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A watched pot takes so long to boil A thousand thoughts went through hts as I peered into the water to see the slightest roll What was Chris doing? Should I waken Jory and tell hi on? Why had Melodie done this? Was she in so punishment on herself for her sins? Finally, after what seean to bubble, then roll furiously With stea from the spout, I sprinted up the stairs and down more endless halls until I came to Melodie's bedroom

Chris had arranged Melodie so she was sitting up, backed with many pillows Her knees were shoved upward and held spread wide apart by pillows he used to support them She was naked fro fro like this, I fixed my eyes on the pads of towels and sheets he'd spread over newspapers to catch the blood "I can't stop the bleeding," he said in a worried way "Scares lance "Cathy, put on that extra pair of rubber gloves and use the calipers you see inwater I expect you to hand me what I need when I ask for it"

I nodded, terribly afraid I wouldn't reo, before he'd even graduated from medical school

"Wake up, Melodie," he said over and over "I need your help" Lightly he slapped her face "Cathy, wet a washcloth in cold water Wipe her face with that to bring her around so she can bear down and help push the baby out"

The cold cloth on her head brought Melodie back to reality filled with pain Right away she began to scream, to try and shove Chris away, to pull the covers over herself "Don't fight me," said Chris in a fatherly way "Your baby is almost here, Melodie, but you have to bear down and take deep breaths, and I can't see what I' if you cover yourself"

Still screa in a jerky, spasmodic way, she tried to obey Chris's orders as the sweat streaohich was shoved up to her waist, was soon sopping "Help her, Cathy," ordered Chris, fiddling hat I thought were forceps I put my hands where he told me and bore down

"Please, darling," I whispered when she stopped yelling long enough to hearto survive and get out"

Her wild eyes fraught with pain and fear struggled to focus on reality "I'!" she yelled before she squinched her eyes shut, pulled in a deep breath and then, withthe shove, bore doith more determination

"You're doing fine, Melodie," encouraged Chris "Now another hard shove and I should be able to see the top of your baby's head" Sweating, holding on to ave one last hty effort

"Fineyou're doing fine! I can see the top of the baby's head," said Chris in a happier tone, throwing me a look of pride At that moment Melodie's head fell to the side and her eyes closed

She'd fainted again "It's all right," said Chris, glancing at her face "She's done a good job, and I can do h the worst part and can rest I was thinking I'd have to use forceps, but it won't be necessary"

With confident, kind hands, he carefully slid his hand inside the birth canal and someho out a very small baby and handed it to me I held the tiny, slimy, red baby and stared down in awe at Jory's son Oh, how perfect this miniature little boy who flailed the air with his tiny fists and kicked with incredibly small feet, and screwed his apple-sized face into a knot as he prepared to let go with a howl as Chris tied off and severed the umbilical cord Thrills that felt coldof randson who had already seized my heart even before he cried With tears injoyously for Jory, ould be so happy, I glanced up to see Chris working over Melodic and drawing from her what must be the afterbirth

Again, I stared down at the crying, doll-sized, slih less than four pounds A child born from the passion and beauty of the ballet world:born on the ed the child tothis was God's finestthan a rose, a human born in His likeness Tears flowed down my cheeks, for, like God's son, this child was born alrandson! "Chris, he's so little Will he live?"

"Absolutely," he said in an absorbed, abstracted tone as he continued to work over Melodie, frowning with so hiive hiin to feel much better Use the solution I mixed and put in a blue bowl to wash out his eyes, and use the solution in the pink bowl to clean hisblankets around here somewhere He needs to be kept very warm"

"In her suitcase," I called out as I hurried into the adjacent bath and held the little boy in the cradle ofa pink plastic basin "For weeks she's had baby things packed and ready"