Chapter 19 - Eve's Suffering:
Kala smiled to herself as she walked across the rope bridge to the treehouse. The sun was hot and strong and the sea below was surprisingly calm. She was carrying a bunch of bananas in her arm as a gift for her son and daughter-in-law. She knew about Jane being overdue and how taxing it was on her. She felt that the fruit would be a nice way to perk up her daughter-in-law's spirits. As she reached the other side of the bridge, she heard a short sharp scream that scared the birds out of the surrounding trees. Kala's head darted wildly as she tried to see where the dreadful noise came from. Another scream sounded and Kala realised that it was coming from the treehouse!
"Jane!" Kala immediately realised what was happening, abandoning the fruit and made her way as fast as she could up to the treehouse. When she arrived, she opened the door on bedlam, a scene of complete chaos! Jane was leaning over the bed, gripping onto the sheets so tight that her knuckles had turned white! She wailed in agony as another strong contraction arrived whilst Archimedes ran around like a headless chicken, trying to boil water, find fresh sheets and sterilise medical equipment as quickly as he could!
"Jane!" Kala hurried over to the bed and Jane turned to face her, her face flushed red and decorated with beads of sweat.
"Kala! Help me!" Jane cried desperately, utterly relieved to see her gorilla mother-in-law, "The baby is coming! It's coming now!"
"It's alright Jane," Kala soothed as she gently rubbed Jane's lower back, "I'm here, I'll be there with you every step of the way." Kala had helped with countless gorilla births and was known as the 'midwife' of the troop. It seemed to her that gorillas and humans were not too different anatomically and that she should be able to assist in delivering her grandchild.
"Thank you Kala," Archimedes looked positively grateful at having some help. Even though he had prepared for this day, reading every medical textbook he could get his hands on but now when it was full blown reality he felt completely and utterly lost! Kala and Archimedes both helped Jane back onto the bed and propped her up with lots of pillows, Archimedes laying a clean sheet over Jane's lower half.
"Where is Tarzan?" Kala demanded as Archimedes dampened a facecloth with cold water.
"It's all my fault! I snapped at him earlier and now he's gone!" Jane wailed.
"He, he went to get Jane some honey to ch, cheer her up," Archimedes gabbled as he gently dabbed his daughter's forehead with the damp cloth. "I'm sure he will be back any minute."
"And you let him go!" Kala cried in disbelief, "The hives are on the other side of the river, it will take him ages to get back!"
"Argh!" Jane wailed loudly as another contraction came, "Daddy I want some chloroform! Now!"
"Oh right, right, right!" Archimedes bumbled as he ransacked the medical supply box. He finally found the chloroform bottle and carefully administered 15 drops onto a cloth. Jane practically snatched it out of his hand and breathed in the chloroform deeply. Very quickly she felt the pain subside a little, becoming easier to bear.
"Alright Jane," Kala took on a calm yet authoritative tone, "let's have a look at you and see how 'open' you are. Try to relax and take nice deep breaths." Archimedes helped Jane sit up more as Kala looked under the sheet and saw that Jane's privates looked virtually the same as her own. As she went to check Jane's cervix, Jane gave out a loud groan and suddenly out from between her legs a large gush of clear liquid shot out hitting Kala in the face!
"Oh my god!" Jane cried in horror, holding her hand over her mouth as the liquid virtually soaked Kala's face and chest! "Oh my God, I am so sorry Kala!"
"Don't worry it's fine," Kala gave a reassuring smile, "your waters have just broken. It's happened to me before when I have helped deliver gorilla infants. Besides it's good for the hair!"
Jane felt completely mortified and wished the ground would just swallow her whole. Kala found a clean sheet to dry herself down and then went back to checking Jane's privates. "You're quite 'open'," she nodded, "but not enough to start pushing yet. But now that your waters have broken everything will speed up now."
"My goodness!" Archimedes gasped, astounded at what just happened. The birthing rooms of England were considered very much a feminine domain, forbidding any man from entering and seeing the mysteries of childbirth. And the fact that a gorilla was helping a human give birth was a discovery that a scientist could only dream of! He watched everything with a sheer intensity, trying to remember every single detail for his scientific journal.
