Beards

by Serena J Bishop

  Gina saw his bewildered expression when he met her out at the cruiser. “You look like you’re trying to work out an algebra equation,” she quipped with a smile and got into the driver’s seat. She knew how much he hated math.

  “Underwood said something to me and I don’t get it,” he explained and buckled his safety belt. “He found out Roni’s pregnant and then asked me if I was reaping the benefits of it? Then he walked away laughing his fat ass off.” He turned to ask, “What does that mean ‘reaping the benefits’? And why are the benefits funny?”

  “Someone’s been falling behind on his pregnancy reading,” she teased.

  “That’s not true! I’ve been reading up how to be a good male role model and practicing diaper changes on that creepy doll. I just don’t like to read the lady stuff. It’s all emotional ups and downs, morning sickness, and sensitive breasts.”

  “I can see how that wouldn’t interest you. Okay, what Underwood was alluding to was that in the second trimester there’s extra blood flow to the genital region so sometimes there is heightened sensation. Usually, that results in more sex.”

  “Oh!” Steven watched the street for any suspicious activity. “Out of curiosity, has Roni, you know, been more interested in...that?”

  ***

  “Do the circle thing again,” Roni requested from the countertop, with her skirt bunched around her hips and her blouse undone. She felt Gina switch patterns with her tongue as her hand approached one of her very sensitive breasts. Roni slapped the hand away. “No fly zone, remember?”

  “Sorry,” Gina said quickly, then resumed her swirls.

  “Oh!” Roni back bowed and hit her head against a kitchen cabinet. “Ow! I think that if I,” she analyzed her position and propped her leg to bring Gina even closer. “Almost there. Ahh!”

  Roni caught her breath after her welcome home greeting and leaned down to kiss Gina. “That was,” Roni kissed her once more, “really hot. I’m very glad Early and Steven went out for dinner.”

  Gina relished the sensation of Roni running her fingers through her hair. “Consider it an impromptu present. I missed you while you were at your folks this weekend and I’m guessing by the reception I got at the door, you missed me too?”

  “Mmm hmm, I did. Help me off the counter?” Gina steadied Roni, as she slid back down to the floor and smoothed her skirt back down. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be home with someone who truly loves me. To say that they weren’t excited about Stevie would be a massive understatement. When I told them that I had big news, Mom asked if I was getting a divorce and smiled when she asked it. Then once Mom and Dad knew, she lit up another cigarette even though we were going into the house. She doesn’t even care about mine or Stevie’s health.”

  Gina held Roni close when she heard the emotional crack in her voice. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

  Roni stayed in Gina’s arms to soak in both the physical and emotional support. Gina had been a trooper through all of her mood swings. She had cried every day over something—she hoped that it was just a pregnancy thing. “I thought maybe this would be something they would finally be excited about.”

  Gina led her to the couch where Roni promptly rested her head on Gina’s chest and tightened her hold. Gina had prayed that Stevie would, in some way, act as a catalyst for Roni’s family to grow closer together.

  Roni plucked a tissue from the box beside her. “I don’t understand them. I came from them. Little Stevie is their blood and they couldn’t have cared less.” She glanced to Gina while she dabbed her eyes. “I’m sorry I practically jumped you—in the kitchen of all places— and now I’m crying all over you.”

  “Even if you weren’t pregnant, you can always count on me to be a shoulder to cry on,” she smirked, “or a body to jump on. I’m your family now and I won’t leave you. And neither will Steven or Early.”

  “Early won’t leave? Now, I’m scared,” Roni grinned.

  ***

  Roni lay partially reclined, her slightly swollen belly exposed, as Early held her hand in the room where her sonogram was about to take place. A scowl crossed her glowing face while she stared at the Pregnancy and Birth poster across from her. “I’m so pissed.”

  “I know you are, honey, but the station is short staffed. With very few exceptions when Steven goes, Gina goes. That’s how it works. But their absence means that I get to play doctor.” With his free hand, he smoothed out his new mustache.

  “I swear, I think the only reason you grew that thing is so you can play with it.”

