Just Perfect! (Persaud Girl)

by Teisha Mott

  And what angered her most of all was the fact that while she suffered; while she was spreading out and getting fatter and fatter, looking like Sinbad’s great whale, while she was suffering from varicose veins and heartburn and back pains; while most of her best tops were stained with leaking, smelly colostrum, Jeremy Malcolm, the ingrate who had gotten her in this position in the first place, was still not talking to her. He never called, except on days he knew she had an appointment with Dr Creary. He would ask how Caitlin was, and that was it. He never asked about her – if she was happy or feeling well. He would send packages through the courier on occasion, always things for Caitlin, but never anything for her. It was as though she was just a frigging surrogate. God bless Micah. He was always there with her – running and fetching and even one day, going with her to Dr Creary. He was the only one willing to put up with her. No one understood how she was feeling – not even her mother and Grandma Sylvia who had gone through the same Waterloo three times and four times respectively. And speaking of which, how had grandma done the pregnancy bit four times? One time with twins? She vowed as she sat in the waiting room outside Dr Creary’s office waiting for her check-up, that Caitlin was going to be an only child. If Jeremy wanted another, he was going to have to carry it himself… Then she remembered – Jeremy wasn’t even speaking to her. He certainly wouldn’t be getting her pregnant again!

  “Dr Creary is ready for you, Ms Persaud!”

  Samantha pulled herself out of the chair, expending a lot of effort indeed, but still managing to brush off Belinda who was trying to help her. She was all by herself that morning. Her mother was supposed to have taken her, but she had an emergency meeting.

  “Good morning, Samantha!” Dr Creary said, grinning so widely that her lips had disappeared. Samantha resisted the urge to slap her. “How are we feeling today?”

  “Well, if you are feeling nauseated and swollen and irritable, I would say that we are feeling exactly the same way, Dr Creary!” Samantha retorted, not even trying to be polite.

  Dr. Creary continued smiling. She was accustomed to crotchety pregnant women. “Well, look at the bright side, dear,” she advised. “You only have nine more weeks. Two more months, and you can go back to being your fabulous self!”

  “Nine weeks?” Samantha raged, as Dr Creary helped her up on to the examination table. “Dr Creary, I cannot live like this for nine more weeks. This is sadistic, man! I have frigging insomnia every night, I am fat all over, my back is killing me, I feel like throwing up all the time and I walk like a duck. Did you know that the average gestation period for some marsupials is twelve days? Twelve frigging days. That seems fair. That seems reasonable. Why can’t I give birth to a bandicoot?”

  “Because, recent behaviour notwithstanding, we are almost positive that you are human!” Bianca said, appearing, seemingly from out of nowhere. She was dressed in her clinical whites, her hair up in a prim bun. She looked like a miniature version of Dr. Creary.

  “Oh great!” Samantha rolled her eyes. “You are here!”

  “Unfortunately!” Bianca commented. “I am only here because Aunt Janise asked me to come and stay with you, ‘Grumpy McMiserable’! Trust me, this is the last place I want to be right now!”

  “Whatever!” Samantha glared at her cousin, not even a bit penitent for the way she had been snapping at everybody, Klao and Bianca included, over the past few weeks. “Just stay at my head!”

  “It’s perfectly normal that you are irritated,” Dr Creary said. It’s the hormones and the basic desire to see your baby after all this time.”

  “And we will all be grateful when it is out and she stops being such an ogre!” Bianca commented, trying to sneak a peek at what Dr Creary was doing.

  “And I will be grateful if you would stay at my frigging head!” Samantha snarled.

  Dr Creary ignored them both. She was busy examining Samantha’s chart. “Okay, we seem to have a problem,” she said.

  “What do you mean we have a problem?” Samantha asked.

  “You have gained six pounds in the last two weeks, your blood pressure is elevated, and the lab found traces of protein in your urine...”

  Samantha could not understand why doctors refused to talk to their patients in English. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning,” Bianca cut in, “you didn’t listen when I told you to take it easy with the salt and the damned pickles!”

  “Meaning, we are going to have to take some special precautions from herein out!” Dr Creary made a mental note to discuss with Bianca Persaud her bedside manner, or rather, lack thereof.

