The Patricia Kiyono Christmas Collection (10 page)

Mitch sighed in relief. One less danger to
his little Angie. He wondered if the fears and the helplessness
would ever go away. His glance slid toward the rink again. His
little girl skated confidently, her hand tucked in Sophie’s. And
his heart calmed. He hadn’t yet called any of the babysitters on
his list because he didn't trust someone else to take care of his
daughter, but his heart definitely trusted one green-eyed
beauty.

“
W
hat do you
mean you’re in labor?
You’re not due for another month!” Sophie dropped her chopping
knife onto the cutting board and raced into the den to her sister,
who sat doubled over.

“
Try and explain that to
the baby. She’s on her way.” Joanie groaned as she heaved herself
off the sofa.

“
Okay. I’ll call
Dave.”

“
No time. He’s in class for
another hour, and he’s got another one right after that. You’ve
gotta take me to the hospital. I’ll call and leave a message in the
department office and he can come when he’s done. With Joey I was
in labor for a day and a half, so I don’t expect this one to be
here any time soon.” She picked up her cell phone and waddled
toward the front closet.

“
Let me help
you.”

“
I can get myself to the
car. Would you please grab the suitcase at the foot of the bed? I
think it’s all packed. I’ll meet you at the car. You can drive my
SUV — it’ll make it through the snow better.”

Sophie raced to Joanie and Dave’s room and
found the overnighter. She double-checked and found her sister had
indeed packed everything she’d need, including a cute little pink
outfit to bring the baby home in. There was also a small framed
photograph of the family: Joanie, Dave, Joey, and Sophie. She
cracked a smile, seeing herself included. Mitch had stopped by one
evening at Joanie’s request and taken the picture. Joanie planned
to have Mitch take a photo of the new baby and include both
pictures on their Christmas card.

Hearing the front door
open, she quickly closed the suitcase.
Showtime
.

Holland was on the Lake Michigan shore, and
the lake-effect snows were even deeper than those in Zutphen.
Joanie’s car had front-wheel drive, so it was a safer choice than
her own vehicle, but Sophie said an extra prayer as she started the
ignition. Despite the urgency, Sophie decided to take the main
plowed roads rather than the interstate to the Holland Community
Hospital. She’d experienced the helplessness of losing control on
icy highways more than once, and she didn’t intend to do so now,
with her sister and unborn niece on board. Joanie groaned as
another contraction hit, and Sophie wondered if she’d made the
right decision. Would they make it to the hospital in time?

The drive to the hospital seemed to take
forever. Much of the previous night’s snow had been plowed, but
deep drifts still covered some of the road leading into town.
Joanie conversed with her doctor, explaining how far apart the
contractions were.

How can she remain so
calm?
If I were in her shoes, would I
remember what to do?
She pushed those
thoughts away. Nate’s abandonment had quashed her dreams of having
her own family.

As soon as Joanie hung up, she called the
college history department office and left a message for Dave. And
then she called a neighbor, asking her to please pick Joey up after
school. Good grief. Sophie hadn’t even thought of that. Poor Joey
might have been waiting outside a locked house. Joanie made another
call to Kathy Sikkema at the school, explaining the circumstances
and giving her permission for Joey to leave with the neighbor.

Sophie reached for the radio controls,
flipping through her favorites until she found a calming country
ballad. Then she took a deep breath and concentrated on the road.
Beside her, Joanie hummed along with the melody. Apparently the
music calmed her, too.

At last, they rounded a
bend in the road and the towers of the hospital came into
view.
Only a few more miles to
go
. Sophie breathed a little easier knowing
they were closer to help. She pulled into the drive and made her
way to the emergency drop off, where a burly attendant came up to
the passenger door with a wheelchair. He helped Joanie into it
while directing Sophie to the parking structure.

She parked the car and ran into the
hospital, stopping at the information desk to ask, “My sister is
here to have her baby. Where can I find her?”