An hour past by and contraction came after contraction, Jane moaning and wailing as each one came and went, inhaling more chloroform when it became too much to bear. Tarzan was still nowhere to be seen and the air in the room was turning almost blue from Jane's cursing and swearing.
"Gosh Janey dear I never knew that you knew such profanity!" Archimedes exclaimed, shocked at the torrent of foul and crude words coming out of his daughter's mouth, normally said by only sailors and soldiers.
"I am in labour Daddy! I am BLOODY allowed to say what I BLOODY well want!" Jane yelled back at him as another contraction arrived, this one a lot more painful than the rest. Kala lifted the sheet and examined Jane again.
"You are fully 'open' now so we can start to deliver the baby. Now Jane when your next contraction starts I want to you bear down like when you are relieving yourself and push."
"I can't!" Jane wept, her face completely distraught. "I can't push without Tarzan! I want Tarzan, I need him, I need him now!"
"Jane dear, you have to push. The baby is ready to come out now, you must push!"
"I can't! I can't do it! Not without my husband!"
"Jane-"
"I WANT TARZAN NNNNNNOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs so loudly that Archimedes could have sworn that the whole of Africa heard!
"I'll see if I can find him!" he decided and hastily ran to the front door, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"
"All right Professor, I'll take care of Jane," Kala nodded before turning back to her daughter-in-law.
"It'll be fine Jane, don't go anywhere!" Archimedes called as he crossed the threshold.
"I am not planning to!" Jane snapped at her father as she gripped the sheets so tightly that she felt her knuckles were about to burst out of her skin! At the beginning of her next contraction, she took in a long deep breath and held it.
"Now push!" Kala instructed and Jane pushed as hard as she could whilst emitting a long and loud guttural scream!
"Well done girl!" Kala beamed, "We are on our way!"
"Tarzan! Tarzan!" Archimedes yelled as he raced through the jungle, ignoring the burning stitch developing in his side. At this precise moment he never felt so wretched. As a branch ripped the sleeve of his shirt Archimedes wished that just for once in his damn life that his family did not live in such a dense maze of a jungle! It was like looking for a needle in a haystack and if he did not find Tarzan soon, not only would his son-in-law miss the birth of his child but he himself would also miss the birth of his first grandchild!
A noise sounded from a tree and Manu, the young baboon that caused Jane to be chased by his whole family climbed down, fruit pulp all around his mouth.
"Manu!" Archimedes cried in delight. Manu was fast and nimble and he would surely be able to help him find Tarzan a whole lot faster! "Help me find Tarzan," he demanded. Unfortunately the baboon language was not the Professor's strongpoint and was surprisingly complex compared to the other monkey/ape languages. Manu looked at Archimedes quizzically, wondering why the old wise hairless ape had asked him to fondle Tarzan!
"Blast! Wrong word!" Archimedes cursed himself and tried again, "Manu, help me find Tarzan. Jane is having the baby!" But Manu's face was still perplexed, now wondering why the Professor was telling him that Jane was hugging a banana!
"Still having trouble with your baboon Professor?" Archimedes heard a friendly voice say. He turned round to see Tarzan hanging upside down on a vine by his feet, holding some honeycomb and a bunch of Jane's favourite flowers in his hands and a rather bemused look on his face.
"Tarzan! Thank goodness I have found you!" Archimedes flung his arms around his son-in-law and hugged him tightly, utterly relieved that he had found him!
"Hey, what did I do to deserve this Professor?" Tarzan managed to say as his face was squashed into Archimedes' chest.
"Jane is having the baby Tarzan…now!"
"Now!?"
"Yes! And we will miss it if we don't hurry!" Tarzan didn't need to be told twice. He dropped the flowers and honey and swung himself up the right way.
