looked the front page of his newspaper again and skimmed through articles, reading the real interesting ones. "…'Havener Issues New Subpoenas In "Graft" Case'…hm…'Laval Submits Rough Outline of Peace Plans'….'Franklin Jr. 21; President At His Party'. Party boy, eh?...Poor boy resembles Eleanor, good grief…." "…'No Decision In Tax Bill'…..hm. 'Slayer of Government Agent Admits to Killing Mother'. God Almighty, what is this world coming too?!...Well, that's enough news for now….My my." Fred sighed. He stretched out for a small nap in his armchair.
"Fred honey…" Frances whispered hours later. "Why don't you come to bed, dear?" She smoothed his shoulder and his chest rocking him gently awake. "Hmpf….How long have I been asleep?"
"Awhile dear…" Frances sighed. "You looked uncomfortable. I don't know how you can sleep in that chair…."
"God it's hotter than blazes already!" Fred exclaimed unbuttoning his shirt. "What time is it anyway?"
"I don't know dear…." She yawned, and patted his hairy chest. "Go to bed…you silver bear!"
"Yes dear…" Fred said with a laugh and gave her a kiss goodnight. She had gone into her bedroom and Fred had retreated to his room. "Who can sleep in this heat?!" He said to himself taking a seat on his bed and took off his shirt.
"Goodnight dear…" he heard her call from her bedroom.
"Oh goodnight….Ich liebe dich." He yawned.
"I love you too,….try to sleep well."
That same night in the little brick house on Rhomberg Avenue, Helen was alone in bed. Eddie was at work of course….and she couldn't sleep. The late night heat on this late August 18th evening was miserable. She sat up in bed and turned on the gas lamp and decided to read a little something since she was up and couldn't sleep. Helen became so engrossed in her book, she almost didn't notice the cramping that started. "These aren't so bad…..like my cramping on my lady's days, almost….I'll just….try and…go back to sleep…" she yawned and tried to get comfortable. "I'll just sleep….and let Eddie know in the morning….I've got this…under control…" she slept for a few hours and then the pain woke her up again. "Ok….this hurts worse now…." She breathed and glanced at the clock that was ticking away on the wall. "Eddie won't be home for four hours yet!...Is this…it?! Is this how it's supposed to feel?!" she said, talking to herself. Helen tried to get herself up and went to the dresser. "I should've been packed already….maybe I don't have this under control!" Fear washed over her as pain and anxiety became worse. "I cant call Papa! I can't alarm him with this with his heart condition." She started to cry, worrying about him and herself at the moment. She had packed a bag with a few changes of clothes and went into the kitchen and leaned on one of the kitchen chairs as she felt that unfamiliar ache. "Nobody's up at this hour…." She said with tears coming to her eyes. "I cant wait for Eddie…..What do I do?! Do I call Papa?!...No, I cant…..He just got over his heart attack. It would…kill me…if I made him feel worse right after…." She said through the pain and in tears. "Oookkaaayy…..I think this is the real deal!" she cried and put a hand on her back. Helen grabbed her bag and little purse and went over to the neighbors next door, who owned the little antique store. Burkart's Point Antique Shop. The middle-aged couple lived in the back of the store. She pounded as hard as she could on the store front door and was fearing they wouldn't hear her.
"Oh sweetie…." The older woman exclaimed as she threw open the door, and Helen was standing there experiencing another contraction. "I'm so sorry to wake you up at this hour, Mrs. Burkart!" and she frantically started to explain herself.
"Now, now sweetie it's alright!" The older lady said and ushered her into their little home at the back of the antique store and sat her down at their little kitchen table.
"What's all the ruckus?!" the storekeeper who was in his late 40s came into the room.
"Frank! Go put a shirt on!"
"Well, what the Hell's going on, Ginny?!" the skinny, tall man hollered.
"We are going to drive Mrs. Walbrun to the hospital…."
"Oh no, no, no, no, no….No, I can't go to the hospital!" Helen said frantically. "Could you give me a ride to my parents place? Please?!...I can't go to the hospital..."
"We can, sweetie….calm down, it's alright….You're sure you don't want to go to the hospital?! We can take you to Mercy, it's no trouble!"
"No, I'm not going to the hospital….I'm having my baby at my mother's!" She insisted. Helen shut her eyes as she experienced yet another contraction.
"Very well….Let's go already, Frank!...FRANK!" she yelled and went back into the back bedroom. "Get going Franklin!" Mrs. Burkart nagged.
"Now where is your husband, sweetie?!" Mrs. Burkart had asked in the little car on the way to the Lay's home. It wasn't a long drive but to Helen it felt like an eternity.
"He's at work….and doesn't come home till 7:30….I don't think I could wait around….."
"Yes, I understand…." The lady said soothingly.
"What was I going to do anyway?! We don't have a car! So he rides his bike everywhere. What was I gonna do?! Ride on his handlebars?!" That sent a laugh from Mr. Burkart. All three of them sitting in the front seat of the car. Mr. Burkart in the driver's seat, Helen in the passenger's side, with little Mrs. Burkart in the middle.
"Frank!" Mrs Burkart exclaimed and slapped him upside the head. "How are you feeling, Mrs. Walbrun?" she asked checking up on her.
"Oh…it hurts!" Helen half laughed. "I think it's the real thing, but I'm not sure…." She said with a rush of her breath. "All I know is it hurts!"
"Woman to woman…." Mrs. Burkart whispered and patted her knee. "I know how it goes!"