She plowed through an endless maze of
hallways, pausing only to remove her jacket when the sweat began to
pour down her face. On the second floor, she spied a sign directing
her to the birthing center. Good. She had to be close. A friendly
receptionist checked her ID and gave her directions to Joanie’s
room.

Joanie sat on a hospital bed, already
changed into a gown. A nurse took her vital signs, hooked up the
fetal monitor, and adjusted her pillows. Sophie stood back, unsure
what she should do. With nurses coming and going, it was a
challenge just to stay out of their way. Should she go to a waiting
room? No one had told her to leave, and she didn’t want to leave
Joanie alone. She decided to sit in a chair in the corner until
someone told her to do something else.

Dave burst into the room, his face white,
his hair a mess. “Baby, I’m so sorry it took me so long. The roads
from campus are deadly. I thought I’d never get here.”

“
I didn’t expect to see you
here so quickly,” Joanie remarked as Dave enveloped her in a tight
embrace. “You’re supposed to be in class for another
hour.”

Dave’s head reared back. “You didn’t think
I’d be able to teach knowing you’re in labor, did you? I had the
secretary cancel my classes for the rest of today and all day
tomorrow. They know I need to be here.”

“
I wasn’t sure you — oh!”
Joanie’s face scrunched as another contraction hit.

Dave hugged her again, murmuring his
encouragement. He held her tight until the pain passed and her
breathing returned to normal. A nurse entered and checked her and
assured them that things were progressing normally.

Sophie stepped away from the scene. She
wasn’t really needed.

“
Joanie, do you want me to
call Mom and Dad?”

Joanie’s eyes opened wide. “No! Not yet. We
can call everyone afterward. Mom would drive everyone here nuts,
especially me.”

Sophie understood Joanie’s reaction. Joyce
Gardner was a loving mom, but she could be a mama bear when it came
to her children and grandchildren. If she felt Joanie wasn’t
getting the best care, she would make sure everyone in the hospital
knew of her displeasure. Best to let her know after the fact.

“
Umm, do you want me to go
back to your house and stay with Joey?” She waited while Joanie
dealt with another contraction.

“
Sure,” she said between
pants. “He’s with Grace Talsma. It’s Thursday, so she’s probably
got her book club there at her house. Or maybe it’s her gourmet
cooking class. Anyway, she’s usually got plans every night of the
week, and she’d probably appreciate it if she didn’t have to bring
Joey along.”

“
Joey would probably
appreciate it, too,” added Dave. He reached for his wallet and took
out a twenty. “Here, take him out for pizza. That’ll soften him up
about having had to spend the afternoon at Grace’s
house.”

Sophie was torn between relief and guilt at
leaving. It was difficult, watching her sister go through such
agony. As her sister, she felt she should be there with her. On the
other hand, she’d gotten Joanie to the hospital, and Dave was
there. She could do her part by taking care of their older
child.

