The Light Through the Leaves(138)

The four young men holding the tarp snickered.

Ellis and Rose helped Viola into a squat. But that meant they couldn’t see what was happening with the baby.

“I need to see the stars,” Viola said. “Move that blanket or whatever it is.”

“It’s raining,” Ellis said. “There won’t be stars.”

“Actually, there are,” River said.

They pulled the tarp back a little. The sky was clearing to the east, though rain still pattered on the tarp. A gibbous waxing moon was rising above the trees. Fleeting billows of clouds drifted like gray smoke over the lopsided orb of moonlight. Bright stars shined here and there as the clouds moved over them.

Jackie kissed Viola’s cheek. “Look. Isn’t that beautiful?”

“Yes. Yes . . .” She wept, staring at the moon and clouds as she pushed. She kept her eyes on the dreamlike scene. It helped calm her. Ellis felt her focus, get control of the pain.

Rain beat a soft rhythm on the tarp. No one spoke. Everyone sensed silence was best for her.

Viola bore down again and again in her quiet way. The rain patter gradually diminished. The moon rose above the trees, silvering the dry grasses and wildflowers of the dormant winter field.

A flock of black-bellied tree ducks called as they flew over the eastern fields. Their nocturnal whistles were one of the loveliest sounds of that land, like children of Pan playing ethereal music on instruments fashioned from marsh reeds.

Viola closed her eyes, surely listening to the birds, as she pushed her baby closer to the earth.

“Jackie,” Ryan said softly. He shined his light beneath Viola. “Get ready.”

Jackie prepared to take the baby into his hands. With two last grueling pushes, the baby slid onto his palms.

“Go to it,” Ryan said. He handed him a small towel and the bulb suction.

“Is she okay?” Viola said. “Jackie . . . ?”

Jackie laid the infant on the blanket and gently wiped its face. He expertly suctioned the nose. The baby made a soft cry.

Ellis could feel collective relief in the group.

“It’s a girl,” Jackie said in a shaking voice. “She’s getting pink. She looks good.”

Keith propped Viola up with folded blankets so she could see the baby. The tarp came down. River, Jasper, Huck, and Reece leaned down to look.

“She’s as quiet as our Bird Girl,” Reece said.

Viola laughed through soft sobs.

“She is quiet,” Jackie said to Ryan. “Does she look okay to you?”

“Some babies are quiet. Let me take a look.”

Ryan checked her over and listened to her heart. She began to cry louder. “There, you see? She wants nothing to do with me. She wants Daddy and Mama.”

Ellis wasn’t sure he should say that. If they’d decided to give the baby up for adoption, encouraging bonding might be painful.

Ryan helped Jackie wrap the baby in a clean towel, and Jackie laid her on Viola’s chest. Viola wept and kissed her. Ryan gave Jackie more gentle guidance through the process of cutting the umbilical cord.

“Congratulations, Jackie,” Ryan said. “Great job.”

“Really great,” Jonah said.

Huck patted his brother’s shoulder. “Yeah, awesome.”

“So what’s her name?” Reece asked.

He shouldn’t ask, but Ellis hated to ruin the moment by saying that.

“She is Daughter of the Miraculous Universe,” Viola said.

Silence.

“Okay,” River said. “Interesting name.”

“Really interesting,” Reece said.

“Be quiet,” Huck whispered.

“It makes a cute acronym,” Reece said. “DOTMU.”

“We can call her Dot for short,” River said.

Jackie was smiling, seemingly unperturbed by the odd name.

“Is that really what you’re calling her?” Jasper asked.

Viola snorted a laugh. “I was joking. I knew you would all believe me.”

“Thank god!” Reece said, and everyone laughed.

Ellis said, “Before you name her, what are your plans? Are you keeping her?”

“I’m going to name her,” Viola said. “Jackie and I have already chosen her middle name. Tell them, Jackie.”

Jackie looked at his mother. “Her middle name is for you, Rose.”

“And it’s close to my mother’s middle name, Rosa,” Viola said. “My grandfather’s family name.”

Rose’s tears shined in the flashlight glow. “I like that. Both families represented in one name.”

Jackie stroked his fingers on the baby’s cheek. “Did you think of a first name?” he asked Viola.

“I did,” she said. “I thought of it when the moon was shining on this field. My mother seeded these native flowers and grasses many years ago when I was far away from her.” She looked down at the infant in her arms. “She’ll be named for where she was born. Her name is Meadow. Meadow Rose.”

“I really like that,” Jackie said.

“It’s a gorgeous name,” Ellis said. “And it’s the name of a North American wildflower—an unusual species because it’s considered a thornless rose.”