by Ayo Campbell
When he put it that way, it actually sounded quite reasonable. It would be a load off, to know that if she had some kind of emergency, she wouldn’t have to scramble.
“Thank you,” she said, grudgingly. She didn’t like feeling as if he was taking care of her.
“I’d like to ask a favor.”
There was the catch, thought Hallie cynically. She should’ve known that there would always be strings attached.
“What?” she asked warily.
“I’d like to be there for the first sonogram.”
That was… Touching. Unexpected. Sweet.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Something occurred to her then.
“I have a favor to ask, too.”
“Anything.”
Unlike her, he had no hesitation.
“I’d like to meet your mother.”
This time there was hesitation. She bit back an amused grin.
“All right,” he said with obvious reluctance. “After the first sonogram, you could come and have dinner with mom and me.”
Why not, thought Hallie.
“Sure, that sounds great,” she told him, and they hung up.
Well, thought Hallie, resting her hand on her belly, her life was going to get a lot different.
A thought struck her.
Was she supposed to give up coffee while pregnant?
“Bugger,” she muttered.
That was going to be a real problem.
*****
Hallie was nervous. She had been taken to the clinic by the silent giant, Jack. He wasn’t so silent once you got him loosened up. She’d baked him coffee cake to take home and he had talked to her about his family.
But usually, he was a silent giant.
The car, thankfully, wasn’t too ostentatious. But she was beginning to miss public transportation. She’d never known that such a day would come.
Her first ultrasound and sonogram would be in under an hour. She was early, because duh, she was really, really nervous.
It was irrational. She was sure everything was fine. She felt perfectly fine.
But somehow, every day, she woke up loving that little nugget a little bit more. She looked up how big it was every week.
Her life had turned inside out. She was showing, just a little bit. She knew that. She hadn’t been able to zip up her skirt the day before and had had another crying jag.
Bridget had been a real gift. She seemed to know exactly what to do. So did Jack, oddly enough.
So she was about eleven weeks along, by her estimation, and she was due for her dating scan. She was nervous. She was terrified.
Aldous was early and there. She hadn’t seen him since that day at the park, though he had kept in touch. She was glad, really, that he hadn’t stayed in her life. She didn’t want to deal with developing feelings for him thanks to the baby playing all kinds of havoc with her hormones.
“Hallie, you look wonderful,” said Aldous.
He looked like he completely meant it.
“You’re glowing. You’re early.”
Hallie chuckled.
“I was nervous. I guess you were, too.”
“Well, you won’t have to wait. I moved your appointment up when Jack told me you’re on the way.”
She should’ve been mad, but she was so nervous that she wanted it over with, too.
“Thanks, I guess,” she told him, smiling.
“Hallie, you really look… I can’t tell you how lovely you look.”
She smiled. Her smile had gained quite a bit of power since she got pregnant. It must come from the happiness that shone through once she was done hugging the toilet every morning, she thought wryly.
“Miss Holt, you can go through,” said the grumpy looking receptionist.
She didn’t quite realize that she had gripped Aldous’s hand so tightly that he could almost hear his bones grinding. She let go with great effort and walked in. She changed, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down, and finally was settled down.
“Miss, do you want the father in here?”
“Oh… Yes, yes please,” said Hallie, and realized that she hadn’t even had to think about it. She wanted him there.
It wasn’t just because he was the father. She did want him there. He had been kind to her, and caring, and sweet.
She got that death grip on his hand again as soon as he was there. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her belly, and he looked ashen.
He looked as terrified as she did, really. Was this first sonogram thing supposed to be terrifying? Wasn’t it supposed to be a joyous occasion?
“Ready?” asked the perky technician and started.
The gel felt cold on her stomach, which still looked relatively flat to her. Aldous’s eyes were glued to the screen.
It looked like abstract art to her. The technician didn’t look worried, so she assumed it was doing whatever it was supposed to do, and there was nothing to worry about.
But then the room filled with something that made her almost stop breathing. She looked at Aldous’s face and he had a look of wonder on his face, the same wonder she was feeling.
It was their baby’s heartbeat.
They’d made a baby together. They hadn’t meant to, but they’d done it, and it was a miracle.
She was carrying their miracle.
She didn’t know when their hands joined, but it felt right. She didn’t have a death grip on it anymore. Now she felt as if her hand belonged there, in his.
“Aldous,” she whispered, her eyes huge and filled with tears of amazement.
She felt his lips cover hers, so gentle and so soft, and felt that amazement in her heart double.
“We made a baby,” he whispered, holding her.
She held him, too, and they stayed there, united in that moment, as if nothing could pry them apart. However they had made that baby, in that moment, they were together, and they were a unit.
No matter what, Hallie knew that she would carry that moment with her, in her heart, like a snapshot, forever.
“So, we have a clean bill of health?”
Hallie rolled her eyes. Aldous had asked that about six times now. She was amazed that the doctor hadn’t decked him.
She assumed the doctor had to deal with that every day. They even looked like a couple, she thought, that little secret longing building.
Pregnancy hormones, she told herself, pushing it aside ruthlessly.
