Timeless

Chapter 52

A/N: Warning, this chapter does depict childbirth so if that doesn't bother you, then have fun haha!

July 1948

The July heat of 1948 descended like a twister upon Wisconsin, appearing suddenly and sweltering. It was the kind of heat that made you sweat like a sinner sitting in a church pew and want nothing more than to be in a freezer. With nearly three weeks to go before baby Cleven was due to make an appearance, Kathryn felt like she was a pig being roasted during a bonfire in this heat.

She could barely stand the daytime—and night time only provided a little relief with cool summer breezes and an open window. Kathryn had kicked off all of the blankets of the bed, unable to find an ounce of comfortability between her lower back pain and the sheen of sweat that covered her body.

Between her husband and Meatball on the bed, Kathryn was decidedly not a fan of the heat anymore than she was a fan of the cold.

Just as she moved to slip back into the bed, finally relaxing at the cool air circulating through the room, there was a release of pressure. Something wet slipped down her legs, landing on the carpet below and for a moment, it was all Kathryn could do to just stare at the liquid on the ground.

"Honey?"

"Hmm?" Came Gale's sleepy reply.

"I need you to go into the hall and call Lenore. I think my water just broke."

Gale's eyes snapped open and in seconds, he was sitting up and staring wide-eyed at her. "Are you sure—"

"Yes! I didn't just pee myself!" Kathryn insisted, waving her arms emphatically.

At that, Gale was up in seconds and helping her to sit down on the bed before making a mad dash into the hallway to call Lenore. Kathryn felt suddenly very tired—but she wasn't having all that much pain or body aches at the moment, so she supposed that she should count herself lucky.

A short conversation later, the trio determined to wait for contractions and labor pains to actually start. And that could be a whole 24 hours from now. It was a waiting game now; even though her water had broken, they still had to wait for her body's response to that before Lenore would even come over to start helping with the birth.

And it wasn't that Kathryn was annoyed by any means—but having Gale glance over at her every two minutes in concern was leaving her a little emotionally tired. Kathryn just continued to write in her journal, trying to distract herself from Gale's incessant worrying.

"You know, if I start having contractions, I'll tell you," Kathryn stated lightly, pen pressing into the top of her journal page.

"I know that," Gale said sheepishly. "I'm just worried."

Kathryn just gave him a smile. "Well you should get some sleep—one of us might as well be coherent since we don't know how long the labor will last."

He didn't altogether like that response of hers, but still, he knew that her words were true. The two of them attempted to get as much rest as they could—but the thought of their child making its way into the world as soon as a few hours away consumed both of their thoughts like some sort of front-line news scene.

It wasn't until the early hours of morning that Kathryn felt her first actual contraction—a dull ache that started at the bottom of her spine and stretched outwards like a wave. It rippled all the way towards her pelvic area and Kathryn gave an eye-twitch at the pain. It was at this point that they called Lenore again —