Chapter 16-A New Life
As the rain settled in for another winter day, Christine's abdomen had really taken shape, and a rather large one. Erik anxiously waited all summer as she continuously got larger and larger and now that winter had truly set in, he knew that it could be any time now.
The telephone was becoming more and more popular and Erik insisted that one needed to be installed in their house in order to call the doctor when it was time. Christine stared at the thing on the wall when it was all finished and asked,
"How exactly do we use this thing?" Erik smiled at her and explained,
"It's quite simple dear, we have our own special number and the doctor has his, which I have written down and when it's time, we put this to our ear and use the dial to put his number in and when we hear his voice in the earpiece, we speak into this." He said indicating to the microphone on the box. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I guess I won't understand until I see it in use." He smiled at her and said,
"After the first time using it, you'll understand." She smiled back and sat down in a nearby chair. Things were going pretty well between the couple lately. Ever since Christine found out she was pregnant, Erik had treated her special. Almost like she was too fragile to touch and doing anything for herself was out of the question.
She sighed and reached for a nearby fan and began to fan herself. She was so hot these days carrying around all the extra weight. She kept little fans on every table of the house despite the cooler winter weather that had set in. Erik sat down next to her at the kitchen table and asked her if she was nervous.
"A little." She answered, "what if something goes wrong? What if I can't successfully have this child? I'm just worried." He put his hand on top of hers and said,
"Darling, everything is going to be just fine. I know it. Everything is going to go smoothly without any complications, I know that because I believe in you and I believe in…me and we together can only make a strong child." Christine smiled a little smile at his statement, but it didn't exactly ease her mind. She worried a bit about the child having a physical deformity like Erik's but she knew that even if it did, it wouldn't matter to her. She could never treat her child the way Erik's mother treated him. But she never brought up her little fear of it having a physical deformity to him, and he never mentioned it, even though she knew the fear was in him as well. As she looked out the window at the rain falling in the night sky, she announced that she was going to bed. Erik stood up,
"Get some rest my dear. I'm going to do a little work before I come upstairs." Christine kissed him on the lips and said,
"Don't stay up too late Papa." He smiled at her and watched her walk up the back stairs to their bedroom. When she disappeared he looked around the kitchen at all the new items that suddenly made their way in. Baby bottles and handmade bibs were on the counters waiting for a little person to use them. A baby buggy sat in the mud room waiting to be used along with blankets, clothes and a bassinet in their bedroom. It was joyous but a bit overwhelming as Erik took it all in, remembering when they bought each thing.
Later that night he went up to bed. He put on his pajamas and climbed into bed, wrapping up in four blankets as Christine slept with the window open and no blankets covering her. He shivered as he tried to get comfortable on the edge of the bed since Christine and the baby took up most of the bed leaving a little corner for him. But it was worth it. Christine was giving him the greatest gift and miracle he could ever ask for.
The next morning, Madeleine had prepared breakfast and Christine was not her usual hungry self.
"What's wrong dear?" Erik asked his wife gently.
"I'm just not feeling the best today. Some stomach pain. Maybe you should use that thing and call the doctor." Erik became immediately alarmed and jumped up from his chair and rushed over to Christine.
"Is it time?! Are you sure?!" She smiled at him and said to him in a peaceful voice,
"Relax, it could be nothing, I just feel a little funny that's all. Now be a good father and call him." Erik rushed right over to the telephone and started to dial the number but he was so nervous he kept messing up and had to keep hanging up and redialing. Finally he figured it out and shouted on the phone,
"MY WIFE IS HAVING A BABY! HURRY!" Christine chuckled to herself and shook her head until another searing pain felt like it was cutting right through her and she practically fell out of the chair. Erik screamed his name in the phone and Madeleine helped her sit back up.
"Are you all right?" She asked Christine?
"Yes, yes I think so. If I just take some deep breaths it's all right, but that was a rather bad one."
About a half hour later, Christine was lying down on the sofa with the windows open in the chilly winter air, sweating and in some major pain. Erik paced the floor with his winter coat on shivering with cold and nervousness. The doctor had just arrived and seemed to be quite calm with his nurse as he rang the bell to the front door. Erik jumped about two feet high at the sound and ran over to answer the door.
