Oh My, I Messed Up the Story

The remainder of Katie's pregnancy passed without much incident. The high from a bowl of potato chips and a badly done rendition of Lord of the Rings lasted for weeks.

The village largely shut down when it snowed but as soon as the storm stopped everyone would be outside with their shovels to clear paths to their homes and businesses. Abby couldn't believe how many people it took to do the work of a single snowplow.

Georgia had been colder than Arizona but it had nothing on these mountains, which were piled high with snow for months. Katie was unfortunate enough to go into labor during the middle of a storm.

Al had to brave the weather by himself to fetch the midwife who lived over a dozen houses down the road from theirs. Thankfully he knew this town like the back of his hand despite being temporarily blinded by the snow and was able to bring her back before anything major happened.

Abby waited with her sister and held her hand when the contractions hurt too much. She was simultaneously tasked with keeping Adam out of the way, which was difficult because he was concerned about his mother.

"The baby's coming out?" he kept asking.

Every time she told him "yes" he would ask even more questions she didn't always have the answers to, such as "when will Papa be back?"

She spent the roughly forty-five minutes Al was gone praying he would come back right that second. When he and the midwife blew through the door she was finally able to breathe. Originally she had wanted to be with Katie when she gave birth but it was obvious that she needed her husband right now and somebody had to take care of the toddler.

Abby ended up quietly playing with Adam in his bedroom even though her ears strained to figure out what was going on in Katie's room. Eventually the little boy fell asleep and she was able to go into the delivery room to hold her sister's other hand.

In the middle of the night a screaming dark-haired baby girl made her way into the world. Katie looked absolutely exhausted but had a glow about her all the same as she held her daughter once the midwife cleaned her up.

Al thanked her for her services and let her stay in one of their spare bedrooms until the storm died down a bit. She smiled and said "may the mountain spirits always bless your child" before leaving them alone.

Having been present for all of the baby name discussions, Abby knew they were down to two potential girls' names. Katie wanted to name a daughter Lily. Al preferred Aza, wanting to match the name with Adam's.

His logic was that she named the last one so it should be his turn. Hers what that she was the one giving birth so she should be in charge. Abby had to agree with her sister as a matter of principle but she thought both names were pretty.

"She does look more like an Aza than a Lily," Katie agreed begrudgingly. "But I'm picking the next one."

Al had no problems with this and said they could keep taking turns for as long as they were blessed with children. "But I hope we have an even number so you don't get to name more than I do," he joked. "For the sake of fairness."

She rolled her eyes at him and told him to get over there and hold their daughter. He gingerly sat down next to his wife and took the infant from her arms, cooing over how beautiful she was.

Katie leaned on his shoulder and they were the perfect picture of love and family. Abby wished she had a camera to capture the moment. At the very least she could sketch it to remember later. There was a pad of paper and a pencil in Adam's room she could use.

Slipping out very quickly and quietly, they didn't even seem to notice she had left and remained in position. Perfect.

Caught up in their new baby and each other, neither of them noticed what she was doing until she was done. Katie offered for her to come hold her niece and Abby couldn't refuse. Aza's tiny pink face was so beautiful.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again—you two make beautiful babies. Congratulations."

Abby's heart was full as she gazed down at her newborn niece. She had seen this tiny girl be born and would never forget it. Her birth helped serve as proof that Abby belonged in this world now because she was caught up in the events. Time went on and she was a part of it.

"Thank you," Al said proudly. "She is beautiful, isn't she? You did a great job Katie. I love you."

He tenderly kissed her sweaty cheek and she sighed. "I love you too. But I feel gross. Can somebody go run me a bath?"

Ah, the miracle of rudimentary indoor plumbing. The de Kanta home had a clawfoot tub with a spigot that only ran cold water. To have a warm bath they had to boil additional water to add to it.

Abby offered to do it so the lovebirds could have some privacy with their baby. Not for the first time she was hit with a sense of loss. For the longest time she and Katie only had each other to depend on but now she had a growing family of her own.

Al and Katie could be obnoxiously affectionate with each other, disregarding any embarrassment they may have felt about someone else witnessing the mush fest. But Abby supposed that was what she got for living with a married couple that was deeply in love.

They were very inclusive and sometimes when she and Katie went into inside-joke mode Al was the third wheel instead of her. She knew she was a part of their family but still felt like an outsider at times like this.