Summary

Stella goes into labor a month early in Chapter 39. Her water breaks, and she sends Ammanee to go get Emilienne and Janie to help with the labor. She asks Ammanee to take the quilt off the bed because she does not want it to get ruined. Ammanee gives Stella the cowrie shell to squeeze when the pains get bad. Janie mentions finding out who the father is, but Ammanee does not want her to talk about that. Janie says she wants what is best for her daughter, but she does not know what that is. When it is about time to push, Stella asks Ammanee to go out and get her mother who was in the other room. Ammanee wishes that she was the only relative in the room because it would reinforce what she believes: that she was more of a mother...