Luna’s the only calm person here, sitting over there on one of the black polyester chairs by the wall, staring off and biting her lips.
She and I keep glancing to each other, both of us wishing she was in there with the girl. She’d asked to be, but the baby was breach, and had to come out with a C-section. They put Carmen out and explained to Luna that cutting her stomach would be far less easy to watch than a normal birth. They don’t allow an audience for that here because too many people faint.
She tried to argue, but it was policy.
Finally a silver-haired male obstetrician pushes open the double doors and heads for us. Tonk jumps and turns midair, rushing over like something out of a fuckin’ cartoon. “She okay?”
He nods, looking tired. He was on call, and Tonk’s been driving him a little crazy. “She is. She’s sleeping. Your baby is healthy.” He pauses with a smile in his eyes. “It’s a girl.”
Tonk’s arm flies back, reaching for me and I stride quickly over to grab his forearm. “A girl,” he whispers, so excited you’d think it really was his.
“You can see her in the window. They’re bathing her now.”
“Fuck yeah! Lead me to her!” he cries out, making the doctor smile.
Luna joins us and we all follow the man to where about ten beds lie, empty all but two, on the other side of thick, spotless glass. One tiny crib has a baby in it so small it doesn’t look real.
“What’s wrong with that one?” I ask the doc, nervous about what he’s gonna say.
“Oh, he just came early, that’s all. We’re watching him closely. He’ll be fine.” The doctor excuses himself and we all stare at the crimson creature Tonk is gonna raise, watching in silence as two nurses swaddle her up. We missed the bath.
“I guess they move quickly,” Tonk mutters with disappointment.
“They want to get her warm again,” Luna reassures him, smiling at the infant. “You’re a good person, Tonk, to raise that baby.”
“She’s mine now. Mine and Carmen’s. And that’s all she’s ever gonna know.”
Luna crosses her arms like she’s cold. I put my arm around her and she leans into me. Staring at that little human – who looks like an alien, if anyone asked me – I picture Luna’s face as she told me she can’t get knocked up. She was really confident it was true, but I saw the sadness she hid there.
I tighten my hold on her and kiss the top of her half-shaved head. “Lemme talk to Tonk a minute.”
Her dark eyes drift up and she nods. I plant a quick kiss on her lips that surprises her but she doesn’t back away. “I’ll be in the waiting room, ‘kay?” I nod. As she heads off I swat her butt. She yelps and grins over her shoulder. “Nice steal.”
“Nice ass,” I smirk.
When the sound of her footsteps fades against the closing of the double doors, I exhale. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“You got it,” he says, eyes locked on the baby. “Look at her little face, Jett. Can you believe she was gonna be sold off to some stranger?”
“No, I can’t. It’s foul. Let it go.”
He nods. “Yeah. After today. It’s just too much of a miracle that this has happened to me, man. You know my father…” he glances over and checks himself. “Oh, no you don’t. It was Scratch I told. Well, my dad’s an asshole, Jett. I’m not gonna be like him. I’m gonna show that little girl and her mother that I’m a good man they can trust with their fuckin’ lives. You hear me?” He looks at me like he’s challenging me to dispute this.
“I have no doubt.”
He stares at me for a charged beat then nods, turning back to the window.
“So, this favor…”
“Yeah,” he mumbles, admiring the sleeping child as the nurse tends to the tiny boy lying beside her crib.
“I need you to loan me your bike.”
Tonk’s head jerks back to me. “What?!”
“Look, you’re not gonna wanna leave them in some train, even with Luna. Not because it isn’t safe but because you’ll be fuckin’ miserable. It’ll be the first ride where you want your bike in a ditch, so you can be with your women.”
At hearing me use the plural, he huffs, waiting. “Okay…go on.”
“Luna and I will ride the bikes back to South Vacherie.”
A deep frown shoots into his forehead and he’s about to object when he turns to look at the baby girl again. “Fuck,” he mutters.
“If she drops it, I’ll have it repaired. I need more time with her.”
Side-eyeballing me, he grumbles, “Jesus, Jett, those months watching her breathe on a fuckin’ machine really got to you, didn’t they?”