Whitefern (Audrina 2)

“What’s happened?” Arden cried, rushing to the bedroom door about ten minutes later.

“Happened. A baby happened. You missed it,” Mrs. Matthews said dryly, and kept working on Sylvia.

I looked up at him and smiled. “A girl, Arden. Sylvia wants her to be named Adelle.”

He walked in slowly, his face full of more excitement than I had ever seen him express about anything. He was flushed from rushing, but he was so pleased that it brought tears to my eyes. He looked at me and at the baby and back at me, as if I really had just delivered her. We had pretended this for so long that we had begun to believe it. When you wanted to believe something so much, it would happen, at least in your own mind, I thought.

Arden stood gazing down at Adelle with an expression of pure joy. I couldn’t say anything to contradict the way he was treating me. He would be no different if I had actually delivered her.

“Adelle is a perfect name, now that I see her, yes,” he said. He smiled. “And now a surprise for you, Audrina. The nursery is ready.”

“Nursery?”

“Of course. While you were down here, I redid that room. I worked on it myself at night.”

“He did,” Mrs. Matthews confirmed with a nod and a look of both amazement and approval. “The man lived on four hours of sleep the last week or so, because I suspected this early birth might happen.”

“What room?” I asked. I knew the answer and feared hearing it, but I had to ask.

“Well, the other Audrina’s room. I put new wallpaper on the walls, put down a new rug, repainted the window frames, and changed the light fixtures,” he rattled off proudly. “I’ve been studying how to do it for months, and I had some good tradesmen give me advice. I even put together her first playpen. There’s a bassinet, too, which I’ll bring here.”

“You did all that? Yourself?”

“We couldn’t bring anyone into the house while all this was happening, as you know, so I had to rise to the task. Your father would have been quite surprised and impressed, don’t you think? He didn’t have faith that I could change a lightbulb.”

“What did you do with everything that was in there?” I asked.

“I put it all in the basement for you to go through. Maybe now you’ll throw out some of it, if not all of it. Including this damnable rocking chair.”

The baby whimpered more loudly. Mrs. Matthews paused and looked at her. “Our next task,” she said, “is getting Sylvia used to breastfeeding. Healthy newborns tend to be alert right after they’re born. It’s a good time to begin breastfeeding.”

Sylvia looked very tired. She was fighting to keep her eyes open. The emotional tension had worn me out, too.

“We should move the baby over near her,” I said. “Get the baby used to her.”

“I thought we could avoid that,” Arden said to Mrs. Matthews. “You and I did discuss it.”

“I didn’t say we couldn’t, although I don’t think it will matter much for Sylvia. Breastfeeding is a better, healthier option for the child. So many of my former-beauty-queen mothers were afraid their breasts would scar or shrivel. We have everything needed in the kitchen if you choose otherwise. I can tend to it right after this,” she said.

“I think we’d prefer that,” Arden said. “Right, Audrina? That way, Sylvia will be less confused. We want her to get used to thinking of Adelle as your baby and not hers.”

“But we want Adelle to be as healthy as she can be, Arden.”

“She’ll be healthy,” Mrs. Matthews said, straightening up and turning back to the baby. “Most mothers who want to breastfeed want to establish a stronger bond with their child. Obviously, that’s not the case here. I’ll take her now and do the evaluation and then set up the first feeding, which you can do, Audrina, perhaps in your room. Just place her on the bed with you.”

“Good,” Arden said quickly. “Audrina?”

“Yes, of course,” I said.

“You can expect that Sylvia’s breasts will leak and ache,” Mrs. Matthews said. “She’ll survive it, but I can imagine, having spent all this time with her, that she will be quite frightened and confused. I’ll do what I can, but none of this will be my business soon.”

“I’d rather we do it the way I want,” Arden said. “Audrina will feed the baby.” He was firm about it.

“Do as you wish,” Mrs. Matthews said, sounding not so much angry as indifferent that her advice wasn’t being followed. She took the baby to the table to begin her exam.

I looked at Sylvia. Her eyes were open, but she looked like she was in a daze.

“Sylvia?” I said. She didn’t turn to me, nor did she speak. “Is she still in pain?” I asked.