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Chapter 18 – The Waiting Game:

Time past by and all the plants and animals of the jungle continued to live their lives in a delicate and harmonious balance, a balance as old as time itself. The morale of the gorilla troop was the highest it had ever been once it was announced to them that their leader's mate was expecting. They all knew how long and hard the young couple had tried for a child and rejoiced at the joyous news! However Moyo, a young adult black-back gorilla was none too pleased with the declaration. He despised being a subordinate and felt that the idea of a human leading the troop to be well, completely absurd! He had hoped that Tarzan's virility or rather lack of would lead the family to doubt his place as leader and set the way for him to take over. But when this was proved otherwise, Moyo reluctantly kept his mouth shut …for now.

Jane, whose first pregnancy left her weak and sickly, her second time round could not have been any more different. She blossomed like the field of African violets on the southern bank of the river. Her hair became thick and glossy and her very skin seemed to shine with the glow of motherhood. She soon abandoned her English blouses and skirts, taking some of the cotton fabric that she purchased from the port and fashioned some long, flowing dresses to accommodate her ever-growing belly. One day Archimedes placed a garland of flowers on her head like the one she wore at her wedding, saying she looked the epitome of Gaia, Mother Earth herself.

Tarzan was fascinated by the ever-occurring changes in his wife's body. He especially loved it when Jane's beautiful and soft cleavage practically doubled in size! "You may have lived in the jungle for 20 or so years without human contact my dear," Jane teased him one morning as she bound her breasts, "but you are just the same as every other red bloodied man on this planet, obsessed with the female form!" Tarzan's eyebrow arched seductively as he took Jane in his arms and kissed her powerfully. Jane felt her legs buckle with desire, none of the romantic leads in her books that she read back in England could compare to her dashing husband.

"Mr Tarzan, are you trying to seduce me?" Jane cheeks flushed as she stroked his face.

"Absolutely!" he grinned sexily before laying her down in their soft nest where he kissed her again. Tarzan slowly unwrapped Jane's bindings as they began to make love, her newly enlarged curves making the whole experience all the more enjoyable for them both!

Terk became especially interested in Jane's pregnancy as everything was so much more visible with humans than it was with gorillas. "How long do you reckon until you pop Archer?" she asked Jane one day as they lounged by the river. Keke was making sandcastles nearby whilst Tarzan and Tantor swam and splashed each other in the crystal clear water.

"Only a month to go now," Jane smiled as she knitted a pair of bootees for the baby. Her belly was so huge so that her belly button was now sticking out and she hadn't seen her feet in weeks. She felt so big and it seemed like a miracle to her that she even managed to fit inside the treehouse!

"I can't believe you are gonna have a baby!" Terk grinned as they watched Keke play in the sand. "This is gonna be great, your kid best friends with my gal just like Tarzan and me! It'll be perfect!"

"Yes," Jane gave Terk an all-knowing smile, "but I'm sure you and Gobu would want another child, a brother or sister for Keke?"

"Are you kidding? After the last time no way!" Terk shook her head furiously. "Giving birth to Keke has put me right off! Never again!"

"It wasn't that bad Terk!"

"Bad! It was horrific! It felt as if I was been eaten alive by crocodiles! No, bitten by poisonous snakes! No, trampled by rhinos! I felt as if I was gonna tear in two and that's not as bad as Eshe's birth with the twins I can tell ya!"

"What are you ladies talking about?" Tarzan asked as he climbed out of the river, water dripping off his tanned muscular body. The girls shrieked as he shook himself like a dog, water spraying everywhere!

"Terk was just trying to scare me with birthing horror stories," Jane replied as she squeezed the water out the sodden bootees.

"Don't do that Terk!" Tarzan rolled his eyes as he laid down beside his wife, placing his ear on her belly so he could hear the baby's kicks. The baby was in a mischievous mood that day, kicking coyly so that it could demand its father's full attention. Tarzan smiled as he heard a soft flutter of a kick. The thought of a life growing and moving inside his wife seemed nothing short of a miracle to him. He could not wait for the baby to be born and asked Jane every day if it was time. Jane would always laugh merrily, telling him that it would be a while yet and that he would have to be patient. Tarzan was completely used to the gorillas having offspring but now that he was having a child of his own, it felt as if he was experiencing it all again for the very first time.

