The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  Andrea walked slowly to them. “Good job.” She laid a blanket on Ellen’s stomach. “Frank, I’ll finish up.” She took his spot. “Enjoy this moment with your wife.”

  The baby’s soft whimpering cries could be heard as Frank wrapped him in the blanket then held him. He grasped Ellen’s hand with his free hand.

  “Frank.” Ellen looked up at the bundled baby. “Can I see?”

  Frank’s focus was on the tiny newborn lost in his arms. “Hey Brian.” he spoke softly, placing his face close to his. “I’m Dad.”

  Andrea shook her head to Ellen who was trying desperately to see her son. “Frank, why don’t you weigh him for me?”

  “Sure.” Frank, excited, took Brian and laid him on the scale. “Andrea, there’s something wrong with the scale. It’s broke.”

  “It’s not broke, Frank.” Andrea continued finishing up Ellen.

  “Oh there.” Frank nodded. “That’s better. Nine pounds.”

  Andrea took a heavy breath and let it out as she watched him. “Take your hand off the scale Frank. How much does he weigh?”

  Frank removed his hand. “Five pounds..” He picked Brian up. “That’s O.K., you’re just early.” He spoke softly to the baby and walked around the room. “El, he’s so perfect.”

  Ellen looked up to Frank who stood three feet away. Her words were snippy. “I’m sure he is perfect, if I could see him. Could I see our son, Frank?”

  “Whoops, sorry.” Frank walked to her bedside and kissed her on the cheek. “Call me Dr. Frank.”

  “Dr. Frank? Can I see the baby!”

  “Oh, sorry.” Frank leaned little Brian down to her. “See. Isn’t he great?” He lifted him back up for only his view.

  Ellen surrendered. She dropped back in exhaustion and held on to the hope, that soon Frank would be a big boy, and share his new toy.

  ^^^^

  The door to Ellen’s room opened and Johnny peeked his head in. “Andrea gave the O.K. signal.” He stepped in, not shutting the door behind him smiling at his father who sat in a chair bedside, in his arms was a blanket and obviously the baby. “Hi El.” He moved to Ellen and kissed her on her cheek, she laid on her side facing Frank. “Is this my brother?” Johnny squatted down to peek. “Can I hold him?” He smiled.

  Frank cradled the baby tighter. “No. Just look.” He lifted the blanket more.

  “Check him out.” Johnny reached his hand down. Frank moved back. “He’s so tiny. John and Jenny’s girl is an oaf.”

  Frank curled his lip at his eldest son. “Brian’s just early that’s all.” He stared down at the baby. “You’re just early.”

  Ellen rolled her eyes and plopped back. “Something is wrong with your father Johnny. Where’s Pap?”

  “He’s coming.” Johnny stuck his hands in his pockets.

  A light tap on the open door brought Henry into the room also. “Hi El, Frank. How’s it going?”

  Ellen raised her hand to wave. “Good.”

  Henry smiled at them. “I have a surprise for you guys.” He removed his hands from behind his back, showing the camera. “I want to take the first family shot. I’m glad you here John.”

  The camera caught Frank’s attention. “Great. I get that picture though.”

  Henry moved closer to the bed. “Everyone gather around. But first let me see the baby.” He leaned down trying to get his peek. “Check him out, El. Wow, is he small.”

  Frank was insulted, he pulled the baby from his view. “He’s just early that’s all. And don’t ask to hold him.”

  Henry raised the camera and got everyone in view. He snapped the picture with the bright flash, causing that immediate eye rubbing reaction in everyone. He flapped the instant picture about and handed it to Ellen.

  Ellen looked at the photo. “Swell.” Frank was the only one in the picture who smiled as he held up Brian to face the camera. Disgusted by how bad she looked, she flipped it to Frank. “Here.”

  Frank looked at it, and immediately stuck it in his chest pocket.

  With a loud clap, Joe walked in the room, rubbing his hands together with a look of pride on his face. “Where’s that grandson of mine?” He spoke upbeat, stopping to kiss Ellen.

  “Hey. Joe.” Ellen said tired sounding. “Your grandson is with your neurotic son.”