  “Special precautions?” Samantha questioned. She did not like the term ‘special precautions’. “Special precautions like what?”

  “Right now, we need to get your blood pressure back to normal. I’m putting you on reduced bed rest. You need to take it easy for at least the next few weeks, okay? Drink extra water every day and please cut down the salt. Also, I want you to come back and see me next week, but if you have any headaches, or nausea, or if you notice any changes in your vision, I want you to call me right away, okay?”

  Samantha nodded numbly. She was frightened. Somehow, Dr Creary’s voice had suddenly turned to normal. It didn’t have the sing-y pitch that she had become accustomed to.

  Dr Creary noticed her worried expression. “This is not something to be too concerned about just yet,” she repeated. “Right now, apart from your blood pressure and your weight gain, everything is fine. Caitlin is doing just great. You’ll be fine, and if worst comes to worst, we will get you to 37 weeks and then schedule a caesarean, but that is a last resort. We aren’t there yet, so don’t worry!”

  She smiled, and Samantha felt a little bit at ease. She would be fine. Caitlin would be fine. Dr Creary knew what she was doing. But how on earth had she managed to get high blood pressure?

  She looked at Bianca, who strongly resembled the cat that swallowed the canary.

  “Why do you look so smug?” She asked her cousin.

  “Because, if you are having a c-section, I am so scrubbing in!” Bianca said happily.

  “Only over my cold, dead body!” She got off the examination table, and went to dress.

  “Even if it comes to that, Samantha! This is frigging awesome! Not the blood pressure bit, though!” She quickly added, noting Dr Creary’s disapproving glare.

  That night, Samantha lay in bed, feeling bored and distressed and a little bit sick after the bland, no salt, old people meal that Theresa had prepared specially for her, and Rosilda had served her in bed. Clearly, they were taking this ‘bed rest’ thing seriously. Samantha could only imagine the amount of hovering that would take place over the next two months. If only she had the right person hovering over her. She wondered if she should call him and tell him that she had been put on bed rest. He had told her not to call him anymore, unless it had something to do with Caitlin. This indirectly was about Caitlin, so it was okay to call him. Before she could change her mind, she reached for her cell phone, which was lying on the night table, and scrolled for his number. It rang three times before going to voicemail.

  “Jeremy Malcolm. Leave a message!” Came his familiar voice through the speaker.

  She had no reason to believe that he was not screening her calls. She sighed and dialled Andie’s number. Andie picked up after one ring.

  “Hey Sammy! You okay?”

  “Do you know where Jeremy is?” She asked, not even greeting her sister.

  “Do I know where Jeremy is...” Andie repeated, and Samantha knew he was probably right next to her. “No. I couldn’t say...”

  Samantha rolled her eyes. And Darrin thought she was a lousy liar. The telephone lines and the thousands of miles between them could not mask that unconvincing fib. Andie was lucky God had stopped striking people in the manner of Ananias and Sapphire. “Well, if you happen to hear from him, tell him the mother of his child would like to talk to him!” She snapped. “Perhaps he could pull his head out of his ass and call me.
”

  “If I talk to him, I will tell him...” Andie began, but then she realised that Samantha had hung up on her.

  Samantha flung the phone across the room in a gesture of despair. She needed him to talk to her. She didn’t care if she was as selfish as he thought. It was all about her now. She was the one who was pregnant and now sick and who had to go on bed rest, and he didn’t even care. Even if she and Micah were dating, he was still Caitlin’s father. He should care. He shouldn’t ignore her. Right now, he was being a very bad father! Life really and truly sucked, she decided, for both her and Caitlin. She was going to be eternally unhappy, and poor little Caitie Malcolm had no father. She pulled the sheets over her head and willed herself not to cry.

  ***

  Andie turned off her cell phone and flung it to the couch in Aunt Phoebe’s den. If the phone was off, it couldn’t ring, then it wouldn’t be Samantha sounding as though she was bearing the weight of the world. She glanced at Jeremy. He was studying the scrabble tiles in his rack. His brows were firmly knit as he concentrated on his next play.

  “Sam’s looking for you,” she told him.

  “Hmm,” Jeremy commented. He played ‘queries’ on an open ‘u’ for a triple word score. “Check me up.”

  “You made me lie to my sister!”