“Yes, you do. Hallie, you just need to go on doing exactly what you’re doing. You’re in perfect health and your baby is doing absolutely wonderfully, too. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you, doctor,” said Hallie softly, and got up to tug Aldous out. If she didn’t, he might reduce even the wonderful woman who was taking care of her into a rage.
“Aldous, I know you’re used to being able to control all factors of everything, but this is up to God and me, I’m afraid. You’re just going to have to let go of the reins,” she told him as they got in the car.
“And my mother. Don’t forget my mother,” mumbled Aldous.
“Why are you so nervous?”
“Why aren’t you nervous?” countered Aldous.
She shrugged.
“She sounds formidable. But she also sounds compassionate. She reminds me of my own mother. Why would I be nervous? She won’t want anything but the best for me. I’m carrying her grandchild.”
That was a point, Aldous had to admit, but he didn’t like being the one who was fidgeting with nerves.
“Well, she didn’t want to meet us at a restaurant. We’re going home.”
Hallie perked up.
“We’re going to your childhood home?”
“God, no. We’re going to her home. She chose the home. She loves it,” said Aldous with a grin.
The moment she saw it, Hallie loved it, too. It looked like a gingerbread cottage come to life, completely out of place among all the pastel, delicately landscaped estates around
. It was a riot of wonderful colors and character.
The woman who had raised Aldous was gardening. Hallie felt pure envy. She wanted a garden just like that – wild, but ruthlessly weeded, and so gorgeous that she ached to watch it bloom in the spring.
“Well, look who’s finally here,” she said, taking off her gardening gloves as they drove up.
She had a lined face that spoke of hardships endured and defeated. She was lean and tall. Hallie thought that Aldous must get his build from her, not his father.
“Mom,” said Aldous, getting out of the car and kissing her on the cheek.
Hallie saw the affection on her face as he did so.
“Be a gentleman and help that girl out. I taught you better,” snapped his mother.
Biting back a grin, Aldous took Hallie’s hand and helped her out.
“Hallie, this is my mother, Margaret Banks. Mom, this is Hallie.”
“I’ve got eyes, haven’t I? Come here, girl. Let me get a good look at you.”
Hallie smiled as she walked to Margaret. She knew, immediately, that the bark was because she had faced hardships in her life and had had to build a coat of armor around herself and her heart, not to mention her son. She knew there was probably a very soft center underneath it.
“Hello, Mrs. Banks. It’s lovely to meet you. Aldous has told me so much about you.”
“Has he, then? And are you looking after my grandchild?”
Hallie’s hand went to her stomach in a gesture she barely noticed.
“I’m doing all I can, ma’am.”
Margaret Banks gave her a long, piercing look that Hallie returned steadily, with a soft smile playing on her lips.
“I think you are. Come in out of this chill.”
“You have a wonderful garden. I hope to have a garden like this someday. So full of life and color. So full of character.”
“Are you trying to butter me up, girl?”
“I would, I’m sure, if I knew how, ma’am. But that was just complete honesty, since I’ve eyes in my head and I was taught how to use them.”
The bark of laughter was a surprise, but a welcome.
“Got a mouth on you, don’t you!”
That was approval, if Hallie wasn’t mistaken. She grinned.
“So I’ve been told. I was taught how to use that, too.”
“Come in, girl. I’m going to enjoy you, I think. Aldous, go get us something to drink from the fridge. There’s iced tea there. No processed sugar for you, my girl. And call me Margaret,” said Aldous Banks’s formidable mother.
The living room was almost like the garden, full of knick-knacks that spoke of a life well lived and enjoyed.
“Sit down here,” said Margaret, and it was a command from somebody used to being obeyed.
Hallie sat down next to Margaret on the extremely comfortable couch with dog hair on it.
“Oh, you have a dog! Where is he?”
“Put them in the yard. Want to meet them?”
“Of course!” cried Hallie.
Aldous watched, his mouth dropping open, as his mother and the mother of his unborn child got on like a house on fire.
Well, he thought, it looked like he was toast.
Chapter 7
Aldous felt like his jaw was still dropped. Hallie was playing with the dogs.
His mother hadn’t gone with usual old lady dogs. She had decided that she wanted pitbulls – rescued bait dogs, in fact. Aldous had watched his mother take care of those dogs for months before they could handle human interaction. He was still a bit wary around them.
But not Hallie. They seemed to recognize something in her and were now drooling on her. One had his head in her lap and the other was on his back, bicycling away as she gave him a belly rub. Aldous rubbed his eyes because he wasn’t very sure he could believe what he was seeing.
Margaret watched Hallie in obvious approval. Anybody who could handle a couple of traumatised pitbulls that way obviously had the right kind of stuff in them.
“So, Hallie, tell me about yourself.”
Hallie had known that the question would be coming, of course. She had even prepared for it. But she decided to wing it, instead.
