What We Learned Along the Way (17 page)

“Which one is yours?” Darah asked.

“Excuse me?”

Darah pointed over at the loud group of men.
“My husband is the one in the red shirt. Which one is yours?”

“The one with the locs,” Aliya said. “He’s
not my husband yet. We’re engaged.” She held up her hand to show
her ring.

“Beautiful!” Darah said. “Way better than
that Cracker Jack prize Mina tries to call a ring.” She looked over
her shoulder at her sister with a sinister smile.

“Shut up, Darah. It’s not a Cracker Jack
prize. It’s just not a golf ball like yours. Some of us aren’t into
gaudy looking costume jewelry,” Mina retorted.

“Don’t hate, Mina.”

“Okay, okay girls. This is my wedding. You
guys think you could put it on hold at least for one day?” their
mother asked. Aliya looked at both of their rings. She preferred
Mina’s. It was a little small, but it looked a lot nicer than
Darah’s, which was ridiculously big. It reminded Aliya of something
a famous actor would give to his supermodel girlfriend. She always
thought that men who gave rings that big had something to hide.

Aliya couldn’t believe how immature Jasmine’s
daughters seemed. Even after their mother’s attempt to quiet them,
they continued to fight over their rings when their mother wasn’t
looking.

The sound of Harlem crying distracted Aliya
from the feuding sisters. “What’s wrong?” she asked Harlem after
she ran up behind her.

“My knee. It hurts,” Harlem said. She pulled
her dress up and showed a small scratch on her knee. Aliya knew the
scratch was harmless, but she treated it like a big deal
anyway.

“You want me to kiss it?” she asked. Aliya
kissed the scratch and gave her a big hug. She lifted Harlem into
her arms and walked back over toward Jasmine’s table.

“It was nice meeting you all, but it’s nearly
her bedtime,” she said to everyone at the table. Langston was still
having a good time, but she wasn’t waiting any longer. It took her
some time, but finally she was able to pull him away. Harlem fell
asleep in the car.

“You look like you enjoyed yourself,” she
told him on the drive home.

“I did. Those brothers are really cool and
your father is hilarious,” Langston said.

“My father? Hilarious?” Aliya couldn’t see
it.

“Yes, he had us dying over there. You should
have heard him.”

“I sure heard you. You were laughing the
loudest.”

“I haven’t had a good time like that in a
while. It was nice hanging out with your dad.”

“He does seem pretty fun these days. We
haven’t argued in the longest. I could really get used to this,”
Aliya said.

“I was thinking. We really need to set a date
for the wedding. I don’t want to be one of those couples that stays
engaged for years,” Langston said abruptly.

Aliya was a little caught off guard.

“We won’t be, but I want to make sure
everything is right. I’ve been doing some thinking. We can talk
about it tomorrow. It’s late,” Aliya said as she got out of the car
and went into her apartment.

Everywhere Jaime went, she and her belly
became a spectacle. At 8 and a half months, she looked ready to
bust. She had problems finding clothes that fit, and even most
maternity clothes were too tight. Her belly was unstoppable. She
only had about two pairs of pants and two shirts that she could fit
into comfortably. Everything else was just way too small. She
couldn’t believe she had grown so much in the last three months.
Normal tasks like walking, tying shoes and even sleeping had become
hard for her to do. Malikah and Aliya helped out when they could,
but they couldn’t make it over to her side of town all that
often.

Out of desperation, Jaime called Joseph. She
knew he probably didn’t want to be bothered, but she had no one
else to turn to. To her surprise, Joseph was just as nice and
friendly as he had always been. He told her he had been hoping she
would call and always kept her in his prayers.

Having Joseph around was the best thing that
could have happened to Jaime. Once she got too big to work, he
helped her out with a lot of her expenses. He bought groceries,
baby supplies and even surprised her with another pair of pants
that she could actually fit into.

“I’m guessing he’s about twelve pounds, eight
ounces. What’s your guess?” Joseph asked, sizing up her belly.

“Twelve pounds!” Jaime said in horror. “My
baby is not that big. Leave him alone!” She put her hands across
her stomach as if she were trying to protect it. She knew Joseph
was just joking, but her belly was really big, a lot bigger than
she had ever expected.