"Don't listen to Terk," he lifted his head from Jane's belly, "it isn't that painful!"

"Yeah well T until you can push an infant the size of a melon out of your hoohaa then you can comment on how 'unpainful' it is!" Terk huffed as she went to play her daughter, annoyed by Tarzan's ignorance. Tarzan went back to listening to the baby, placing his ear here and there, trying to hear the baby's kicks. But the baby had gone silent; Tarzan looked up and noticed a worried expression on Jane's face.

"Jane, what's wrong? Has something happened to our little girl?"

"No, no. Everything is fine," Jane replied as she went back to knitting the bootees, pale lemon in colour and in the softest wool. Jane had told Tarzan of her encounter with the native woman at the port and her prediction of them having a girl. Ever since that day, Jane felt more and more sure that the prophecy was true. Every time she talked or sang to the baby, calling it 'her' or 'she' the baby would seem to respond in delight. Tarzan was thrilled at the thought of having a daughter and both of them couldn't imagine it otherwise.

"Jane… is childbirth painful?" Tarzan asked as Jane finished another row of knitting.

"Yes."

"Painful as cramps?" he asked with a cheeky smile. Jane has woken him just before dawn that morning, screaming at the top of her lungs! Tarzan leapt out of their nest panicking, thinking that his wife had gone into early labour! Jane yelled at him to bend back her foot and as he did so she let out loud moans of relief and almost indecent pleasure as Tarzan quelled the agonising cramps in her foot! They both howled with relieved and embarrassed laughter whilst the gorillas wondered what on earth all the commotion was about!

"No… it's a thousand times worse than that!" Jane retorted and they both laughed. Jane went back to her knitting; she had decided not to tell Tarzan that the chances of her dying in childbirth were high like with her friend Hettie. She didn't want to worry him, he was so protective of her and their daughter that she didn't want to scare him and therefore scare herself!

"Hello sweetheart," Tarzan whispered into Jane's belly, "can you promise me something? Promise me that when you come out you will not hurt your mother. I want both of you to be safe so that I can always be there for you two." Jane smiled at her husband's absolute and unconditional love for her and their child and all her fears melted away as the warm sun hit her face.

A few more weeks went by and Jane's due date came and went with no signs of labour. At first she was patient but when a week went past she did begin to worry. She soon grew tired and irritable, her belly becoming more and more heavy. She tried every method she could think of, every old wives' tale to induce her labour. She went on long walks, took castor oil, ate tons of pineapple but nothing seemed to work.

"Come on baby, please come out!" Jane begged at her belly in a pleading tone. It was nearly a fortnight past her due date and she was still pregnant. She, Tarzan and her father had decided to all move into the treehouse two weeks before her due date so that they had everything to hand when the time came and not be caught out in the jungle.

"What about trying some cod liver oil?" Archimedes suggested as he brewed some tea on the range whilst Jane and Tarzan sat at the dining table.

"Tried that already Daddy," Jane gave an irritated sigh, "just gave me fishy breath and bad wind!"

"We just have to be patient sweetheart. I think that you have made such a nice home in there for her that she doesn't want to come out!" Tarzan said kindly as Jane struggled to remain comfortable in her chair.

"Oh just shut up!" Jane snapped at him as the baby pressed down hard on her bladder.

"I was only trying to be nice Jane."

"I'm going to have my tea on the balcony," Archimedes said as he patted Tarzan sympathetically on the shoulder, "anyone is welcome to join me."

"I'm sorry Jane," Tarzan said after Archimedes left the room, "I was just trying to be nice."

"I know," Jane gave a wearied sigh, "I have loved being pregnant, don't get me wrong darling but I really want this baby out now!"

"Anything I can do to help?" Tarzan took Jane's hand. He could see how much discomfort she was in and would do anything to relieve her from it.