"Where have you been? My wife is in pain and something is WRONG!" The doctor smiled at him and said, "It's awfully cold in here isn't it?" He walked over to Christine who was having a hard time comprehending what was going on throughout pain and trying to breathe.
"Well sir, it seems as if you are going to have a baby today. I want to get the madam upstairs into her bedroom and I'm going to need a lot of towels and sheets and a basin of lukewarm water." Erik just stood in shock, nervousness and excitement and when the doctor gave him a look as he tried to help Christine stand up, Erik quickly obeyed.
Erik was forbidden to stay out of the bedroom and as the afternoon fell into evening, he was becoming quite impatient. He read enough magazines and even thumbed through Christine's Lady's Magazine to keep himself occupied but it was useless. He just couldn't remain patient. If only he had some morphine to help put him to sleep he would be all right, but when Christine told him she was expecting, he decided to give up anything that would harm him or anyone else, and the morphine was the first thing to go. He did however pour himself a glass of cognac to hopefully relieve some of his nervousness and as he walked into his office to get some he heard footsteps coming down the back stairs into the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen to see the nurse getting another basin of water and a clean cloth.
"Well?" He asked her. Startled, she turned around and said,
"It will be anytime now. We're coming close, I would say within the hour." And she hurried back up the stairs. Erik's mask had made her nervous. He sensed it when she walked in that morning with the doctor, but there was no use in thinking about stupid stuff like that now. Something greater beyond his wildest dreams was about to happen to him!
He walked back into his office and poured himself a glass, downed it, grabbed a bottle of wine and walked upstairs. Outside of their bedroom, Madeleine was standing anxiously waiting. When she saw Erik approach, she started to nervously walk away.
"It's all right, you can wait here with me." Erik said gently to her.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm just anxious for the madam. I will get back to work now."
"It is quite all right, here sit down on the floor with me while we wait." Erik said sitting himself down on the floor outside of the bedroom door.
"It's awfully quiet in there now." Erik said listening.
"It was a little louder before; I could hear the madam groaning and the doctor talking to her."
That worried Erik to think of his poor Christine in any pain, he opened the bottle of wine and drank straight from the bottle.
"It's going to be strange with a baby around." He said passing the bottle to Madeleine who looked quite surprised but took a drink as well.
"Yes, it will be quite strange. This new person who will depend on you for every need and admire you." She said. Erik only hoped his child would see him for who he is and not like the rest of the world who was afraid of him. She passed the wine back to him and he took another swallow. They stayed quiet for a while silently passing the bottle back and forth until finally there was some talking and a loud cry from a baby. Erik quickly stood up and swallowed hard anxiously waiting for someone to come out and let him in. Madeleine smiled at him and said,
"Well that sound can only be a good thing!" He smiled back and reached up to wipe away a tiny tear that formed in his eye and the door opened. The nurse came out and said,
"We're cleaning up sir, but congratulations on the arrival of your daughter." She went back in and closed the door behind her as Erik tried to process the information that was just told to him. He had a daughter, a little girl who could be as precious as can be. Christine's daughter and his. Finally after a few minutes of what felt like hours he was permitted to go in the room.
He stood by the door and looked in to see Christine sitting up in bed holding this tiny little bundle. He felt frozen; he didn't want to move any closer fearing that this was all a dream and that if he moved it would all disappear. The doctor and the nurse walked out of the room and said to Erik on the way out,
"We'll call the priest to have her baptized first thing in the morning." He nodded and said "Thank you." in a whisper and they left.
"Erik come here and meet your daughter." Christine said. He walked over to the bed and sat down looking at her tiny face. She was flawless, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.
"Is there anything wrong with her?" He asked Christine. She smiled and reached up kissing him, and through her happy tears she answered,
"No, she's absolutely perfect." He kissed her back and Christine handed him the baby and it's almost as if he knew just what to do. His fatherly instinct kicked in immediately and he carried her around telling her all about their house and her new world and her mother. Christine smiled and tried to hold back her exhaustion but she was soon fast asleep listening to the sound of Erik's voice as he talked softly to their daughter.