Shifters Pen

30

  It was November 13. I hade made a few friends. The skinwalkers had an army of children following them everywhere, and they loved it. We had been assigned nicer rooms since we were going to be in the packhouse for a while. I had been overwhelmed with the outpouring of women bringing me things. I got two cribs, a bouncer, a swing, blankets, and clothes, bottles and diapers. We were staying in a suite type area. I loved having our own bathroom. We had a bed. We had a little area to relax in. A computer had been set up for us to work at.
  Luke worked hard. He would inhale his meals, and work from sunup to sunset. He smelled like horses and dirt and rusty metal or mud. Then he'd shower, and work his online job. He was always happy to tell me about what he did in his pack maintenance job. There was a well being repaired and a dumpster being filled and ditches being dug.
  I honestly didn't care what he was working on. I just loved the scent of his sweat. Watching him take a shower was rather arousing. But sex, like this, was not going to happen. My body just didn't want to move.
  I fell asleep on the couch, watching him talk to customers. I always had to pee. I woke at 11:30. A blanket was draped over me. I smiled. He was so sweet. I sat up and pain. Intense, lower pain. It was so much worse than any period cramp. I could barely catch my breath.
  My ears caught Luke telling his customer, “Uhm, sir? Could I ask you to call back so another representative can assist you. I am having a family emergency.  I think my wife just went into labor. Uh huh. Thanks. Bye. No. You gotta hang up first. Okay.” He didn't even bother logging out. He just unplugged the computer and came to me, worried. “What do I do?”
  As if we hadn't discussed this before. He was in a panic, and I was in pain. Finally the pain started to ease off. “Notebook. Write the time down. Go get the guys out of bed. Once the pains are closer together we will head to the clinic.”
  He nodded, and did what I said. It took him a while to rouse the old men.  By the time he returned with them I was in the middle of my second pain. I cried. Rain was lashing windows and wind was blowing.
  Che sat beside me calmly. “Breathe. Picture the stars, the moon. Breathe.”
  That worked, until I was in minute 2 of 3 of intense pain. Then it just got really annoying to hear. Lightning crashed. Benny was sent outside for first shift.
  Hours passed and pains came closer at an agonizingly slow rate. The whole pack knew I was in labor. No one could sleep with the on again off again stormy weather. I would have felt guilty, but I was too busy being exhausted and hurting.
  Che took his turn on storm control and Benny sat with me. He smiled softly, “Babies always like to come at night. My mother told me it was because we crawled from the darkness of the first world, and so it is where we all start out.”
  I smiled, remembering some of these traditional stories.
As a child I had hated going to a BIA school. I was white, and everyone else was Navajo. I was bullied, and picked on. I hated it. However, there were some cool things about going to a BIA school that I didn’t realize I got and no one else did. Native American week would be spent honoring native culture. I would get to see dancers, hear drumming groups, listen to flute players. I would also get to listen to storytellers, people who held the culture in an oral fashion. At home I was taught about Adam and Eve, and the garden of Eden from the Bible. But this was an oral tradition. There was no book that told about the four worlds and how the tips of the turkeys tail feathers were white because he was the last to crawl through the reed from the water world, and foam touched his tail. I must have heard a hundred such stories, and never given them a second thought.
  Benny was sharing his culture, his tradition. It was beyond sweet. I smiled a little at my friend.
  Then another pain was on me. I didn’t like this. It hurt. God, it hurt. Luke sent me thoughts and words of love while holding my hand and rubbing my back. The sun was rising when Tl’isi said, “It’s time to head to the clinic. Luke, you got her?”
  Luke swept me up off my feet and strode out the door. The packhouse was moving, and everyone froze who saw us. A pain hit, and I couldn’t care less. “Breathe. Breathe. Clear skies.”
  “Fuck you! A little rain won’t hurt anyone!” I moaned as the pain intensified. Tears fell.
  Outside it looked like a hurricane. I saw Che and Benny trying to calm the weather. I closed my eyes and tried to be calm. I didn’t want them hurt. I didn’t want to destroy the town. Breathe. Clear skies. Breathe. Luke hurried me over to the clinic.
  Bernie was ready for me. He had a bed set up, with those god awful stirrups that I only saw in the OBGYNs office. He held out a hospital gown to me, “Some women wear a bra underneath, but it is hard, sweaty work, and some don’t. No underwear, obviously. I will be back to check you in a few minutes.”
  Tl’isi turned his back while Luke helped me disrobe and put on one of those ugly hospital gowns. My ass was completely exposed. I guessed that was the point.
  Once I was on the bed I eyed the stirrups. I hated those things. The only honest stitch of clothing I wore was my socks. I smiled at the thought that I would soon get to see my toes again. But I didn't plan on putting my feet in the stirrups until I had to.
  Bernie knocked and came in. Tl'isi went to my head on the left side, and Luke held my hand on the right. “So, when was the last one?”
  Luke said, “5 minutes ago.”
  “And before that?”
  “10 minutes.”
  “So we got about 5 minutes until the next one starts. I'm just going to check you to see how you're doing down there.”
  In short order my ass was practically hanging off the bed and my legs were splayed, and feet in stirrups. He wore headgear. “Bernie you look like a miner,” I commented.
  He laughed, “Well, in a sense I am going digging in the dark.”
  No vaginal exam ever felt comfortable. This was no exception, but I was tired, and ready to get these babies out of me. I didn’t care.
  “How we looking Bernie?” Luke asked.
  “We?! You aren't the one with-”
  Tl'isi said, “Breathe. I will smack the idiot upside the head for every dumb thing he says or does, but you breathe and picture clear skies.” Just to prove his point he smacked Luke and said, “Shut up idiot.”
  Bernie ignored them. “Lucy, you are at a little over 8 centimeters. This could go fast, or take a bit. Once you hit 10 you start pushing. Okay?”
  I nodded and he hooked up some monitors to me. The nurse came in and helped him. I had wires and tunes. I wasn’t allowed to eat, but I could have water and ice chips. This sucked. This really, truly sucked. And the pains started coming closer together. It didn't take long. Maybe an hour before they were back to back pains, and Bernie was saying I was ready.
  I pushed and pushed through the pain. It hurt. I wanted my mother. But she was dead. I cried in grief. Luke held me, “I'm here.”
  I sobbed, and nodded. Luke was here. I would be here for my children. Che came in and switched with Tl’isi. He smiled, “Looks like someone's getting ready to make an appearance.”
  Luke looked. “Oh wow! Babe I can see it. You're so close here. Almost. You can do this.”
  I took a deep breath and bore down. And someone came out of my body. “It's a boy!” I heard him sniffing and making little grunts. I felt Luke’s joy and love overflowing. The cord was quickly cut and tied off on our baby boy, a red wolf. I wanted to hold him, but I wasn’t done. Three minutes later my daughter was born.