OCR Text |
Show in my father's house/ 62 a "second mother." One hot June Monday, as my mother was doing the weekly wash, she often stopped to grab her back or her belly, grimacing "What's wrong, Mama?" I asked. She forced a smile. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired." Deanna came downstairs and took the basket of clothes away from her. "You shouldn't work so hard today, Aunt Hannah. Mama said you should rest." My mother smiled tiredly and went to gather dry clothes off the line. "Your mother is going to have a baby today," Deanna whispered. I peered up at her. My mother hadn't mentioned any baby -- and certainly, I would be the first to know. But later, I noticed a bassinette filled with tiny clothes in the corner of her bedroom and wondered why I hadn't seen it before. Toward evening, my mother took a bath but wouldn't let me come in as she often did. Suddenly she shrieked. Aunt Helga came running and helped my mother into the bedroom. A couple of minutes later, my father rushed past me with his doctor's grip in one hand. I hovered about the bedroom door, listening. A soft moan reached my ears. Aunt Helga came out of the room, nearly knocking me over. Her white uniform rustled just as it had when she left for work that morning. She was carrying a wad of linen and the porcelain basin. "Don't you have anything else to do? Go outside and play |