"By the way, you can call me, Helen…" She breathed in and let out a long breath.
"Ginny…" Mrs. Burkart replied and patted her knee. "Now where does your husband work? I think Frank and I can give him a call when we get home."
"Oh you would do that?!...Oh, thank you!" Helen gasped, resting her head on the back of the headrest. "I'm not even thinking!"
"That's alright, young lady….I totally understand!"
"My Eddie works at the…the White House…Biscuit Company…." Helen replied and placed her hands on her stomach and tried to breathe and concentrate. She was afraid of the pain, she'd never felt like this before.
"We'll certainly give him a telephone call….Your parents live just right here?" the 40 year old lady asked as the were about to make a left on the little wooden bridge.
Helen nodded. "Yes, the one with the huge pine tree next to it…..Oh!...Ow, ow, ow, ow,!" she yelled out as a contraction hit as they bumped along on the short little wooden bridge. The bumping around was shortly over, but the contraction was not. "Oohhhhmmmmm-mmmmm,….." She started to hum with the pain and shut her eyes.
"Oh you poor thing! That just made it worse, I bet you."
"Oh, ….I'm…okay." She breathed.
"Front or back door?" Mr. Burkart asked her.
"Back door…I don't know if I can walk up the front steps…there's only about 2 or 3 on the back porch."
"I'll take her Frank…you go around to the front door. Make sure somebody wakes up."
"Oh…Papa's…a…a light sleeper." Helen said pausing in the middle of a contraction. "His room's right by the front door. "
"What the Devil?! Frances! What is that racket?! What are you doing up at 4:30 in the morning?!" Fred grumbled sitting up in his bed.
"Why, it's not me!...there's somebody pounding on the back door!"
Fred woke up a little and realized there was a pounding coming from out front. "What's that out front?!"
"I said back door, dear!" she called from in her bedroom.
"We'll, there's somebody out front too!...Alright, alright, keep your knickers on!" Fred grumbled on, dressing in a pair of tan slacks and he put up the suspenders. It was so hot out he didn't have a shirt on.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" He heard Frances call as she went to the back door. Fred opened up the front door to see Mr. Burkart. "Burkart…." Fred nodded to him and welcomed him into the front room.
"Got your daughter and my wife with her out back." Frank nodded.
Fred nodded. "Thanks for bringing her in." Fred saw that his wife had ushered their daughter and Mrs. Burkart in and Fred and Mr. B. got to talking about their Army days as Frank later had noticed Fred's German Eagle tattoo. "I was in the German Army 1907-1909 Cavalry and Infantry Division…."
"You ain't some kind of Nazi now are ya?"
The look on Fred's face was of anger and complete disdain. "Don't you dare call me that again….Yes, I'm German…but I am an American. Wholeheartedly.….end of story…."
"Frank! You don't know when to keep that big mouth of yours shut!" his wife scolded him. "Let's go! Now! Move it!" she said, jabbing him in the ribs. "I just asked the man a question!" the man exclaimed.
"Mama,…Papa….I'm sorry for barging in here and waking you up so early!" Helen started to cry and it wasn't just from the pain.
"Honey…you're just fine!" her mother said, settling her into her rocking chair in the little sewing room.
"Now, now Little girl…Why didn't you call me? " Fred asked softly, crossing his arms over his chest and gave her that little serious look. "I told you I would have come and gotten you."
"It was so late….I was scared, I didn't know what to do!" Helen cried. "I'm sorry, Papa!"
"Honey,….that's alright." Frances soothed her and kneeled down by her. "You're here now….everything is going to be alright….you can labor here for awhile….walk around…..squat down….go in my bedroom. Anything you want to do. We'll make sure you're as comfortable as possible….okay? "
Helen nodded and there were tears in her eyes and it reminded Frances of when she was a little girl, hurt or in trouble. "Oh my baby girl!" Frances said, wiping her daughter's tears away. "You'll be just fine! You're with your Mama! No worries."
"I will be in my room!" Fred exclaimed.
"Fred…."
"What?!...I have no reason to be here! I know nothing about birthing no babies!...I'm leaving it to the expert!..." Fred looked at his wife and then at his daughter and he softened. "Okay…I'll help for a little while…."
"Has your water broken yet, honey?" Frances asked her daughter.
"I don't know, Mama!...Um, Hello, I've never done this before!"
"I'm sure you would know if you felt it, honey…." Frances chuckled. "We'll keep an eye on you. In a little while, we'll go into the bedroom and I'll check you, alright?"
"Mama…that's embarrassing!"
"Honey…it's either me or the doctor…."
"You're calling a doctor?!...Why?...No, no, nu-uh…..I don't want him touching me up there!" she said still crying. She was afraid. Afraid of what she was having to do and the pain that was coming regularly.
"I'm only calling one if I need to…..You have me and your Papa for as long as possible, alright baby?"
"What about Grandma?!" she questioned, and started to breathe hard.
"She's upstairs!... Do you want her with you too?"
Helen shook her head no…."I don't know, Mama!" she cried.
"Helen Frances,…..now that's enough. Calm down and stop crying."
"I'm sorry, Mama!" she cried and wiped tears away from her eyes. She cried a little more and tried to calm down. She finally calmed herself but then a pesky contraction hit her.
"Helen….stop tensing up. Sweetheart…that's not going to help you."