"Get on my back Professor!" he said as he helped Archimedes on before swinging from vine to vine towards the treehouse, hoping that they had not missed the most important day of their lives! As they raced through the jungle, swinging on vines and surfing branches Tarzan cursed himself for leaving so close to his wife's time. He felt like an absolute fool and hoped desperately that Jane could hold on, just a little longer so that he would not miss the miracle of his first child being born.
"Right, time to push again Jane," Kala instructed. The baby was coming out quite quickly, only a couple more pushes were needed and it would all be over. As Jane prepared to bear down, she heard Tarzan's distinctive yell bellow through the air and a second later the front door burst open!
"Jane!" Tarzan cried as he ran over to the bed and took his wife's hand, Archimedes following behind at a slower pace, face flushed scarlet red and gasping for breath!
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!" Jane yelled at him, her tone was furious yet inside she was absolutely relieved to see him.
"I'm soooo sorry Jane, I was out getting you a present-" Tarzan tried to explain but was cut short as Jane gritted her teeth as another contraction brewed.
"Doesn't matter now son," Kala interrupted, "the important thing is that you're here. Now Jane push!"
"Here hold my hand Jane. Squeeze as hard as you like," Tarzan said as Jane bore down and took a deep breath. Jane let a deafening scream as she pushed with all her might. Tarzan grimaced as Jane squeezed his hand in a vice like grip, feeling as if his bones were been crushed into dust! He never knew that her delicate, nimble hands could possess so much power!
"Tarzan, are you alright?" Jane asked once she stopped pushing, glancing over to see her husband cradling his hand.
"Ahhhh you have no idea how much this hurts!" Tarzan commented as he glanced down at his red and throbbing hand but was immediately put in his place by a glowering look from the two females!
"One more push Jane," Kala called out, "just one more push!"
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Jane yelled as she pushed for the final time. Soon the room was filled with wails and cries of the baby as it arrived into Kala's arms. Archimedes carefully cut the umbilical cord using a pair of sterilised scissors before wrapping the baby up in a soft cotton sheet.
"It's a girl!" he cried as he gently placed the new arrival in Jane's arms, his eyes glistening with tears. Jane cradled the baby and gently moved away a corner of the sheet hiding its face. The baby's eyes slowly opened and looked up at her. Jane gasped as she saw that their little girl's pupils were green, a slightly paler version of her father's intense emerald eyes whilst having a small upturned nose and a rosebud mouth. As she stroked the little blood stained head, Jane fell in head over heels in love with her little girl. Her daughter was going to be a beauty, as beautiful as all the flowers in the jungle! This little bundle, this miracle in her arms that she had long been waiting for was finally here!
"She's beautiful," she whispered as the baby nuzzled into her chest. Kala and Archimedes beamed; words could not even begin to describe the joy they felt at the birth of their first grandchild.
"Can I hold her?" Tarzan asked, dying to see the baby. Jane carefully handed her to him, teaching him how to hold the baby and its head properly. Tarzan looked down and the baby looked back up, their eyes fixed on each other in mutual wonder. Tarzan gently stroked his daughter's face with his hand, her skin the silkiest, softest thing he had ever touched, softer than any petal or fruit peel. As he lifted his hand away he gasped as the baby grabbed his index finger. Tarzan stared in wonder as her whole hand barely covered the first joint of his finger, her little nails pearlescent like tiny seashells.
"She's perfect," he said softly as the baby went to sleep, her little hand still holding onto his finger. All this time trying and waiting, all the pain and heartache they suffered had been worth it. Their precious girl was here at last; their lives and hearts now finally complete. They all stared at the baby as it slept peacefully in its father's arms, not daring to say a word.
"Have you two thought of a name for her?" Kala finally asked; brave enough to break the spell of the moment.
"Jane?" Tarzan looked to his wife as he handed her back the baby. He had no particular choice of name and felt that it was his wife's right to choose. Jane looked at the baby for a little while, seeing what name her daughter looked like.
"Annabelle," she said finally. "I remember seeing it in an Edgar Allen Poe poem once and I have always loved it. Annabelle Florence Porter." Tarzan smiled, it was indeed the perfect name for their daughter.