Silt, Denver Cereal Volume 8 (4 page)

“
H-h-h-on-n . . .” MJ looked so desperate that
Jill hugged him.

“
You get the water,” Jill
said. “It’s too heavy for me to carry.”

MJ gestured that he would carry Jill.

“
My brother’s right behind
you.” Jill pointed. Mike was standing on the landing of the stairs.
“If you carry the water, Mike can carry me.”

“
A-a-a-n-n-n-y-y . . .”

“
No,” Jill said. “I don’t
need anything else. Mike will be there to help and so will Steve.
If we need more help then we’ll call my Mom.”

“
Sh-sh-she’s . . .”

“
Really?” Jill curled her
lip. “She’s waiting with Sam and Delphie?”

“
G-gr-r-a-an-n-n . . .”

“
She’s there to see the
birth of her grandchild?” Jill groaned. “But Honey’s not her
daughter.”

“
I-i-s-s-s
n-n-n . . .”

“
She’s adopted Honey too?”
Jill asked. “Oh God, I hope that doesn’t mean she’ll be around
for . . .”

Jill nodded behind MJ.

“
Hi Mom,” Jill
said.

“
I heard that,” Anjelika
said. “And you’d better believe I will be there. Your father
too.”

MJ gave Jill a knowing look, and Jill
scowled.

“
Now be very careful,
Mikhail,” Anjelika started.

“
MOM!” Jill
groaned.

Anjelika laughed.

“
You have to come down for
me to come up,” Mike said.

Jill started toward the stairwell.

“
Not you,” Mike
said.

“
You can’t take the
stairs!” Anjelika gasped.

“
The soldier,” Mike said.
“MJ come down.”

MJ turned in place and jogged down the
stairwell. Mike came up and picked up Jill. He gave an exaggerated
groan when she was in his arms.

“
Jeez, are you gaining
weight?” Mike asked.

Jill double tapped the top of his head, and
he laughed.

“
Come along,” Mike said.
“We’re on baby duty.”

Mike carried Jill down the stairs, through
the main kitchen where the caterers were working on food for the
party, and up the stairs on the other side. They passed Delphie’s
apartment and the one Mike shared with Valerie before coming to the
entrance to what Valerie dubbed “The Birthing Zone.”

“
You ready?” Mike asked in
a low tone.

Jill gave a quick nod.

“
You’ll let me know if
it’s too much?” Mike asked in the same low tone.

Jill nodded, and he pushed the door open.
They walked through a short hallway and into the office space. In
the time since Valerie had her baby, the space had gone from a
1950s doctor’s office to a beautifully restored, clean,
state-of-the-art medical office.

Mike set down Jill. MJ pointed to a stack of
clean scrubs. Jill, Mike, and Anjelika dressed in scrubs as well.
They followed MJ to the room where Honey was in labor. Honey was
connected to a heart rate monitor for herself and the baby. Steve,
Honey’s nurse and Jill’s brother, was moving an ultrasound wand
around so they could see the baby on the screen. Camille, the
midwife, was standing between Honey’s knees. Colin Hargreaves was
standing at her head. Blane was moving around Honey to twist an
acupuncture needle on her chest and remove one from her wrist. He
looked up and smiled when they came in.

Jill leaned down to kiss Honey’s cheek.

“
How are you doing?” Jill
asked.

“
Good.” Honey
smiled.

“
We’re really at our last
chance for natural delivery,” Blane said.

“
I’m sorry but I don’t
understand why you’re pushing for a natural birth?” Jill smiled at
her little pun and took Honey’s hand. “I’ll probably have a
C-section.”

“
Because she’s in a
wheelchair,” Steve said. “C-sections are harder to heal for people
in a wheelchair and she’ll have an infant to care for. She’d have
to be admitted for at least a day, maybe two just to get a jump
start on the healing.”

“
I don’t want to go to the
hospital,” Honey grunted. “I’ve spent enough time
there.”

Jill nodded.

“
How can we help?”
Anjelika asked.

