Be My Baby Tonight (37 page)

Tim took a deep breath, willed himself to be
strong. “I’m not a catcher here, Don. Just a utility player.”

“No, you’re going to be the catcher. That’s
what we call the OB guys. Mama does the work, and you just
catch.”

“Okay, okay,” Tim said, looking at Suzanna,
who was still staring at the trophy. “You okay, babe?”

“Don’t... call... me... babe,” she said, and
then she grinned. “Oh, Tim...”

“Tim? Tim, where are you? Let’s start with
that, okay?”

“In the car, Don, near the bridge on the
drive up to my house. There’s a truck—”

“Four-by-four. Jeez,” Joey yelled in Tim’s
direction, earning himself a cuffed ear from Keely, who had already
complained that Joey could at least try to keep his elbows out of
her back as she knelt on the front seat.

“It’s stuck on the bridge, and the bridge is
pretty much out. The creek’s high, and I don’t know how you’re
going to get in here, Don.”

“Oh, we’ll get in there. Do you hear sirens
yet? They just left the accident on 329.”

“Nope. Nothing yet. Why the
hell
do I
live in the country?”

Suzanna reached up and grabbed his hand,
squeezed it until he figured his circulation might be cut off,
permanently. “Do you want to push, Suze?”

“Pushing...” she said between breaths.
“Pushing...”

“She’s pushing!” Tim yelled into the phone as
he lifted the afghan and ducked his head underneath it, between
Suzanna’s already raised and bent legs. A moment later, Keely’s
huge flashlight was under there with him. “Oh, cripes. I think I
see a head,” Tim said, sure he was going to faint.

“Okay, Tim, don’t panic. We’ve got a real
barn burner here, huh? Gut check time, Tim. It’s not a head, Tim;
it’s a can of corn. Isn’t that what we call it? An easy catch, can
of corn. All you have to do is wait for her to push and get ready
to catch.”

“Would you please stop pretending this is a
damn baseball game?” Tim complained, then took in a deep breath as
Suzanna lifted her hips off the seat “Uh-oh, here we go.”

Tim thought he heard sirens, but he couldn’t
be sure, because Keely was yelling for Suzanna to breathe, and Joey
was yelling that Keely was kneeling on his hand, and Suzanna was
just plain yelling.

And pushing.

“Did she push? Talk to me, Timmy.”

“Tow truck’s here,” Bruno yelled, opening the
car door. “I’ll go help them.”

“Me, too,” Joey said, also getting out of the
car.

“Tim? Come on, you have to talk to me,” Don
said, still in that calm, measured voice. “Is she pushing?”

“She did, she did. But now she stopped. I can
see more of the head, but not all of it. It’s... Cripes, it’s
stuck.”

“No, you’re fine. Ambulance driver says
they’re at the bridge now, throwing a rope across so the EMS can
get to you. Now listen, Tim, next push might just do it. A real
bang-bang play, at the hot corner, okay? You ready?”

“I never freaking played third. You played
third,” Tim gritted out, blinking back the perspiration that was
running down his forehead..

“Tim?”

“Suzanna!” Tim said, pulling his head free of
the afghan.

“I’m sorry, Tim. Nothing seems to work...
work the way we planned.”

He didn’t know how he did it, but he grinned
at her and said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, babe. You all
right?”

She nodded, and then her eyes grew wide as
another pain hit her.

“Where are they?” Tim yelled into the
headpiece as he dived under the afghan once more.

“Another pain, huh? Okay, Tim, maybe it’s
time for a Hail Mary pass.”

“Football? Make up your damn mind. I thought
we were playing baseball!”

“I don’t know what you’re playing, but I’m
Mary. How about you let me take over?”

Tim felt the hand on his back and sat up,
pushed the afghan away, and looked at the second most beautiful
woman in the world. She was about forty, her hair was dripping wet,
her uniform was too tight on her pudgy body, and she was holding a
medical bag.

“You’re Mary?”

“I am, and you’re in the way. I’ve been
listening in on Dispatch, so I know we’re close. Why don’t you go
around to the other side of the car and hold your wife’s hand?
Better, help her sit up a little for this final few pushes.”

“Gotta go now, Tim,” Don said into his ear.
“Good luck.”

“Yeah. Yeah, Don, thanks. I owe you.”

“Just invite us all to the christening.”

“You got it!” Then he ripped off the
headpiece and grabbed Mary’s shoulder. “There’s... There’s two of
them in there,” Tim said, scrambling out of the car. “Do you know
there’s two of them?”

