Crystal Clear Ch. 19

One of the nurses had been hovering around Summer's nether region. She announced to the room, "She's ten centimeters. Pretty soon now. She's all shaved."

Summer's complexion was flushed and blotchy, and she'd clearly been pushing and trying to rid her body of the baby. I could only sympathize. She smiled as the pain passed, "I am so glad you're here. I wanted you so badly to see this ... I mean this is ours ... all three of us." She reached out with her right hand and grabbed George's hand, and with her left hand grabbed my hand. She had tears of joy and pain simultaneously running down her face.

I saw a wet washcloth on a stand beside the bed; I picked it up and started to wipe down Summer's face. She closed her eyes and relished the attention.

A nurse handed me a paper cup full of ice chips and a spoon. "Here; you can give her some of these. It'll help cool her down a little and ease the pain."

I asked, "Are you on anything?"

Summer grimaced and said, "Nothing between me and the pain. Just you guys." Her eyes got big and she said, "Oh, fuck, here comes another one."

Summer threw her head back and grimaced in agony as another labor pain swept through her body. I had seen the nurse massage the baby bump that now made up most of her lower body. I took over as her legs tensed and pushed into the stirrups on the end of the table. I rubbed for all I was worth, even feeling the ripples of the abdominal and uterine muscles as I did.

As the pain passed and Summer squinted at me, I fed her a few of the ice chips. She gobbled them down as fast I could feed them too her, at least until the nurse said to go a little slow on intake otherwise she'd just vomit.

Summer gave me a grimaced grin. She said, "I can actually feel my pelvic bone separating – pulling apart when one of those pains rips through me. I think I'm really close." She sobbed, "Oh, God, I'm so glad George and you are here with me."

The obstetrician looked up from his seat in front of Summer's vagina and said, "She's right. The bones have moved, and the baby is crowning. You can come look if you want."

I nodded to George to go first. He walked behind the doctor and looked over his shoulder. He then gestured me to that viewpoint.

I moved next to the doctor, and sure enough Summer's vagina was stretched tight almost to the tearing point, but where there might have been a dark opening I could see the top of the baby's head – a red, slightly hairy, blotch of skin I knew to be the crown of the baby's head. I reached forward with my right hand and gently touched the baby. Oh, my God, I had just touched my child while it remained in its mother's womb. Tears started to roll down my cheeks I was so touched.

I looked at Summer and she gave me a wan smile. She reached out her hand to me, and I moved back to her side. She squeezed me tightly until her knuckles turned white.

The doctor talked to Summer, instructing her about how when the next labor pain hit to push down, to bare down, and to use all her muscles to push the baby from her womb.

I poured some of the melted water from the cup of ice into the washcloth and wiped down Summer's forehead with the coldness. She gave me a look of thanks.

And then, the next pain hit hard. Summer's grip on my hand almost crushed my bones it was so intense. I could see George shared the same experience. She pushed much longer than before, her hips even rotating up towards the doctor slightly.

I heard the doctor urging her on, "Keep pushing, Summer. Harder. More. Harder." I could see his hands working around her vagina. I watched as he used a pair of surgical scissors to cut part of the skin so it wouldn't tear around the opening. I could see Summer's blood on his gloves. Summer hadn't even flinched at the incision.

Suddenly, I saw the doctor scramble. He announced with enthusiasm, "I have the head Summer, you can back off for a minute. This is going like a textbook delivery."

I put more ice in the washcloth, and let Summer suck on it. She had her eyes closed and had turned beet red. She had only one mission in life in these moments – to complete the birth process.

I peeked over Summer's legs, and there in all its splendor was a baby's head fully exposed to its new environment. The doctor was rapidly suctioning the baby's mouth with some little squeegee device.

I felt Summer's grip tighten on my hand again; this time I was ready. She pushed hard and the doctor coached her some more. Summer groaned and grunts, followed by a long terrifying wail that could have been heard miles away.

The doctor loudly said, "She's out. I have her. The baby's here, and she looks just fine – a nice healthy baby girl."

