The first two weeks of Molly's sixth month went relatively quietly. Our cubs continued to grow within her and we were beginning to count down the days until Molly's due date. Doctor Wainwright remained confident that everything would be fine, and our first appointment of the month had gone much as the others had. Molly received a clean bill of health and our cubs looked healthy as far as we could see with the ultrasound equipment. That part remained very positive and upbeat.
However, not all things remained quiet. The first "hiccup" came during the first week during the course of Molly's sixth month. Officer Barnes were running our morning patrol and it was nearly ten o'clock and we were getting ready to return to the station to fill out the reports for what had been only "routine" calls. As we were finishing up, a call came in as Officer Barnes took our car around a corner. At first I thought it would be an update on the Grabar and Larceny case. That dates for their trial had finally been set and I had been called to take the stand. It was some source of concern for Molly and I as I feared that if this went on too long, I would miss the birth of my children. I felt I had done enough to insure that things would be fine, considering my parents would be there, and Mr. Patten would act as a "second" for me to help Molly if that happened. So far though, that was yet to happen, and this call was just like that.
"We have a couple of calls for you and Officer Wayne," the dispatch officer spoke, "both appear to be domestic disturbance related calls."
"A couple..." Officer Barnes said slowly, "as in two of them?"
"Yes, both from the same address," the dispatch officer answered, "One is from a Rocky Mountain Recovery Agent claiming that the resident is attempting assault him while on the job and the other is from the resident claiming some guy is stealing his car."
"That can't be good," I commented.
Rocky Mountain Recovery was a repossession agency that operated over much of western Montana and northern Idaho. From what I knew, much of their work was commonly dependent on the road and weather conditions, particularly when they had to get off the major paved roads through the mountainous parts of the state they looked after. As a result, they weren't very active during the winter months, mostly focusing on the major cities and so forth that could still be reached. If they couldn't, it would have to wait for the snow and ice to melt and the dirt roads to dry.
But when they did work, they worked quickly. Especially concerning orders they'd received from banks over the winter. I didn't know how many people the company employed to do the work, they had to have a fair number of people to do that job. And apparently, they'd had a call to the area and were being confronted by someone who didn't like what they were doing... or this was in fact a robbery and it just so happened that someone from the Rocky Mountain Recovery Agency was there. Of course, Officer Barnes and I wouldn't know until we got there.
"We're on our way," Officer Barnes said calmly after the dispatch officer gave him the address.
It turned out to be a small ranch to the west of Columbia Falls. As we arrived, we could see a tow truck backed up to the front of another truck. The truck that it was backed up to appeared to be a very new full sized Dodge truck and there was already some mud stains on it, so whoever had bought the car had been using it. What seemed to finish the situation was a younger man swinging an old wooden baseball bat at another man, who appeared to be trapped between the two vehicles. This man appeared older and not as mobile as his assailant and likely feared that if he tried to run and get into his truck through the passenger side the resident would catch him while he was running.
Officer Barnes and I quickly exited our car and moved to calm the situation.
"Alright now, calm down, calm down!" I spoke, moving around the tow truck and toward the resident who was still swinging the bat around.
"Arrest him! He's stealing my truck!" the man shouted, still waiving the bat.
I moved between the man and the repossession agent, which finally got the man to back down a bit. Though it was clear that he was still agitated. Officer Barnes meanwhile moved to talk with the repossession agent.
"Can you tell me what's going on, sir?" Officer Barnes asked, "we got TWO calls from this residence reporting the incident, and could be treated as a domestic disturbance case..."
"He's stealing my truck!" the resident answered.
"You'll get your turn when he is finished," I told him, "calm down."
The Rocky Mountain Recovery agent nodded and then spoke.
"My name is Ronald Hay, I am an agent of Rocky Mountain Recovery and its Kalispell office," the man, Ronald Hay spoke, and then moved to the cab of his truck with Officer Barnes following, "I have a repossession order for that vehicle there..."
I turned to see him point to various numbers and things on a sheet of paper.
"All of the numbers match up between what I have and what is on the truck, including the license plates," Ronald Hay continued.
"He's stealing my truck!" the resident yelled while Officer Barnes checked the paper and then the truck's license plate. Ronald Hay also pointed out the numbers that the bank had given him to track the vehicle with.
"Not according to his paperwork," Officer Barnes answered as he handed the paper back to Ronald Hay, "according to it you've missed three payments on it... and you bought it three months ago!"