  “It’s a perk. Plus, now I look even more like Prince.” He added wistfully, “If only I could be shorter.”

  As Roni continued to examine the poster, her obstetrician entered the examination room. His bald and chubby features made him look like an adult baby. He shot Early a questioning look.

  Early waved. “Hi, I’m Early, the other best friend.”

  The doctor smiled warmly at Roni. “You certainly do have a lot of supporters.” Steven and Gina had both been regulars at the earlier appointments. “How are you feeling?”

  “Pretty good. I’m a little worried I haven’t felt Stevie move around yet.”

  “Sometimes with the first child, it takes longer for the mother to feel the butterflies. I’m sure once we do the sonogram, you’ll feel better,” he gestured to Roni’s exposed abdomen, “which I see you are all ready for.”

  The doctor squeezed a liberal amount of transparent gel on her skin and began to move the transducer over her baby bump.

  Roni tried to relax. She had not gotten used to the sensation. “This always feels so weird.”

  Early whispered into her ear. “I feel the same way when I’m covered in lube and probed.”

  She slapped his arm playfully and smiled. She was glad that not only had Early agreed to come, but that he had wanted to and had been excited about it for days ahead of time. He had taken on roles Roni hadn’t imagined him playing a part in. His nursery decorating had also inspired him to take the lead on the baby shower. A role Gina was very thankful he wanted to take over.

  The doctor paused his motions and settled his view on one particular area on the screen. He pointed at a fuzzy white image that changed sizes. “That’s one strong heart Stevie has.”

  “Oh my God!” Early gripped Roni’s hand. “That’s Stevie! Oh my God! Stevie’s like a real person with a heart.” She smiled fondly at him while he stared transfixed to the beating heart. She had felt the same way when she had seen his heart for the first time.

  The doctor grinned. “Stevie’s a real person with a heart, yes. Would you like to know the sex of Stevie?”

  “Is there any way you could tell us over the phone? It doesn’t seem right to find out before Steven knows.”

  “I actually do that fairly often.” Her doctor took one final look at the screen. “You and Stevie are coming along textbook.”

  “See,” Early kissed Roni on the cheek, “we can do something normal.”

  ***

  Steven came into the nursery where Gina and Early carefully painted in the pencil outlines Early had applied to the walls earlier. The Reading Rainbow theme seemed appropriate on multiple levels. He folded his large body down into the nursery rocker. “I just had an interesting conversation.”

  “What did Monica say?” Gina asked, as she worked the on the web for Charlotte’s Web, something Early insisted she couldn’t screw up.

  “Well, she was very happy that we’re naming him Steven, but then got real indignant that he was going to be Episcopalian and not Baptist. She said I, ‘needed to be a man and put my foot down’.”

  “Yeah, that’ll work in this house,” Early commented sarcastically. “Did she say anything else?”

  “She asked how Roni was doing and when I said she was excited to feel the baby move, I learned in detail, all the various ways my nieces poked at her.”

  Gina grinned broadly while she started painting the cartoon spider. She and Roni had been watching Th
e X-Files when Roni felt the first significant kick. Gina had said the show must have scared him. “I’m glad Stevie will have some cousins.”

  “Keziah and Jemimah, sorry Jem—she wants to go by that now—are ten and fifteen years older than he is. I doubt they’ll have anything in common, but at least my side of the family will be more receptive than Roni’s. They still haven’t come around, have they?” he asked Gina.

  “Nope. The most we got from them was a returned RSVP for the baby shower with the ‘will not be attending’ box checked.”

  “Ignorant, redneck, racist fuckers,” commented Early, as he meticulously worked on his section. “How did a family like that ever conceive the sweet creation that is Roni? I swear Gina,” he turned with his paintbrush delicately poised upward, “if I ever experience major head trauma and it makes me straight, I’m going to try my damnest to get her.”

  “I understand completely.” She dipped her brush into the black paint once more. “Did Allison send hers back?”

  Early let out a disappointed sigh. “She did, but wrote in that she has a wedding to go to that day in New York. She’s going to try to have lunch with her sometime before Stevie comes.”