“
Honey’s getting tired,”
Blane said. He pointed toward the screen. “So is the baby. We
thought you might be able to give them a little healing
boost.”

“
Sure,” Jill
said.

Jill put her hands on Honey’s belly and
looked up at the monitor. The baby stirred. She felt something
behind her as Colin set a chair behind her. Jill sat down. Mike
stood across from her and put his hands between hers. Anjelika went
to Honey’s head and put her hands on her head. Steve put his hand
on her shoulder.

“
Ooh, I feel warm!” Honey
said, before gasping. A contraction ripped through her.

“
We’re moving now,”
Camilla the midwife said. “Honey, can you wait for
one . . .?”

Honey jerked up with the force of her
contraction.

“
This is our shot,”
Camilla said. “You do this now or we’ll get the doctor.
Si?”

“
Got it,” Honey
said.

“
Blane?” Camilla
said.

Blane removed a needle from her hand and
placed a new needle in her head.

“
Ready,” Blane
said.

“
Go Honey,” Camilla said.
“Push, push, push, push . . .”

Honey groaned.

“
Help her!” Camilla
pointed MJ to Honey’s head. She nudged Jill with her shoulder. “Do
more now.”

Colin touched Jill’s shoulder. Jill looked
back at him to see that he was holding the vase full of salt water
she’d prepared. She lifted her left hand to touch the vase.

“
Mike!” Jill
said.

Mike looked up, saw the vase, and lifted his
right hand from Honey’s belly to hold the vase.

“
Mom!” Mike
said.

Anjelika leaned over to touch the glass.

“
Steve,” Anjelika
said.

Steve set down the ultrasound wand and
reached to touch the water. A connection seemed to be made the
moment Steve touched the vase. Colin picked up the ultrasound wand
so that they could see the baby again. Honey bore down and the baby
moved.

“
Good,” Camilla said. “Go
Honey go! You can do this. Go!”

Closing her eyes to concentrate, Jill heard
her own sons cheering for Honey and the baby they knew to be a
girl. When she opened her eyes, the baby had crowned.

“
One more time!” Camilla
said.

Margaret Celia Scully was born.

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon—2:03 p.m.

Humming to herself, Valerie cleaned the main
Castle kitchen. Tomorrow was Delphie’s annual Harvest Day. Valerie
was in charge of making sure there was room in the refrigerator and
kitchen to store everything they harvested.

Harvest Day was Valerie’s favorite day of
the year. She had been here at the Castle for every Harvest Day.
Even when she wasn’t getting along with Mike, she’d come home to
help dig out a potato or whatever. Valerie loved the glorious
experience of finding one treasure after another. Now that she was
home, she loved the idea that the tiniest seed could multiply into
a glorious vine that created a bounty of acorn squash or pumpkins
or watermelon.

When Celia had purchased this house,
Delphie’s first task was to remove the asphalt. Valerie smiled
remembering how Delphie had taken a sledgehammer to the black mess.
When Delphie went to work the next day, Celia had paid a team from
Lipson Construction to take out the asphalt. Delphie had come home
and the asphalt was gone. No one ever told her how the asphalt
disappeared. But then, she’d never asked.

Valerie heard a sound and looked down. She
was carrying Jackie next to her heart. Claire Martins had modified
a Moby sling into a short-sleeved top that crossed over in the
front to form a kind of baby sling. Claire showed Valerie how she
could set Jackie on one side with the fabric crossing from the
other side. The third piece of fabric held Jackie tight in place.
Claire had modified the wrap with a piece of lace to cover Jackie’s
face if they were assaulted by the paparazzi.

Valerie wore a pair of Mike’s old overalls
to make double sure that Jackie wouldn’t fall out. Today was her
first day trying this outfit and so far, it worked really well.
Valerie made a soothing sound to Jackie and kissed her face. Jackie
went back to sleep.

Valerie grabbed the full trash bag from the
can and went out the back door. From the deck, she could see
Sandy’s kids helping to clean up from Yvonne and Rodney’s
celebration. She was always amazed at the way Sandy and Aden could
get these kids to do things. Sandy said it was a mixture of bribery
and threat, but Valerie thought they were just nice kids.