"Okay, Mama…." Helen breathed and looked at her helplessly. "Let's stand up,!….walk a bit. Do whatever you're comfortable with….Easy, honey…." Frances said helping her to her feet. Helen walked around the little sewing/sitting room and later found herself with her arms supporting her weight on her mother's Singer sewing machine. "Huuuuuuuuuuuhhhh…." She breathed through another contraction and her arms shook. "I don't want to break your sewing machine!" she started to cry and put her weight off of it and leaned against the wall. "I don't want to break it...I know I'd break it. I'd feel so bad...You spend so much time on that." Helen cried and breathed, standing against the wall. She closed her eyes again while feeling another contraction.
"Honey….you won't break it. It's very, very sturdy."
"I feel like a big fat pig!" Helen exclaimed. "I put on so much weight!"
"Oh look and me without an apple…..where did I put that thing?!" Fred joked and gently hugged his daughter, his little girl. His comment made her laugh and distracted her for a moment. She felt a contraction minutes later and couldn't help but moan and hum again. Her dad tried to help by rubbing her back.
"My poor little girl…..this little rascal's giving you tons of trouble. I ought to spank him the moment he pops out….and an extra one for not being born on my birthday!" Fred laughed and he saw she was laughing too. "There we go, laugh that baby out! I'll keep you in stitches your whole labor." He joked with her, rubbing her back for her.
"Oh Papa….No offence, but I wish you were Eddie right now!" she laughed.
"None taken…" Fred smiled.
"Mama, I want to go sit down on your bed…"
"That's fine, baby girl….whatever you want to do, it's up to you."
So Helen went into her mother's bedroom and sat down on her bed. She placed her hands on her stomach during each contraction, feeling it get almost rock hard and she would breathe as it went softer again. She breathed a high toned hum when another contraction came again later. The pain was bad and the heat nearly unbearable. "Mama…." She groaned. "Its so hot! I feel so hot!...is the window even open?!"
"Yes dear….it is. It is just quite humid and hot today." Frances told her. "Here….here's a wet cloth." She said, dabbling her daughter's face and neck with the cold wet washcloth. "Fred?" Frances called for her husband.
"Yes Honey?" Fred asked her, sticking his shirtless upper body into the doorway, ….two tattoos, suspenders, hairy chest and all.
"Go get her some ice from your ice shed….."
"Sure thing….I'll be right back…" he said, grabbing a metal bucket. "It's hotter than Hell itself out there!"
"This is Hell itself!" Helen exclaimed and tried to breathe and hum through a contraction.
"I agree with you on that, dear….but it's worth the Hell." She chuckled. "… Once you see that baby." Frances smiled and smoothed her daughter's hair and rubbed her back. "Just think of the pain as one more moment closer to meeting your baby…" Frances gave her daughter a kiss on the head. "I am so proud of you, baby…..You are doing wonderful."
"I'm not even half into this!" Helen exclaimed and moaned as she felt another contraction.
"That depends…. we'll see if labor speeds up for you. Let's lie down on the bed here, and I'll check you….."
"Oh Mama…." She grimaced, embarrassed but did what she was told and she laid down and put her legs up with her knees bent.
"Dear,….you came out of me 21 years and 4 months ago…..you don't need to be embarrassed with me…." She chuckled a little and sighed. "Nothing yet, baby girl….but I think you're close to your water breaking….Yes, might just be…."
"Ugghh…" she groaned. "Mama…where is Papa with that ice?!"
"Here he comes….." Frances said. And went out to the front room to meet her husband.
"Mama!...Don't leave me!" she cried.
"I will be right back, honey….Thank you, Sweetheart…." She said and gave her husband a quick kiss on the lips and took the bucket of ice from him. "How is she?" Fred wondered.
"Progress is pretty slow right now…but she's doing good…." Frances felt a little tear roll down her cheek. "Fred…honey….Our baby is having a baby!" Fred smiled and kissed her again and hugged his wife. "I'm going to go step outside….holler for me if you need anything, dear…."
Fred walked outside to the large open front porch and his bare hairy chest full of silver hair felt the heat of the day and he was already sweating buckets. He couldn't imagine what his little girl was feeling. "Where does the time go?" He sighed to himself. "Just yesterday she was that little chubby blonde haired girl. Had me wrapped around her finger. Still does…." Fred grinned and thought back in his mind. "Best little girl a father could ask for or ever want….My little girl."
Helen found herself squatted down on the floor by her mother's bed. She leaned her arms up on the bed and buried her face in the summer blanket that lay on the bed. "Ohhhhhhh….mmmmmm" she moaned, swiveling her hips a little. "Jiggs…..you're such a loyal girl.." Helen smiled a little as she noticed Jiggs the Loyal dog lay panting from the awful heat right next to Helen. She would not leave Helen's side. Since Helen had first come in the room, Jiggs had been there right by her.
"I think Jiggs knows how you are feeling, dear….remember she had her pups last summer…."
"She's such a good girl…." Helen moaned slightly and buried her face in the bed again, still feeling the furry little dog right by her side. Helen slowly got up to her feet and leaned her weight, held up by her arms on the bed again. "Ohhh,…NO!" she shouted and her hand went between her legs as she heard a popping sound. She looked down, almost horrified. "It's all over the floor!...I'm so sorry, Mama!" she started to cry and still felt the gush of the warm fluid.
"Sweetheart….you're just fine….Don't worry about that, I'll mop that up….I think some young lady's water just broke! "
"If not….I'd like to know just what that was!" she tried to laugh and her mother laughed with her.