“Ah, double the pleasure, double the fun.
Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to Dr. Bracken. He’s on his way
back from Easton and will meet us at the hospital. Hi there, Mrs.
Trehan. Come here often?”

“Suz
...
Suzanna,” Suzanna gasped, her
smile more of a grimace.

“Okay, Suzanna. Pretty name. I’m just plain
Mary,” she said, pulling on latex gloves, then climbing into the
backseat. “Pretty exciting night, isn’t it? What do you say we have
some babies.”

“O-okay,” Suzanna said as Tim opened the door
and slipped into the car. “Tim!” She reached back, grabbed his
hand. “Don’t leave me.”

“Not a lot of places I could go, babe,” he
said, kissing her forehead. “I love you, Suze.”

“Oh, Tim, I love you, too—
oh!”

“All right, here we go. One hand on her back,
one helping her hold up her head, and then sit her up a little,”
Mary instructed tersely.

“Hey, what’s going on in—whoa!” Joey said,
quickly drawing his head back out of the car. “Okay, I’m gone. They
got my four-by-four moved, Tim-bo, and they’re laying planks.”

“Did you guys sell tickets?” Mary asked, then
disappeared under the afghan once more.

“Here it... Here it comes...” Suzanna gasped,
and Tim held her, telling her she was great, she was the best, she
was magnificent, and he loved her. He loved her so much.

“Ohhhhh,” Suzanna sighed at last, collapsing
against him, and the next thing Tim heard was a baby crying.

After that, everything was sort of a
blur.

The car was surrounded by cops in yellow
slickers, EMS personnel, even the tow truck driver, Donnie’s dad.
Rain still came down in sheets, and there was even a little
lightning, but somehow the baby was kept dry and transferred to the
ambulance that had crossed the makeshift bridge on the newly laid
planks.

The second baby was born as the ambulance,
sirens blaring, pulled under the canopy at the hospital.

Girls. Two girls. They looked like two peas
from the same pod. Identical.

Mama and babies were taken upstairs and
settled into dry beds, while Tim and everyone else—half the world,
it seemed—lingered in the lobby of the Emergency Room.

“Two girls. That’s so sweet,” Keely said. “Do
you have names yet, Tim?”

“I think so. Allison and Elinor, for both our
grandmothers,” he said, rubbing at his back,
which—miraculously—didn’t hurt anymore, although it was still sore.
“Suzanna was great, wasn’t she?”

“You weren’t so bad yourself, Tim-bo,” Joey
said, clapping him on the back.

“You were great, too, Joey,” Tim said,
holding out his hand to his cousin. “Thank you. Thank you for
everything. You, too, Bruno.”

“Well, okay, guess we’ll head back to the
house, huh?” Joey said, scuffing his foot against the floor.

“Sounds good. Aunt Sadie will want to hear
all the news, and I’ve still got to call Jack,” Keely said, going
up on tiptoe to kiss Tim’s cheek. “Congratulations, Daddy. Here’s
the keys to my car; I’ll ride home with Joey and Bruno. Go kiss
Suzanna for us, then go home yourself, get dry.”

“Thanks,” Tim said, his voice choked, because
his throat was tight.
Daddy.
Second best word in the English
language, next to
husband.

He headed for the elevator, still wiping his
face with the towel Mary had given him. He was directed to
Suzanna’s room, but stopped at the nursery first. “Trehan twins?”
he asked a passing nurse. “I’m... I’m the father.”

“Oh, they’re not here, Mr. Trehan. Since they
were born outside the hospital, they can’t be in the nursery with
the rest of the babies. Sanitary regulations. They’re in the room
down the hall, with your wife. And they’re fine. The pediatrician
just finished checking them out. Oh, Mr. Trehan?” she asked as he
headed down the hall. “Maybe you’d like a set of greens? You’re
pretty wet.”

“Okay,” he said, because he was cold, he
definitely was wet, and he wanted to hug his wife. “Thanks.”

Suzanna was asleep when he finally got to the
room, and the room was dark except for a small light near the
floor.

He tiptoed over to the two clear plastic
bassinets to see two small pink bundles wearing pink knitted caps.
They were sound asleep. “Had a busy night, didn’t you?” he
whispered, carefully kissing both of his daughters’ foreheads.

And then he walked over to the bed. There was
Suzanna, still fast asleep. His love, his life. Her orangy hair
stood up in damp spikes, and the pale blue hospital gown had
drooped halfway off one shoulder. She was lying on her side, one
hand tucked under her cheek.

Tim stood there for a long time, just
watching her, then finally lifted the sheet and blanket and climbed
into the bed, to lie down, spoon fashion, behind her, one arm
draped across her belly....

