The Plan
He entered the trailer and set his satchel, heavy with sample books, down by the door. Sighing, he walked into the kitchen. His wife, eight months pregnant, looked upset. Thin, even in pregnancy, she was beautiful, with long, thick brown hair, and thick horn-rimmed glasses.
“I visited the hospital today, they say it’s going to cost five thousand dollars, to give birth at there.”
“What? That’s highway robbery. We’ll do it at home. I’ve helped a hundred calves be born; it’s not that different”. Lean and rangy, he spoke with the kind of confidence only found in young, god-fearing men. A man who talks to God, and truly believes he’s blessed.
He was wearing a hand-me-down suit, and looked exactly like what he was. A cowboy, trying his hand at sales. He was a Call Porter for the Seventh Day Adventist church, selling books and records, filled with the word of God. But he wasn’t good at it. Too soft, he would often just walk away from a house, if he thought the family needed food more than they need The Bible Story.
“Ok. I trust you.” She knew it would be okay. She had the same confidence, centered in a quiet faith that was far stronger than his, but almost never mentioned. But she was practical. “They charge five thousand dollars for the birth, but there’s no reason we can’t take the baby in afterwards. The after care, and baby checkup is only eight hundred dollars. And we have to do that much; the baby will need a birth certificate.”
The Hospital
“So, you gave birth at home, with your husband as midwife?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we don’t just give birth certificates to anyone who wanders in off the street. How do we even know you’re the mother?”
“Yesterday, I was pregnant, now I’m not, and I’m here with a baby. Just do your job, and fill out the birth certificate.”
The woman retreats to her desk, and rolls a blue piece of paper into the typewriter. There is typing. A few minutes later, she returns. “Here you go, a certificate of live birth.”
“And what about the traditional birth certificate? I want that too.”
“Normally, those are only issued for kids who are born here, in the hospital. The certificate of live birth is all I have to give you.”
Silence.
“Ok. I’ll get started on it.”