"Looks like you're moving right along, honey…." Frances smiled. "Do you need anything? Ice water?"
"But then I'd have to go to the outhouse!"
"I'll get you a chamber pot, honey….we'll stay in here the rest of the time…."
"Okay…" Helen nodded miserably and climbed up on the bed and lay there. Jiggs got right up by her and snuggled up against Helen's stomach. Labor slowed down a little more and Helen slept a little, even in such heat.
"And…then I was walking her down the aisle…." Fred sighed. He was still out on the front porch, thinking back about his daughter. He covered his furrowed brow as he saw someone coming up Peru Road. "Speak of the devil…" he said, as he saw the young man running as he crossed the little wooden bridge. "My God!...That boy runs like a wild Indian!"
"Dad!…." Eddie said running up the limestone steps to the house and met his father-in-law on the porch.
"Just where in the Hell have you been, son? My daughter in there, hurting….having your baby….and you're a day late!" It was about 7:30 in the morning, August 19th, 1935.
"She had the kid?! Damn!...What was it?! Boy or girl?!" Eddie panted and was out of breath. He ran all those blocks from their little place on Rhomberg Avenue to the Lay's home on Peru Road.
"She's still laboring, son…."
"She's been at it for a day already?!" Eddie asked, shocked. Fred nodded and followed Eddie into the house.
"Where have you been, boy?!" Fred asked him sternly.
"Work kept me over….I hit the sack right when I got home! I hardly noticed she wasn't there….I just woke up a few minutes ago!"
"Gee…that's lovely." Fred muttered sarcastically. Eddie stopped and stared at the door and heard everything coming from what was behind it. Eddie soon rushed in and went right to the bed. "Babe….Babe, how you doing?!" He asked and smoothed her hair. She grabbed at his shirt as she let out a moan. "Does that….answer…your question?!" she asked miserably.
"I'm sorry, Babe….I love you…" He whispered gently and kissed her.
"Oh Bunnie…." Helen drawled out. "I love you so much!" Tears came out of her closed eyes and she felt him kiss her neck. "Ohhh…And I hate you right now…Leave me alone…."
"Babe.."
"Stop breathing down my neck, Joseph Edward!" She let out a long moan and buried her face in the pillow. "Go…away…." She mumbled miserably into the pillow.
"Eddie….you need to step out! We need to check her again. You can't be in here anyway." The old tough pioneer woman, Franziska….Frances' mother and Helen's grandmother, pushed him out the doorway and into the little sewing room. She stood right in front of the door, hands on her thick hips and stared holes into Eddie with her beady eyes.
"Listen you old biddy! That's my wife in there….and I'm gonna be in there come Hell or high water!" Eddie stood there, stocky and tall in front of her and stared. Frances came out the bedroom door quickly as she heard her mother and her son in law arguing.
"Boy or girl?!" Eddie asked his mother-in-law.
"She hasn't had the baby yet, Eddie….Fred!" Frances looked alarmed.
"What Sweetheart?" Fred went right to his wife and held her by the shoulders.
"Go get the nearest doctor….She's begging for something for the pain! She can't take it any longer!...I think we might need the doctor anyway…Mother, where are you going now?!" Frances asked, turning to her mother at last. "Mother?!"
"Why, back home to the Brick House! This disrespectful whippersnapper thinks he can do my job! Well then, he can just try, now can't he!" Franziska angrily exclaimed and left, heading out the back door and trudged up the little hill.
"Well…son. Let's go get Dr. Kalb!" Fred exclaimed, slapping him on the back... and the two men went out to Fred's Model T. Ford.
"Oh Mama….is it supposed to hurt this much?! The pain is so bad! Especially my lower belly!...it hurts! Mama, it's hurts!" she cried. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts….Oh it hurts! It hurts so bad, Mama!"
"Helen Frances….calm yourself! I know it hurts, baby….I know. Oh, I wish I had something for you…." Frances said, and dabbed her daughter's forehead and cheeks and down her neck and arms with the cold, wet cloth. "Your Papa and your husband went to go get Dr. Kalb…."
"Oh Eddie….I want my Eddie!" she exclaimed and started to cry again. "Wait a minute…Who is Dr. Kalb? I don't know a Dr. Kalb! I don't want a Dr. I don't even know!"
"Dr. Kalb is very nice and professional…..he'll have a little something to give you for the pain."
"Oohhhh….this is painful!" she moaned and cried again into the blanket. She even bit down on it and screamed a little. "I cant take it, Mama! I can't take it, I can't take it!"
For some reason, that brought back a funny memory and Frances started to laugh.
"It's not funny, Mama! This really, really hurts….really bad!" she wailed.
"I know, I'm sorry honey! I didn't mean to laugh at you about that!...You just reminded me of something funny!"
"What?!" Helen questioned her miserably and tears seeped out of her eyes. And she sniffed back more tears.
"I was remembering on our family hikes and we'd have to cross a creek…remember, it was shallow but you'd go and wave your arms about, 'Oooo! Oooo! I can't make it, I can't make it!' To tease us!...you sounded just like that, honey!" Frances started to laugh a little and so did Helen and Helen copied herself, waving her arms about "Oooo ooo! I cant take it, I cant take it!" and started laughing with her mother….but then came a long contraction, and there went the funny business. "Oooooooooooohhhhhhhh!" she let a high pitched moan escape her lips and another soon after. "This is so painful, Mama!"
"I know, Sweetheart! I'm so sorry!...Dr. Kalb should be here soon, and he should have something for it."
