The rain poured down steadily as the men sat on the porch in stiff anticipation. Will watched the drops of water hit the brick road in front of his home. It ran down the dark red sediment as the grooves of the mortar began to fill. He concentrated on each brick being pounded with rain, with each leaf being bombarded with drops, with every singular blade of grass twitching under the weight of each small puddle, with the sound of the wild water hitting the tiles of the roof and running down in small rivers in front of him. Will was concentrating on anything and everything that would take his mind and avoid his ears from hearing the screams of his wife. It had been almost 3 hours and Mrs. Yates hadn't set a foot downstairs to inform anyone of Elizabeth's well being.
Jack sat in one of the rocking chairs on the veranda with his trademark brown hat over his eyes. He was leaned back so far that an inch more would slip him from the chair. Nate, who was sitting closest to him, could hear the Captain's deep breathing and occasional snore, wondering how a man could sleep through such noisy weather and loud sounds coming from the bedroom overhead. Mr. Yates sat very calmly, widdling some wood with his knife, a very composed countanence over him. Will looked over to the elder man thinking how nice it would be to be that calm. Although he had done this four times over and this wasn't his wife upstairs giving birth. Will was on the opposite side of the porch, quite alone, on the edge of his chair. His hands were fidgeting with his wedding band; the thick, worn, shining piece of silver was being turned over and over in his fingers. His brow had been in a constant furrowed state since he walked out the front door, being shooed away by Mrs. Yates.
Nathan had found an old, wooden, toy horse to occupy Tristan as they waited. The child sat on the front of the porch with the horse in tow, the rope connected to it – tied to his small wrist. His tousled brown hair was still swinging in his eyes, while his hand mechanically brushed it away from his eyes as the pulled the horse with wooden wheels across the boards of the veranda. Will looked down at the child as he felt his gaze on him. Quickly Tristan turned away; embarrassed he had been caught staring… his mother used to tell him it wasn't polite. Tristan knew that something good wasn't going on. Why else would all these grown ups look so depressed and sad? He decided that to stay quiet and out of the way was the best idea. The silence made him feel slightly awkward as he knew he was the only one unaffected or unknowing what was going on upstairs. Although the boy gathered that it was Elizabeth, that screaming never meant something good, and it had to be something very important. Tristan saw the weary look on Will's face and decided to try and cheer him up – Will after all, would always try and talk to him when he felt sad.
"Monsieur…Elisabett will be all fine." Said the boy in his small voice, his eyes looking very sincere.
Will smiled and put his hand on his shoulder. "Yes I'm sure she'll be alright. No reason to worry."
Tristan nodded, satisfied with the response and glad to see that Will was still able to smile at him. Nate came up to Tristan and took his hand. "What do you say we go look in the cellar? I think I still have some more of my old toys down there." The boys face lit up and he willingly held Nathan's hand as they went next door.
Now Will sat with only Mr. Yates and a sleeping Jack Sparrow on the veranda with him now. He sat back in the chair, his shoulders tense and his throat was tight. He hadn't noticed the silence that was newly aquired while Tristan had distracted him from his worry.
The screaming had stopped.
Will jumped up as quickly as he could and ran through the foyer, up the stairs, around the balcony and burst through his bedroom door. The first thing he saw was Elizabeth laying heavily against her pillow. His eyes switched quickly to Lucy who was walking towards the bowl of water with a bundle in white sheets and Anna who was dabbing Elizabeth's face with a warm towel. Will immediately went to Elizabeth and knelt down at her bedside. He took her hand and put it to his cheek and kissed her palm once, twice over. "Elizabeth, Elizabeth how are you?"
She turned her head to face him, slowly opening her eyes to meet his worried gaze. With his free hand he brushed the damp hair from her forehead, then leaned forward and gently kissed her temple. She breathed heavily as her eyes closed unvoluntarely again. "The baby…" she whispered.
Will's eyes shot up to Lucy who was facing him with her back. Mrs. Yates was preoccupied with cleaning up the sheets below Elizabeth and almost ignored Will's presence. "Lucy, the baby, how is it?" He said standing, still having a hold of Elizabeth's hand but fixing his eyes on her hands where the bundle lay – trying to grab a quick look at his child.
"Mrs. Yates." Lucy called, her back still to the young couple
The gray haired, plump woman waddled over to the dresser where Lucy stood. Lucy was talking very low and Mrs. Yates face grew from a relaxed state to the same frantic composure she had when she first came into the bedroom. Will strained to hear them but the only words he could pick out was "…She…" and "…Breathing…"
Mrs. Yates turned around again with her eyes fixed demandingly on Will. "Alright Mr. Turner, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the room again."
"What?" Will shot an angered look at her.
"Yes, you'll have to wait until I give you permission to return." She said sternly.
"No. If something is wrong I have the right to know!"
"Now Mr. Turner! I shant tell you again!" she stated, her voice now being raised.
The tall, lanky Mr. Yates strolled into the room with a questioning look to his wife and Will. "What's going on here?"
"Mr. Turner was just leaving dear." She said lowly.
Will shook his head "I'm not going anywhere."
Without any hesitation Mr. Yates stepped forward and took Will's arm. "C'mon lad. She's right, come downstairs it wont be much longer. I'm sure nothing is the matter."
Will went towards the door and looked over his shoulder to Elizabeth who still was on the verge of passing out of exhaustion. His eyes moved to Mrs. Yates who was at the end of the bed standing over Liz again.
"Lucy" He heard her say before the door shut again. "She's begun to bleed again."