Perfect Partners

putting cool compresses on her forehead.
    “The contractions are right on top of each other as far as I can tell,” Diana said tensely. She squeezed Stephanie’s fingers.
    “Something’s wrong,” Stephanie managed before another wave of pain robbed her of her voice.
    “Nothing’s wrong. Everything you’ve gone through so far fits with the description in the book. It’s just happening on a very fast schedule, that’s all.” Letty braced herself as more water and some blood gushed forth from between Stephanie’s bent knees.
    She had propped Stephanie up in a semireclining position because she had read it was a more natural one for child-birth than lying flat on one’s back.
    Beside her, neatly arranged on a clean white cloth, was a piece of string to tie off the cord and several kitchen towels that Diana had scrupulously washed and disinfected. Letty’s secret fear was uncontrollable bleeding that she would not be able to stop with the aid of a few dish towels.
    But she had not mentioned that fear to Stephanie. Nor had she reminded Stephanie of all the other things that could go wrong. She knew Stephanie was all too well aware of them. She had gone over and over the terrible list as her labor had set in.
    When Stephanie had begun fretting over the lack of sophisticated fetal monitors, Letty had told her about an article she had recently read. It had claimed that fetal monitoring was not really necessary in healthy, normal deliveries.
    When Stephanie had worked herself up into a state of near hysteria over the possibility that the baby was in the wrong position in the womb, Letty cited a statistic that said over ninety-five percent of all babies got into the head-down position on schedule.
    And so it went. Every time Stephanie thought of something new to worry about, Letty tried to calm her by citing something reassuring she had read on the subject. Diana picked up the idea immediately and repeated the same facts over and over to Stephanie. Together they concentrated on reminding Stephanie that women had been having babies at home for aeons.
    The labor had gone very swiftly, and it had been hard on all of them. All three women were bathed in sweat. Stephanie was soaking wet. Diana mopped her brow. Letty wished she had someone to mop her brow. This business of giving birth was very messy. The articles she’d read had failed to mention just how messy. They had glossed over that part, just as they had glossed over the level of pain the mother endured.
    “I think I hear a car,” Diana said suddenly.
    Letty ignored her. She was too busy watching Matthew Christopher’s tiny head appear. “He’s almost here, Steph. Push. Help her push, Diana.”
    Diana gripped Stephanie’s hand as Stephanie screamed again.
    Her awareness of Stephanie’s pain was the worst part of this whole thing, Letty thought. The only solution was to try to step back from it emotionally and concentrate instead on Matthew Christopher.
    “His head is clear,” Letty said triumphantly. She reached out to cradle the infant as he barged head first into the world. “I’ve got one shoulder. Both. Stephanie, he’s beautiful. And he
is
a boy. On the APGAR scale of one to ten, I’d say he’s a twenty.”
    “My baby,” Stephanie breathed, sounding dazed. “Let me see my baby.”
    Matthew Christopher whimpered loudly, expressing his extreme displeasure with the entire procedure just as the front door of the house flew open.
    “What the hell’s going on in here?” Joel shouted from the living room. “Letty? Letty, are you okay?”
    “Stephanie?” Morgan’s voice sounded frantic. “Where are you?”
    “Morgan?” Stephanie called weakly. “Morgan, our baby is here.”
    Letty quickly wrapped Matthew Christopher in clean towels and laid him in Stephanie’s arms. Then she turned toward the door of the bedroom and saw Joel and Morgan standing there looking stunned.
    She smiled at her father. “Come and meet your son, Dad.”
    “Good God Almighty.” Morgan’s awed gaze went from Matthew Christopher to Stephanie. His eyes lit with a loving tenderness and concern. He took a step forward. “Stephie my dear, are you all right?”
    “I’m fine,” she whispered, obviously dazzled by the infant in her arms. “We’re all fine. It was a piece of cake, as they say. Letty had read several articles on the subject, you see.”

    Letty went with Joel when he told her he had to talk to Diana. They found her alone in the kitchen. She was