As they walked through the aisles of Baby
Town, Jaime used the cart to support her weight. She gave her feet
and back a break every time she found a seat.

“Look at me. I’m waddling like a penguin,”
she complained to Joseph after she stopped to check out her
reflection in a mirror. “I can’t believe I’m this big. I’m a cow,”
she said as she looked at herself from various angles.

“Don’t say that,” Joseph said calmly. “You’re
not a cow. You’re just full of life.” That was one thing she liked
about Joseph. He was always trying to find the silver lining in a
situation. Even though she and Joseph were technically still just
friends, she dreamed about marrying him and raising her child with
him. She couldn’t imagine anyone being a better father to her baby
than Joseph.

Rashad hadn’t even called to see how the baby
was doing. For all he knew, she could have miscarried and lost it a
long time ago. She told herself that he was just busy with his new
job and wife, but it bothered her that he didn’t even check on the
progress of their child. She wouldn’t dare ask him to be in the
baby’s life, but the least he could do was to make sure the baby
was still alive.

“What about this?” Joseph said as he pushed a
red tricycle in front of her.

“In a few years, sure, but I think he’s a
little too small for that now,” Jamie said.

“You keep saying ‘he.’ So you know it’s a
boy?”

“Not really. I just say ‘he’ for convenience.
The doctor was going to tell me, but I wanted to be surprised.
That’s why I’ve been buying everything in yellow, green and red.
You know, neutral colors that could go either way,” Jaime
explained.

“I like that. I hate it when people cover
their boys in nothing but blue and their girls in nothing but pink.
Babies look good in all colors. Let them experience the
rainbow.”

Joseph started walking over to the next
aisle, but Jaime stayed put. “Oooooh, these cramps are getting
worse,” she said as she leaned on the cart. Joseph didn’t hear her.
He was buried behind a pile of games. He had Sorry, Monopoly,
Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and was still trying to grab
another.

“You gotta get these,” he said. “Jaime?” he
called again after receiving no response. He put the games down and
saw that he had been talking to himself. “Jaime?” he called again.
He went back an aisle and saw Jaime doubled over the cart
moaning.

“Are you okay?”

“I think I’m having contractions,” she
managed between groans.

“Oh okay, the Braxton things. They’re just
getting you ready for the real deal.”

“No, I think this is the real deal. Braxton
Hicks aren’t this strong or this regular. I’ve been having them all
day now. I think I’m going into labor,” Jaime said in a scared
voice.

“Labor? Right now! But you’ve still got a few
weeks,” Joseph said, praying it wasn’t true.

“Tell that to this baby. I think you should
take me to the hospital. Now!” she ordered.

Joseph began to panic. He didn’t know the
first thing about babies or labor. He paced back and forth between
the aisles.

“What are you doing?” she yelled. “Get me to
the hospital! You want me to have this baby in the middle of this
aisle?” Joseph was stunned for a moment. He had never heard Jaime
raise her voice. He grabbed her arm and helped her to his car. The
idea of a laboring woman on his freshly detailed seats was
depressing, but he had no choice. He was tempted to ask her to wait
until he ran back into the store and got some plastic for the
seats, but she looked like she was in a lot of pain. She also
looked like she would punch him in the face.

He got her to the hospital and checked her in
quickly. Then he ran out front to move his car, which he had
conveniently parked in a loading zone. He was just in time to stop
a meter maid from giving him a ticket.

“I’m here! I’m here!” he yelled. “I just had
to get my friend inside. She’s having a baby.”

The cop saw how frazzled he looked and took
pity on him. He had sweat stains under both arm, his shirt had come
untucked on one side and his kufi was barely hanging on his
head.

“You look like you’ve had a rough enough
day,” she said as she voided the ticket. “But you’ve got to move
this car.”

After moving his car to a legitimate parking
space, he went inside and took a seat in the waiting room. He
pulled out his pocket Quran and began reciting quietly to himself
while he waited for news. After about two hours, a nurse came
outside and told him he was wanted in the delivery room.

