"Can you pull over at the next rest stop?" Mary asked her husband in a pleading voice.
"Sure, honey," Joe replied. He didn't really understand how this whole pregnancy thing happened, but he understood that his new wife had to pee a lot. The couple had been riding in their tan Ford Tempo across the desert for about eleven hours so far. The Arizona roads were bumpy, so they jostled along in the car, praying for a better freeway.
"Oh hey, there's a gas station," Joe said. He pulled over so that his wife could use the restrooms. Joe checked the gas gauge. Surprisingly, the car didn't need to be re-filled. It was like a camel. Fill it up once before you leave, and it lasted the whole way. While Mary was using the undoubtedly grimy restroom, Joe stocked up on essentials, like Mountain Dew and beef jerky. Also, some bottled water, trail mix, and Ding Dongs.
"Long trip ahead of you?" the toothy cashier asked.
"Yeah," Joe responded. "We're headed up to Colorado for Christmas to see my folks. We have like seven hours left to drive."
"Well have a good trip. You take care of that wife of yours."
Joe nodded at the cashier, found Mary, then left the gas station.
***
It was 10 o'clock that night when the Ford Tempo gave out, just across the Colorado border. It wasn't the gas though; the back tire blew out. Even though Joe was annoyed (and Mary was even more annoyed), he was thankful that they were 50 feet from a small town. Joe pressed the gas and forced the little car to make it to the town."Welcome to Bethelhill, Colorado. Population 630," Mary read.
It was just their luck, because just inside the tiny town was a Motel 6.
"Come on sweetie," Joe told Mary. "We'll get a room for tonight and take care of the car in the morning."
Mary waddled out of the car. She was just shy of nine months pregnant, and looked ready to pop any minute, like an overfilled water balloon in the hands of a ten-year-old. Joe and Mary entered the lobby (if you could call it that), and Joe went up to the receptionist.
"I'd like to rent a room for the night," he said.
"Sorry, sir," said the woman. "Didn't you see the sign out front? We've got no vacancy."
"No vacancy?"
"Yeah, that means the rooms are filled."
"All of them?" Joe asked incredulously. He couldn't believe so many people would want to stay in such a small town.
"Yeah, all of them. That's what no vacancy means."
"But my wife is very pregnant. She needs a room."
"I don't doubt that sir. I can see that your wife is very pregnant. But we still ain't got any rooms open."
Mary could see she needed to take things into her own hands. "Please," she interjected, "anything will do. Just a place for me to lie down for the night is all I need."
The receptionist eyed Mary up and down. "Oh, all right. I've got one place. But you'll either have to take it or leave it, it's all I got." The receptionist locked up the lobby and took Joe and Mary outside, then upstairs. She took out a key and opened up a dark room. It smelled of soap and dryer lint. She flipped on the light switch.
"This here's the laundry room. It ain't the Four Seasons but it's dry, and it's warm. Do you want it or not?"
Joe quickly scanned the room. The washers and dryers were running, making a loud humming sound. A folded up cot was in a corner, and on a shelf were piles of clean sheets, blankets, and towels.
"We'll take it," Mary and Joe said in unison. After the receptionist left them, Joe tried to make Mary comfortable. He unfolded the cot and put sheets and a blanket on it for her. He made a little bed for himself on the floor. Mary washed up at the giant utility sink, and then sat down on the bed. She ate some jerky and trail mix, and then the two fell asleep, listening to the drum of the dryer.
****
Earlier that day, in a different town.
Hank, Phil, and Tom were all truck drivers having a bite to eat at a roadside diner.
"What'll it be?" asked the owner from behind the counter.
"I'll take the blue plate special," Phil said as he took off his green foam trucker hat.
"Steak for me," said Hank.
"Burger and fries, please," said Tom.
"It'll be out in a few minutes," said the owner. "Coffee while you wait?"
"Please."
The truck drivers sipped their coffee and talked about the towns they had driven through, where they were headed, and what cargo they were carrying.
"You might laugh at me for this," Hank said, "but I've got a whole shipment of fleece Snuggies in the back of my truck."
Phil and Tom did laugh, but then Tom owned up to his cargo.
"I've got a shipment of coats from Burlington Coat Factory. Wool, camel hair, polyester, you name it."
The truckers chuckled some more as a pretty little waitress came out. She had dark brown hair and big brown eyes. Her name tag read Gabriella.
"Now whatchyou boys laughin' about? Huh? I got your hot food right here, honey." She sat the mouth watering dishes down in front of the men. "Now where you all headed?" She asked.
"Pagosa Springs, Colorado."
"Colorado you say? Oh, you should stop through Bethelhill if you can. It's right on your way. It's a real nice town. Got something special about it. You really should stop there. I bet you'd make it there sometime late tonight." Gabriella smiled a dazzling smile.
"We will if we can," Phil said.
"Oh, I promise I will," said Tom, who was the youngest of them all and was trying to flirt with Gabriella. He tipped big before he left.
***
Joe woke up to the sound of the dryer buzzing. Or at least that's what he thought it was. It was really his wife screaming. There was a puddle of water on the floor. This couldn't be good.
"Joe, Joe, the baby's coming. He's coming NOW!" Mary yelled.
Joe froze. He didn't know what to do. The car was broken, and he didn't even know if there was a hospital in this small town.
"Mary! I'll get the receptionist! I'll go get help."
"NOOOO. Don't leave me here by myself!"
"But honey, I don't know how to deliver a baby," Joe said, terrified.
"Well, I don't think you need to know how, because he's about to deliver himself." Mary lied down on the floor, on the sheets that Joe was sleeping on. She screamed some more, like she was trying to prove a point.
***
The laundry room was sandwiched in between room 224 and room 225. Next to that of course, was room 226. Sleeping in those rooms were Hank, Phil, and Tom. They had taken Gabriella up on her recommendation of stopping at Bethelhill, and were very grateful for it. They had enjoyed a great dinner at a local restaurant, took a warm shower and now were sleeping in a real bed. If only that noise would quiet down. Tom sat up first. He was in room 224, and he was pretty certain he could hear screaming next door. He put on his black and red plaid flannel shirt and stepped outside. There was light pouring out from underneath a crack in the next door, which wasn't even a motel room. It was the laundry room.
"Hey," he pounded on the door. "What's going on in there?"
Some more screams.
"Sorry!" called a male voice "but I can't get the door right now!"
Another long scream. Tom tried the door again but it was locked from the inside. Tom went to knock on his friends' doors to get help. He got Hank and Phil to come out of their rooms, and together they went back to the laundry room.
"I don't know what's happening in there," Tom said. "But I'm worried."
"What are you talking about?" Phil said. "I don't hear a thing."
Tom listened again, and realized it was now quiet. He knocked on the door.
"Hey, is somebody in there?"
A few moments later the door opened.
"Sorry," Joe said. He was drying his hands on a towel. "But my wife was having a baby."
The truckers stared at him in disbelief. Joe stepped to the side and pointed at his wife. Tom, Phil, and Hank peered in. They saw Mary, exhausted on the floor, and then, there it was. The something special that Gabriella had talked about. In the laundry room was a baby, wrapped in towels and lying in a laundry basket. The truckers and Joe all came around the basket to look at the baby. He was cooing quietly, eyes staring up at them.
"What are you going to name him?" Hank asked.
"Well, I've always liked Joshua," Joe said. "But I think my wife has another idea."
"He's already been named," Mary replied. "His name is Jeshua."
And He is the Savior of the world.
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