Saved and SAINTified (62 page)

“Now, your contractions are about five minutes apart. Let’s keep watching.”

She sat down beside Xenia, who was rubbing her stomach anxiously. The tightening of the contractions caused her to grit her teeth and look helplessly up at the ceiling. She appeared to be praying, pleading.

With Hassani, she
’d willingly forgoed any medication. With Dassani, he was born early—and she’d had no choice but to allow him to come into the world swiftly, and there had been barely enough time to reach the hospital.

With this baby, they’d agreed on a home birth.
Isis would be safer at home than in a hospital, considering the mitigating circumstances. This way, Saint ensured he could closely guard her, and she’d not be out of his sight. The boys were still fast asleep, affording the expectant couple more time.

“
Xenia, try to breath. Do your exercises. She’s moving down. Everything will be just fine.” Beset smiled as she held her hand. “We’ll move you to the bathtub in a short while. You’ll be more comfortable there. I’ll be right back.”

Beset disappeared into the master suite lavatory and began to draw a bath.
Saint continued to pace, trying desperately to calm his nerves. He looked over at Xenia once more, the white cotton sheets bunched around her waist, her thighs open and her glistening face twisted in pain. They’d had two false alarms but then Isis had surprised them all by trying to come directly on her due date, unlike her brothers. Xenia retched and screamed out. Saint raced to her and took her hand. Grabbing it like a lifeline, she looked at him helplessly. When the contraction passed, her eyes refocused, and she exhaled.

“
Saint, I told you not ... to hold ... my hand. I told you ... I’d squeeze it to death,” she said, exasperated.

“I don’t
give a damn.”

He knelt down beside her
and gently caressed the side of her face. He spoke to her about meaningless, silly things, putting a broad smile on her face ... until the next contraction. Xenia clutched his hand so tightly, it felt as if he were arm wrestling with a four-hundred pound man for the last chicken sandwich on Earth. However, he wasn’t concerned. The discomfort he was feeling stemmed from the euphoria that she was enduring—all this to bring his third child into the world.

Beset
appeared by the bathroom doorway. “Saint, please help Xenia undress. The bath is ready.”

Saint
nodded and after waiting for the next contraction to pass, did as instructed. He lifted her gown over her head, exposing her naked body. Her beauty overwhelmed him. He loved the sight of her, and with each pregnancy, there were no words to express how physically divine he found her to be.

“Baby, I’m going to lift you up
,” he said as he reached under her arms and set her head onto his shoulder.

Xenia
closed her eyes in exhaustion and put her arms around his neck. He glanced lovingly down at her as he carted her off into the lavatory to place her gently down into the warm, aromatic water of the spa bathtub. The jets were on low, vibrating and rumbling, massaging her pores. Beset gasped as she watched Saint remove his wife-beater t-shirt, exposing his chest and necklace of the Egyptian fertility goddess, Amaunet. He caught Beset’s modesty.

“Beset, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset or disrespect you. I know
that in your beliefs, you aren’t supposed to see a man in any state of undress except for your husband, but I think we need to make an exception right now. This is just how we,
Xenia and I
, envisioned it. I am doing this for my own spiritual beliefs, Beset. Xenia and I will match how our daughter comes into the world. I’m not doing this to intentionally make you feel uncomfortable, and I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you ahead of time, but it honestly slipped my mind. My nakedness isn’t something to be ashamed of, at least not for this. I am going to get in here with her.” He pointed to the tub, hoping she’d understand and chiding himself for not mentioning this ahead of time.

“Yes, of course.” Beset cleared her throat as she turned several shades of red.

“You might want to turn away,” he warned as he grabbed at the elastic band of his white athletic pants. Beset’s eyes grew wide as dessert plates when she saw where his hands landed. She immediately turned on her heals and headed out the open bathroom door. Saint waited a couple of seconds then removed his slacks. He stood completely nude and looked around the bathroom feeling momentarily lost. Filled as he was with unbelievable elation at the birth of this child as he’d been with the other two, he barely knew what to do with himself. Love radiated from his heart—and now, he felt even more protective.

Yet anger coated
his lungs as well, because he also felt robbed. The experience was being tainted due to the threat that loomed ahead. Quickly pushing it out of his mind, he refused to allow Nizsm to ruin this for him. Saint grabbed two additional towels, oils and a loofah sponge. He slid in behind her, his knees high as he leaned forward, kissing the back of her neck.

“Beset,”
Saint called. “You can come back in now.”

Saint
laid one of the cloths across his lap to help ensure his genitals were covered. After a few moments, the old woman returned. Beset smiled and kneeled down by the couple.

“
Xenia, I know that to you, this is just your baby, but to me, and so many other people, she means so much more.” Beset’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you so much for this beautiful gift.”

Xenia
peered at her, the end of another contraction taking her breath away, rendering her silent.

“We’re just going to sit here and relax, and let your body and the baby do what they are supposed to do. Would you like anything to drink? Any music?”

Xenia shook her head. She turned around and looked at Saint, her eyes glossy from the discomfort. Saint reached around, entwined their fingers and passionately kissed her. The warmth from Xenia’s body touched him, making his temperature rise. The only noise that could be heard was their mutual breathing during the lip lock embrace. Even though he could no longer see Beset, he was certain she was blushing and filled with embarrassment. He wouldn’t stop though; he needed Xenia to
feel
how much he loved her. Several hours passed. Beset disappeared occasionally to take care of Hassani and Dakarai while the morning wore on.

****

The Aknaten boys happily frolicked in their spacious playroom which most resembled a small gym, in the lower level of the house. Equipped with a mini-basketball court, a library of colorful hard-bound children’s books and shelves full of battery-operated toys, fuzzy stuffed animals and bouncing balls, there was no boredom in sight.

