22In the hospital waiting room, Milt and I were pacing in opposite directions.
In those days, they had to guess about a lot of things. They told us it would be a boy based on the heart rate the doctor had taken with his stethoscope listening through Zelta’s swollen stomach.
And also back then, the men did not participate in or even attend the birth.
Later, Zelta told me that, as she pushed mightily to push the baby out, she said a few things about me she didn’t mean.
I don’t know where they’d taken the baby, but when they finally said I could see Zelta, she was lying in bed alone. She was soaked with sweat, and still pretty groggy.
A nurse came in after me holding an infant and saying, “A fine baby girl.”
I informed her, “You must have the wrong room. We’re having a boy.”
She was re
