Anne went into labor the eighteenth of April. It started that evening while she was cleaning the table.
"My back hurts," she complained.
"Why don't you lie down for awhile," Louis suggested. "I'll finish up here."
"Thanks."
Anne lay down on the bed and tried to relax, but the pain grew more intense. It felt like a tight band enclosing her abdomen, and after awhile, she felt a gush of water from between her legs.
With trembling hands, she changed clothes and then went back into the dining room.
"It's time to go to the hospital," she told Louis.
He took one look at her and left what he was doing to help her out to the car. Then he drove to the hospital, where he dropped her off at the emergency entrance and then went to find a parking place.
Anne went inside and told the receptionist she was in labor. A wheelchair was brought for her, and she rode the elevator up to the maternity floor.
A nurse told her to get completely undressed, put on a hospital gown, and lie on the bed. While she was doing that, Louis arrived.
"I'm going to examine you now," the nurse told Anne.
Anne closed her eyes and let her knees fall to the sides, and a moment later, she felt the nurse's gloved fingers slip into her.
"Four centimeters," the nurse announced. She started an IV and began hooking Anne up to monitors.
"Do you need anything for pain?" she asked.
"Maybe just a little," Anne replied.
The nurse added something to her IV drip, and she felt all woozy, like she was floating on a cloud.
"How do you feel, sweetheart?" asked Louis.
"Mm," Anne murmured.
Louis laughed. "Whatever you're giving her, it seems to be working!"
Anne could still feel the contractions, though, and every time one would hit her, she'd gasp and tense up.
"Try to relax, sweetie," Louis encouraged her.
"I can't!" Anne whimpered. "It hurts too bad!"
"Do your deep breathing exercises," Louis suggested. "I'll do them with you."
Anne tried hard to focus on Louis, watching him breathe and copying him, and somehow, she made it through each contraction.
She'd been in labor for several hours when the contractions changed and became much more painful.
"I can't stand this anymore!" she wailed.
Dr. Weeks examined her again.
"You're completely dilated," he told her. "Go ahead and start pushing!"
Anne closed her eyes, scrunched up her face, and pushed with all her might. She opened her eyes and looked into her husband's.
"You're doing fine, sweetheart," he told her.
Anne pushed again. And again. And again.
"I can see the baby's head!" said Louis. "You're almost there!"
Dr. Weeks helped rotate the baby's shoulders, and then its whole body slipped into his hands.
"It's a girl!" he announced.
A girl! What would Louis think?
Yet he was crying and laughing at the same time, kissing her face and hair while the nurse cleaned and weighed the baby.
"Seven pounds, two ounces." The infant bleated softly, like a newborn lamb, as the nurse diapered her, wrapped her in a blanket, and handed her to her mother.
"Well, hello there, little one!" Anne gazed into the unfocused dusky blue eyes and felt her own moisten with tears.
"She's perfect!" she said to Louis, who was all smiles.
"She is." His hand stroked the top of the fuzzy head, ever so gently.
"Her name is Elizabeth." There had never been any doubt about that in Anne's mind.
"What about her middle name?" asked Louis.
"Louise, for her father."
"Elizabeth Louise," Louis murmured. "A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl!"
"We can call her Beth for short, so we won't get her confused with your Elisabeth," Anne suggested.
"That's a good idea," said Louis. "Hi, Beth!" He touched his new daughter's hand, and it wrapped around his finger.
"Guess what!" Louis said to Reese, over Skype. "You have a new baby sister!"
"Yay!" Reese clapped her hands. "Where is she? Can I see her?"
"Here she is!" Louis moved the laptop so the little girl could see Anne nursing her daughter.
"Hi, baby!" Reese waved to her new sister. "She sure is little!"
"You were little like that too, when you were born," her father told her.
Reese giggled and shook her head.
Louis chuckled. "You were!"
"What's her name?" asked Reese.
"Beth," Louis told her.
"Can I play with Beth when I come see you in the summer?" asked Reese.
"She'll still be very small then," said Louis. "But you can hold her and help take care of her. How's that sound?"
"Great!" said Reese. "Did it hurt when the baby came out, Anne?"
"It hurt some," Anne told her. "But when I saw her for the first time, I was so happy I forgot all about the pain."
"I can't wait to meet her!" said Reese.
"You will very soon," said Louis. "Just a couple months from now."
"When school is out," said Reese.
"Right."
"She's precious!" said George.
"Would you like to hold her?" asked Anne.
"Sure!" Anne placed the infant into his arms, and as he held her tight, he wondered what it would be like to hold his own baby.
"What surprised me was that, even though he already had a daughter, Louis wasn't a bit disappointed," Anne told her brother.
"Of course not!" George replied as he watched Beth sleep, one thumb in her bow-shaped mouth. "How could he be?"
"Henry would have had a fit if I'd given him a second daughter," said Anne.
"Not all men are like Henry," George replied.
"Thank goodness!" they said together, then laughed.
George stayed and visited for as long as he could, and he kissed the tiny forehead goodbye when he had to leave.