  “That’s a shame,” added Steven. “I hoped she would have made more of an effort to see Roni. Now me, on the other hand, I can’t get away from my best friend.”

  “Care to elaborate?” Gina held up her paintbrush and slowly approached him with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  “Don’t you dare, DiCarlo,” he hopped out of the chair and hid behind it.

  Outside of the nursery, Roni felt Stevie’s motions increase in her womb as he heard the different voices from his family. She entered the nursery with an enormous smile because she knew, without a doubt, that her baby was going to be loved like no other.

  JUNE 1995

  “AFTER LEMAZE PRACTICE, THE INSTRUCTOR said that we were going to watch a home movie,” Roni told Early, as he walked and she waddled at an extremely slow pace around their neighborhood. “No, big deal, right? Wrong. It’s her birthing movie.”

  “Shut up!” He shouted and then saw Roni’s face twist into a wince, her square jaw jutted out in pain with another contraction. He checked the stopwatch he wore around his neck. “Six minutes-thirty seconds...ish. How did the movie go over?”

  Roni started chuckling. “Gina spent the whole time reassuring me that ‘everything would be alright.’ Although, she was mostly reassuring herself and then Steven,” Roni started cackling even harder, “Steven he scr—Oh God.”

  “I bet he did—What the hell?” Early felt Roni’s fingernails dig into his skin. He stopped and followed her gaze downward. Her gray gym shorts were significantly darker around her inner thighs. He jumped and pointed at the wet cotton. “Sweet Jesus! Did your water just break?”

  “I would say that’s probably the case.”

  “Oh God! Okay. I know what to do. We practiced what to do.” Early helped support her weight as they started back home. “You made a solid plan. It’s a good plan. The plan will work.”

  ***

  The radio on Steve’s shoulder crackled with static. “Officer Fields?”

  He kept his eyes locked on a small group of young skater-punk teens loitering outside of the Wine and Spirits. “Fields, here.”

  “Your wife’s in labor.” Gina choked on the soda she had been drinking as the dispatcher continued and she looked at her partner wide-eyed. “Bring the car back to the station and go be a daddy.”

  “Heading back now.” He and Gina shared smiles before they sprinted passed the teens to their patrol car. “I’m going to be a Daddy!”

  ***

  They arrived at the hospital in their street clothes to find an incredibly anxious Early hovering over Roni. Gina ran to Roni’s bedside, practically knocking over the nurse who had been checking her vitals. “How are you doing? Are you okay? Are you in pain? Do you need anything? How are you doing?”

  Roni kissed Gina more deeply than anyone would have anticipated, including herself, and the nurse. “I’m so glad that you’re here.”

  “I guess so,” commented the nurse. “I’m going to get your doctor. You’re effaced at nine and a half centimeters.”

  “How are you?” asked Steven.

  Roni felt Gina move a strand of blond hair that was plastered against her perspiring forehead. “I feel. Ready. I’m ready to have Stevie,” she panted and reached for Steven’s other hand. “Would you and Early mind waiting in the hall just for a minute? I want to talk to Gina.”

  Steven nodded and leaned his tall frame down to press his lips against her forehead. “I understand. Take all the time you need. We’ll be spending a lot of time together in the very near future.” Steven was already a very proud papa.

  Alone together, Gina held Roni’s unmonitored hand in both of hers. “Can I get you anything? Anything at all?”

  “Makeup? I probably look like hell.”

  “You are absolutely the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.” Gina brought her lover’s hand to her lips tenderly. “How do you feel?”

  Roni’s heart felt full, but her mind was another story. “Um, I think scared is probably the best description. I know I’m ready to deliver, but I don’t know what I’m doing. What if I don’t support his neck enough? Or what if I can’t figure out breastfeeding?” Roni’s voice had started to shake with a nervous octave.

  “Shh, calm down,” Gina caressed the side of Roni’s face. “You are the most loving, patient, and kind-hearted person I have ever met. You will make a great mother.” This wasn’t just lip service. Gina knew in her soul that Roni was going to be a fabulous parent.