  Joe laughed as he leaned to Frank. “Let me see the baby.”

  “See.” Frank showed Brian to him.

  “Let me hold him, Frank.” Joe reached out his hands.

  “I uh, don’t think that’s a good idea. He was just born, you know.”

  Joe breathed heavily with a grunt and looked at Ellen. “Has he been like this for the past hour.”

  “Joe, I haven’t even seen the baby for more than fifteen seconds.” Ellen answered.

  Shaking his head, Joe reached out again. “Give me my grandson, Frank. Now.”

  Pouting, Frank stood up. “All right.” He apprehensively, and slowly handed Brian to Joe. “But don’t drop him.”

  “Christ, you act like I never held a baby before. Now sit down.” Joe pulled the baby closer to him to view him. “Look at you. Son of a bitch are you small. What did you do Frank, give him all your runt genes?”

  “Quit picking on my kid.” Frank hunched in the chair. “He’s just early.”

  Joe removed the covering blanket. His eyes widened. “Holy Christ!” He held up the baby, looked quickly to Ellen then to Frank.

  “What!” Frank blasted so offended. “He’s small, so what. He’s early.”

  “He also has blonde hair and fair skin. Where the hell did he get that from?”

  Frank bit his nails in disgust. “He’s early. He wasn’t done cooking. He’ll get there.”

  Joe ran his hand gently over the forehead of the tiny baby. “You know who this kid looks like don’t you?” He looked upon the awaiting faces. “Robbie. Yes.” Joe’s voice softened as he spoke in that talking-like-an-idiot-to-a-baby voice. “Yes you do. You look like your uncle Robbie did when he was born.” Joe shook his head. “Robbie was the runt, you remember Frank? He’ll grow.” The emotional memory of Robbie hit Joe and he began to hand Ellen the baby, Frank intervened snatching him back. Joe gave Ellen an apologetic look.

  As if Henry, Joe, and Johnny weren’t enough, Andrea stepped in to the small room. “I hate to interrupt, but mother and child need their rest.” She walked over to the baby. “I need the baby.”

  “No.” Frank pulled him away.

  “Frank.” She snapped her fingers. “Hand him over. Ellen needs to rest and so does he.”

  “No, Andrea. Ellen can sleep, I won’t bother her. And I’ll just hold him while he snoozes.”

  “Nope.” Andrea quickly reached down and gently snatched Brian from his arms. “This little one has to go to the nursery, just for two hours. We want to check him out.” She cuddled little Brian peering at him. “Aren’t you just the tiniest thing.”

  Frank pouted. “He’s early.”

  “Oh he’s not that early. He’s small.” Andrea snapped back. “Get over it.” Changing her demeanor, she drew the baby closer and carried him out.

  Frank, looking and feeling like an empty soul, slid into his chair while everyone else gloated in Frank’s misery over Andrea’s baby-snatching moment.

  ^^^^

  Dean noticed them immediately on his return from the make-shift hospital in his passing of the baby nursery. Two babies laying three feet apart in their little hospital cradles. One of the babies, Jenny and John’s. The other, Frank and Ellen’s. He hadn’t had time to see the newest members. He wanted to. But most of all he wanted to see Ellen’s baby. He could have waited around like the others to see, but he had work to do. The small sense of jealousy that pulled at him, also helped in keeping him away. But it was time to go in, and he did. Stepping in to the nursery, Dean glanced for a moment at Jenny’s baby, then moved toward little Brian.

  He pulled up a short stool crib side and glanced at the name tag reading it out loud. “Brian Michael Slagel.�
� He closed his mouth tightly. “Slagel.” Moving closer to the sleeping baby, Dean watched him. The tiny fair skin, so soft. The pouting look on the baby’s face as he slept, his nostrils flaring with every short sleeping breath he took. Dean ran his fingers lightly down the side of Brian’s face. With his other hand, his placed his index finger in the hand of Brian, the reflex of the baby gripped his finger. Dean smiled, resting his chin on the hand that Brian held. His face close to the newborn as he continued to run his fingers gently down him. Fingers that to anyone else looked small, but against Brian, they looked like Frank-hands.

