Todd could tell something had happened, but he didn’t know exactly what. He knew the demon knew it, too, because it became angry and agitated and swore under its breath. Todd knew that whatever had happened must be good if the demon didn’t like it. Still, he had no idea what had to be done next.
His mother was in bad shape now. Her pains were more regular.
“The baby’s coming soon,” she told him. “Very soon. Just stay and help me, Todd.”
“It’s ok, Mom,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere. You’ll be fine.”
“Hey, you’ll be the only kid on the block to have delivered a baby,” she said. “Won’t you have a story to tell your baby sister!”
Todd forced a laugh. “Yeah, she’ll owe me big time!”
“She sure will. We’ll both owe you big time. I’ll tell you what, when we get out of here we’re going out for a huge ice cream sundae.”
“I want chocolate chip ice cream with whipped cream and cherries,” Todd said, playing along with his Mom.
“And I want strawberry. With whipped cream and nuts.”
His mother’s face winced in pain and she struggled not to cry out.
“I think she’s coming, Todd,” she said. “You know what to do?”
He nodded. She had told him what to expect and what he had to do. He thought it was gross and disgusting, but he couldn’t let that stop him. When the baby’s head came out he was supposed to hold it steady and help guide it out by pulling, but not too hard, as his mother pushed. He knew about cutting the chord, and had found a sharp stone for this purpose. And he knew about getting air into the baby’s lungs if she didn’t cry. The only thing he didn’t know was what the demon was going to do next.
He looked at the monster from the corner of his eyes. It didn’t actually look like a monster anymore. It appeared as a normal man. But he knew better. He’d seen it transform and he knew what it really was. Even now, he wondered what it was up to as it drew shapes in the sand and chanted foreign-sounding words. He knew nothing good could come of that. He’d never seen anything like that in the normal world.
He turned back to look at his mother. Her face was scrunched up in pain. He knelt down between her legs and waited. He’d never seen his mother naked before, and it made him very uncomfortable. He just wanted this whole thing to be over. He wasn’t a doctor and he didn’t know how to deliver a baby. What if something went wrong? What if it got stuck.
Todd blinked hard to hold back the tears. And suppose the baby was born ok, and things went right. What then? The demon wasn’t going to just let them all go, just like that. It had something horrible planned for them. And Todd was afraid he would be the one to come out the worst.
He’d seen that awful head growing from the thing’s shoulder earlier. Would he end up like that? He knew he’d rather die than become a monster like that. He thought if it came to that choice he’d figure out a way to kill himself. He’d keep that sharpened stone just in case he needed it for more than just cutting his sister’s chord when she was born. He might have to use it on himself.
Then his mother clenched her teeth and reared up, and a pool of liquid flowed from her and onto the sand. She’d told him this would happen, but it grossed him out anyway and he wished he could be sick. But he swallowed hard and didn’t let on that it bothered him. He had to be strong now. They were in enough trouble without him caving in and being a baby.
“It’s ok, Mom,” he said. “I’m here. We’re going to be ok.”
She forced a smile and wiped away a tear.
Todd took another look at the demon. The monster was totally absorbed in whatever it was doing now. Todd wished the baby would hurry up and be born before this thing finished whatever weird plans it had cooked up.