Summer's eyes fluttered open, and she saw her baby for the first time. She'd felt this life inside her for months, had been its home and sustenance, and now she'd become it's mother for the rest of her life.

I cried. George was crying tears of joy too. Now, Summer was smiling with joy.

I watched as clamps were put on the umbilical cord and that line of life cut between mother and infant. A nurse took the baby away momentarily to a separate table in a sterile wash and wrap. Summer followed her newborn with her eyes.

A lesser pain for Summer pushed out the placenta as a nurse massaged her abdomen; the doctor caught the bloody mass in a surgical pan, and I watched him examine the gory mass. He said to me, "I have to be sure the placenta is all here; once in a while part of it will stay behind and we have to fish it out, but this one looks complete."

A nurse took the pan away. The second nurse presented the doctor with a suture kit, and he immediately started to repair the bloody episiotomy he'd done only minutes earlier. Again, Summer seemed oblivious to any pain. After he'd finished, I watched as the doctor pushed and held down on Summer's uterus from her abdomen. He stood there unmoving for a couple of minutes.

George and I both looked concerned. He explained, "She's bleeding a little internally and this pressure will help stop the leakage. It's normal."

The nurse brought the baby back to Summer; it had been cleaned and now looked bright pink and had a little pink beanie on her head. I could see where the umbilical cord had been tied closer to the baby's skin and tied off with dark surgical thread.

Summer took the baby with a huge smile on her face. The nurse pulled aside Summer's sweat-soaked hospital gown and exposed her breasts. Summer suckled the baby to her chest, and the baby started to go through some tentative motions to find a teat. Summer guided one of her erect nipples to the baby's mouth.

The nurse explained, "You probably remember this from your first, but it may take a day or so for them to learn where to look for their next meal, in the meantime you'll start to lactate full tilt. This babe looks perfect. She's nineteen inches long, and weighs in at seven pounds, eight ounces – that's a healthy weight too; and look at that beautiful brown hair she already has." The nurse pulled off the little cap for a moment to display the baby's scalp and ultra-fine hair.

Summer twirled the microscopically thin hair in one finger right at the spot where I'd touched the baby while it had still been inside Summer's birth canal.

The doctor jovially asked, "Does this one have a name yet?"

Summer said proudly, "Oh, yes. Crystal Lee Edith Ellis."

I hadn't heard the name before; I'd never thought to ask. I sobbed again and started crying so hard I couldn't see for a long time. I felt Summer squeeze my hand in love through my teary blindness.

After I got my act together, I called Crystal about seven in the morning. I woke her, but she came alert and also broke into tears upon hearing that the Ellis' had used her name as part of the baby's name. I described the delivery twice, once to Crystal and again when Crystal, Ellen, Claire, and Nadia were on the speakerphone. I rang off to go and be with my Ohio family.

George and I sat on the hospital bed on either side of Summer who held Crystal to her bare breasts. What might have been erotic in other circumstances, only felt like a beautiful tableau dedicated to motherhood. The baby slept on its mother's chest. Edie sat in a chair; Little Jim slept in the car seat beside her. The sun was out, and I don't think any of us had slept for longer than thirty minutes all night long.

Doctor Kettle had finished another examination of baby and mother. "Everyone is doing fine. You can go home late this afternoon or stay until tomorrow."

Summer said in a knowing voice, "I vote for tomorrow. I think I'll rest better here knowing the baby is down the hall with good care. I need a solid night's sleep, and so do my various lovers."

The doctor nodded and then looked at George and me; "I know the arrangement you had to create this baby – and Little Jim too. I must congratulate you for what I can tell is one of the most loving and sustaining sets of relationships I have ever seen that involved more than one person. Summer gave me Edie's articles about you from several months ago. I gather you and George go back to high school."

I spoke, "Yes, tenth grade, and then military service together. We don't see each other nearly enough. Now, I have one more reason to be up here more frequently."

