Page 30 of Lady of Charade
David stood there transfixed at the sight in front of him. She looked exhausted, her hair falling in tendrils out of the chignon on the back of her head, the old dress she wore stained, black circles under her eyes due to the late hour.
And to him, she had never been more beautiful.
“My God,” Billy said with a cry, and as he stepped past David and into the room, Sarah gently handed him the baby. He looked frantically around the room for a moment, but when he saw his wife was upon the bed, completely well, though obviously exhausted, he rushed in toward her and took a seat next to her on the mattress. As the three of them sat there, a new family bonding, Sarah stepped outside of the door, shutting it behind her as the two of them stood now in the night air.
“That was… fast?” David said, as he had never actually known a woman who had given birth, but from what he had heard, it typically took much longer.
“It was,” she affirmed, the smile remaining on her face. “But Emily did so wonderfully.”
“The babe is well?”
Sarah nodded. “Emily must have been farther along than she thought. It happens. It is difficult to know for sure.”
David was silent for a moment as he contemplated Sarah. He had seen her within many different situations now, and never before had she seemed so true to herself, so content.
“You love this,” he commented, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the door.
“I do,” she affirmed.
“How many times have you done this, helped a woman give birth?”
She leaned against the brick wall adjoining the door, leaving a foot between them as she stared up into the starry night, a sliver of it visible through the thick swell of buildings around them.
“Perhaps… fifteen or so?”
“Fifteen?” he repeated incredulously. “Have they all gone well?”
“No,” she said, her eyes remaining on the sky, melancholy crossing her face. “But most have, thank goodness.”
“Those women are lucky to have had you,” he said softly, and she smiled in return at him.
“That’s kind of you to say.”
“It’s the truth,” he said. “I saw you in there, with her, with the babe. Besides your skills, you are calm, considerate of the patient’s feelings. If I were to ever give birth, I would want you there.”
She laughed at that, which warmed his soul as it stripped the despondency from her countenance.
“I would insist on being there, if that was ever the case, to see how such a thing could ever occur.”
They stood there, smiling at one another and saying not a word, until the door behind them opened to reveal Billy, a wide smile still stretched across his face.
“Miss Jones? Emily says she’s feeling well, though a mite tired. I think it best we return to our own home now.”
“She is welcome to sleep here,” Sarah said, but Billy was already shaking his head.
“We cannot put you out any longer and we live not far. Besides, it will be good for us to be home with Sarah.”
“With… Sarah?”
Billy grinned as he opened the door wider for the two of them to return to the room.
“We named her after you,” Emily said from the bed, and Sarah only nodded, leading David to believe that tears likely filled her eyes.
“That is altogether lovely, though unnecessary,” she finally said, her words somewhat choked.
“I shudder to think of what could have happened had I been on my own,” Emily said with the slightest of smiles. “It wasn’t the easiest of births, was it?”
“You did well, Emily. Your baby was a bit stubborn, but you were so strong.”
