Chapter 32
From a chair by the window, Flora spoke into her phone. “The doctor says he’s healthy.” Without asking, Celia knew she was talking to Manny and answering question after question. “He’s sort of a tan color, a little pinkish. He has a lot of hair . . . Eight pounds six ounces.” Celia couldn’t help smiling, knowing Manny was still interested in her, or at least in her baby. “Twenty inches . . . I don’t know how many centimeters. Look it up . . . I’ll ask.” Flora covered the phone with her hand. “Manny wants to know if you have diapers for the baby. He can bring you some from his work if you need some.”
Manny wanted to come visit.
Celia’s breath caught as Joana held up a package she found in the drawer of the bassinet. “They have diapers here at the hospital.”
Everything here was different from the hospital in Cape Verde. Here, instead of a curtain separating her from the other patients, she had delivered the baby in her own room, a room that included a bathroom.
Flora bid Manny good-bye, and Joana announced that she needed to leave for work.
“Thank you both so much for your help,” Celia told them.
“It was my pleasure,” Joana said. “I’m glad I got to see your baby boy come into the world.”
She still couldn’t believe Joana had talked to her, let alone assisted her through three hours of labor. There were many things about Joana that reminded her of her own mother—the scent of her skin cream, the pattern of her braid, and the way tears rolled down her cheeks as she caught sight of the baby for the first time. It comforted her one moment and felt like a betrayal the next. Celia’s mother didn’t even know about the birth yet.
Joana kissed Celia’s cheek, barely brushing against her skin—so different from the warm embrace Celia would have shared with her own mother.
“Do you mind if I stay, Mama?” Flora asked.
Joana glanced at Celia, silently asking whether she might rather be alone.
In this big castle of a hospital, Celia felt like a pauper among royalty. It would help to have company. She sent Flora a broad smile. “I’d love for you to stay. I suppose your mother’s right. I’m going to need someone to take care of the baby while I nap. I didn’t sleep at all last night.”
Joana kissed Flora and then gave a tiny lecture, wagging a finger. “You make sure and let Celia sleep. No chitter-chattering.”
After Joana left the room, Celia turned to Flora with a giggle in her voice. “You still want to have a baby?”
Flora wrinkled her nose. “Did it really hurt as much as it looked like it did?”
Celia nodded, pulling the baby close as he began to cry again. “More.”
“My mom’s right, then. You need your rest.” Flora held her hands out. “Why don’t you let me take him for awhile?”
“Okay,” Celia said. “Get the long strip of fabric out of my tote bag. We’ll tie him to you so you can walk him up and down the hall. That’ll calm him down.”
Flora did as she said, and Celia helped her tie the band around her middle with secure knots before she slipped the baby tightly in across Flora’s chest.
Flora wrapped her arms around the baby, providing additional security. “Maybe I’ll meet a nice guy as I walk up and down the halls.”
Celia laughed. “If you find a man here, he most likely already has a wife to take care of.”
Flora shrugged. “He might be visiting someone.”
It was now Celia’s turn to roll her eyes as she leaned back against her pillow. “There are a lot of things about men that you don’t understand, Flora. When you find a man, you should be choosing the best one possible. Believe me. I learned the hard way. Don’t let them pick you. You be the one to pick.”
Flora was still, standing there, her eyes wide, so Celia went on, “You have to be careful, though. You want someone who’s dedicated to you. I married André because he was different than my father. My father never married my mother, so I thought the ceremony would make a difference. I think for many people it does, but I’ve learned it’s not marriage alone that makes a man committed. He has to be committed in his heart. He has to be a good man to begin with. Your brother’s a good man. Try to find someone like him, someone honest and mild.”
Flora came closer, sitting on the edge of the bed and raising her eyebrows. “My brother, huh? So, have you picked anyone?”
Celia could not believe she was having this conversation. As if she would be aching for a man on the day she gave birth. Someone to help take care of the baby would make her feel more secure. It just wasn’t a possibility for her. She huffed out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be like your mother and take care of just myself and my child for the rest of my life.” What man would take in another man’s ex-wife and raise his baby? Not a good man like Manny. He deserved better.
Flora stared at the baby for a minute before she responded. “You’re right about Manny. He is a good man. I may not like him that much, but he’ll make someone a good husband.”
Celia suppressed a sigh. “Della is a lucky woman.” She should have been happy for any woman who found a good man—after all she’d been through with André, she couldn’t wish a bad man on any woman. She just wished Della could have found someone, anyone, other than Manny. Logically, she knew it was a slim chance for her to ever win Manny’s love again. She didn’t deserve his forgiveness. Nor did she believe that she was pretty enough to have a chance anymore. All she had to do was look in the mirror to prove that to herself. Her face would never be back to normal—not without a false tooth and major surgery on her nose.
After that, Flora took the baby into the hall, but she didn’t last long out there. The nurses brought her back into the room, explaining that the baby had to stay in his bassinet while he was out in the hallway.
So instead of walking the halls and looking for men, Flora rocked the baby in the chair by the window. Celia sent an e-mail to her mother and Toon. She tried messaging them on Flora’s phone, but the connection wasn’t good, and nurses kept interrupting to check up on her. After that, a doctor came to examine the baby. Flora went along with him as he took the baby to another room for a hearing test, leaving Celia alone to try messaging her mother again.
No one answered.
She should have been sleeping, but questions raced across her mind. How would she keep the baby quiet at night while Vicki slept? What if he failed his hearing test? Could she keep up her jewelry production while she cared for him?
Flora came back with the doctor, who announced that the baby seemed perfect in every way. Celia took the baby in her arms, feeling the peace that came from his presence. Maybe she didn’t need to worry so much.
The day wore on with one hospital worker after another coming in until night fell. The baby was still fussy, and Flora had to walk him back and forth in the room.
When he finally went to sleep, she laid him in the bassinet beside Celia. “I want a baby more than ever . . . but I’ll be okay for now if I can borrow yours.”
“You’re welcome to all the time with him you want.” Celia swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached to embrace Flora. “You have no idea how much I appreciate all your help, but I want you to go home now. You need your sleep, so you can do well in school, come Monday.”
They bid each other good-bye, and Flora turned out the light as she left.
Celia closed her eyes, listening to the baby’s soft breathing and trying to adjust the complicated hospital bed into a position that felt normal. She tossed and turned, thinking she might never sleep again as excitement and worry wrestled together in her thoughts.
She had never planned to raise a child all by herself—the way her mother had. That was, in fact, the exact opposite of what she’d always wanted. But not only was she without a husband, she was without a mother or father—without any family. Sure, her friends would always be willing to help, but in the end, she was alone, thousands of miles from home, with a newborn baby who depended on her for everything.