"I've been paying!" the man insisted.
"According to the paperwork, no you haven't," Officer Barnes answered, "as a licensed repossession agent, he is legally allowed to repossess your truck."
"You can't do this! I need that truck!" the man said in a slightly weaker tone.
"I'm sure you do, sir," Ronald Hay spoke from behind Officer Barnes and I, "and in theory there is a perfectly legal way you can get the truck back. Just contact your bank and rework a payment schedule with them. One that you can meet on a monthly basis. Then after one or two payments, they will give you the forms needed to get your vehicle. You can then come down to the Kalispell office for Rocky Mountain Recovery, and our address is on the copy of the order of repossession that I gave you. I tried to tell you this earlier, but you went nuts on me."
"But, it's my truck..." the man said in a weak voice.
"And if you pay for it, you can get it back," Ronald Hay answered, "All I need are the keys."
I glanced from Ronald Hay to the resident that had been trying to keep a vehicle he hadn't paid for. He looked up at me and Officer Barnes and then sighed.
"They're inside, hold on," the man spoke in a defeated tone and went inside.
Once he was inside, Officer Barnes and I moved Ronald Hay to the other side of his truck, which was now hooked up to the pickup truck owned by the resident. This was in case the resident returned with a gun. We weren't going to let what happened when we went to search and then arrest Pierre Beauregard again.
"Do you wish to press charges for assault?" I asked him, "He had you pinned up between your vehicle and his."
"No," Ronald Hay said slowly, "things like this happen far more often then you think. I can't fully blame him for responding as he did. He's likely a rancher who bought the truck at the end of the yearly season. But, unless he has some other job elsewhere in town, he won't get paid again until he is able to sell his cattle again. Most banks don't put out their payment schedules to fit that. And as a result, he's missed payments and that lead to this."
"He was swinging a bat at you," Officer Barnes pointed out.
"Yeah, but if someone were taking something from you, would you guarantee me that you wouldn't get agitated?" Ronald Hay shrugged, "and besides, no harm was done. He would charge in between the trucks, for fear of damaging his own vehicle. And I knew that if I ran, he might jump me before I could get into my own vehicle, I didn't try to run and no harm was done."
"Okay then," Officer Barnes and I sighed.
After a moment or two, the resident came back out. He wasn't armed, but he was holding the truck's keys in one hand. He slowly approached the tow truck and held them out.
"Here," he said, still sounding defeated.
"Just work something out with your bank, and you'll get your truck back," Ronald Hay told him.
Ronald Hay then took the keys and was soon on his way. Officer Barnes and I, meanwhile stayed to finish up our business with the resident.
"Now, that wasn't so hard?" I asked him, "you can get it back and you were swinging that bat around for nothing."
"I don't need a lecture," the man grumbled.
"You might," Officer Barnes said firmly, "because the call received involved a lot about you hootin' and hollarin' about the truck, we have to treat this as a domestic disturbance. And given that you were yelling and swinging a bat around can confirm that to us."
The man looked down.
"And given that you had a licensed repossession agent trapped between his truck and your truck, we could qualify that as an assault," Officer Barnes finished.
"I didn't hit him! I was just threatening him!" the man gasped.
"You can relax on that," I told him, "Ronald Hay doesn't wish to press charges. So you're off on the "assault" charges. However, because you were interfering with a lawful seizure and called our department besides, we do have to issue you a citation for wasting police time... I mean... there was no good reason on your part to call us. And there should have been no need for Ronald Hay to call us either."
"I thought wasn't going to get my truck back," he said weakly.
"And swinging a bat at him and screaming was going to make it better?" Officer Barnes asked, "you're incredibly lucky that a citation is ALL you're getting today."
"Yes, officers," the man took the ticket and then sighed.
With our business then concluded, Officer Barnes and I went to our car and returned to the station. For the rest of the week, our calls were a bit more routine then that one.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The second "hiccup" didn't occur at work. Since dealing with confrontation between the Rocky Mountain Recovery Agent and the man who owned the truck that was being repossessed, things had quieted down. At work we had had more "routine" calls that we expected and so forth. And on the home front, Molly's womb continued to slowly grow larger. A sign that we were truly starting to get close. I didn't know if anyone had thrown Molly a baby shower, but if they had, Molly hadn't mentioned it. And the "hiccup" revolved around our second Lamaze class for the month.
