"Boys, this morning I want you all to go up the hill and to spend the night at the cabin on your own. Take some food and the dog. Tend to the goats and SEE if you've learned how to take care of your selves."
I could figure out that it was time for the baby to be born, and Mother Bear wanted her cave all to herself I was perfectly happy to oblige. I didn't know if I’d ever be ready to be a husband and father.
If something went wrong, how would Dad ever be able to forgive himself? But what could he do? I tried to think of how many babies in the world never saw a doctor or a hospital. Cats do it. Dogs do it. Dad had said that Mother was good at having babies, so she had her chance to shine. Still, I really felt sorry for them. They had to be so brave, with nobody on their side to send any cards or baby gifts. Would our relatives be happy? How could we ever let them know?
We took up a load of bedding and food, checking our water hole, outhouse, cabin, and plantings. We raked smoking underbrush away from the house, hung up our damp sleeping bags on the clotheslines, and straightened up inside. We dared each other to go to the waterfall and take a Tarzan shower.
It was great to be clean again. We whooped and splashed as much as we wanted. It was a real tonic for our sore bones.
We weren't sure if we wanted to build a cooking fire after all the danger we had been in. We decided to eat our can of pork and beans cold. It was a joke about beans. Yes, they made a lot of methane. With our parents gone, we could really show off
As we went to sleep, we were all wondering how things were going for Mom and Dad. Well, I don't mean that we all went to sleep. Rooster was as excited as if it were Christmas Eve. He just couldn’t stand the suspense. He jittered most of the night.
It had been ten years since he had seen a new baby in our family, and then he was too little to realize it. He was just the kind of boy to be a real baby lover.
At daylight Dad appeared at our door, grinning like a 'possum, "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. All hands on deck. You have a new brother. Some babies we have to throw back, but this one is a keeper!"
We came tumbling down into the yard. "Hip, hip, hooray! All boys in our family! Can we call him 'Spike’?" asked Sol. "Me and Rooster have been wanting a baby brother that we could call Spike."
Dad looked doubtful, explaining that he and Mom had decided on a very formal, understandable, regular name. I bet that "Spike" will stick, in spite of Dad. Every kid needs a good nickname.
"Did you bring him up?" asked JohnB. That lazy lout! He should know that you don't take a new baby away from his nice, warm mother just to save a hill climb.
We pulled ourselves together and took the slide down the mountain. Sol was making up a song as we went. "I’m not the baby. I’m not the baby. I’m not the baby anymore." He was thrilled.
It was dark back in the sheltered part of the mine, and Mom looked frazzled. The baby was brought out in a bundle for us to inspect. He looked around like a pup that had just opened its eyes, staring at each one of us with approval. His skin was pinkish tan, and his eyes were the regular murky blue. He had plenty of fingers and toes and a little shock of brown hair. I hoped that he was going to like it here with us.
"Please, can I hold him, Dad?" asked Scopi softly.
I stood amazed, wondering what was going on in that smart brain of his. Did Scopi want to cuddle something soft and little? Did the rest of us feel that way, too, and just didn't want to show it?
He stood there, sort of rocking our baby in his arms, making little singing sounds. This was a whole new side of family life to me.
Dad got the others started on fixing breakfast while he let me, the psychiatrist of the family, talk to Mom.
"Were you scared, Mom? Did you feel really nervous about not being at the hospital?"
"Well, honey, I’ll tell you a secret. it’s not the doctor who delivers the baby: it‘s the mother, every time. Doctors are a big help in emergencies and for comfort, but the mother does all the work. I promised myself that I would love this baby even before it was born and accept whatever was involved.
"Did you ever wonder who delivered Jesus in that stable? It was dear little Mary, and she was just a woman like me. Did you know that she had lots of children after that? I can't wait to meet her in heaven."
I was thinking to myself, "And Mary will be glad to meet you, a woman of faith, who also gave birth in a cave in order to obey her God."