"You promise?!"
"Yes honey…if you're not too far into labor….unless he decides to do Twilight sleep. I had that with your little brother….and then I had no memory of labor at all."
"I don't like the sound of that!" She moaned.
"I sure he could give you a lighter dosage if you really can't take the pain anymore. You wouldn't be put under for long, then."
"It hurts so bad! I feel horrible, Mama!...WHERE is the doctor?! Shouldn't he be here by now?!" she wailed. "And I want Bunnie!"
"Well, you get your wish! Here they come…..with Eddie leading the pack!" Frances chuckled.
"Babe…." Eddie said, rushing into the room again. "Babe, we brought the doc…you're gonna be alright….."
"Oooohhh…..Bunnie, I love you!" she moaned out with another contraction. More of them came and she screamed out and grabbed a chunk of Eddie's hair on his head….and let out a moan again.
"Well that was quite familiar…." Eddie muttered.
"Oooohhh….shut up….you moron!" She yelled at him and her father chuckled at her a little bit.
"You know Babe,…..I changed my mind about the baby's name." Eddie said. "What about Wolfgang? Like my uncle Gilbert's nickname….Wolfgang Frederick Walbrun. I like that, Babe…..little Wolfie. Ain't that cute?!"
Helen glared at her husband in disbelief! "No, you IDIOT!"
"What?! I kept the Frederick in there for you!"
Helen panted and got kind of angry and grabbed a good chunk of Eddie's hair again. "I'm not…..naming…my baby….WOLFGANG!...If it's a boy, he's Dale Frederick! And that's final!"
"Can we save it?!"
"Hell NO!" she shouted at him. "GO….away!..." Helen then turned to her mother. "Where's the doctor?!"
"He's in the next room getting his supplies ready, dear…." Frances told her.
"We didn't ever decide on a girls name, Babe…." Eddie shook his head and shrugged his broad shoulders.
"Ooooooohhhh…..I DON'T CARE!" She moaned and shouted at him. "Go away and let me have our baby..." She groaned and turned over on her side, letting out another moan of pain. Fred soon ushered his son in law out of the room.
"Alright Mrs. Walbrun….I'm going to give you a bit of ether and morphine for pain. It won't put you out for long, though." The doctor came in with his supplies ready. Helen turned to her mother. "He looks like FDR Jr. with glasses…..Mama! I want an ugly doctor instead!"
"Oh dear me…." Frances laughed covering her mouth and she watched the young doctor turn bright red. He ignored it though and focused on his patient.
"Breathe this in deeply….it will help with the pain."
"Will I remember things?!" She asked Dr. Kalb.
"You may forget a little bit….I'm just giving you a small dosage for some relief."
"Will I have had my baby when I wake up?!"
"No ma'am….you're not ready quite yet."
"Oh, you're kidding me!" and she moaned as another contraction hit as she deeply breathed in the medication on the little cloth given by the doctor. She was soon out cold and slept for several long hours into the next day with her mother and the doctor monitoring and checking on her.
Fred and Eddie were sitting out on the front porch. Eddie was getting antsy in his chair on the porch and he would get up an pace the floor for hours. "Sit down boy! She's going to be fine!...I know my little girl."
"Yeah…she's strong…" Eddie nodded. "I just feel so bad for her…..And I'm real nervous! I…I…Fred, I don't know if I'm really ready to be a father…."
"Well, too damn bad, son….you and she were the ones who got into this! 'They that dances must pay the piper'!...Let me tell you something boy…..You're not going to be ready so you just better get used to it! It's a learning situation. You will learn! You take on that role and you take on that role with pride, son." Fred told his son in law sternly. "If he's a boy, you show him how to be a man and a good man at that….if you have a girl, you show her what kind of man to look for someday…..or I'm coming after you, son! I mean it…." Fred said sternly. "Don't disappoint me!"
Helen came to hours and hours later and felt the contractions more regularly. She moaned and screamed, slightly unaware of where she was….but it would come to her later.
"Oh….Mama….who's screaming so much?! Who the Hell is screaming bloody murder?!... It's God awful! Tell them to SHUT UP!"
"Honey….that's you, dear!"
"Oh good God…." She groaned and let out a long moan… "Oh Mama….can I push yet?! I feel like I have to push!"
"You can take things Mrs. Lay, her waters broken, correct?" the doctor told her.
"We think most of it…..Helen….I'm going to check you again, okay sweetie…."
"Do what you have to do Mother!" she replied sharply from the pain and let out a moan. "This hurts like Hell!...Mama, I have to push, I feel it…" she said breathlessly. "Mama, I swear I have to push right now!"
"Fine, Fine! Then just DO IT! " Frances snapped at her under pressure..,,,"Dr. Kalb, I need your help!" Frances was becoming frantic and crying over her daughter. "I've never done this kind before….they've always been head down!"
"Mrs. Lay, you have it under control…but I will walk you through it." The doctor said. "Mrs. Walbrun, you're free to push now if you like. Slow pushes….don't tire yourself. You have a lot of work ahead of you, ma'am….."
"Mama, what's wrong?!...I feel like somethings wrong! What's going on?!" she cried as another long contraction hit and she screamed as she felt herself push a little.
Frances got closer to her daughter and rubbed the skin of her thigh in comfort. "Honey…I think your baby is breech…just do what the doctor and I say…..Your baby is right-side up instead of upside down. He's been a little trickster and he's decided to come out backwards!"