  Dean peered at him, thinking how much the small baby boy resembled Billy when he was born. His mind drifted back to when the twins were babies. How much he enjoyed watching them sleep at opposite ends of the crib. Dean could have watched the twins for hours like that, in fact many of nights he did. As Dean rubbed his face and the memory away, the vision of very faded blue jeans on a huge body came into focus through the clear plastic of Brian’s cradle. Dean looked up. “Frank.”

  “It’s Brian.” Frank’s hand came down sliding across Brian’s side. “Small huh?”

  “Nah.” Dean stood up. “He’s just early that’s all.”

  Frank smiled. “Thanks. Can I steal your seat.”

  “Be my guest.” Dean slid it to him. “Why aren’t you with Ellen.”

  “Andrea won’t let me.” Frank sat down. “And she said I can only watch Brian.”

  “Nothing wrong with watching.” Dean stepped back and walked to the door. “I’ll leave you alone.” He headed out, then stopped while opening the door. “Oh, Frank?”

  Frank turned his head around. “Yeah?”

  “Really appreciate all this, because you’re lucky. You got it all.” He tapped his clenched fist on the archway, and stepped out into the hall speaking softly. “You got it all.”

  Dean headed back down toward the lab. He had work that got put on hold while he did his morning routine at the hospital. Taking the route down the hospital room hall, he walked into Ellen’s room wanting to see how she was doing. Stepping inside he slid to a stop, she was lying on her side sleeping. He turned to walk out.

  “Dean?” She lifted her head.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “I wasn’t sleeping.” She sat and fiddled with the covers. “Did you need something?”

  “No.” Dean stepped back and ran his hand over his mouth. “Yes. I just . . . I just wanted to stop by and tell you . . . Brian’s great.”

  “Thanks.” She laid her head back down.

  “I’m heading to the lab. I’ll stop by later.” He smiled, turned, and left the room. Dean didn’t know what he was thinking just barging into Ellen’s room like that. His instincts told him why he stopped by. He knew what he wanted to say, and what needed to be said. Perhaps there would be a better time, perhaps never. Shrugging with slight sadness at his thoughts, Dean continued on.

  ^^^^

  The high pitched scratching and screeching of the wooden table legs across the floor, rang out as Joe shoved the table center room of the make-shift hospital. “Listen up!” He slammed down papers and such on the table. “I want all of you to listen and gather around. The time has come for all of you to stop sponging of off Beginnings and treating this like this is your own private hotel. Now some of you have complained to my staff that you feel like prisoners in here, I have your solution.” His hand tapped on the table and the rolls of papers that laid there. “You want to get out of here, you want to walk around. Welcome to Beginnings. I have your work assignment for you.” He noticed almost half of them fold their arms and turn from him. Joe remained calm. “Fine, that’s fine if you don’t want to listen. Mind you, if you don’t work, you do not get issued any food. No food, you starve. Please review what you will do and what needs to be done. Any question the guard will get me.” Joe moved to the door.

  “Wait.” Joanna Holmes called out in her snobbish way. “These look like housing plans.”

  “They are. You want a place to stay, you’ll build it.”

  “Build our own dwellings.” Joanna scoffed. "I am not a carpenter.”

  “I don’t believe I have you down as a carpenter. Check the assignments, toots.” Joe winked with a point.

  Joanna gasped. “Seamstress. I’ll have you know, I am no seamstress! My skills surpass that.”

  “Really? What skills are they? What field of specialty are you?" Joe waited, he received no response from Joanna. “O.K. well, I assume you’re a seamstress. Workday starts bright and early people. Have a good one.” Joe, with arrogance, strutted from the room. He paused in the door to give a quick twitch of his head and a gloating smile to himself, and then he left.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  June 24

  The noise was unbearable. Ellen had closed every window in her house and it still didn’t help. The hammering, drilling, sawing, and yelling, drove her crazy. She paced frantically around her house looking for another item she could possible straighten up.

  “Hello?” Joe called out as he stepped into her home.

  “Joe!” Ellen ran from the dining room to the living room where he stood.

  “Hey El, I had a few minutes this afternoon, thought I’d see how you were doing?”

  “How long is this construction going to go on for?” She asked demandingly.