Molly and I were still making good on getting to these classes. This was especially so as the regular school year had let out for the summer and things shifted to the Summer Sun program, which Molly was still participating in. But the stories from there all good and pleasant. The kid's love for the "Tiger-Lady" hadn't diminished.
And we also felt that we were making good progress with the Lamaze classes. Continuing the breathing exercises was still being done, and we were getting rather good at that. Jen Litt also continued to give us help on planning for the day Molly was to give birth and on various couching techniques I would need to use when "the day" arrived. We also found a fair amount of enjoyment in talking with some of the other parents to be that were attending the classes. Some had since given birth and were no longer attending, and some new ones came in as they were getting ready for when they would give birth, but we'd found the interaction to be fairly enjoyable. There was a lot that we had to do to get them over some initial fears, but they did seem to open up to us.
The problem we encountered, however, came from a private midwife that was pacing in front of the door to the center where Jen Litt gave her Lamaze classes. She was a middle aged woman dressed in plain clothing with the only piece of "jewelry" being a single necklace with a gold cross hanging from it. She jumped a little at seeing Molly and I but managed to recover herself.
"You two are animal people?" she asked, moving to stay between us and the door.
"Yes," Molly answered, "the last of Changes' victims. Would you let us in, please?"
"Come now, Ms. ..."
"Molly Rhoer-Wayne," Molly said slowly, "and it's missus, this is my husband, George Wayne."
"And a good evening to you, sir," the woman answered, "I am Melody Aire. Midwife and Chief of God's Way Delivery, and it would be my privilege to give you proper medical care so that when your little ones arrive in three months, they will be in the best of hands."
"Actually, I'm due in two weeks," Molly answered, "One of the "minus's" of being a tiger. I will give birth prematurely by all human standards."
The woman, Melody Aire, then blinked hard and then took a little bit more to recompose herself.
"And you will trust these people and all their drugs and contraptions to fix that?" Melody Aire said slowly, "come with me and serve in the way of the Lord and allow me to treat your birth. Even in the comforts of your own home... and your pregnancy will go a full nine months and will go without the complications of being a premature birth..."
"I don't think prayer will do anything about genetics and the Bengal Tiger DNA guiding them," Molly said politely, "and George and I already Christian, ma'am."
"But you don't believe! If you believe and come with me, the Lord will feel your faith and will hold them until they are ready," Melody Aire argued.
"Her cubs will be born when they are ready," came Jen Litt's voice from behind Melody Aire, "Her obstetrician has shared some information with me and all of it being encouraging. They are healthy and are doing quite well..."
"But human babies must be carried nine months, what is your obstetrician doing to insure that?" Melody Aire argued.
"He is of the opinion that attempting to hold Molly Wayne's labor back would do more harm then good," Jen Litt said firmly, "they will be born when they are ready, and because Molly will naturally give birth after six months of pregnancy... her pregnancy has been classified as high risk and by rule she must continue to see her obstetrician. Just to be safe. So even if they were eager to walk with you, it would not be advisable that they do so, medically."
"Women gave birth with only God's help just fine without you!" Melody Aire growled.
"And many miscarried and died as a result of it as well with only God's help," Jen Litt shot back, "Julia, wife of Pompey the Great in Ancient Rome died in childbirth with only God's help. A good obstetrician could have saved her and her child."
With that, Melody Aire then "humphed" and moved off, allowing Molly and I to go in.
"What was that all about?" I wondered.
"Melody... well... she's very religious and believes everything ought to be done by the book, and by book, I mean the Bible," Jen Litt sighed, "and she's started her own little midwifing service... offering faith based counseling on how to give birth and a few other things. Most of what she knows has been taught to her by her family members... as apparently most of her family members are or were midwives."
"But she combines it with her faith?" Molly asked.
"Yeah... and it isn't that bad... I've never seen her join any sort of group that protests against gays and whatever some people feel they have to hate," Jen Litt nodded, "and she also offers to do the birth at home. And her record isn't bad. I don't think she's had a major incident in which a child has died or had some major birth defects... so it proves that she knows what she's doing. But, considering that you will give birth "prematurely" Mrs. Wayne, it would be preferable that you give birth in a hospital."
"Don't worry, I intend to," Molly answered, "I just got our cabin clean. I'm not going to dirty it by giving birth there."
To that, Jen Litt chuckled.