"Oh God!" she screamed in pain.
"You're alright, Helen! Just push again, dear!...Don't worry, I've got his little buttocks!" Her mother instructed.
"He? A boy?!..."
"Yes, I think so, honey! …Just push and you'll get his legs out…."
"Fred, she sounds like she's dying in there!" Eddie remarked and was brought to tears. Fred said absolutely nothing and just listened. He was quite fearful for his daughter. "I don't know just how they can do it…." Fred muttered after while.
"That's it dear, I've got his shoulders now….Now this will be quite painful, Sweetheart I'm so sorry! Don't panic dear…..you're doing just fine!" All she heard Helen do was scream at this point! "I've got him! I'm holding him, Helen..…it's okay!...You're alright!"
"Woah, woah, woah….stop it! Hold it!" The doctor replied and sprang into action. "The cord's wrapped around his neck….Stop, pushing! Stop pushing, Mrs. Walbrun!"
"What the Hell do you mean, STOP?!" She screamed.
Eddie heard everything from the living room. With Fred in his chair and Eddie sitting on the little pink couch. He sprang to his feet as he heard one last long loud scream come from behind that door. Then silence. That was it…that was the one that did her in! He thought. He feared his wife was gone and he went pale and felt sick to his stomach. He didn't move an inch…he just stood there.
"What in Heaven's name are you doing?!" Helen later gasped as the doctor held the baby by his ankles.
"Helps to loosen the umbilical cord, Mrs. Walbrun…but I might as well spank this boy for all the trouble he gave you!" What happened next, the doctor laughed. "Looks like this boy is a trickster from day 1!" He remarked laughing, as the baby had urinated, right in the doctors face!
"I'll give him to you in just one second, Mrs. Walbrun….Mrs. Lay, I'd say the time of birth was oh,….3 in the morning, on the dot! August 20th, 1935…"
"..10 lbs 8 ounces!" Frances exclaimed, looking at the scale. "Are you sure that's right?!"
"Yes Ma'am, that is correct!" the young doctor replied and passed the baby off to his mother, without cleaning him up yet. There was now loud, long cries coming from that baby boy but as soon as he was in his mother's arms, he knew and was soothed a little. "Oh, hello baby!...Hello Dale Frederick! Hello!" She said softly, with tears flowing out of her eyes. "Yes, sweetheart…it's Mama! Yes, I'm your Mama…hello, baby…." She cried with joy and pride as he looked right at her and blinked his blue eyes and let out another cry. "You're the one who been kicking me and keeping me up every night!" she laughed. "Oh, I love you,…Dale Frederick Walbrun. I love you, sweetheart…" Helen glanced up at her mother who was smiling proudly. "Am I holding him, right?!"
"Yes dear! Oh, you're beautiful!" her mother said. "Here, we'll keep him warm this way….he's quite wet and slippery, isn't he?!" Frances chuckled "Yes, he is, I know…." Frances said sugary sweetly and smiled at her daughter and covered her grandson with a small towel and rubbed him with it to clean him off a bit. The doctor was tending to his patient, delivering the afterbirth and soon after gave the okay to tie off and cut the cord.
"Will the proud Papa or shall I?"
"You can ask Eddie…or if he doesn't, my Papa…." Helen gazed proudly at her son. "He's named for his Grandfather after all."
"I'm sure they can do it together,…Sweetheart, I'm sure your Papa would be proud to…."
Frances bursted out the bedroom door and almost toppled over a little furry creature. "Oh Jiggs!...I'm sorry girl!...Was she out here the whole time?!" Fred nodded with a smile, explaining that the little dog stood right outside that bedroom door after they had kicked her out and she never budged an inch. She just sat down in front of the door, scratching at it and whining the whole time. She eventually lay there in front of the door and would not move for anything! Frances went straight to Eddie and hugged him. "Congratulations, new Papa! You have a son!"
Eddie looked shocked and smiled slightly and asked about his wife. "She had quite a hard time, dear…..you best be quiet and gentle when you go in there…." Frances told him.
" In there?!" Eddie asked nervously.
"Yes, dear….they want you to come in and cut the umbilical cord. Helen suggested you too "Grandpa!" Frances smiled at her husband.
Fred smiled proudly. "Well aint that sweet! Well, come on boy, I'll help you…." He said, slapping his son-in-law on the back.
"Yes sir…just like that…" the doctor instructed Eddie on what kind of knot to make with the string and where. "Just like in the C.C.C….." Eddie muttered.
"I've got the other one!" Fred smiled at his daughter and tied off his knot. "Brings back memories of 20 years ago with you, dear…" he smiled at his only daughter.
"21 years ago, Papa…." She corrected him.
"Shoot! When did you get so old?!" Fred laughed and held his daughter's hand.
"Here you go, proud Papa!" the doctor said, giving Eddie the pair of medical scissors. Eddie though was looking at the whole scene and felt sick to his stomach. He fell back into a chair like he was fainting.
"Oh dear me! He fainted!" Frances exclaimed, going over to him as he sat upright in the chair, with his head tipped back.
"Eddie, dear!" Helen exclaimed and looked his way but looked at her father. "Can you do it, Papa?!"
"I would be honored, Sweetheart….Thank you for naming the little guy after me…." Fred smiled proudly and made his cut and the doctor tended to it.
"LITTLE guy?! He's HUGE Papa! A whopping 10 pounds!...I can't believe that came out of me! And backwards at that!" she laughed. Fred chuckled at her and smiled his sweet smile.
