Inside, she was sitting at the wedding table, the one where brides sat to order their invitations and their napkins and anything else a bride could want.
“Tara?” I said, because the expression on her face was very peculiar. “How come you didn’t cal me back? What’s ‘effaced’ mean? Does that mean you’re gonna have the babies soon?”
“Um-hum,” she said, but it was clear her attention was on something else entirely.
“Where’s McKenna?” Tara’s assistant had been working more and more hours as Tara grew more and more great with child. Wel , great with children.
“She’s at home. She’s been run off her feet. I told her to stay home today, that I’d work. Today’s my last day.”
“You don’t look like you can work a whole eight hours,” I said cautiously. Tara had gotten pretty snappish during her pregnancy, and the bigger she got, the more likely she’d become to give you her unvarnished opinion on almost anything—but especial y if you said something about her stamina or appearance.
“I can’t,” she said, and my mouth fel open.
“How come?” I said.
“I’m having the babies today.”
I felt a thread of panic rise up out of my stomach. “Does … who al knows this, Tara?”
“You.”
“You haven’t cal ed anyone else?”
“No. I’m just trying to deal. Having a little moment, here.” She tried to smile. “But I guess you better cal McKenna and tel her to come in to work, and you better cal JB and tel him to get to the hospital in Clarice, and you could cal his mama. Oh, and maybe the ambulance.”
“Oh my God! You’re hurting?” Oh, Shepherd of Judea!
She glared at me, but I don’t think she knew she was looking at me like she hoped I’d turn green. “It’s not too bad yet,” she said with an air of great restraint. “But my water broke just now, and since it’s twins …”
I was already punching in 911. I described the situation to the dispatcher, and she said, “Sookie, we’l be right over to get Tara. You tel her not to worry. Oh, and she can’t eat or drink anything, you hear?”
“Yes,” I said. I hung up. “Tara, they’re coming. Nothing to eat or drink!”
“You see any food around here?” she said. “Not a damn thing. I’ve been trying to keep my weight gain to a minimum, so Mr. Bare-Naked Booty wil have something to keep him home when I get over having his children.”
“He loves you! And I’m cal ing him right now!” Which I did.
After a frozen moment, JB said, “I’m coming! Wait, if you cal ed the ambulance, I’l meet it at the hospital! Have you cal ed the doctor?”
“She didn’t put him on my list.” I was waving my hands in agitation. I’d made a mistake.
“I’l do it,” JB said, and I hung up.
Since there didn’t seem to be anything I could do to help Tara (she was sitting absolutely stil with an expression of great concentration on her face), I cal ed Mrs. du Rone. Who said very calmly, “Al right, if you’re going to stay there with Tara, I’l drive straight to the hospital. Thank you, Sookie.” Then, without hanging up, she shrieked, “Donnel ! Go start the car! It’s time!”
I hung up. I cal ed McKenna, who said, “Oh my God! I just got out of bed! Lock up and I’l get there within an hour. Tel her I said good luck!”
Not knowing what else to do, I went to stand by Tara, who said, “Give me your hand.” I took her hand, and she got a death grip on mine. She began to pant in a rhythm, and her face turned red. Her whole body tensed. This close to her, I could smel something unusual. It wasn’t exactly a bad smel , but it was certainly one I’d never associated with Tara.
Amniotic fluid, I guessed.
I thought al the bones in my hand would snap before Tara finished puffing. We rested a moment, Tara and I, and her eyes remained fixed on some far-distant shore. After a short time, she said, “Okay,” as if I’d know what that signaled. I figured it out when we started again with the huffing and puffing. This time Tara turned white. I was incredibly relieved to hear the ambulance approaching, though Tara didn’t seem to notice.
I recognized the two EMTs, though I couldn’t recal their names. They’d graduated with Jason, or maybe a year ahead of him. As far as I was concerned, they had haloes.
“Hey, lady,” the tal er woman said to Tara. “You ready to take a ride with us?”
Tara nodded without losing her focus on that invisible spot.
“How close are the contractions, darlin’?” asked the second, a smal , stocky woman with wire-rimmed glasses. She was asking me, but I just gaped at her.
“Three or four minutes,” Tara said in a monotone, as if she thought she’d pop if she spoke emphatical y.
“Wel , I guess we better hustle, then,” the tal er woman said calmly. While she took Tara’s blood pressure, Wire Rims set up the gurney, and then they helped Tara up from the chair (which was soaking wet), and they got Tara onto the gurney and into the ambulance very quickly, without seeming to hurry in the least.
I was left standing in the middle of the store. I stared at the wet chair. Final y I wrote a note to McKenna. “You wil need to clean the chair,” it said. I stuck it to the back door, where McKenna would enter. I locked up and departed.
It was one of those days I regretted having a job. I could have gone to Clarice and waited for the birth of the babies, sitting in the waiting room with the other people Tara cared for.
I went into Merlotte’s feeling ridiculously happy. I just had time to put the mail on Sam’s desk when Kennedy came in the employee door, and India was hard on her heels. Both of them looked pretty down in the mouth, but I wasn’t having any of that. “Ladies,” I said. “We are gonna have us a good day here.”
“Sookie, I’d like to oblige, but my heart is breaking,” Kennedy said pathetical y.
“Oh, bul shit, Kennedy! It is not. You just ask Danny to share with you, you tel him what a man he is and how you love his hot body, and he’l tel his heap big secret. You got no reason to be insecure. He thinks you’re fabulous. He likes you more than his LeBaron.”
Kennedy looked stunned, but after a moment a smal smile flickered across her face.
“India, you’l meet a woman who’s worthy of you any day now, I just know it,” I told India, who said, “Sookie, you are as ful of bul shit as a cow is of milk.”
“Speaking of milk,” I said, “we’re going to hold hands and say a prayer for Tara, cause she’s having her babies right now.”
And that was what we did.
It wasn’t until I was halfway through my shift that I realized how much more enjoyable work was when you had a light heart. How long had it been since I’d let go of my worries and simply al owed myself to enjoy the happiness of another person?
It had been way too long.
Today, everything seemed easy. Kennedy was pouring beers and tea and water with lemon, and al the food was ready on time. Antoine was singing in the kitchen. He had a fine voice, so we al enjoyed that. The customers tipped wel , and everyone had a good word for me. Danny Prideaux came in to moon longingly at Kennedy, and his face when she gave him a smile—wel , it was al lit up.
Just when I was thinking I might glide through this day with happiness al around, Alcide came in. He’d clearly been working; there was a hard hat impression in his thick black hair, and he was sweaty and dirty like most of the men who came in at midday in the summer. Another Were was with him, a man who was just as glad to be in the air-conditioning. They breathed simultaneous sighs of relief when they sank into the chairs at a table in my section.
Truthful y, I was surprised to see Alcide in Merlotte’s. There were plenty of places to eat in the area besides our bar. Our last conversation hadn’t been exactly pleasant, and he’d never responded to the message I’d left on his cel phone.