“I’m 25, grew up in a happy home, and I’m a caterer. I specialize in desserts. I’m very good at my job. I live in a loft in Soho, and that’s home now. I’m quite close to my family, but I haven’t seen them for a while. I haven’t told them I’m pregnant, either. I didn’t plan to get pregnant with Aldous’s child. But I am, so now I hope our child will give an unhappy couple peace and fulfilment. I love coffee, but I haven’t had a sip of it since I knew I was pregnant. That’s difficult! I don’t dream of great wealth or fame. This – the home, the garden, the dogs – that’s my dream. I plan to work for it. When I get it, I’ll deserve it.”
“How do you feel about giving up your child?”
Hallie’s eyes and her words were frank and honest.
“I don’t know yet. But I’ll do what’s best for my child. I’m in no position to raise a child. I know Aldous has the money, but I don’t want to take money from him. I don’t want to have to depend on somebody else to give my child what he needs. Or even what he wants. So I’ll do what’s best.”
Margaret nodded approvingly. Why had Aldous been so uptight about this, she wondered. Margaret was tough but she seemed perfectly fair.
“That’s a good decision. A smart decision. And a sacrifice. It will be difficult.”
Hallie felt that dread rising again. She’d been trying not to think about that.
“I know. But I’ll do what I need to do.”
“Aldous, you’ve finally found a smart woman who can stand on her own feet. Unlike the empty-headed bimbos who’re usually hanging all over you. Not one intelligent thought or an unselfish one among the lot of them,” scoffed Margaret.
“Mom,” said Aldous, a warning in his tone.
“Don’t you take that tone with me, young man! You might be on your way to owning the world, but I’m still your mother.”
“Yes ma’am,” said Aldous, looking so much like a chastened little boy that Hallie grinned.
“What was Aldous like as a boy?”
She didn’t know where the question came from, but once it was out, she wanted to hear all the details, and then some.
“Oh, the stories I could tell you!”
As a very uncomfortable Aldous fidgeted, Margaret started telling Hallie about all the trouble Aldous got into when he was a boy.
“Then there was the time he decided to ‘invest’ our rent money,” said Margaret after a few stories.
“He did not.”
“I got it back,” said Aldous, defensive now.
“After I tanned your hide for it, yes you did.”
“What was he going to invest in?”
“A blackjack game.”
Hallie squealed in laughter.
“He did not!”
“Oh yes, he did, and he was twelve.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he got better at his get-rich schemes.”
“Well, I sent him off to his aunt’s place in California for a summer, to get him out of my hair, mostly. He loved the vineyards. He worked part time there, and I don’t know how he managed the rest of it. But manage it he did, and I’m proud of him.”
Hallie heard the affection, the pride and all that love and she felt as if somebody had stabbed her in the heart.
She would never get to feel all that for the child Aldous and she had made.
She hadn’t known she would feel all that. How could she have known? Her eyes filled, and she couldn’t stop her face from crumpling.
Margaret slipped an arm around her shoulder.
“You’re a good girl. And a brave one. It will all be all right.”
She aimed a pointed glare at Aldous.
“If my son had any sense, he would make sure of that.”
Hallie didn’t know what she meant, not really.
“I don’t want to rai
se a kid alone, with a father sending checks. No matter how generous the checks are.”
“I know.”
“I wouldn’t expect Aldous to do that,” insisted Hallie.
“My dear girl, I know. I think the two of you should try to work things out. You’re an intelligent and lovely young girl. You know where you come from. You’ve got common sense and your feet on the ground. Aldous needs somebody who will stand up to him, not somebody who will nod along to everything he says as long as he gives them a credit card.”
Aldous blushed – he actually blushed, noticed Hallie, astonished.
“Mom, please!”
“You know I want the best for you, Aldous. I have a strong sense of right and wrong and your sense of that is far too flexible.”
Her voice was sharp. Hallie tensed, waiting with bated breath for Aldous’s reply to be clipped, his voice to be icy, his aura to become menacing.
But none of that happened. She could see Aldous’s eyes shuttering, his heart closing. Apparently, this was a sore point between mother and son, despite their obvious affection for each other.
Hallie felt like she was caught in a private moment, intruding unforgivably.
But the moment was gone so quickly that she wondered if she had imagined it.
“Now, how is your company with maternity policy?”
Hallie was startled by the question and the fact that Aldous had asked it. It was so out of the blue. She wouldn’t have expected Aldous to ask about that, either. He was too used to everything in his world revolving around him.
“Ah, it’s quite good, actually. They pay more than the government mandates, and they’re usually very open to longer breaks, without any problems with insurance. Since I… Since I won’t need my leave for long after I have the baby, I can take most of my leave before that. So my last month of pregnancy should be quite comfortable.”
“You will need a companion.”
“I can take care of myself.”
Margaret listened to the back and forth with amusement.
“I’m sure you can now, but as your condition progresses…”
“I’m not terminally ill, I am pregnant.”
“Nevertheless…”
“Aldous, let’s get one thing straight. You’re the father of the child. That does not mean you own me. You do not get to make decisions for me. I will not let you tell me what to do. I’m not your employee. I’m a self-sufficient and bloody independent woman. I’m grateful to you for what you’re doing, but all I expect you to do is foot half the bill for everything, help me find the right family to raise this child, and be there once in a while when I need to be with the father of my child!”