  Joe was surprised by her question. “Three more weeks about . . .Hey is that the baby crying.”

  “Yes it is. He’s always crying.” She snapped.

  “Are you gonna pick him up?”

  “No!” Ellen yelled with frustration. “I am not picking him up. He’s fed, he’s changed and he’s fine. He’s just crying, he’s always crying. He always wants picked up. I’m sick of it. I refuse to hold him just because he’s crying. He’s just gonna have to learn.”

  “Ellen, calm down.” Joe moved closer to her. “He’s just a baby.”

  “He’s a Slagel.” She shouted then calmed herself down and grabbed him. “Joe, let me go back to work.”

  “No Ellen, one more week.” He shook his head.

  “Please Joe, I can’t take it.” She clutched him. “You have to let me go back to work.”

  “Ellen, no. Andrea says she doesn’t want Brian in the day care nursery until he’s three weeks old. Now enjoy the break. Jenny is. She wants to take an even longer one.”

  “Oh Jenny is fuckin’ super mom.” She spoke with sarcasm.

  “Ellen.”

  “No Joe, she’s sick. And annoying. Do you know what she did? She came by yesterday and said to me, that since she has an abundance of breast milk, and I don’t, she thought I’d like her to pump some for me so Brian can supplement the stuff Dean mixes for him. Can you believe her?”

  “She was trying to be helpful.”

  “She was being a bitch.” Ellen ran her hands through her hair. “Like I want my baby drinking her milk. The nerve of her.”

  “Ellen, enough.” Joe cringed then looked at the stairs. “Go get the baby. He’s crying.”

  “No.”

  “Then I will.” Joe marched to the steps. “Frank would have a fit if he knew this baby was wailing like that.”

  “Oh, Frank can bite it.” Ellen followed him up the steps.

  Joe ignored her and picked up Brian, he immediately stopped crying. “It’s all right Brian, Mommy’s just neurotic.”

  “I am not neurotic, I’m just a prisoner. Let me go back to work.”

  “No, Ellen. Tough. Stay home and take care of your baby. You’re the mother.”

  “That is such a male thing to say.”

  Joe had enough, he couldn’t take it anymore. “You know, I came by for a nice father-daughter visit and I get bitched at. Here.” He handed her Brian. “Hold your son. Hold him and don’t put him back down or I’ll send Frank home.” He walked to the door. “Hold him, Ellen.”

  “I hold him all the time.”

  “Tough, hold him some more.” Joe began to storm out. “What the
hell else do you have to do all day?”

  Ellen stared at her bright eyed son. He seemed content as she held him. “What is wrong with you Brian?” She waited until she heard the front door shut, and she laid him back down in the crib.

  ^^^^

  “Ellen needs drugs.” Joe said as he walked into Dean’s lab.

  “Ellen needs what?” Dean called out, sounding muffled and far away.

  Joe looked around, placing his hands on his hips as he did. “Where the hell are you ? I hear you, but I can’t see you.”

  “Sorry.” A thump was heard first, then Dean rose up from behind the counter rubbing his head and holding extension cord. “Is Ellen sick?”

  “In the head. She has that . . . what ya call it? Post . . . post . . . something.”

  “Ellen does not have postpartum psychosis.” Dean began running the cord across the lab.

  “How in the hell do you know? When have you talked to her last?”

  “Yesterday.” Dean bent down to the floor and lay down with a grunt. He reached under the table with his hand strenuously. “She seemed fine. Here hold this” He pulled out another cord and held it up to Joe. He took the other cord stuck it in and grabbed the one he handed to Joe. “Thanks.” Dean stood up and brushed himself off. “She’s just being Ellen.”

  Joe bent down to see what Dean was doing. He followed the cord with his eyes. “How many extension cords do you have plugged into that one extension cord?”

  Dean shrugged. “Lots I guess.”

  “Well don’t do that, your gonna blow the place up.” Joe shook his head. “I’ll get Henry up here to put in another outlet or something. Anyway, back to Ellen. Dean she’s bad. She’s saying she’s a prisoner. She’s gone.”

  Dean laughed as he plugged another electrical device into the power cord. “I’ll go check on her.”