Edie came and sat by my side on the bed. She put an arm around me and put her head on my shoulder in a loving gesture. I hugged her to me.

The doctor looked surprised; "Are you his girlfriend?"

Edie smirked, "One of them. There's, of course, Crystal Lee – the singer, Ellen, Claire, Jill Danes – the actress, Nadia, Pat, Nancy, Tanya, June, Kim, Mils, Margo, and lots more, and ... well, we call ourselves 'Mellon Girls.'"

Dr. Kettle rolled his eyes and said, "I can only guess what that means."

Edie didn't leave it at that; she added, "Being a Mellon Girl means we've all learned to love without jealousy, and with only care for each other and for Jim or anyone else. This is how Jim's wired. It's how George, Summer, and I are wired – and we're also a triad. Once I understood, I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders." She was effusive in her delight.

Kettle smiled, "I salute you one and all. If it works for you, I hope you can expand that idea to the rest of the world."

Edie and I slept all afternoon in the guest room. We'd gotten naked, but neither of us made any advance on the other. We were bone tired and just wanted the intimate contact nudity afforded.

The alarm went off at six. I found that Edie had gotten up a couple of hours earlier with Little Jim. I hadn't heard a thing. I went and roused George. The three of us dressed and went back to the hospital with Little Jim for another hour.

Summer proudly announced that the baby had discovered her teat, and seemed to be figuring out what to do with it. I announced that I would be happy to demonstrate, an offer that resulted in a punch in my arm as I sat next to Summer.

After our visit, we kissed Summer goodbye. George, Edie, Little Jim, and I went to Applebee's for dinner. Edie enjoyed playing mommy to Little Jim, and my son found great delight in her. Amazingly, we made it through dinner without disrupting the entire restaurant.

Back at the house, Edie and I got Little Jim ready for bed, I tried to read him a story with only modest success, and then we bedded him down for the night. George came and kissed his son goodnight too.

As we walked out of the nursery, George announced, "I'm still wiped out; I'm heading off to bed. You two make yourselves at home ... and have fun." He gave us a wink, turned, and headed off to the master bedroom.

Edie came and snuggled next to me on the sofa. It was the first relaxed time awake that we'd had since I'd arrived. I wrapped both arms around Edie, and she leaned against my chest and placed one of my hands on her breast. She wasn't wearing a bra, and I could feel the nipple harden almost instantly.

I said, "You seem to have formed a nice relationship with George and Summer."

Edie nodded, "Yes. What started nine months ago prevails today – only stronger. I told you a long time ago that we're lovers. I come see them every two, three, or four weeks for a long weekend, as much time as I can get away. I want to move up here permanently, but I have to figure out how to carry my share economically when I do. When Summer felt poorly towards the end of her pregnancy, I came up more often. I even took time off. I made love with George a lot especially those times so he'd keep his focus on Summer; she'd always be with us – I insisted. I feel part of their family, even more than with my parents and older brother. The Ellis' are so nice; I love them so."

I said with a chuckle, "We are a unique bunch of people. What would your readers say if you put what you told the doctor about Mellon Girls and what you've done for the Ellis' in your newspaper?" I raised my eyebrows in speculation.

We both laughed.

Edie twisted around and started to undo my shirt. She had a gleam in her eye. I suggested we go up to the bedroom, and she liked that idea. Two minutes later we were getting naked and enjoying how each other felt, and kissed, and licked. We swayed back and forth in front of each other kissing and intimately touching each other as our clothes fell away. I ran one finger around Edie's hot breasts, exciting each nipple. My other hand dipped between her legs; she spread them apart further for me. When I felt her slit, she was sopping wet. She'd been thinking about this moment for a long time.

As Edie wrapped her hand around my hardening cock, she whispered, "Jim, I have a favor to ask."

I panted after one of our hottest kisses yet, "Anything, Darling. What is it?"

Edie said in a slow, soft, measured tone, "Well, I'm not even ready, but I have so dreamed about this recently. I'd like you to make me pregnant. I want your baby."

To be continued