‘Succinct.’ Connor couldn’t help admire the calm way Kelsie had managed the transfer of information. And the situation. He saw her glance with a measuring look at Anna. ‘I haven’t been able to assess the position of the baby.’
Their eyes met and he nodded and tried not to look at the wrong woman because Kelsie’s blue gown was knotted at the waist and the soft swell of breast could be seen between the folds.
He looked away to her face and couldn’t help thinking she looked so different from the soft and languorous woman he’d left an hour ago. She still looked amazing but there was decision and assurance in every line of her body.
Back on task, he reminded himself. ‘We’ll assume this baby knows the rules.’ He turned to someone behind him. ‘Can we get another light, please, Max? Or even a torch in case we need it.’
Connor glanced back along the corridor as the man hurried away. ‘Max has seen a lot on this train in the last twenty years,’ he said to Kelsie, but didn’t mention that apparently that included flirting with his grandmother if the interrupted conversation they’d been having had been what he’d thought it was.
Anna breathed through another contraction and the subtle expulsive effort confirmed Kelsie’s diagnosis. He would be right up there with agreeing with her assessment of the situation.
Kelsie looked up when the contraction had eased. ‘Do you have a doctor’s bag?’
He smiled wryly. ‘I’m not the sort of doctor who carries a bag to catch babies away from hospitals.’ He shrugged. ‘So what have we got on the plus side?’
‘Catching babies outside hospitals is right up my alley. And there’s two of us.’
He felt his mouth curve. Working with Kelsie was different from what he was used to. ‘Great pluses.’
She went on as if ticking off the points. ‘Anna is focused and healthy, so baby should be healthy too. And at least it’s warm in here.’
All good points. ‘So what can I do to help?’
‘I need you to take the baby if needed. Get your helper to find us some cord for tying off and scissors to cut the cord. And maybe a dish or a bag for the afterbirth.’
He nodded and spoke to the other porter, who was helping poor Wolfgang to sit up and then turned back to see if he could do anything else.
Kelsie had that far-away look in her eyes that he’d seen in midwives who could almost disappear in a room they became so unobtrusive, only to soothingly reappear when the woman needed them.
He waited until she refocused and passed her requested items across, and she put them on the small table by the window.
She looked back at him and smiled as if she was very glad he was there. He was conscious that his whole chest seemed to swell. What was it about this woman that touched him so much? Whatever it was, he’d better work out how to put up a force field or he’d be standing outside a registry office on his own again.
‘Thank you. That’s lovely.’ Her voice was soft. ‘I can concentrate on Anna. We don’t have anything if she decides to bleed, though, but there’s no reason she should.’
Connor wondered if she’d said that for Anna’s benefit, his benefit or her own. So he agreed in case she needed reassurance. ‘Of course she should be fine.’
It all happened very quickly after that. Anna was still standing when Kelsie peered under the hem of the nightgown, much to Anna’s embarrassment.
Kelsie murmured, ‘So, it is a breech. I wondered. We have our first tiny foot, and now the second has appeared.’
Trickier, Connor thought, but not a disaster, especially if Kelsie was right and both feet had come down together.
He kept his voice low and matter-of-fact, a mirror of Kelsie’s, so they didn’t alarm the mother. ‘Of course it is. Nothing straightforward about a baby that wants to be born on a train.’ He lowered his voice even further so that only Kelsie heard. ‘Do you want to swap places?’
Kelsie thought about that and appreciated he’d given her the choice. She liked that. But now the birth was a little more complicated he was the more experienced here and they both knew it. She’d delivered a breech birth before but this was no time for glory and not the place to practise.
‘Maybe.’
He slid in behind her and she edged away to allow him past so that he was in front of Anna. Kelsie took the towel to dry the baby after birth and spoke in Anna’s ear. ‘The doctor is taking over now. Everything is fine.’
Anna nodded, too intent on the overwhelming sensations to care, as her uterus contracted again and her baby shifted.
Connor looked up at Kelsie. His voice still low and slightly amused. ‘I know what you midwives are like. Don’t worry. I’m an advocate for breech babies knowing what they want to do without my interference, too.’ He held up his fingers. ‘So I’m keeping my hands off.’