Christmas Trio B. Debbie Macomber

confused Grace. “What do you mean?”

      “For the phone call,” she explained. “I went to get a pair of scissors. Mrs. Murphy, the first-grade Sunday School teacher, needed scissors and I thought there was a pair in my desk.”

      “The phone call,” Grace reminded her.

      “Oh, yes, sorry. It was from some young firefighter.”

      “Mack McAfee?” Grace blurted out.

      “No, no, Brandon Hutton. At any rate, he wanted to speak to the pastor.”

      “Has there been an accident?”

      “No … I don’t know. I think it would be best if you talked to Pastor Flemming yourself. He asked me to get you.”

      Dave Flemming was on the phone, a worried expression on his face. When he saw Grace, he held out the receiver. “You’d better take this.”

      Grace dismissed her first fear, that there’d been an accident. Everyone she loved, everyone who was important to her here in Cedar Cove, was inside the church.

      “This is Grace Harding,” she said into the receiver, her voice quavering slightly.

      “Ms. Harding, this is EMT Hutton from the Kitsap County Fire District. We received a distress call from a young woman who’s currently at your home.”

      Grace gasped. “Mary Jo? She’s still at the house? Is she all right?”

      “I believe so, ma’am. However, she’s in labor and asking for you.”

      “Won’t you be transporting her to the hospital? Shouldn’t I meet you there?” Grace would notify Cliff and they could go together.

      From the moment she’d left the house, some instinct had told her she should’ve stayed with Mary Jo. Some inner knowledge that said Mary Jo would be having her baby not in two weeks but now. Tonight.

      “We won’t be transporting her, Ms. Harding.”

      “Good heavens, why not?” Grace demanded, wondering if it was a jurisdictional matter. If so, she’d get Olivia involved.

      “It appears Ms. Wyse is going to give birth imminently. We don’t have time to transport her.”

      “She’s not alone, is she?”

      “No, ma’am. EMT McAfee is with her.”

      Mack. Thank goodness. “What about her brothers?” she asked. Surely they’d arrived by now.

      “There’s no one else here, ma’am.”

      Grace’s heart started to pound. “I’ll get there as soon as possible.”

      “One last thing,” Officer Hutton added. “Do you normally keep camels in your barn?”

      “No. But be warned. She bites.”

      “She’s already attempted to take a piece out of me. I managed to avoid it, though.”

      “Good.”

      She set down the receiver and turned to Pastor Flemming. “A young woman who’s staying with us has gone into labor.”

      “So I understand.”

      “I’ll collect my husband and get going.” Grace hated to miss the pageant but there was nothing she could do about it.

      Returning to the pew, she explained to Cliff what was happening. Maryellen twisted around and Grace told her, too.

      “She doesn’t have anything for the baby, does she?” Maryellen asked.

      Grace hadn’t even thought of that. She had blankets and a few other supplies for her grandchildren, but the disposable diapers would be far too big.

      “Jon and I will stop by the house and get some things for Mary Jo and the baby and drop them off. I’m sure I still have a package of newborn-size diapers, too.”

      Grace touched her daughter’s shoulder, grateful for Maryellen’s quick thinking.

      “We’ll bring Lisa, Rich and April back to the house,” Kelly whispered. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

      “Me, neither,” Lisa said. “There couldn’t be a more ideal way to celebrate Christmas!”

       Chapter Seventeen

      “You’re doing great,” Mack assured Mary Jo.

      “No, I’m not,” she cried, exhaling a harsh breath. Giving birth was hard, harder than she’d ever envisioned and the pain … the pain was indescribable.

      The second EMT came back into the bedroom. “I talked to your friend and she’s on her way.”

      “Thank God.” It was difficult for Mary Jo to speak in the middle of a contraction. The pain was so intense and she panted, imitating Mack who’d shown her a breathing exercise to help deal with it.

      Mack held her hand and she squeezed as tight as she could, so tight she was afraid she might be hurting him. If that was the case, he didn’t let on.

      “Get a cool damp washcloth,” Mack instructed the other man.

      “Got it.” As though thankful for something to do, Brandon Hutton shot out of the room and down the hallway to the bathroom.

      “I’m going to check you again,” Mack told her.

      “No!” She clung to his hand, gripping it even tighter. “I need you here. Beside me.”

      “Mary Jo, I have to see what position the baby’s in.”

      “Okay, okay.” She closed her eyes. Sweat poured off her forehead. Now she knew why giving birth was called labor. This was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Unfortunately there wasn’t time to go to any more classes, or to finish reading the books she’d started…. She’d thought she had two more weeks. If only she hadn’t waited for David, or believed him when he said he wanted to attend the classes with her. This was what she got for trusting him.

      Suddenly liquid gushed from between her legs. “What was that?” she cried.

      “Your water just broke.”

      “Oh.” She’d forgotten about that. She had a vague recollection of other women’s stories about their water breaking.

      “That’s good, isn’t it?” she asked. What she hoped was that it meant her baby was almost ready to be born and this agony would come to an end.

      “It’s good,” he told her.

      “It’ll be better now, right?”

      Mack hesitated.

      “What’s wrong?” she demanded. “Tell me.”

      “Your labor may intensify.”

      This had to be a cruel joke. “Intensify.” She couldn’t imagine how the pains could get any stronger than they were now. “What do you mean … intensify?”

      “The contractions will probably last longer…. ”

      “Oh, no,” she moaned.

      Although she’d discovered this was Mack’s first birth, he knew so much more than she did. He’d at least studied it and obviously paid attention during class. Mack had joked that he was getting on-the-job training—and so was she, but that part didn’t seem so amusing anymore.

      “The baby’s fully in the birth canal. It won’t be long now, Mary Jo. Just a few more pains and you’ll have your baby.”

      “Thank God.” Mary Jo didn’t know how much more of this she could take.

      “Rest between contractions,” Mack advised.

      Brandon