“She wants me? For what? No, that’s okay.
I’ll just be out here when she’s done,” he said nervously. The mere
thought of being in the room made his knees weak. He had never seen
a baby being born and he had no intention of doing so. They had
showed a video of a live birth back in his high school health
class, but he was conveniently absent that day.

A few minutes later, the nurse returned. “She
really wants you. I think you should get in there.”

“No, but you don’t understand. I’m not…but I
can’t… it’s just…” Joseph couldn’t talk or think straight.

“She really wants you in there, but I can’t
force you,” the nurse said as she turned to walk back into the
room.

“Wait,” Joseph yelled. “I’m coming.” He said
another quick prayer and then followed the woman into the room.
Joseph prepared himself for a horrible sight, but Jaime was lying
under a cover. He let out a sigh of relief. He could tell she was
in pain, but she looked a lot calmer than before.

“Took you long enough,” Jaime said with a
smile. Joseph didn’t know what to do or say. He didn’t want to get
in the way or touch anything, so he stood right inside the
doorway.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“I’ve been better,” she said. “But at the
last check, they said I’m already dilated 5 centimeters. I’m half
way there. Still, it could be hours until…” She stopped talking and
started to cringe.

“What’s wrong with her? Help her! Help her!”
he said to the nurse.

“It’s just a contraction,” the nurse
reassured him. “Those will be getting heavier and more frequent.”
The nurse rubbed her back and told her to breathe through it. “The
next time she has one, just help her to relax. She’ll be okay,” the
nurse said calmly as she walked out of the room.

“Wait, where are you going?” he asked the
nurse.

“I’ll be at my desk right outside the room.
She knows where the call button is if she needs me. This may take
all night. Make yourself comfortable.” The nurse could see the
complete terror on his face. “Hey, you haven’t passed out yet, so
you’re already doing better than some guys,” she reassured him.

Joseph hadn’t moved from his spot in the
doorway. “I won’t bite, you know. Why are you all the way over
there?”

“I don’t want to touch anything.”

Jaime pointed at the chair next to the bed
and motioned for him to sit down. He did, but he sat only on the
tip of the chair as if he thought he might catch some disease from
it.

“Relax, I’m the one having the baby, not
you,” Jaime said. She leaned over toward him and pushed him back
into the seat. It took him a few minutes, but finally he loosened
up.

“Don’t they have some type of drug or shot to
help you with these contractions?” Joseph asked. He was doing all
he could to help her relax, but he could tell his efforts weren’t
doing much. He hated to see her in such pain.

“They asked if I wanted an epidural or some
other type of pain medication, but I told them no,” she said with a
sigh. “I deserve every bit of pain I’m going through.”

“Is that what you think child birth is about?
Punishing women for what they’ve done? What about Mariam, Prophet
Jesus’ mother? She labored alone out in the wilderness, and it
definitely wasn’t because she was being punished. Allah is just. He
wouldn’t give women this huge task and put you all through so much
pain if there weren’t great benefit in it. So if you want to tough
it out with no meds, that’s fine, but don’t do it because you think
you deserve the pain.”

“Thank you, Joseph. I don’t know what I’d do
without you. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and
the baby. May Allah reward you greatly.” Every so often, the doctor
came in and checked to see how much more she had dilated. By the
fourth check, the doctor said she was ready to push.

A swarm of doctors and nurses came into the
room and Joseph faded into the background. Every time she pushed,
she let out a loud grunt. The more she pushed, the louder the
grunts got. Pretty soon, they were full-fledged yells. Joseph
prayed the noises she was making were normal.

Joseph knew child birth was time consuming,
but he never thought it would take this much time. She had been
pushing for thirty minutes and still no baby. Just as he was
wondering if anyone would notice if he slipped out to the waiting
room, he heard the doctor yell, “This is it! I see the head! Keep
pushing, Jaime. You’re doing great.”

Joseph began to pray again.

“It’s a girl,” the doctor said as she pulled
out a slimy, greenish-looking baby that looked like it had just
emerged from a lagoon. On TV, newborns were clean and rosy-cheeked,
and they came prewrapped in plush baby blankets. This baby looked
otherworldly. As Joseph watched them cut the cord and wash the baby
up, he heard more yelling and grunting.