Exactly two weeks ago today, right before dinner, we received a call from Tammy. She told Joyce, "I think I might be in labor." That's all it took! A smoothly oiled machine rolled into action as Joyce marshaled her troops (me) and began issuing orders. Phone calls were placed and arrangements made for dog feeding and walking and an alert went out to our respective workplaces. There was no packing to do, the suitcases were already in the car, as they had been for two weeks.In less than an hour we were speeding down the freeway as if the hounds of hell were in pursuit! By 7:30 we were stopped at a roadside rest stop placing calls to Sarah, Geoff, Shelly, Kathy and JJ and then we were sailing up Snoqualmie pass and on to Spokane. We stopped in Ellensburg for gas and searched in vain for an open Starbucks, but by 10:15 they were closed down and settled in their snug little beds I guess, so we settled for a coke for a jolt of caffeine and pressed on.
At 1:30AM we arrived at the hospital, which we found locked down. We had to enter through the emergency room by the psych ward and after much bumbling around we found our way to the birthing center. By the time we found Tammy, she had been given an epidural and seemed pretty mellow for a woman in labor. Of course, Tyler was focused on food, not having eaten dinner before coming to the hospital. Scott came to the rescue with a late night run to a fast food
place he knew about. At about 2:15 I said, I'm going down to the car to see if I can sleep for a bit. The other reason I went to the car was that I was not all that sure that we were parked legally (Joyce couldn't be bothered with such minutiae as a legal parking spot) and didn't want the car towed away. At about 4 AM Joyce called me and said, "You need to go to the house and let the Pugs out" I drove through the deserted streets to Tammy and Tyler's and took my blanket and pillow in with me. I found a comfortable spot in the recliner in the living room and went back to sleep with the complaints of Gunther in my ears. However, there was no way that I was about to let Gunther get up at 4:30 even if he did protest a bit. Finally he settled down and we all went to sleep until 7 AM when Joyce called again with instructions for feeding the "boys".
Tank and Gunther seemed to sense that something was up. After breakfast and a jaunt into the back yard for their morning poo, they settled down on the recliner focused intently on the front door. There they sat in anticipation of the return of their family unaware that everything would be different when Tammy and Tyler returned.
At 7:30 I gassed up the car, found a Starbucks open and got my caffeine fix, then I was rolling back to the hospital. When I got to Division Street Joyce called again, "You better hurry!" she said. Of course, it didn't take that long to get to the hospital, but finding a parking spot and my way back to the birthing center took awhile. After joining Scott in the waiting room, and reminiscing about the births of our children we were ushered into the birthing room just in time to meet our grandson for the first time. He was in fine form, with lots of black hair, which they promptly covered up with a beanie. He reminded me of his uncle JJ without the braided beard.
Tammy looked exhausted, but radiant, and Tyler just stared at Zander with a look of awe. All the while, Grandma Jo was making like a paparazzi in pursuit of a scandalous rock star snapping photos of little Zander over Tyler's shoulder, from under his arm and around the side of his head. I managed to snap a couple of shots myself, although it was hard without a flash since everyone insisted on rocking him when they held him. Joyce and Shannon were glued to their cell phones calling one person after another with the glad tidings! And I probably don't need to add that everyone was beaming.
Pretty soon we were ushered onto the other side of the curtain so that they could deal with Tammy in private. That's when Joyce came to me and said, "Tammy wants you to hold your grandson before we go home." What a wonderful surprise. I took him from Joyce and it all came back. Holding my own children for the first time and my grand daughter for the first time last year and now my grandson. He didn't cry or fuss, I guess I still have the feel for holding a baby and then he stuffed his hand in his mouth and started sucking his fingers.
All too soon we had to scramble for the exit and start the drive back to the wet side (we had an upcoming audit scheduled at work and there was more prep to do). As we drove through wind and driving rain Joyce and I basked in the experience we had just shared. We were both tired and sore from sleeping in awkward positions, but elated! Then as we were closing in on Moses Lake and the car was set in cruise right at the speed limit, we began to climb a hill. I pushed down on the accelerator so we wouldn't slow down... That's when I spotted the Highway Patrol car in the median. I looked down at the speedometer and saw the needle pointing at 80. Of course then I saw the red light flashing in the rearview mirror and pulled over. I got out my driver's license and registration all the while thinking "How much is it for doing 80 in a 70 zone?"
The officer looked at my license and said, "Mr Bunch, the speed limit is posted as 70, but when the weather is bad we generally expect drivers to slow down, not speed up." I lamely replied, "I had the car on cruise and was trying to compensate for the hill." Even I thought that sounded lame. Then came the moment when the officer goes back to his car to write the ticket and to check to make sure you aren't a wanted terrorist or drug runner up from Mexico on his way to Yakima. He came back to the car, handed me my license and registration and said, "You will slow down, won't you?" "Yes, officer." and that was it! No TICKET!
As we headed back down the freeway, at a slower rate of speed, we started talking about the strange streak of luck that seemed to come in the wake of Zander's birth. Even before he was born, Joyce had opened a piece of mail just before Tammy called and found a check for back child support, but instead of the typical 20 bucks she found more than $600. Then Tammy called and we were telling her about the good luck when she told this amazing story. After Tyler had settled Tammy into the birthing room he had to go back to the car for some things. On the way back from the parking lot he spotted a piece of paper drifting around in the breeze. He grabbed it and found himself holding a hundred dollar bill! Talk about a lucky baby. He has two wonderful parents, an extended family who dote on him and a couple of adoring Pugs (or at least one) all here to welcome him to our clan. But Zander brings his own special brand of luck. If I were Tammy and Tyler, I'd be buying lottery tickets with his birth date, and vital statistics for numbers. Who knows, he might just win enough to pay his own way in this world!
