Ever since I graduated from high school last year, I've been listless. Antsy. You know that feeling you get when you know something is about to happen? I've got that. I just don't know if it's going to be good or bad yet. Oddly enough, I'm excited, though. Really excited. Either way, something will happen, and it will change my life.
I go to Anchorage Area Community College online, but it's just not the same to me. I need people and excitement. My goal is to eventually be a midwife, but who knows if I'll even make it through school. School wasn't all that easy for me. It was pretty lonely for me. I was the only person in the class of 2021. I didn't get a homecoming or prom; I never served on the student council. It was boring, and to be honest, I want a little excitement in my life. Nothing awesome ever happens here. It's always the same. We are born, bred, and die ever since the town was founded in the 1700s. Nothing has ever changed, and I don't think it ever will. Small town vibes never do.
I'm lying in bed right now, getting ready to take a nap. See, I'm so glamorous, taking a nap mid-afternoon because I've got nothing better going on. Lazily, I flip through Amazon Prime, settle on a show, and lay back on the pillows. I am almost asleep when my phone rings.
"Hello, Esther. It's time." That's it. Four little words, and I am up, tiredness forgotten, because this is where I'm needed right now. I like being needed; it breaks up the monotony a bit. My listlessness is at a head. I need to do something before I lose my mind, but there's time for that later, now.
"I’m on my way, Hannah,” I say excitedly before hanging up. Finally, something exciting is happening. Hannah Saunik is a legend around these parts. She’s a native Alaskan, Inuit, to be exact. She uses what she calls the “old methods” of childbirth. I find it fascinating. In fact, she’s the best midwife in the state, and the fact that she’s based in Torque is a huge boon. She’s teaching me how to be a holistic midwife while I’m in nursing school, which I just started. Cherry King, Hannah’s current and only client, is in labor. It takes me a few minutes to get into my scrubs and my jacket; then, I’m out the door and into my car. Despite being May, it’s thirty degrees. I could walk down to the King's house from here, but who knows what the weather will be like later. It’s hard to predict it around here. One minute it’s sunny, and the next, there could be a whiteout from the snow. It takes just a few minutes to get there. My pulse ratchets up a notch as I approach the King's house.
The driveway at the King house is already full of cars and pickup trucks when I get there, so I have to park in the street. I know everyone present inside the house, of course, except for one man, though I do know of him. Football legend Calvin Daniels is the only famous person to ever hail from Torque. He also happens to be my father’s best friend from way back. He’s so much hotter in person than he is on TV, and he’s staring right at me, getting me all hot and bothered. I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry, and my pussy has gotten wet. That’s new.
This should be interesting.
three
Calvin
She’s here. I knew it the moment she entered the loud house. Everything seems to have gone silent, though I know that it hasn’t. My eyes turn to her and find her staring at me. She’s even more beautiful than in her pictures. Her brown hair is pulled back away from her face, but still, it’s wild. I can’t help imagining it spread out on my pillows after a night of wild lovemaking. Without blinking, we stare at one another for several moments before everything speeds up again. I can now hear my sister singing a Katy Perry song instead of the screaming I expected. Clint stands ashen next to her, which I did expect.
I am not even sure why they needed the midwife to be here. The child, a girl, is born within twenty minutes. No fuss or muss, not even a mess, really.
“Mom, I should go,” I say after I’ve met baby Lana. She was just a tiny thing in my arms. Lana was the first baby I’ve held, and I can see myself as a father for the first time. I glance back over at Esther
“All right, son. Don’t be a stranger now. We just got you back,” she says, giving me a huge hug. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have missed this.