Midwife Time
Aleshia sat sipping her hot chocolate, and thinking. She had a very, very important decision to make. Who… which of her older, married, sisters, should she bring on this appointment? It was a decision that would dramatically affect the rest of her life. She had heard that, years ago, there had been a ritual called ‘godparents’, where certain older people would participate in a religious ceremony with a baby, and then have a special relationship with them the rest of their life.
Choosing a Doula, or birth sister, was similar. Not for her child, but for her. The child would have plenty of cousins and aunts and uncles and didn’t need any more important adults in their life. But she, Aleshia, would need a guide for all of her future pregnancies, plus this one, and it was important who she picked.
Not her mother, certainly. It was very rarely done, and certainly not in her case. She was a wonderful mother, but you wanted someone as your Douala who wasn’t so… involved. Someone who could be just neutral and supportive, who wouldn’t have a tendency to judge and say ‘I told you so’… or give you the look that meant the same thing. Her mother had that look, and used it frequently.
So, best one of her older sisters or cousins. And she had several to choose from. But, in the end, there was really only one choice. Susana. Susana was quieter and Aleshia, a noisy person, didn’t need any competition. And Susana had already born four, two sets of twins, and so would be knowledgeable about the whole process.
She started to com and then… no… this wasn’t the kind of thing to do by com. She checked her schedule and her husband wasn’t due home for another three hours. She had time. She commed for a car and, seconds later, her twin walked in, “Want to go somewhere, Lesh? I’ll buzz you by in the flitter.”
“I didn’t really want to go by flitter…” at his disappointed look she said, “Well, all right, but you will need to not blab all over about this trip.”
His face got serious and, once they were in the hallway, he asked, “What’s up, Lesh? Why all the serious stuff? Marriage got you down?”
“No, not at all,” she said. “My husband is perfectly reasonable. No, I need to visit Susana.”
“Susana? Why should you be making a mystery of… oh!” he said, turning red. “Oh, well, yes, I see. I mean, I think… very well. I shan’t say anything, you know that. Can’t tell you how pleased I am and all of that. Are you sure?”
“No, that is why I need to see Susana, and then a midwife. To be sure. But my comp seems to think so, and they are rarely wrong.”
“Well, congratulations and all that. Hope for triplets!”
“Well, thank you, although I’m not sure I’m up to that for my first. As the Lord wills.”
“As He wills.”
He seemed to intimidated to say anything during the ride but Susana’s husband’s father’s estate wasn’t very far away by flitter, so Aleshia didn’t have too much time for introspection before landing. Susana’s butler met her at the door, Mentia having gone off to the stables to ‘check on’ his favorite of their horses. “Can I see Susana, please?” Aleshia asked.
“Certainly, Ma’am,” the butler said, and Aleshia started a bit at the words. She wasn’t yet used to that form of address. “Follow me.”
Susana was in the solar, ironically she was nursing one of the twins, as the others played around her. “Aleshia!” she said, “I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Mentia dropped me by. I think he wanted an excuse to take the flitter out. I… I needed to talk to you.”
Susana’s face went through a variety of emotions, ending with, “Me?!”
“Do you mind?”
“Mind?! No, not at all. I’m just surprised.”
“Oh. Well… I thought…”
“Darling! I’m not upset. I just didn’t think we had that intimate a relationship. Are you sure you don’t want Mother?”
“Absolutely. She is marvelous, Mother, but do the slightest thing wrong and she is, well, she lets you know. And everything I’ve heard says that one’s time of increasing, particularly one’s first time, is a time when one is likely to look very foolish. And I don’t want to look foolish in front of Mother.”
“But Aleshia, ‘foolish’ is one of your favorite persona's.”
“Not in front of Mother, not for something serious. And this is something serious.”
“I’m sorry, Lesh, it is indeed. I would be glad to Douala you, darling. What midwife are you going to use?”
“That is the first thing I wanted to ask you. Who should I pick?”
Susana was silent for a moment. “Well, Darling, one choice, a good choice, I think, would be Festina. You remember, she was the midwife’s helper for my last. She has set up her own practice, now, and I think she will try very hard. She… she explains things well, and I always liked that. For a first it is particularly good. You like to have things explained.”
