Chicken In Greece excerpt, page 264…
Beel Beel, congratulations. You have given birth to another boy,” Theo cried. “I am so proud a boy. It is wonderful.”
“What are you talking about, Theo?” Bill exclaimed.
“A boy. A wonderful boy. Kay has been delivered.”
Bill was stunned, he started to rise. “But., what..do..you..”
“A very easy birth, I must say so myself. A wonderful job, as you say. I saw she was ready and pooph.”
Bill continued to stutter, “But..but..”
“Kay is inside with Yaya. Go. You may see.”
“But Theo, what’s going on?” Bill left the kitchen in a daze. How could the baby be born? Babies weren’t born that way. They were just making kokoretsi, it was impossible. He entered the delivery room. Kay was still in her dress lying on the table. It was a lie. “What is going on?” he asked her. She looked pale.
“There’s the baby,” she said weakly.
Yaya was sitting on the cot against the wall holding a bundle. Bill saw it move and turned to Kay. The picture of the room became clearer. Kay was on the table. Her dress was on. There was a little baby with Yaya. Kay did look weak, it was no lie, it had happened. He still couldn’t believe it, even in Greece things don’t happen that way. It had been only a few minutes since Kay and Theo left him in the kitchen. Could it be that in slow-moving Greece the baby was born so quickly?
Kay’s color was slowly coming back to her cheeks, but he saw it had been a tremendous effort. “Honey,” he said,
“I’m so happy. I’m shocked. Theo said it’s a boy. I can’t believe it. How do you feel? What can I do? Do you want anything?”
She squeezed his hand and whispered. “I’m so happy for you Theo was wonderful, he’s a great doctor. He said I helped.” She closed her eyes and a delicate, peaceful look came over her face.
“Hon, take it easy, don’t talk. We’ll have plenty of time to talk. I love you.”
“I love you.”
Theo came into the room. “I have called Bob, he is on the phone now. Katina, how do you feel?” He took her wrist and timed her pulse. “Fine, fine. You are fine. You see the method here, ten minutes, ten minutes.” He gave Dina an order and flew out of the room, turning to say, “I must finish the kokoretsi, tonight we will have a celebration. We have a boy. A boy!” He was extremely excited. Bill had never quite seen him just this way. Exuberant, yes, but never so excited. The fact that he had painlessly delivered a boy, an American boy, was thrilling. As Bill went to the phone he heard him in the kitchen shouting happily that he had brought a new American into the world in ten minutes. Only ten minutes. “A boy, Dina, did you see his thing. A great big boy.”
Bill picked up the phone, “Bob”
“What happened, I couldn’t understand, Theo. Kay have the baby?”
“Yeah, a boy. Can you believe it--ten minutes.”
“Congratulations, Dad. I’m going to set Jimmy up, I’ll be right over.”