Chapters (42)

Compton looked baffled. “That’s an old song, yes? By the Byrds?”

“It’s Ecclesiastes,” said Vani and Hannah together. Politely, Hannah hushed so Vani could explain, but Vani motioned at her to continue. She spoke almost without thinking. “Chapter three, verses one through eight. It’s one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible, but also one of the most unsettling because it doesn’t shy away from the inevitability of sorrow. We are promised war and grief and weeping and death”—she couldn’t look at Compton’s image, now immobile on the screen—“but also there’s a time for love. And peace.”

“And,” said Vani softly, “a time to embrace.”

“If I recall correctly,” Georgia said in a wry tone, “there’s also a time to refrain from embracing. Pretty much sums up our circumstances this year, doesn’t it?”

This broke the spell; even Compton broke into a genuine smile.

Georgia handed her phone to Jonah, who aimed it at her as she struggled up onto her elbows. “Listen. I’ve been giving some thought to something and I have a proposition to make. Y’all might think I’m crazy, though.”

“Does that mean crazier than normal, or . . .” Zadie let her voice trail off, smiling.

“Yes, crazier than normal. Well, fuck; what even is normal now?” Georgia was talking fast. “But I’ve had this idea, and Jonah and I have been talking it over, and I want to do it.”

Vani: “Please. The suspense is killing us.”

Georgia sat all the way up. The bulk of her abdomen loomed in front of her, already enormous. She rested her hands atop it. “I want you guys to be there for the birth.”

“How—”

“On a Zoom. Jonah can film it and you all can be with me when she’s born. She’s due the last week of January. Eight more weeks.”

She gazed straight ahead, stroking her belly, and then spoke off-screen to Jonah, who still held the phone’s camera. “You don’t have to get all up in there with the camera or anything. Keep it tasteful.”

“Tasteful, got it,” said a disembodied Jonah. “Don’t worry.”

Georgia redirected her attention to the camera. “Hannah?”

“Yes?”

“Would you be okay with delivering my baby? I heard my OB is taking an early retirement and I don’t like her partners. I could ask her about switching care. I mean, if you were okay with that.”

“I would be okay,” said Hannah. A soaring chorus rose in her chest, making it difficult to speak. “But I don’t have privileges at your hospital.”

“I’ll go to yours.”

“Yes,” said Hannah. Impossibly, tears welled in her eyes again. “Yes. I would be so honored to deliver your baby, Georgia. I would love that.”

16

A Redneck with a Snowplow

KIRA