And Along Came Jake (24 page)

 I truly hope this letter will help you throughout life; I wish I could have told you this in person, when you were old enough to understand, but just watching you sleep in your crib makes me smile, and brings me peace.

I love you Paul, my grandson,

Grandma Eleanor

<><> 

As the minister finished reading, Jake put his hand to his cheek, and wiped a tear just before it reached his chin. As he did so, his mind went back to the day his mother found him at the Brierly's home, when he was just a boy. He remembered running to the old barn, and then shortly after, Big Paul came and talked to him about going to make up with his mother. Jake reminded himself of a certain letter Big Paul mentioned; a letter his grandmother wrote to him when he was just a baby. He said one day he would read it to him. It seems that he'd never have that chance, however, there was no question, this was the very letter he was talking about all that time.

As the snow began to fall, the rest of the service went by rather quickly. Then, when it was over, everyone slowly left the barn and made their way home, to have a bite to eat and talk about their own memories of Mr. Paul Sutton.

Jake, Madison, and her parents, along with Edwin and Ashley stayed to watch the workers lower the casket into the ground, and start to cover it up with dirt. Mr. and Mrs. Brierly stayed for a little while, but the chill of the winter air was too much for them. They gave everyone a hug and headed to their home. Shortly after, Ashley convinced Edwin that it was time to go, or she would freeze to death. Then a few minutes after they left, Jake saw Madison shivering, but stayed by him watching as they continued to fill the grave with dirt.

"Why don't you go on home, honey?" Jake said to his shivering wife.

"Are you sure sweetie?" she asked, as her teeth chattered together. "I think I'm okay, I'll stay here with you.

"Go on to the house, babe." he said, rubbing her back, trying to generate some heat. "You look tired anyway, and I'm not sure this weather is good for the baby either."

"I guess you're right, honey." she answered. "How about I go and make us some hot tea?"

"That'd be great, Maddie. I'll just stay here a few more minutes."

As Jake watched his beautiful, pregnant wife waddle her way back to the house, he smiled. then directed his attention back to the grave site, and watched the workers put their shovels in the back of their truck, and leave the property.

Apart from the snow coming down, and the wind stinging his face, Jake felt a peace and calm as he stood, looking at the mound of dirt which covered his good friend, mentor and father figure.

Jake pulled the letter from his pocket that the minister gave him, upon Big Paul's request, and he fell to his knees and began to weep. He could only remember crying that hard when he was just a boy learning of his father's passing. He could never understand how one morning he talked to his father, and that afternoon he was gone forever.

After a few minutes of deep, painful sorrow, Jake took out a handkerchief and blew his nose. He used the sleeve of his trench coat to wipe his face and eyes, then took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, with a sorrowful and uncontrollable frown on his face.

He slowly got up from the snowy ground, walked over to the front of the old barn and opened the door. As he walked inside, he noticed a few scattered items that Madison left behind when she moved back into the house.

He took a few minutes to look through some of the things. He noticed a rocking chair that he and Big Paul made together, when he was just a boy. It was the very rocker that Big Paul taught him his first lesson in furniture making.

It was extremely sturdy and rocked very well, but, as he inspected it a little closer, his well trained eye quickly spotted a few flaws from his early days in furniture building. After sitting and rocking for a few minutes, remembering moments he and Big Paul shared, he decided to go and have that hot cup of tea with his wife.

He walked inside and could hear the whistle of the tea pot, and noticed two cups with matching saucers placed on the table. His wife took the pot off the stove, as the whistle quickly faded. She waddled to the table and began to pour hot water into the cups.

"Well…what do you have there, Jake Patterson?" she asked watching him set the rocking chair down.

"It's the first rocker Big Paul and I made together, when I was just a boy!" he smiled, and pushed it, causing it to rock back and fourth.

"And what's it doing in here?" She smiled, already knowing his thoughts.

"I thought we could put it in the baby's room, and use it to try and comfort our little one."

"I think that's a great idea, babe. You can put it in the nursery right after we have our tea."

<><><> 

Christmas, New Years, and the holidays, were bittersweet without Big Paul around. Jake and Madison received many gifts for the baby, clothes, toys, and all the necessities. Some gifts secretly expressed the buyers hope for the baby's gender, by getting things in either pink or blue.

Big Paul's furniture store was keeping Jake, Edwin, Chad and Tommy extremely busy. there was even talk about the possibilities of expanding the store to other surrounding towns.

For the next few of weeks, Madison's midwife, Gretchen, would come by the house regularly, to check on her progress, making sure everything was okay. She gave them step by step instructions, and needed them to know exactly what to do and be prepared for when Madison's water broke. Jake was always preoccupied, or too busy to listen to Gretchen's instructions, so she made absolute sure that Madison knew exactly what to do.

It was a lazy Saturday, January 15, 1945. Jake and Madison were in the living room with the radio on. Madison was reading a book, while Jake was sketching out a design for a new chair he wanted to build.

"Uhh-Jake!" Madison said, in a shaky voice as she put her book down. "I think my water just broke!"

"What did you break, honey?" Jake asked, still concentrating on the design.

"Honey!" she said, trying to stay calm. "Honey, look at me!"

"Yes babe, what is––Oh my gosh! Your water just broke!" He yelled, throwing the sketch on the floor. He stood up and began pacing and talking to himself.

"Jake—Jake—JAKE!" she finally yelled. "It's gonna be okay, just call Gretchen, and tell her my water broke, then call my parents. Oh, boil some water, and get some towels and blankets."

"Okay…" he said. "Wait, how do you know all this?" He asked, dialing the operator.