“Talk to me, Suze,” Tim said falling into the
chair next to her on the grassy sweep behind his brother’s
house.

Suzanna swiveled her head toward him. “Ma-ma,
Dada, Me-me. That’s it, that’s all I can muster at the moment.
Sorry. Get back to me, okay?”

Tim reached over and kissed his wife’s cheek.
“Ally said
Margo
this morning. At least I think that’s what
she was saying. Mostly, I was trying to get the poor cat’s tail out
of the kid’s mouth.”

“Margo’s been a brick, hasn’t she?” Suzanna
said, reaching for her glass of iced tea—in which all the ice cubes
had melted long ago, when she’d first tried putting the
sixteen-month-old twins down for a nap on a blanket safely located
outside the fenced-in pool area.

“Yeah, well, they’re asleep now, and we can
maybe have some grown-up talk.”

“About what?” Suzanna said, putting down her
glass after taking a sip of watery, lukewarm tea. It seemed like
the only hot tea she drank was cold, and the only iced tea she
drank was always warm. She didn’t even want to think about the
temperature of her mashed potatoes last night when she’d finally
gotten to sit down at the dinner table.

Tim took a deep breath, then took the plunge.
“Jack and Keely have offered to take the twins after the season’s
over, so that you and I can go away. Have a real honeymoon, like
maybe a whole week’s worth.”

Suzanna was silent for so long that Tim
leaned over once more, gave her a little nudge. “Did you hear
me?”

“Shhh,” she said, her eyes closed. “I’m
trying to imagine it. You, me, and nobody else? You’re kidding,
right? And where would we go? I mean, not that it matters. I can be
embarrassingly overjoyed to go food shopping on my own.”

“I know I’m not home enough, babe, but the
season will be over in two months.”

Suzanna stood up, and he took her hand,
walked with her toward the pool area. “Unless—until—you make the
playoffs. Realistically, if we put in time enough for the World
Series, we couldn’t get away until the third week of October.”

He slipped his arm around her, nuzzled the
side of her neck. “Paris has to be terrific in October.”

“Paris?” Suzanna’s face went white beneath
her tan. “Oh, no, I couldn’t—we couldn’t do that. That’s too far
away from the babies.”

“Hey, I thought you said you’d like a
vacation from them. As a matter of fact, I distinctly remember you
saying those exact words after Ellie climbed out of her crib the
other night, and we found her in the kitchen.”

“I know, I know,” Suzanna said, then bit her
bottom lip. “Couldn’t we be away... but closer?”

Tim pulled her toward Jack and Keely, who
were preparing hamburgers and hot dogs on the gas grill located
inside the pool fencing—a safety precaution Keely had insisted on
to protect curious little hands.

“Hey, get this. You guys offer to take the
Terrible Twosome so I can whisk my wife off to Paris, and she says
that’s too far away.”

Keely placed another hamburger pattie on the
grill, and smiled at Jack. “Told you. That’s five bucks you owe me,
buster.”

“What?” Tim asked, looking at his
sister-in-law. “But you’re the one who suggested Paris. Oh, wait a
minute. You set me up, didn’t you, Keely. Jack and me both.”

Jack made a face. “It’s embarrassing. The
woman will do anything for a sure five bucks. I think she’s going
to be a very bad influence on our children. Hey, Candy—not so
hard!”

Candy giggled as she walked along the outside
of the fence, half-leading, half-pulling her fuzzy black cat,
Brownie, by his leash and halter.

“Remind me to give Brownie some extra catnip
tonight,” Keely said, lining up rolls on the top shelf of the
grill. “I guess we should just be grateful she isn’t trying to drag
Johnny.”

“My son doesn’t have a halter,” Jack said
huffily.

“Just wait. I find him trying to climb up on
the kitchen counter one more time, and he will.”

Suzanna slipped her arm through Tim’s.
“That’s it, Keely. You’re so busy with your own two. How could you
even think to offer to take our girls on, just so that we can go
away?”

“Oh boy here we go,” Jack said. “Never tell
this woman she can’t do something.”

“Smart-aleck,” Keely said, stepping closer to
Jack, so that he put his arm around her. “Seriously, Suzanna, I’ve
got it all figured out. Mrs. B. and Aunt Sadie will be here, and
you know Uncle Joey and Uncle Bruno would have to be beaten away
with sticks, to keep them from helping. My biggest problem will be
keeping Joey from saying “youse kids” so much that the children
pick up on it. Don’t worry about a thing. Really.”