"Well... one of my friends in England Sarah was also overdue and she said that well -"

"Well what?"

"She said that, well, umm… making love brought on her labour," Jane admitted, her foot started to slowly stroke Tarzan's inner thigh under the table.

"Err Jane... do you really think that's a good idea?" Tarzan asked uneasily as Jane's foot made its way further up his leg to his groin.

"Why not? I have tried everything else and nothing has worked!"

"Well we might, I might…hurt the baby!"

"It'll be fine Tarzan, make love to me," Jane replied as she leaned over the table to kiss him.

"Jane I don't think-"

"Tarzan!" Jane grabbed one of Tarzan's dreadlocks, her face right up in his! "MAKE LOVE TO ME NOW!" Her face was red with frustration and her blue eyes somewhat aggressive. It was the first time in their marriage that Tarzan was actually intimated by her.

"Ummm… that's not exactly going to get me in the mood Jane," he replied rather timidly. Jane gave a loud irritated huff as she let him go, hauling herself up from the dining table.

"Jane, where are you going?" Tarzan demanded as she headed towards the door, the size of her belly making it difficult for her to sweep away.

"To feed the chickens!" Jane snapped before slamming the front door so hard that it made the whole treehouse shake!

"Are you alright my boy?" Archimedes asked as Tarzan joined him on the balcony, shoulders drooped.

"Jane is angry with me," Tarzan sighed sadly as he watched a flock of birds soar in the sky, "nothing I say or do is right!"

"Do not take it to heart my boy. Jane is just worn out with the pregnancy. My Catherine was exactly the same when she had Jane." A smile crossed his face as he reminisced about his late wife, happy memories flooding back to him of her sitting in the nursery with baby Jane in her arms.

"What should I do Professor?" Archimedes had become like a second father to him and Tarzan always went to him for advice and answers, especially when came to 'human' matters.

"Just be patient with her. Everything will be fine once the baby arrives. Tarzan where are you going?" Archimedes asked as Tarzan climbed onto the balcony rail, ready to set off.

"I'm going to surprise Jane with some wild honey. Maybe that will sweeten her mood!"

"Maybe it will," Archimedes replied as Tarzan leapt off the balcony, heading towards the jungle at a fantastic speed.

Jane angrily tossed handfuls of grain at the chickens, which were kept in an enclosure at the foot of the treehouse. The chickens squawked as they leapt out of the way of the flying grain, wondering what on earth they did to deserve such treatment! She had farmed the land of the rock that treehouse resided; growing vegetables and fruits that she ate back in England as well as raising the chickens and goats. The baby pressed on her bladder again and Jane swore that it would be the hundredth time she would have to relieve herself that afternoon!

"Jane dear are you alright?" Archimedes entered the chicken enclosure as Jane began to toss the grain more calmly, the chickens pecking around her feet.

"I'm fine," Jane sighed as her father put his hand on her shoulder, "I shouted at Tarzan. I didn't mean to but the baby is driving me crazy and I just can't stop what comes out of my mouth!"

"It's alright dear, Tarzan knows you are not yourself at the moment. Why don't you come back up to the treehouse and I will make us a nice cup of tea eh?"

Jane nodded and put her arm through the crook of her father's elbow as they made their way slowly back up to the treehouse, a dull pain beginning to throb in her lower back.

"There you go Janey Jane, a nice cup of Earl Grey!" Archimedes said as he placed the cup on the dining table. Jane sipped at the tea and winced as another strong rush of pain swept through her causing the cup to slip from her hand and smash onto the floor!

"Jane!" Archimedes rushed over to her, hoping that she had not scalded herself!

"Gosh these back pains just keep coming!" Jane said once the pain faded. "God I hope they stop soon!"

"Jane, how often are they coming?" Archimedes enquired as Jane winced again.

"Every few minutes or so, why?"

"Jane that's not back pain!" Archimedes cried in excitement, "You are in labour!" Jane gasped as she pulled herself up from the dining table, tea seeping through the gaps in the floorboards. A sharp pain shot through her as the baby finally decided it was time to arrive into the world and Tarzan was nowhere to be found!