  “But what if I do something wrong?”

  “Roni, listen to me. There will be a learning curve, but you will never abandon Stevie and you will always love him. You could never do something so wrong that would cause any permanent damage or cause him to hate you.”

  “How are we doing in here?” Roni’s obstetrician entered abruptly, interrupting their intimate moment. “Your husband looks pretty anxious out there. He’s pacing a circle outside of your room. Does he always do that when he’s nervous?”

  Gina was about to answer when another contraction struck Roni and she found her hand squeezed in a vice-like grip. Gina bit her lower lip to prevent herself from uttering any painful noises. That was more than enough of an indicator to the doctor that Gina’s pain was a reflection of Roni’s.

  “Looks like I came in just in time. Let’s pop the hood and see what we got.” He rolled himself on the stool, put on gloves, and positioned himself in front of Roni. He raised the blanket over her splayed legs to examine her progress. “Mrs. Fields?”

  “Yeah.” She answered him, but locked eyes with Gina the whole time.

  “You are fully dilated and effaced. That means it’s time to deliver,” he said as he removed the gloves and tossed them casually into the biohazard trash. “I’ll tell your husband to come in and I’ll be back in a few.”

  Before Roni could respond, he was gone. She turned to Gina and smiled. “I’m going to have a baby.”

  “You’re going to have a baby,” Gina murmured against Roni’s lips and kissed her. She pulled back when she heard the door squeak on its hinges.

  Roni whispered, “I wish you could stay.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I wish I could too. But Steven’s a good man who deserves to see his son born.”

  “I love you, Gina.”

  “I love you too.” She glanced over her shoulder to see the nurse staring at the ceiling with her lips pursed, tapping her foot. “I’m pretty anxious to meet Stevie so I better let you go.”

  While Gina said her goodbye and Steven scrubbed up, Early sat in the waiting room, while he read the same paragraph for the second time. His attempt to focus on the latest gossip in the tabloid magazine was failing. As he craned his neck to stretch, he saw Gina approach from down the hall. “Is it happening?”

  “It’s happening.”

  �
��Oh my God!” Early clapped quietly, as he watched Gina pace in front of him. “Nervous?”

  “Like you aren’t?”

  He casually stroked his mustache. “I’m cool as a cucumber, honey.”

  “You do realize you already read that magazine at home, right?”

  He examined the cover of Keanu Reeves more carefully. His embarrassed expression met Gina’s amused one. “Maybe I am a little nervous. But I’m definitely not as nervous as Steven. You’d think they were actually married.”

  “Well, she is delivering his child and they do love each other in their own special way. Just like we love each other in our own special way.”

  Early grinned. “So, when are we going to have a baby?”

  “Very funny.”

  “Like I would wish this sugar curse on anyone else. Although, I have no doubt that our baby would be extremely attractive.” Early crossed his legs at the knee and he bounced in his seat giddily. “Can I confess something?”

  “Is it weird?” Gina asked cautiously. One never did know with him.

  “I don’t think it is.” She braced herself by sitting beside him and nodded the go ahead. “I’m really excited that Stevie might look like me. You know, with the mixed skin and whatnot. It makes me feel like I have a connection with him that’s not biological.”

  “Yeah,” Gina paused and leaned more fully into the back of the chair, “I can see how that would make you feel that way.”

  Early didn’t miss the disappointed tone in her voice. “Gina, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

  “It’s okay, Early. That was something Roni and I talked about before we did this. Stevie’s biologically Roni and Steven’s, but will also probably look like you. I’m sort of the odd person out. I’m hoping maybe he’ll pick up on a mannerism of mine.”

  “Maybe you can teach him Italian? Or he’ll do that little clicky ‘tut-tut’ noise you make with your tongue when you’re looking for something.”

  “I don’t ‘tut-tut!’” she said defensively.

  “Oh, calm down. It’s cute. And you can’t tell me that watching our little boy search for toys or the perfect crayon while tut-tutting doesn’t melt your heart.”