Sister Evangelina speaks - Part 2
Sister Evangelina energetically knocked at the Turner's front door. She was panting more heavily than Marianne after almost 8 hours of contractions, and, when Dr Turner almost instantly opened the door, she stormed into the Turner's flat.
The doctor had called Nonnatus House twenty minutes earlier, conveying the message that his wife's waters had broken and the birth was now well under way, she had almost dropped her tea cup and hurried to get her doctor's bag. Sister Julienne had taken the call, but had assumed her fellow Sister was the one Mrs Turner would feel most comfortable with.
Now, Sister Evangelina stood in the Turner's hallway, trying to catch her breath after pedalling in record speed. "Can you quickly fill me in, please?" she said, still out of breath.
"She has had mild contractions all morning and afternoon and told me to only call Nonnatus House once her waters had broken. Which happened about half an hour ago."
It was almost six o'clock on a Sunday evening, and Sister Evangelina said: "Well then, if you're lucky, your child will be born on a Sunday, His day."
She handed her coat to Dr Turner and made her way into the Turner's bedroom where Marianne Turner was leaning against a chest of drawers, breathing in and out with deep, long moans. Sister Evangelina approached the labouring woman and began to carefully rub Marianne's back. "Delivery pack, towels and hot water, all chop chop, please," she barked her orders towards the doctor, while she steadied a groaning Marianne at the onset of another heavy contraction with both of her arms.
The two women slowly walked towards the bed, Marianne hardly able to walk at all. Sister Evangelina wanted to perform an exam, although she assumed by the intensity of Marianne's moans and her almost being unable to walk, she must already be quite far along.
"If you don't mind, I'd appreciate to have everything at hand before your child is born, Dr Turner," Sister Evangelina grumbled towards her side, where Patrick was still standing near the door and shot him an angry glance.
He hurried outside and returned a few moments later. When he re-entered the bedroom, just about to place the requested items on the chest of drawers, Sister Evangelina shouted "No fathers in the delivery room," and Patrick quickly took his leave.
Then she looked at Marianne and explained what she was going to do. "You are doing absolutely fine, dear, and I am going to quickly check on your progress."
Sister Evangelina performed her examination and said: "As I assumed, it won't be too long now until you will be greeting your baby."
"Oh, will it?" Marianne panted. "It feels so very long, I don't know how long I will be able to carry on."
"You're doing absolutely fine and I am quite certain your baby will be born yet today."
Marianne let out another deep moan and Sister Evangelina smiled a small smile. Baby was behaving textbook-like and it would soon be with them she was certain. It wasn't that long ago, she remembered that she had sat with Marianne in the hospital when another baby wasn't supposed to be. She couldn't be happier for her friend and to share this very special moment with her in what was would probably be less than one hour.
She wondered whether Dr Turner, because of his role as a GP, had hoped for being in the room. But she would never make an exception, for anyone. No fathers in the delivery room. And if he wasn't Marianne's husband now, she might even have sent him out completely. He was a good doctor, yes, he was. But he was a man. And Sister Evangelina held all men, regardless of their role or character, in rather low esteem.
Yes, he was a good doctor, and a good husband. But she couldn't quite forget that he had once left Marianne without a commitment. And even though Marianne had always been certain he would eventually make this commitment, Sister Evangelina wasn't so certain.
She was shaken out of her thoughts by Marianne's cries getting sharper. The baby was now almost there, she knew, and she had to focus on bringing him into life.
Ten minutes later, Marianne held a boy, of considerable length and weight, in her arms. These first moments after a mother was given her new-born were usually the most precious to Sister Evangelina. No one saw a woman's face with such an expression of awe and wonder like a midwife, she often thought.
Marianne smiled radiantly at the little boy with a head full of thick dark hair and his forehead already in creases, as if he was trying to assess where he had arrived exactly.
Sister Evangelina quietly began to tidy up the room while keeping an eye on Marianne to make certain the afterbirth was born intact.
Another fifteen minutes later, the afterbirth was out and Sister Evangelina had wrapped the little boy into a towel. "I am going to introduce him to his father and return in a minute to help you clean up," she said and left the room.
Outside it smelled like a pub, she thought. Dr Turner was pacing the hallway and Sister Evangelina estimated he must have smoked at least two packets of cigarettes. When she came out the door, he hurried towards her with an expectant expression in his face.