"Oh but you did it…I'm proud of you dear. What a strong girl!" Fred smiled and kissed his daughter on the forehead.
"Oh, is Eddie going to be alright?!" Helen wondered, looking his way. Her mother was fanning him with yesterday's newspaper. "He'll be fine, dear….he'll come to…."
"I'll give him back to you in a second, Mrs. Walbrun….I have to clean him up the rest of the way, run some tests and swaddle this big boy!" the doctor told her.
"Is he alright?!"
The doctor checked the baby boy over and ran his physical tests. "Yes ma'am! Strong reflexes, strong cry…..you have yourself a healthy but large baby!"
"Well, you don't say!" Helen laughed. The doctor then checked her over. "Well, Mrs. Walbrun….you did tear pretty bad…we'll clean you up and I'll stitch you back up, alrighty?" the doctor said and he tended to her. Occasionally glancing at the patient's husband who was still out cold at this point. "Well tend to that husband of yours next…" the doctor laughed with her.
Frances was over on a clean space of the bed, cleaning her grandson off and swaddling him. "Perfect mixture of his Mama and his weak Papa over there." Frances giggled. "Oh dear me…" she smiled proudly with joy and tears came to her eyes, looking down at her very first grandson as he looked up at her. She carefully picked him up and cradled him in the white blanket. "I think this big boy is going to have this Grandma wrapped around his little finger…..My little Boopsie!"
Fred got the bed all cleaned up for her and helped his daughter get dressed into a new nightgown. "I'm so sorry Papa you have to clean me up and clean up after me and help me dress! How embarrassing!"
Fred chuckled and hugged her and tucked her into the nice, clean bed again. "I changed those diapers plenty times when you were about that big…..I think your boy has you beat in weight though!" He laughed with her. "How did you do that?!"
"Oh, I don't know, Papa!" Helen laughed. "I swore I was dying!"
"You're amazing, little girl….and ….Sweetheart, there's no need to be embarrassed…" he smiled later, smoothing back her hair. "You've grown into such a beautiful young woman…..in fact, you remind me a lot of your mother right now...You're both strong women. " Fred smiled proudly as he looked at his wife who was holding and bonding with her grandson. "yes….Grandma loves you, little Boopsie!" she was talking softly to the baby and with so much pride she shed a few tears.
"Mama, oh that's adorable!...What if he called you Boop Boo?! That would be just darling, wouldn't it?!"
"Yep, you even look like Betty Boop! " Fred laughed. "Boop-Boop-Da-Doop!"
"Oh Frederick John! Stop it now!" Frances laughed and placed her grandson safe into his mother's arms.
"Yes, I believe "Boop Boo" fits me just fine…..I will wear that title proudly when it comes to this big boy! He is so beautiful, Sweetheart. Handsome, I should say."
"I can't believe he's mine…." Helen smiled down at him as he drowsed in her arms and opened both of his big baby blue eyes and looked up at her. "I can't explain how I feel…..I feel so happy and so…in love!"
"Well, believe it dear! He's all yours!..." Frances smiled at her daughter and rubbed her shoulder. "We'll have you try breastfeeding in just a bit….I'm sure he'll be hungry after all you two went through! Yes…." She smoothed her hand over the little bundle.
"Now we almost forgot about this good little onion over here!" Frances laughed and Fred shook Eddie back to consciousness. "Come on, man!...Get up!"
"Well the Hell happened?" Eddie muttered weakly and ran a hand over his face.
"You fainted, boy!"
"Oh, you're kidding me…."
"Nope!" Fred said and laughed like Hell about it. "You were out like a light...Out cold!...and it was hilarious, boy!"
"Now Fred….stop heckling the poor boy!" Frances told her husband.
Eddie turned and looked at Helen who was gazing and smiling down at the bundle in her arms. Her eyes spied over at Eddie and she flashed that smile at him. "Come look at him, Bunnie…..10 pounds 8 ounces….21 inches long…..3:00am…..August 20th, 1935." She smiled at her husband with the most pride she ever felt before. "I love you, Bunnie…." She whispered as she kissed him and then looked back down at their baby. "I think he has your face shape, your chin, your cheeks…..my eyes….your nose, Eddie, or maybe mine I can't tell yet….not sure who's mouth shape…" She gazed proudly at both at them and looked up into her husband's eyes.
"And Grandpa Lay's big, close stuck ears!...poor boy." Fred laughed and admired his grandson. He really did have his Grandpa Lay's ears. Helen laughed silently and grinned at her father and looked up peacefully into her husband's chocolate brown eyes. "I love you so much, Bunnie…..I'm glad I had YOUR baby…."
"I love you, Babe…." Eddie somehow managed to say. He was in a whirlwind of thoughts and didn't know how to take all this.
"Oh, Honey…you're crying! Don't cry,…Eddie, dear. Oh, Sweetheart I love you so much!" she whispered and kissed him. "I love you so much, Joseph Edward…" Helen whispered. Eddie's real first name was in fact Joseph, but he always went by his middle name. "Do you want to hold your baby boy?" she smiled at him and gazed down at their son again.
"Umm…..maybe….later…" Eddie replied, with a furrowed brow and sat down back in a little chair in the bedroom.
"Papa….do you want to hold your little namesake?"