"From Gretchen!" she said. "But you wouldn't know anything about that though, because you were always––"

"Helen, Helen!" Jake said to the operator. This is Jake Patterson, Madison's having the baby! Can you ring me to Gretchen Roman? It's an emergency." There was a short pause on the phone, then he heard Gretchen's voice on the other line.

"Gretchen—Gretchen, Madison's having the baby now! what do we––Hello—Hello?"

"What'd she say?" Madison asked.

"She didn't say anything, she hung up on me." He said, holding the lifeless receiver in his hand.

"She's on her way then." Madison said as she began to breathe rapidly. "Call my parents, and do the other stuff I told you to do."

Jake called the operator again, and tried to get patched through to the Brierly's, but there was no answer. He immediately tried a second time, and again, no answer. He nervously hung up, and brought Madison a glass of water.

"Here Maddie!" Jake said handing her the glass of water. "Here's the water you told me to get!"

"I didn't say get some water––I said boil some water!"  She yelled between her teeth.

"Oh—okay, I'll do that right now!" He said as he ran to the kitchen, searching until he found a pan deep enough. He filled it with water and put it on the stove to boil.

"Jake!" Madison called in a nervous voice. "I think I need to push now!"

"No, no, no!" Jake repeated. "No pushing until Gretchen gets here!"

"I'm sorry Jake, but I really don't think this baby cares if Gretchen's here or not, I need to–––Ahh!" Madison yelled, as she began to breathe deep and push with all her might.

"Alright… I'll be right back, I'm gonna get the blankets and towels.

"Okay, but hurry!" Madison yelled, pushing once more.

"Here you go, honey." Jake returned, placing towels and blankets under and around her.

"Jake Patterson!" She said, looking him straight in the eye, "You've got to deliver this baby."

"Deliver the? I can't do that, I don't know the first thing to do!"

"Jake Henry Patterson! If you can cross that beach at Normandy and make it back here alive, then you can do anything! Now get this baby out of me!"

"Okay… you're right, I can do this!" He said, rolling up his leaves, and positioning himself in front of her.

"I'm gonna push…  here I go!" She said breathing rapidly.

"I see the—" He said as he paused. "I can see the top of the head." He said as Madison screamed and pushed once again, causing the baby's head to crown a bit more.

The front door flew open and Gretchen Roman ran toward Madison, pushed Jake to the side, and got into position. She instructed Jake to get the instruments from her bag and put them in the boing water to sterilize. These would be used to clamp and cut the baby's umbilical cord.

"You're doing great, honey!" Gretchen said. "You need to push real hard on this one, I know it hurts, but you need to push real hard, okay?"

"Alright!" Madison nodded as she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and pushed with all her might.

Jake quickly went to the kitchen to sterilize the medical instruments, and tried once again to call Madison's parents. This time he was able to get through, and they were on their way over.

The baby was slowly coming out, then Gretchen realized there was a problem. Her worst fear had come to pass, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, cutting off its circulation and airway.

"Push, Madison push! This baby need's to come out— and I mean now!" she said.

When the baby was finally delivered, Madison could see the fear on both Gretchen and Jake's faces, as Gretchen quickly unwrapped the umbilical cord and did everything she could to get the newborn to breathe. She cleared its nose and mouth, but the baby still wasn't breathing. The Brierly's came through the front door and immediately knew something was wrong.

"The baby's not breathing!" Jake yelled to the Brierly's, fear and sadness filled his voice.

With all the commotion going on, and everyone giving their ideas on what to do, Madison sat herself up, and took a deep breath. "Give me my baby." Madison said to Gretchen, who was still trying to get the baby to breathe.

"The baby's not breathing yet, honey!" Gretchen warned. "But I'm still trying!"

"Give me my baby!" Madison said sternly, as Gretchen conceded, and handed the breathless newborn to its mother.

Madison looked at her son, smiled and began to sing while lightly rubbing and patting the center of its chest.

"Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

Up above the world so high

Like a––"

Suddenly, there was a deep gasp, and immediately the baby began to cry, the loudest sweetest cry any of them had ever heard.

"See, I knew you could do it, Little Paul." she cooed as she and the others began to cry, right along with the newborn.

Gretchen went to the kitchen, and came back with the sterile medical tools. She clamped the umbilical cord, and handed Jake the scissors asking him to cut it.

Madison's parents knelt down beside her, Jake and the baby and began to gaze upon their beautiful grandson. They kissed Madison and gave Jake a big hug and handshake.

"So" Gretchen said. "His name's Little Paul, what's his full name?"

"His full name is––" Madison paused, "Paul Bradford Patterson."

"Paul Bradford Patterson!" Jake repeated with a smile. Yep, that's my boy!"

"What's the significance?" Gretchen curiously asked.

"Paul, as you well know, is named after 'Big Paul' who we all loved and adored. It's our way to honor such a loving, caring wonderful man."

"And Bradford," Jake interjected. "Came from the bravest man I've ever known. He was my Platoon Sergeant when we hit the beaches of Normandy. He led me, Edwin and a few others to safety, but died only a few yards before reaching the safety of the seawall. I'll never forget Staff Sergeant Bradford, and that's why we gave him that for a middle name.

Later that evening, the new parents and grandparents stood over the crib for what seemed like eternity, gazing upon the most beautiful sight any of them have ever seen.

It's been said, that every dark cloud has a silver lining. The death of Big Paul was definitely a dark cloud; however, the silver lining came in the form of a beautiful healthy baby boy, named Paul Bradford Patterson, better known, as 'Little Paul.'