"Now, here is your son, Dr Turner," Sister Evangelina said, and was stunned how her voice seemed to be a bit shaky. Was she still moved by her friend having given birth to this little boy?
She watched the doctor looking at his son in awe. She knew how special this moment was for most men, holding their first child, and she watched the new father for a while, happy that her friend now had both, the man she had been missing so much, and another baby, one that was meant to be born and alive.
"Can I see her now?" he whispered. Sister Evangelina was glad he didn't forget about his wife. "In just a moment. You hold on to your new son, while I will quickly help her clean up, then I am going to call you in," she said and retreated into the bedroom.
During the following weeks, Sister Evangelina regularly came for home visits to the Turners' flat. Marianne was soon up on her feet again and enjoyed Sister Evangelina's visits. Not so much for her assistance as a midwife, although she greatly appreciated her help. But with Dr Turner being out so much, Marianne often felt lonely, and was glad when Sister Evangelina or any other midwife visited and would then even have a few minutes for a cup of tea.
One day, when Timothy was about three weeks old, Dr Turner was home and saw Sister Evangelina out after her visit. On the doorstep, she turned around and looked at him with an earnest expression: "This may not be the time nor place," Sister Evangelina said, "but as I am a friend of Marianne and have seen her through difficult times, let me tell you that this boy and the woman inside that room are very dear to me. I was with her back when you had left her pregnant during the war. And even though I have had to correct my first idea of you, I still want to tell you that it should really have been you with her that day. Or at least you should have left her leaving behind your commitment. She never doubted your devotion to her and she was right, but it was the wrong thing to do."
Dr Turner only nodded, and Sister Evangelina turned around with a satisfied smile. She might have overstepped the line of appropriateness, but then, he was just a man, he would be able to take it. Also, she wanted him to know that he wasn't the only one who cared about the woman inside.
15 May 1947
Spring is here, finally. And I couldn't be happier. These past months have been so full of everything. Timothy has been bringing us such joy, but it was also quite a change to our life to have a baby. He has always been a very happy baby, and never cried very much, I am glad. Still, we have gone through some adjustment.
Patrick is very proud of his son. Just today he could not stop telling Ted who visited with his newest girlfriend about how much the boy is growing and how he has just learned to turn from the back to his belly.
But I feel that Patrick also is feeling neglected, and might at times even be jealous of the baby. As much as I enjoy being a mother, it can be quite tedious spending an entire day alone with the baby. Even though Mummy and Sister Evangelina have been helping a lot and even watched Timothy for me to be able to run a few errands by myself, I often have the feeling I am not managing as well as I should. I wonder how all those mothers with two, three or more children do it? But they surely manage, perhaps there is a trick to it one learns with the years of being a mother.
Patrick has been wanting to resume our marital relations, but I am not entirely certain about it. I do miss him and our time alone, but at night I am just so very tired that I can't seem to enjoy him touching me. Also, I know that in just an hour or two the baby will wake up again in need another feeding and I feel I need to take all the sleep I can get.
Patrick would never pressure me to do anything I didn't want, but I can tell he is not entirely happy. This is one thing I do not feel comfortable discussing with Sister Evangelina. She doesn't have a high opinion of men in general, and I feel that she never quite took to Patrick the right way. She does respect him and, like everyone around here, she is impressed with his work as a GP. But I suspect that she never quite forgave him for leaving me back pregnant, but without a commitment, when he went overseas in 1943. While this makes me sad, I also appreciate her concern and friendship in that matter. Had it not been for her, I don't know how I would have survived those dark times.
Had I known back then that everything would be all right, that Patrick would return healthy and healed eventually, that we would get married and have our precious son, who knows. I am certainly glad things have turned out this way.
"So you were friends, but not real friends?"
"What do you mean, not real friends?" Sister Evangelina asked amused. She had a suspicion what the boy meant but wasn't entirely daring to say.
"Well," Timothy began, "I don't know whether you can be friends with- " he paused.
"With nuns?" Sister Evangelina asked again? "I should think you can. I am one, just ask me," she added, winking at the boy.
Timothy's cheeks turned crimson and Sister Evangelina smiled at him. She put another slice of cake onto his plate and said: "Your mother was a very dear friend to me. She was a very special lady and I am glad that I get to be friends with her very special son, too."