Saint
had recently installed a new seventy-two inch HD television so that the DVR’ed children’s programs and movies would look so life-like, it would cause the boys to at times stop and stare in awe. Today, they had a rare treat. They were allowed to eat their breakfasts in the children’s’ paradise, rather than at the usual kitchen breakfast table, and Beset had snuck a large slice of left-over vanilla cake to share on the special occasion.

On the first floor sat Pam, Porsche and Stacey in various states of relaxation. They channel- surfed, ate the delicious foods Beset had prepared in advance for the post-birth party, and
joked around—all in high anticipation of the pending birth of the new baby girl, Isis Min Jae Aknaten.

Stacey held her newborn baby daughter close to her body as she giggled at all the incredible stories Pam told, recalling her own birth tales regarding her three children. The mood was joyous, light-hearted and anticipatory. No one was the wiser
—no one knew that Jagger and Lawrence were there not as just friends of Saint, offering support, but as an extra pair of eyes and ears. They occasionally joined in the fun as they devoured overpriced gourmet wheat crackers, imported French cheeses and juicy grapes from the local Farmer’s market. They had occasional sips of the fresh mimosas with sprigs of mint that Porshe had made immediately upon her arrival.

Pam looked over at
Jagger as she placed her knee-high stocking covered feet on the coffee table. The big screen showcased an old taped episode of “Once Upon a Time”, which had Stacey completely engrossed.

“A, how long have you known my son-in-law?” she asked gruffly as she flexed her toes under the flesh toned webbing.

“Not very long.”

Jagger
chewed his lip. Lawrence took a seat across from the women, occasionally looking at Jagger while he nursed a bottle of water.

“You know who you remind me of? Yo’ ass look like G.I. Joe. Is your bazooka included? Or do I have to buy that separately?”

Lawrence, Stacey and Porsche looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Pam pointed to him,
swirling her finger. “This is a happy day. I just don’t understand why you’re dressed like that. You know, wit’ all that camouflage and shit on. Is this the armory? Are we having a paint ball fight or somethin’ later on? I need to know ’cause I wore this nice ass Apple Bottom jogging suit and I really don’t want it fucked up.”

Jagger
simply stared at her, impassive, as he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms. After a few moments, he turned away and walked toward the front door.

“What?” Pam asked as she looked around the room
at the laughing faces. “He tha one standin’ there mean muggin’ every damn body, lookin’ like a member of the A-Team! Hot damn, Mista T is here for the baby! Who knew? I pity tha fool.”

****

An hour later...

Saint
appeared with a towel wrapped snugly around his waist. He didn’t miss the gasps as his bare feet slapped the floor while he rapidly approached the small crowd.  He held on to the edge of the towel, ensuring it wouldn’t slip from his body as he became suddenly aware that his state of semi-undress was causing a stir.

Should’ve
thrown some clothes on, damn.What was I thinking? Nothing, that’s what.

The women
, Lawrence—everyone stared with their mouths agape. A rat pissing on cotton would have been heard loud and clear.

“Well
, goddamn!” Pam blurted loudly, causing a ruckus. Lawrence turned away and drummed his fingers on his knee. “So, you just gonna stand there like that, huh? My daughter up there havin’ yo’ baby, and here you stand, almost butt naked, lookin’ like some spread in Praygirl.

“Playgirl
,” Stacey corrected.

“Nah,
Pray
girl, ’cause I’m prayin’ that towel falls the fuck off!” All three women burst out laughing again.

“Showin’ off the goods
’nd shit.” Her eyes roamed his body. “Stomach look like eight tight rows of buttery goodness! I might be old, but I still—”

“Mama, come on!” Porsche interrupted, her face turning red
although she still giggled like a schoolgirl. Stacey pulled out a diaper from her bag for her baby, but didn’t take her eyes off of Saint.

Saint
managed a laugh, though his nerves were a wreck. “My apologies. I just came down to give you an update. I didn’t want Beset to come down here and leave her again,” he said half exasperated. “Everything is going well. She’s progressing nicely and it shouldn’t be much longer.” He looked at Lawrence. “Hey man, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Lawrence
nodded and immediately got up from the couch. The two men walked away.

“Hey, where is
Jagger?” Saint whispered as they entered the kitchen.

“He is standing outside. He wanted to keep watch.”

“Go get him, please.” Lawrence nodded and disappeared, returning soon with Jagger in tow. Saint grabbed a cold beer from the kitchen and downed it as if his life depended on it. He slammed the empty bottle on the counter.

“Guys,”
Saint whispered, putting one hand on each of their shoulders as they huddled around the kitchen island. “I can tell you this now. I know you’ve been curious and I owe you the truth and big ass thank you for helping me.”

“Oh man, you don’t have to thank us
.” Jagger grinned. “It’s cool.”

“Thanks,
Jagger, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and Lawrence being here. Anyway, Beset, the woman you think is our housekeeper, is—I guess for lack of a better word—an Egyptian medicine woman. She had me give Xenia something as soon as I got back from Egypt that hid the baby’s heartbeat and—”

“I knew you’d done something!”
Lawrence blurted, moving away from the hushed huddle. “I just couldn’t figure out what it was. You know what?” Lawrence pointed at Saint, his excitement more than apparent. “I thought that was just legend. I’d heard about it, from reading about ancient Egyptology. I had no idea it was actually real.”

Saint
nodded. “It was a gamble, and that’s the scary part. I read Beset up and down, made sure she was sincere and then, I weighed my options. At that time, I couldn’t think of a better solution. I reminded myself of what my father told me, that everything I needed to know would come about at the right time and I had to show some faith in that ... because those words, well, I knew they were true.”