Once again, she navigated the roads back to
Zutphen. In spite of the rush hour traffic, the trip was easier
than the one going to the hospital. The day’s sunshine, in addition
to the county salt trucks, had cleared the roads. Sophie followed
the speed of the traffic and made it back to the village before she
knew it. She stopped at Grace’s house to pick up Joey and headed to
Pizza Barn. Maybe spending time with an energetic seven-year-old
boy would cure her longings for a family and remind her why she’d
wanted a career.

~~~~

Mitch stared at
the charred mess in front of him. He’d burned
dinner again, even after reading the instructions and setting the
timer on his phone. The authors of
Fifty
Foolproof Dinners
had apparently
underestimated his ability to make the easiest meals
inedible.

“
Daddy, what’s that smell?”
Angie stood at the doorway, clutching her book. She’d been reading
to him when Mitch realized that his timer should have gone off
several minutes earlier. “It kinda smells like when Grandpa Carson
burns the marshmallows in the campfire in their backyard. Kinda
yukky.”

Mitch grimaced. “Yeah, sweetness. Dinner
turned out kinda yukky. How would you like to get some pizza
tonight?”

J
udging from the
Pizza Barn’s crowded
parking lot, it seemed the rest of the village had the same idea.
She and Joey walked in to find it full of young families. The
owners, Frank and Mary Veeninga, had built a play area for kids,
and that seemed to be a big draw for business.

Mary met them at the door. “Hi, Sophie. I
hope you don’t mind waiting a bit. Every single table is full right
now.”

“
We don’t mind, right,
Joey?” She looked down at her nephew, who nodded. “We’ll just wait
over here on the bench.” Before they could sit, a quiet voice
stopped her.

“
Miss Sophie?” Angie Carson
greeted her with a shy smile.

“
Hi there, Angie. Are you
enjoying your pizza?”

“
We haven’t gotten it yet.
You can come and sit with us. We have room at our table. Daddy said
you could.” She flicked a glance over at Joey. “And he can come,
too.”

“
Where are you
sitting?”

“
Over there.” Angie
pointed, and Sophie craned her neck to look. Mitch waved from a
booth near the window. She turned to her nephew. “Is that okay with
you, Joey? This way we won’t have to wait so long.”

“
Okay.” Joey followed
Angie, and Sophie took up the rear.

Sophie was a bit surprised that Joey went so
willingly to sit with the girl, but maybe he was hungry. She
herself was more than ready to eat. Joanie’s labor had interrupted
lunch. Right now she could devour several of Mary’s breadsticks and
still be able to eat her share of a pizza.

Angie sat next to her father, and Joey slid
in the seat across from Mitch. Sophie sat next to Joey and
introduced her nephew to Mitch. Joey, to Sophie’s surprise and
pleasure, asked politely if he could have a breadstick.

Mitch picked up the basket and handed it to
him. “Here you go, buddy,” he urged. “Help yourself.”

Joey took one and tore into it, but Sophie
hesitated, even as her stomach growled. “Are you sure?”

Mary answered her question by stepping up to
the table with a fresh basket of breadsticks. “Thanks so much for
doubling up, folks. We haven’t been this busy in ages. I think the
storm cut off electricity for a lot of homes. She looked back and
forth between Sophie and Mitch. “Shall we make it a large pizza
instead of a medium?”

Mitch glanced at Sophie. “Pepperoni okay for
you two?”

Both she and Joey agreed, and Mary nodded.
“Coming up.” She dashed off.

Sophie shook her head. “Mary doesn’t write
anything down, but she’s never messed up anyone’s order. I don’t
know how she does it.” She took one of the hot buttered treats and
sank her teeth into it, sighing in satisfaction. She opened her
eyes to catch Mitch’s smirk.

“
Do I have something on my
face? Cheese hanging from my lips?”

“
No, you just looked like
you really enjoyed that breadstick. Either that’s your favorite
food in the world, or you haven’t eaten in a long time.”

“
It’s the second. I was
just ready to start making a late lunch when Joanie went into
labor.”

“
Really? She had the
baby?”

“
Not yet. At least, not
that I’ve heard. I took her to the hospital and Dave met us there.
I came home to stay with Joey.”

“
She’s lucky you’re around.
I’m not sure what I’d do for Angie if I ran into an
emergency.”

“
What happened to that list
of teenagers I gave you? You can call one of them unless it’s
during the school day. If they’re in school you can call me — or
Joanie after she’s back on her feet. Angie’s no problem at all. And
then there’s Linda Myers over on Pine Street. She’s got a little
girl about Angie’s age. Toni Myers.”

Angie perked up. “I know Toni Myers,” she
chirped. “She’s nice.” Then her face fell. “But she gets in trouble
with the teacher a lot.”

Mitch rolled his eyes. “Not the kind of kid
I want my daughter to become close with.”

“
Aunt Sophie, can I go play
in the playground?” Joey asked.

“
I guess so.”

“
Daddy, can I go,
too?”

Mitch looked over at the play pit. “I don’t
know, angel. It looks pretty dangerous.”

Sophie bit her lip. She admired dads who
looked out for their children, but right now he seemed a little
overprotective. Still, it wasn’t her place to argue or
disagree.