At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [102]
“Good,” Lexie said.
“You could still change your mind, if you’d like to do this naturally,” Joanie suggested.
“I’ll pass,” Lexie said. “How much longer, do you think?”
“It’s still hard to tell, but if you keep going like you are, maybe in the next hour or so.”
Jeremy’s heart pounded in his chest again. Though it could have been his imagination, he thought the baby’s heartbeat did the same. He tried to steady his breathing.
A few minutes later, the anesthesiologist appeared, and Joanie asked Jeremy to leave the room. Although he consented, as he stood in the hallway with Doris, he found the idea of privacy a bit ridiculous. There wasn’t a chance that hooking up the epidural could be nearly as invasive as having her cervix checked.
“Lexie said you were writing again,” Doris remarked.
“I am,” Jeremy said. “I’ve actually written a few more columns in the last week.”
“Any big story ideas yet?”
“A couple. But we’ll have to see if I do them. With the new baby, I don’t know how much Lexie will appreciate it if I take off for a few weeks. But there’s another story that I think I can do from home. It won’t be like the Clausen piece, but it’s strong enough.”
“Congratulations,” Doris said. “I’m happy for you.”
“Me too,” he said, and she laughed.
“I hear you’re going to name the baby Claire,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve always loved that name,” Doris said, her voice quiet. In the silence that followed, Jeremy knew she was remembering her daughter.
“You should have seen her when she popped out. She had a full head of the blackest hair you’ve ever seen, and she was loud. I knew right away I was going to have to watch her. She was a wild thing, even from the beginning.”
“She was wild?” Jeremy asked. “I got the impression from Lexie that she was the perfect southern belle.”
Doris laughed. “Are you kidding? She was a good kid, I’ll grant you that, but she could really test the limits. In the third grade, she got sent home from school for kissing all the boys on the playground at recess. She even made a couple of them cry. So she got in trouble, right? Grounded for the rest of the day, told to clean her room, and we talked her ear off, explaining how that just wasn’t appropriate behavior. So the next day at school, she did the same thing again. When we picked her up, we were at our wits’ end, but she just said that she liked kissing boys, even if she did get grounded later.”
Jeremy laughed. “Does Lexie know that?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know why I even brought it up. But having children changes your life like nothing else. It’ll be the hardest and best thing you’ve ever done.”
“I can’t wait,” Jeremy said. “I’m ready.”
“Really? Because you seem terrified.”
“I’m not,” Jeremy lied.
“Hmm,” Doris said. “Can I hold your hand when you say that?”
The last time she’d done that, Jeremy had had the strange sensation that she’d read his mind. Even if he didn’t believe it had really happened, because . . . well, it just wasn’t possible.
“No, as a matter of fact, you can’t,” he said.
Doris smiled. “It’s okay to be a little nervous. And scared, too. It’s a big responsibility. But you’re going to do fine.”
Jeremy nodded, thinking that in less than forty minutes he would find out.
With the epidural in, Lexie was no longer in pain and had to watch the monitor to even realize she was having a contraction. Within twenty minutes, her cervix had dilated to eight centimeters. At ten, the party would begin. The baby’s heartbeat was still perfectly normal.
Without the pain, her mood improved dramatically.
“I feel good,” she said, almost singing the last word.
“You sound like you’ve had a couple of beers.”
“Feel that way, too,” Lexie said. “It’s a lot better than the way I was feeling. I like this epidural. Why would anyone want to do this naturally? Labor pains hurt.”
“So I’ve heard. Do you need any more ice chips?”
“Nope. Doing great now.”
“You’re looking better, too.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“Well, I showered this morning.