“Okay,” Hannah said, handing Norman his paper cup of coffee and following him down the hall. “I should probably find a phone and call Bill.”

“I did that already. There’s nothing for us to do now but wait.”

“Waiting is the thing I hate to do the most,” Hannah said, gazing around as they entered the waiting room. There was a small Christmas tree on the table in the corner, and someone had strung red and green paper chains across the expanse of the ceiling. “This is nice. They decorated for Christmas. I wonder how long it takes to have a baby.”

Norman shrugged. “I asked the nurse that and she said, ‘It depends.’ She also told me that Doc Knight would come to tell us when the baby was born.”

Ten minutes passed as they paged through outdated magazines and pretended interest. Another five minutes passes as they stared at the small Christmas tree. The chairs were comfortable enough, and there was a television set that was programmed to play shorts entitled, “Baby’s First Bath,” and “Burping Your Baby,” but neither Hannah nor Norman felt like watching it.

“Restless?” Norman asked, catching her mood.

“Yes. Let’s walk.”

The hallway was wide and long, and Hannah wondered whether it had been designed for expectant fathers who wanted to stretch their legs. It felt good to walk off the tension, and Hannah linked arms with Norman and let him set the pace. The hallway was also decorated for Christmas with cutouts of Santas, reindeer, holly, wreaths, snowmen, and Christmas trees. Hannah counted the number of times they passed the snowman with the red muffler, and she was nearing one hundred when Mike came rushing down the corridor.

“How’s it going?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Hannah told him. “Norman asked the nurse and she said Doc Knight would come out and tell us once the baby’s born. Is Bill here?”

“Not yet. He’s still interviewing Babs, but he’ll come as soon as he can. Good thing I left you the Hummer.” Mike turned to Norman. “she handles great, doesn’t she?”

“Like a champ. Hannah didn’t have a bit of trouble.”

Hannah felt like applauding as Mike’s mouth dropped open. Norman certainly knew how to deliver a zinger. She gave him a little wink behind Mike’s back and then she reached out to take Mike’s arm. “Come walk with us. There’s nothing to do here except pace the floor.”

Time seemed to go a little faster with three of them pacing, or perhaps it was the conversation. Mike was just telling them about how Bill had come close to getting stuck only a few feet from the turnoff for the sheriff’s station, when Earl Flensburg came running down the hall.

“Boy, am I glad to see you here!” Earl said, reaching out to pump Hannah’s hand. “I went back to the community center and your little sister told me where you went. I just grabbed a cup of coffee and then I got back on the road and followed in your tracks. I figured that if you went off in the ditch, I could pull you out.”