Page 128 of Feared
“Si, Maria.”
“And an air conditioner, it could go right in the window. It would work better than a fan.”
“Si, Maria.”
“You know we’re not Amish, right?”
Her mother laughed, if only to humor Mary, who’d made the joke about a thousand times before. She didn’t really mind washing the dishes, but she wanted to make her mother’s life easier. Right now, it felt perfect, with a soft breeze coming through the kitchen window, the smell of tomato and basil scenting the air, the background music of baseball play-by-play, and she and her mother standing side by side the way they always had, having some quiet time together. Mary would’ve said it was Zen, but Roger had given that a bad name.
Mary picked up the next plate and washed it with a sponge, trying not to think about Roger. She had been relieved that he had pled guilty to murder and two counts of attempted murder, and though he hadn’t been sentenced yet, she hoped he would get at least twenty years. Judy was beginning to emerge from the grief that had enveloped her after John’s death and she had become William’s guardian, which had helped them both. Machiavelli’s settlement had more than compensated London Technologies and refilled the coffers at Rosato & DiNunzio. Shanahan had been fired from Glenn Meade, after he’d returned from a weeklong bender. And Bennie had already talked to Mary about when she’d be coming back after maternity leave, and it looked as if they’d have to hire a new associate. Whether it would be a boy or girl, nobody knew.
“I think is a boy, Maria,” her mother said, out of nowhere, with a smile.
“You think?” Mary asked, smiling at the irony, then suddenly she felt as if she had to go to the bathroom, urgently. In the next moment, a gush of warm water started to run down the inside of her legs. She looked down, almost dropping theplate. “Ma, I think my water just broke! Is that what happened? My water broke?”
“Maria, si!” Her mother’s hooded eyes flew open behind her bifocals, and family chaos erupted.
Anthony, her father, and The Tonys swarmed into the kitchen, leaving Mary without any shred of gynecological dignity, and she tried not to panic, though this wasn’t the way their delivery was supposed to happen. Their car was parked a block away, her go-bag was at her house, and she and Anthony had hoped it would be only the two of them who went to the hospital, but instead, it was the two of them plus her parents and The Tonys, who had parked in front of the house.
Anthony, Mary, and her parents piled into their ancient Bonneville convertible and raced to Pennsylvania Hospital. Mary called Dr. Foster and Judy, while Anthony navigated the massive car through the warren of South Philly streets like a captain steering a cruise ship through the Thousand Islands. The Tonys followed in Anthony’s Prius, and Mary hoped they and the car arrived in one piece.
They reached the hospital entrance and left the Bonneville with her parents while Anthony commandeered a wheelchair and rolled Mary onto the Labor & Delivery floor, where they were given a room, the baby was monitored, and Mary’s contractions eventually began. They were deceptively easy until they became agonizing and unbearable, and Anthony and a saintly nurse held Mary’s hand while she did her breathing exercises, which didn’t help at all. Neither did ice chips, focusing on a single spot, walking up and down the hallway, or squatting like a yogi, and as soon as Dr. Foster said it was okay, Mary asked for every drug legally available.
And a mere twenty-five hours of back labor later, Mary and Anthony were delivered a beautiful baby boy. They put him in Mary’s arms, and she looked down at him, her eyes brimming. She’d never seen anything so adorable, this tiny pink babywith wet, dark hair, his eyes looking up at her, unfocused and pure.
“He’s beautiful.” Anthony looked down at the baby, teary and tired.
“I love you both,” Mary whispered, feeling every word was instantly true.
“I love you both, too.” Anthony kissed her on the cheek.
It wasn’t long before Mary was moved to another room and it was filled to bursting with visitors. Judy and William, Bennie, Anne, Lou, Mary’s parents, El Virus, The Tonys, and even the lucky lady from the Rosary Society who had been dating Tony-From-Down-The-Block. Flowers, balloons, and pastries covered every surface, and Mary did the best she could to make sure everybody got to see the baby, but didn’t give him every communicable disease known to man.
William grinned from ear-to-ear. “Itoldyou it was a boy!”
“You were right!” Mary laughed, her heart full and light, both at once, which seemed happily paradoxical.
Judy laughed, too. “So what are you going to name him?”
“YEAH, MARE. WHAT’S HIS NAME?”
“Maria, che?” her mother asked, and everyone waited to hear.
Mary looked at Anthony, and he looked back at her, since they’d already decided the baby’s name. “We’re naming him Anthony, after his father,” she answered, with a smile.
“It’s a Tony!” The Tonys cheered, and everyone else joined in.