“That minimum labor time is only applicable if this labor stays routine,” Niven said. “What if it’s not routine? What if you are one of those rare women who delivers her first child in thirty minutes? That can happen, you know. Or what if you do not recognize that you are even in labor for the first six hours or so? That is actually much more likely, particularly in a primigravida who has no experience with the sensations of first-stage labor.”
“We’re going to bring Celia along with us,” Laura said. “She wants to be present at the birth anyway. She can time contractions for me and all that.”
“But still,” Niven said, “an hour and thirty-five minutes is a long time in which something bad can happen.”
“It’s not like that flight is over the ocean or the Gobi desert, doc,” Jake said. “There are towns and cities and airports all along the route between North Bend and here. If something bad starts to happen, I can be on the ground someplace with a hospital in less than fifteen minutes and have an ambulance meet me there. That’s a better deal than you’d get driving from a rural area into the hospital.”
“Uh ... well ... still,” Niven said, “I have to advise against this plan. There is no reason to take a chance. You should return home at thirty-eight weeks or so and stay put here until labor. That way, you will be taking no chances.”
“We can’t do that,” Laura said simply. “We have a deadline to meet and neither of us can take two or three weeks off. It’s going to have to be the fly-out-at-the-onset-of-labor plan. Nothing else will work.”
Niven nodded. “I can’t forbid you to do that, of course. I just want you to understand it’s against my advice.”
“Understood,” Jake said.
“And you absolutely should not attempt this if labor begins more than two weeks early,” she added. “You would be delivering early if that happens and there is much more of a chance that the delivery will occur quickly. If early labor begins, just go to the nearest hospital with labor and delivery services.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Laura said. “We’ll do it.”
“What do you plan to do once the baby is born?” Niven asked next.
“We’ll take a few days at home to get used to being new parents and settle into a routine and then fly ourselves and Cadence back to Coos Bay with us,” Laura said.
“She’s a music baby, doc,” Jake added. “She’s going to spend her first few months of life in a recording studio with her parents, learning how to put down tracks, mix them, and then master them.”
Jae Luc was tall for a Korean, standing just a tad under six feet. He was also stocky and appeared to be in excellent shape. He was dressed in a pair of dress slacks and a dress shirt—an outfit that reminded Jake of Greg Oldfellow. His accent was thick, as English was clearly not his first language, but perfectly understandable. Jake first met him in the office of Oceano Airport, where, to Jake’s surprise, Jill was standing next to him and able to introduce him.
“How did you get here?” Jake asked his accountant after he and the engineer shook hands and exchanged greetings.
“Oh ... well, actually, Jae picked me up at Heritage Executive and flew me here for the meeting,” she said, blushing a little.
“I see,” Jake said slowly, hiding a sly smile. His suspicion that there was some chemistry between the Korean engineer and the Japanese accountant grew a few sizes. There was absolutely no reason why Jill needed to be here for Luc’s informal inspection of the aircraft. He was just here to take a look at it, get a feel for it. They were far too early in the process to start actual negotiations on price.
“It was good flight,” Jae said, looking a little awkward himself. “I really liked approach into Oceano. Good view.”
“I always did like landing here,” Jake agreed. “Unfortunately, my Avanti needs about six hundred more feet of runway than they have here.”
“The Avanti is amazing plane,” he said. “I am jealous.”
“It really is fun to fly,” Jake said. “But so is the Chancellor. Shall we go take a look at it?”
“Please, let us do that,” Jai said.
They walked out to the hangar and Jake opened the door, revealing the twin-engine turboprop aircraft that was hooked up to a shoreline to keep the batteries charged. Jae fell in love with it at first sight. He walked around it, running his hands everywhere, touching the props and the tail and the flaps. Jake knew almost immediately that they would soon be entering escrow for the sale of it...
He looks like me when I first laid eyes on the Avanti, Jake thought, feeling a little warm glow of contentment inside. He honestly did want this beautiful aircraft—the plane he and Laura had had their first adventure in, the plane whose wing he had once fucked her on, the plane that had featured quite prominently in the chain of events that led to him and Celia having sex in a Portland hotel room—to go to a good home. And, though he did not think it likely that Jae Luc would have nearly as much adventure in it, he would care for it and treat it well and fly it frequently.
“Do you want to take her up?” Jake asked.
Jae’s eyes got a little wider. “Right now?”
“Why not?” Jake asked. “She’s fully charged, has more than half a tank of fuel, is current on maintenance, and hasn’t been up in more than a month now. She could use a good shakedown flight to get the fuel and the lube circulating around. How about we cruise over to Catalina, have a little bite to eat, and then come back?”
Jae was nodding. “I would like that,” he said.
“Right then,” Jake said. “You coming with us, Jill?”
“Uh ... yes, of course,” Jill said. “You know I always love riding in your planes.”
He knew no such thing. She had always only done it when she had to and had never really seemed to enjoy it. But he did not call her out on this. “Cool,” he said simply. He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and flipped it open. “Let me just call Laura and tell her I’ll be out for a while.”
Laura complained about her heartburn, her hemorrhoid, and about how she had to pee every five minutes. She then told him to have fun while she sat there at the house all alone. He agreed with everything she said, apologized for being away from her for so long on their rare day off together, and then told her that he loved her. He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket, feeling a little drained by the conversation. They then pushed the aircraft out of the hangar and Jake walked Jae through the external preflight checklist. Once this was complete, they walked together back to the office to file a flight plan. Jill stayed behind to guard the aircraft. Jake took the opportunity to feel Luc out a little regarding his accountant.
“What do you think of Jill?” he asked.
“She is very nice,” Jae said. “Very helpful in setting up meeting and possible sale of the airplane. Can I tell you again how happy I am to meet you, Jake?”
“I’m happy to meet you too, Jae,” Jake said. “I hope we can do business together on this aircraft. I also hope that you and Jill can stay friends when the deal is done.”
Jae nodded thoughtfully. “We might,” he said. “I enjoy talking to her. She never been married, right?”
“Never has,” Jake said. “She’s always been kind of married to her work. She takes accounting very seriously you know.”
“I respect that work ethic,” Jae said. “I have it myself.”
“I wish you luck with her,” Jake said. “She’s a good girl.”
“Jill or the aircraft?” Jae asked.
“Both,” Jake said.