The Free Spirit

Mother Midwife, 1959 (Part One)

"Now that you're mine, my happiness shows..."

The year 1959 started out cold and relatively lonely. I still lie at home unable to work because I was still recovering from surgery and Elton was still in hospital, and likely would be for quite some time. I missed Don so much while he was away from me, but the frequent letters he sent and phone calls while he was touring Europe were enough for me, I supposed. I wanted to cry whenever I heard his voice because it reminded me of how I wasn't in his arms, and it didn't help that I struggled to sleep at night. One chilly day shortly before Phil's twentieth birthday, I was surprised to wake up to baggage in the living room and a note on the counter scrawled out in my husband's handwriting. It read:

Cath,

We didn't have time to stop and say hello, but Phil and I are staying just for tonight before we head off for Germany. It's 9:24 now and we'll be heading off to an interview and some photos before we have a little bit of time to ourselves around noon. Meet me at the hospital in Elton's room, Phil wants to meet him so badly. I love you baby and I'll see you soon.

- Don

I let out a cry of joy knowing my husband was in the same city as me once again and checked the time; it was only 10:06. My darling husband had been there less than an hour ago and I missed him! That didn't matter to me anymore, I would see him very soon and I had to make sure I was ready. I thought about a bit of Pan Stik, but Don didn't really like when I wore makeup. He rather liked touching my face and wasn't fond of getting makeup all over his hands and face, so I scrapped that idea and just dressed as I normally would. I was at the London by 10:45 that morning and just sat there with Elton, finally able to feed him from my breast, but he wouldn't take much. I sat in a chair beside his incubation cube and cradled him in my arms as he slept, and I lost track of time. A short time later, I heard a knock on the window and looked up to see my husband and brother-in-law smiling and waving at me from the corridor, so I set Elton down in his incubation cube and exited the room.

"All right, one at a time, and don't wake him!" I said.

"Go on, Phillip, go meet your nephew," Don said, stepping aside to allow Phil into the room. We watched as Phil went in and picked up his little nephew, and then Don turned his attention to me. "Now git on over here, woman." With a smile, I glided into his arms and squeezed him tightly as he did me. "God, baby, I missed ya so much."

"Not nearly as much as I missed you," I said to him, breaking the embrace and smiling up at him. "Now kiss me you git, you owe me that!" Don chuckled before granting me my wish, kissing me ever so passionately.

"First kiss of 1959," he muttered when he broke the kiss.

"And it's about damn time, too." I stood there in his arms while we watched Phil visit with his nephew, and then it was Don's turn to see his son. Phil and I stood outside of the room watching Don holding his son like an adoring father.

"He looks so happy. He's been wantin' a baby since ya lost the other one, ya know," Phil said to me.

"Oh believe me, I know," I replied. "We were both terrified when we got the news, though, initially. Neither of us knew I was pregnant and this was a huge surprise to us. I was supposed to go on tour with you boys, but then Elton came and now I'm here."

"I think those days are over, Catherine. Mom said that now that you've got a baby to take care of, you ain't gonna be tourin' with us no more."

"Once Elton's a little older, he'll be able to go on tours. I want him to spend as much time with his father as possible."

"Donald wants to do the same thing, spend as much time as possible with his boy. He loves that little baby so much, he wouldn't stop tellin' me all about him. 'Phil, ya won't believe how much he reminds me of Daddy', 'Phil, ya won't believe how amazin' he is'. He's been nonstop talkin' 'bout his baby." I couldn't help but smile at the thought of my husband being a proud father.