"Well, of course I would, Sweetheart!" He brushed past his son-in-law and sat down on the bed by his daughter as she passed the 10 pound boy off to meet his Grandpa Fred J. Lay. "Now big guy….we gotta talk, huh….oh yeah…." Fred nodded as he talked to his grandson while he cradled him in his arms. "Now you're looking at me, yeah!...Sure is one good looking boy, dear!" Fred smiled at his daughter who was just beaming at her father. "Say…big guy…..no more troubles for your little Mama, ok? That's right….And you just couldn't wait for Grandpa's birthday, eh? You just had to come today!" Fred smiled and he turned to his daughter who was laughing a little.
"Here dear….here's your big baby!" Fred chuckled and passed his grandson off to his mother once again. "Now, I mean it Kid. May this be the last trouble you give your Mama…." Fred said softly and ran a hand over his daughter's messy brown hair. "Get some rest, dear….you look exhausted."
"I just want to watch him…." Helen smiled and gazed down at him, alert and looking right at his Mama.
"Helen Frances…you do as you father says and sleep awhile." Frances told her daughter. "Papa and Grandpa and Grandma can handle this big boy."
"You mean "Boop Boo". Helen smiled at her mother.
"Alright…Papa, Grandpa and "Boop Boo." Frances chuckled and took her grandson into her arms. "I'll wake you back up when my Boopsie needs a feeding…..Oh, I love you, dear." Frances told her only daughter, sweetly.
"I love you too, Mama. Thank you….for being with me…." Helen whispered and lay her head back on the pillow, closed her brown eyes and her tired, sore body drifted off to sleep.
Author's notes:
I don't know all the details of my Grandpa's birth, but I had asked him once tell us the story of his birth. So he told us what either his mother, Helen or his grandmother, Frances told him. It was August 20th, 1935 in the home of his grandmother Frances. (Now our home…..I can walk in the very same room he was born in) Around 3 in the morning.…..a very, very HOT day….his mother had a very long hard labor and he was at least 10 pounds. I DO NOT know the exact measurements, so I improvised. There were some kind of complications and a doctor was present. His name was either Dr. Kalb or Dr. Kolb….I think. I should have written all this down when Grandpa told me but I didn't. My Grandpa said, "and the doctor picked me up and was going to spank me for all the trouble I gave my poor mother and I pissed (excuse his term, that just how he was! Lol.) right In the doctor's face, so I was a brat from Day 1!" I thought it was far fetched so I asked him, "Grandpa, did that really happen?!" and he's like, "Hell if I know!" and I still remember the look on his face and the twinkle in his eyes when he shrugged his shoulders and said that. I did a little research and some doctors did do that, to loosen the umbilical cord if it had been wrapped around the neck. As for the urine, every labor is different so I guess anything can happen! Lol. There were similar stories I had read that were like that.
Yes, they actually wanted to name him Wolfgang (Eddie's uncle Gilbert, the missionary priest in Brazil was nicknamed Wolfgang. Haha, Father Wolfgang! That cracks me up!). But…they named him Dale Frederick. Frederick after his Grandpa Lay. And I guess his uncle Freddie too.
I read a letter of my great great grandma Frances's to my Grandpa Dale where she called him Boopsie. Urban Dictionary has a definition for Boopsie as "a term of endearment between males and females. implying that the two have some form of attraction between them". Or in their case, connectiion. My Grandpa adored his Grandmother Lay. They were very, very close. He even lived with her when he was 12 years old, after his Grandpa Lay died. He loved it when she told him all sorts of stories and that she was a great cook! They loved to joke with each other too. One time, as an adult he took her to a bar for the first time and got her an alcoholic beverage and she exclaimed, "what?! Are you trying to poison me?!" and was coughing and laughing and there was a twinkle in her eyes as she always had.
There was in one of the letters (of Helen's) where my great great grandma Frances had said hello to Eddie and told him to be a good little onion! I crack up every time I read or think about it….I just had to put that in!
Grandpa's nickname for her was "Boop Boo" because he could not say Grandma when he was little and it stuck. We still refer to her as Boop Boo. I often wonder if it was for Betty Boop as well, so I put that in. She was popular in that era.
I can't quite tell from their pictures I've seen, but it seems like my Grandpa Dale looked like a mixture of his parents. A lot like his mother, definitely…and more like his father as he aged. And yes, he had the same ears his Grandpa Lay had! Lol. My mom does too. Lol.
I don't know why but I love writing these scenes! Birth can be happy, scary, painful without drugs, lol….funny, gross, but oh so beautiful and miraculous. God is amazing, isn't he?
Grandpa Dale was supposedly supposed to be a September baby (Great great grandfather Fred J. Lay's birthday was September 30th) but for some reason he came a month early.
Great grandma Helen put on a lot of weight during her pregnancy and they think she might have had gestational diabetes, which would explain why he was 10 pounds!
A lot of this chapter, I used real things, but used my imagination with them. Our old rickety wooden bridge, great great grandma Frances' Singer sewing machine table, Jiggs the Loyal dog (they had 3 dogs named Jiggs. One was a female that had puppies ) Great great grandpa Fred's German Eagle tattoo...etc, etc.
There was a couple who owned Burkart's Point Antique Store, next door to Eddie and Helen's place on Rhomberg Avenue. I thought the man's name was Frank but I can't remember. Ginny just sounded good with it. There were several Burkart's in Dubuque newspapers I looked up though.
FDR Jr was born the same year as my great grandma Helen, 1914! I found the Newspaper example featruring him (August 18th, 1935) I used, on Newspaper Archives. It is really neat. If you can afford it, check it out!