“Oh, good, I’m glad you have someone. I didn’t want to make another choice. Can you com her?”
“Certainly Darling.”
Susana got busy on her comm, and Aleshia drank some of the hot chocolate that the maid had brought. Probably the last time she would be allowed to drink that. Most midwives were nutrition fanatics. Well, nothing was too good for her children…
Her comp started vibrating frantically. Daddy?! “Hello?” she said.
“Where are you, Aleshia?”
“I’m at Susana’s. What’s wrong?”
“I just got off comp with the governor. He’s going to be calling your husband. For some reason he called me first.”
Aleshia smiled. She wasn’t surprised that he would call Daddy first. Her husband was just a Staff Major in the army. Daddy was, well, Daddy. “What does he want?”
“He wants you to go with him on a trip to Illoia’s colony world… I forget what it is called.”
Aleshia bolted upright in her seat, “What?’
“You and your Staff Major. He’ll get some kind of promotion, I forget what.”
“But Daddy I… I’m at Susana’s house.”
“Yes, you told me… oh… are you increasing, Lesh??!”
“Yes, Daddy, we think so. We were just… Susana is making the appointment to see the midwife.”
“Oh, well, that’s wonderful. Take her with you. I’m sure there will be plenty of increasing lasses on the trip for her to see. Military families and all.”
“Take her…?”
“The governor is very, very serious about this, Lesh. I think he hasn’t really gotten over his daughter being 17’d, and by a leader. What a leader, though, I must say. I had Albert prepare me a file on him. Interesting stuff. Son of shopkeepers, of all things, poor town, rose through the ranks… a three time jumper. Young!”
“Anyway, the governor is going to do a tour of all of the sector planets, good excuse, and about time, too. Starting with Illoia’s planet, but no one will blame him for that. Article 2 provides great cover. Anyway, get home, you need to start packing.”
“Yes, Daddy, as soon as I… I need to have my first appointment.”
“Nonsense, she can see you on the ship.”
“Oh, but Daddy, I was going to have Susanna as my Doula.”
“Good choice. Oh, I see. Well… well, I suppose I can work something up for her husband to do on the trip. Budding colony planet and all that. I’ll take care of it all. Or, Albert will. Just get home.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
She was just working on comming her twin when the com sounded again. Her husband. “Hello, Darling,” she said.
“Aleshia! The governor himself just commed me! I have been appointed as his special military liason, and he wants us to go on a trip with them!”
“Yes, Darling, my father just told me.”
“I can’t believe it! This is incredible! Why does he want me?”
“I think, Darling, he wants me. He is going to see his daughter, and he has gotten the impression I am her best friend or something, and so he should take me with him… are they all going?”
“Yes, yes, his whole family!”
“Oh, my. Well, I suppose that is good, it will be a long trip. Illoia is taking six months.”
“We’ll be going faster than that. The governor has access to better transport. Three months to Illoia’s planet, what was it’s name, and then a couple months each to the others. We should be gone a year or so all told.”
“A whole year. Well, well. Our new ones will be born on the trip then, I assume.”
There were a few seconds silence… "You, you’re increasing?”
“Yes. I just found out this morning, after you left. Actually I haven’t found out for sure yet. We are going to meet with the midwife as soon as Susana can set up the appointment.”
“Oh, oh… but we need to begin preparing for the trip as soon as possible!”
“Well, what I need to do to prepare is to see my midwife, with my sister. Susana is back, I need to go now.”
“She can see us now, if you like,” Susana said.
“That’s good, because Daddy is on the warpath. Let me comm Mentia and tell you all about it.”
“So, what’s up with Daddy?”
“Well, apparently the governor has taken it into his head to go see Illoia and Tomirosh. I think he is still angry about their marriage.”
“I don’t understand. Tomirosh isn’t rich, but he has three Dictators Own Medals.”
“Yes, but the gov didn’t pick him.”
“Ohhhh, yes. So, when is the governor going?”
“Almost immediately, I understand. I was told to report home post haste and start packing.”
Susana looked at her, “You know I don’t need to pack anything. My maids will do that, and everything will be all arranged by the time I get there. But no one can to go this appointment for me.”
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Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books include:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von