Mama kept coming in every five minutes or so, and after about twenty minutes Maggie’s breathing was becoming more labored and her contractions were coming faster and faster. With both Mama and Myra in the room now, Mama announced, “It’s time, Layla’s comin’.”

I reached out and held Maggie’s hands with mine, and then Mama said, “Mr. Jim, move from behind Maggie and be down here with me at the foot of the bed. Maggie you scoot down to the end of the bed and keep your knees up, just like we practiced, okay?”

I moved next to Mama, and Maggie moved to the end of the bed, and Myra lifted the sheet back, and there was Layla’s head crowning. Layla was definitely coming and I was there to catch her.