“
I can take that,” Nash
said. He held out his hand for the trash bag.

“
Great,” Valerie gave him
the trash bag. “Thanks Nash.”

Nash blushed, nodded, and trotted off. He
picked up a bag of trash near the end of the fence and went out
into the alley. Taking in the warm day, Valerie stretched her arms
and neck before returning to the kitchen. She had her head in the
refrigerator when Nash burst in the backdoor.

“
Mrs. Valerie! Mrs.
Valerie!” Nash yelled.

Valerie stood up quickly. Nash’s yell and
Valerie’s sudden movement woke Jackie. She gave a rousing wail.
Valerie scowled at Nash, and soothed Jackie back to sleep.

“
Sorry,” Nash said. “I
didn’t . . .”

“
I know,” Valerie said.
“What happened?”

“
When I went out into the
alley, there was a photographer on a ladder just behind the police
video camera,” Nash’s voice came in one excited rush. “I threw out
the trash and called the police. They must have been close because
bam they were right there.”

“
Great,” Valerie smiled.
“Thanks.”

“
But . . .”
Nash’s face clouded.

“
What
happened?”

“
The photographer saw me
and yelled that he’d already sent the photos
off . . .” Nash swallowed hard. “And Delphie told me
to come in and tell you immediately. And Dad, well, he was really
mad. He got Mike and Charlie, and they went around making sure
there aren’t more photographers back there.
And . . .”

“
What did the
photographers say?” Valerie asked.

“
Now, I didn’t say this,”
Nash said. “I’d never say this to anyone,
but . . .”

“
The photographers are
pigs,” Valerie said. “What did he say?”

“
He said he’d already sent
in photos of . . .
um . . .”

Valerie waited.

“
That pig Valerie Lipson,”
Nash said. “He made a rude gesture like you’d gotten really, really
fat. They were putting him in the police car when he yelled that
you should be on the Biggest Loser.”

“
He didn’t get a photo of
Jackie?” Valerie asked.

“
You can’t see her in the
overalls,” Nash said. “I mean, I knew she was there. Sandy wears
Rachel like that sometimes, and really where else would Jackie be?
But . . .”

“
What?” Valerie
asked.

“
You look really fat in
that outfit,” Nash said.

Valerie looked down at Mike’s old
overalls.

“
I know that’s not a nice
thing to say,” Nash said. “Dad always says to never tell a woman
she’s fat, and Sissy has an eating disorder, so we don’t talk about
it in our family, but . . .
um . . .”

“
I look pretty fat,”
Valerie said. “So what?”

“
Delphie said you should
call your publicist,” Nash said.

“
Why?”

“
Something about the
upcoming premiere and your next movie part?” Nash
shrugged.

At that moment, Valerie’s cell phone
rang.

“
That’s probably them,”
Nash gave her a guilty look, and sped out the back door.

“
Hello?” Valerie answered
her phone.

“
Have you gained five
hundred pounds?” Jennifer, her publicist, asked.

“
No,
I . . .”

Her phone beeped with her agent.

“
Hang on Jen,” Valerie
clicked over.

“
Are you insane?” Her
agent yelled. “Do you ever want to make another movie?”

As her agent ranted, Valerie looked up at
the ceiling. Looking down, she saw Jackie and knew what to do.

“
Listen,” Valerie
interrupted her agent. “At least they didn’t get a shot of
Jackie.”

“
What do you mean?” he
asked.

“
I’m carrying her under
the overalls,” she said.

“
You are?”

“
Of course,” Valerie said.
“And that’s how you’re going to spin this. Anyone who calls. You
tell them I carry my newborn baby girl next to my heart in a hug
hold like I should.”

“
Good thinking,” he
said.

“
And furthermore,” Valerie
said. “I’m going to bring her to the premiere.”

“
What? Are you
insane?”

“
No,” Valerie said.
“You’re going to make it happen.”

“
But . . .”
he started.