Heroes Are My Weakness(83)

“You don’t know that. This baby is two weeks early.”

Something Annie had already noted, but she attempted reassurance. “This is Kim’s third child. She’ll know what she’s doing by now. And Kurt’s mother will be able to help.” Judy Kester, with her ready laugh and positive attitude, would be the perfect person to have around in a crisis.

But Judy wasn’t at the house. No sooner had they taken off their coats than Kurt told them Judy was visiting her sister on the mainland. “And why should I have expected anything else?” Theo muttered.

They followed Kurt through a comfortably untidy living room strewn with kids’ detritus. “Ever since the school burned down, Kim’s been talking to me about moving off the island,” he said, shoving aside a pair of Transformer figures with his foot. “This sure isn’t going to make her change her mind.”

Theo stopped in the kitchen to scrub his hands and arms. When he gestured for Annie to do the same, she gave him an Are you crazy? look intended to remind him she was only there for moral support. He narrowed his eyes at her, his expression so ferocious she did as he asked, although not without protest. “Shouldn’t I stay here to boil water or something?”

“For what?”

“I have no idea.”

“You,” he said, “are coming with me.”

Kurt peeled off to check on his kids. Since they seemed to be sleeping through the whole ordeal, Annie suspected he was doing whatever he could to avoid his wife.

She followed Theo into the bedroom. Kim lay in a tangle of orange and yellow floral sheets. She wore a threadbare pale blue summer nightgown. Her skin was blotchy, her frizzy auburn hair snarled. Everything about her was round and plump: her face, her breasts, and most of all, her abdomen. Theo set down his red canvas EMT kit. “Kim, it’s Theo Harp. And this is Annie Hewitt. How are you doing?”

She bared her teeth through a contraction. “How does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re doing fine,” he said, as if he were the most experienced obstetrician in the country. He began unpacking his EMT kit. “How far apart are the contractions?”

The pain eased and she sagged into the pillows. “About four minutes.”

He pulled out a package of latex gloves and a blue bed pad. “Tell me the next time you’re having one, and we’ll see how long it lasts.”

His calm seemed to rub off on her, and she nodded.

A couple of celebrity magazines, some children’s books, and various tubes of lotion cluttered the glass-topped bedside table closest to her. The other held a digital alarm clock, a pocketknife, and a small plastic food storage container half-filled with pennies. Theo unwrapped the bed pad. “Let’s get you more comfortable.”

His voice was soothing, but the look he shot Annie told her if she even thought about moving from the room a terrible fate would befall her followed by an even worse fate, followed by total annihilation. Annie reluctantly went to the head of the bed, even less anxious to see what was going on than she suspected Theo was.

Kim was beyond modesty, and Annie doubted that she even noticed how carefully he slipped the bed pad under her hips and arranged the sheet across her knees. She moaned as an especially hard contraction claimed her. As Theo timed it, he gave Annie a series of softly spoken instructions detailing what he expected would happen and what he wanted her to do.

“Fecal matter?” she whispered as he finished.

“It happens,” he said. “And it’s natural. Be ready with a clean pad.”

“And a barf bag,” she muttered. “For me.”

Theo smiled and returned his attention to his watch. While Kim labored, Annie stayed by the head of the bed, gently stroking her hair and whispering encouragement. Between contractions, Kim apologized for bringing Theo out in the middle of the night, but she didn’t once question his obstetrical skills.

After about an hour, things got serious. “I have to push,” she cried, kicking the privacy sheet away and letting Annie see more than she wanted.

Theo had already slipped on the latex gloves. “Let’s take a look.”

Kim moaned as he examined her. “Don’t push yet,” he said. “Hold on.”

“Fuck you!” Kim screamed.

Annie patted her arm. “Attagirl. You’re doing great.” She hoped that was true.

Theo concentrated on whatever it was he was doing. With the next contraction, he encouraged her to push. “You’re crowning,” he announced, as calmly as if he were reporting on the weather. At the same time, Annie saw the beads of perspiration on his forehead. She hadn’t imagined anything could make Theo Harp sweat, but this was doing it.

The contraction eased, but not for long. Kim gasped.

“I can see the baby’s head,” Theo said.

A growl caught in Kim’s throat. He patted her knee and encouraged her. “Push . . . That’s great. You’re doing great.”

Annie’s reluctance to see the birth was gone. After two more strong contractions and with more of Theo’s encouragement, the baby’s head appeared. Theo cradled it in his hand. “Let’s get the cord out of the way,” he said softly, slipping his opposite finger inside and sliding it around the baby’s neck. “Annie, have a blanket ready. Okay, little one . . . Let me see that shoulder . . . Turn. That’s the way. There you go.”