#17 China Cat (The Baby is Coming)

baby care, so she would know everything about taking care of a baby. Moreover, he was getting the idea that this was a problem for him too.

She had collected the bottles, nipples, diapers, and rubber pants, so was ready for the baby. She was in the garden when her water broke. She thought she peed her pants. That was weird, so she changed, but soon thereafter, a pain started. She tended to the bonsai, fed the fish, meditated, read, cleaned, and cooked through it. The pain kept getting worse, until by the of the day, she was screaming. Nobody told her; of course, nobody knew she was pregnant. She waited for him to come home, and handle it.

But, China waited too long. It was too late. It was the baby coming, and it was going to get out through her pee hole. She figured that would make a mess so went back out in the garden. Instinct took over. She took his pants off, squatted, and grunted. The most primal noise came out of her. She was really scared. What was happening to her. The urge to go to the bathroom was a thousand times greater than normal, but she held it in. Her body did what it wanted. At first, she held it in with her willpower, then she actually used her hands. That didn’t work; her body was expelling it, no matter what. Its head came out, she looked down at it between her legs, then supported it with her hands. There was moment of no pain and the baby was silent. Then a pain hit, the rest of the baby slipped out, and she held it in her arms. It writhed around. It was girl. Then, another pain hit and a liver-y thing came out. It was attached to the baby. Now there was lots of blood. She figured they didn’t need the liver-y thing, so she cut it as close to the baby as she could using garden sheers. She buried it in the garden under the Rose of Sharon bush, and cleaned up the baby. She hosed down the patio. The fish got an extra feeding that day, then China waited, but this time holding the baby, at the table, like she always did, for Dan to get home.

Dan started talking to her again as soon as he saw her holding the baby, and looking skinnier. He was shocked, and had lots of questions. He asked them. He took her to the hospital, had her admitted, and checked the baby in as well. China knew Dan would take care of it. She fell in love with the baby, called her Louise after her mother, and gave her the middle name of Mary on the suggestion of the hospital. She remembered her mother as a beautiful white lady, and missed her more than usual. Even though Louise Mary didn’t look a thing like her namesake, with dark hair, dark skin, and slanted eyes, she looked more like China, but still she wanted to honour her. On the second day, they took the baby away from her, clumsily hooked her up to an IV, knocked her out, and gave her an operation. It turns out, he told them to sterilize her, so they ripped her guts out, her uterus, and fallopian tubes, and left a jagged scar with stitches. She was so angry. She and the baby stayed in the hospital until they took the stitches out. They treated her and the baby very well. They really liked him; he was so nice. As for her, she was not, until finally, when they put her on hormone pills. Then she was nice. She enjoyed the rhythm and dependability; there was something homey about it. What they didn’t tell her, was that, even though, they did try their best, the baby still cried a lot in the other room. All she had to do was feed the baby every four hours. The nurses did all the night and early morning feedings. They didn’t care if the baby cried; it was sleep-training. They could steel themselves against it. She talked to herself, so the baby was probably crazy just like her. They kept her so long that her dark roots started to show. After ten days she and the baby went home with Dan.