  “You didn’t have to lie to her,” Jeremy pointed out.

  “Then what did you want me to tell her? That you did not want to talk to her?”

  Jeremy did not answer. He shook the scrabble tile bag and dipped his hand in.

  “Jeremy, come on... Don’t you think you’re being too hard on her? She misses you!”

  “Why? Doesn’t she have Micah to keep her company?”

  “I don’t think Micah’s company is what she wants right now!” Andie insisted. “She wanted me to tell you she’s looking for you.”

  “I heard you the first time.”

  “You need to stop being stubborn and spiteful and call her!”

  Jeremy looked at her. She was glaring at him, trying to look firm, but failing miserably. She looked about as menacing as Raggedy Ann. In fact, with her hair in two braids, with little green ribbons on the end, she did indeed look like a baby doll. This was really random, he thought. If someone had told him three years ago that he would be spending his one free night in forever playing Scrabble with Andie Persaud, he would punch them in the face and tell them they were lying. But spending the evening with Andie was the most interesting thing he could think of doing. The gang was having post Halloween drinks at Infierno. Jeremy had absolutely no desire to go to Infierno. In the first place, Infierno would always remind him of Samantha. In the second place, he really, really did not want to be within breathing distance of Phillip when he did not have to be. In fact, if he could remove himself from all things and persons work related even for one night, that would make him a very happy man. Furthermore the fact that Phillip was at Infierno meant he was not at the penthouse, which meant it was indeed safe to visit with Andie.

  “All you are doing is punishing yourself,” Andie told him. “My sister wants to be with you. You had a stupid fight and you are acting as though she and Micah are married!”

  “I’m not getting into this with you tonight, Anne Dru,” Jeremy told her. “It’s your play.”

  “I don’t want to play this stupid game anymore!” Andie yelled. “And you better get into this with me tonight, because all this rubbish is not about you and it is not about Samantha, and it is worst of all not about Micah. This is about Caitlin. She needs her father.”

  “She has her father!”

  “What kinda punk father she has?” Andie trilled. “You are not even talking to her mother. As far as you know, Sam could have been calling you about something important tonight and you couldn’t even extend to her the courtesy of taking her call. Do you think that is how a real father -- a good father behaves?”

  “Andie!”

  “Samantha told me about all the stress you went through with your father, and how you vowed never to turn out like him, but right now, with the way you are acting, I can tell you that you are ten times worse! At least he did not chicken out and run away from your mother when things did not go his way, you spoiled, sorry excuse for a man!”

  Jeremy turned over his tile rack. His temper was rising, and he did not want to lose his cool and smack Andie. The best thing he could do for both of them was leave. Right now. “I’m going home!”

  “Yes!” Andie followed him as he grabbed his fall coat. “Leave. That’s what you do best!”

  “Andie, back off!”

  “So what? Have you my friend become my enemy because I told you the truth?” She quoted one of Nathan’s favorite Bible verses.

  “You don’t know anything, and I am not arguing with you about this!” Jeremy told her. “Look, I know you mean well, but this is not your fight, and right now you are way out of line. I am going to leave now, and I think for the sake of our friendship, you don’t call me for a few days, okay?”

  “Jeremy...”

  “And don’t you ever, ever talk to me about my father again. Do I make myself clear?”

  Andie looked at him. He was wearing the Bad Boys scowl that Samantha always told her about. But he did not look sexy. He looked downright intimidating, and she was a bit scared. He looked as though he might lose his temper and shake her. She knew it was in her best interest to back off.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You should be. Goodnight, Andie.”

  He stormed out of the den and slammed the door behind him.

  Andie looked at the closed door. Maybe she had indeed gone too far. But all she wanted was for these two miserable people to get over themselves and work out their issue. If they couldn’t do it for themselves, then they had to do it for Caitlin, and really, they didn’t have much time left. Well, she had done all she could, and now she really could do no more. If they were going to sort themselves out, they would have to do so on their own.

  She started picking up the tiles to Aunt Phoebe’s scrabble game, thinking that her sister and Jeremy were the two biggest idiots in the whole world.

  297

  Just Perfect!

  chapter fifteen

  November 25

  Micah looked at Samantha, who was glumly staring at the television set. She had been staring, unblinking on the flashing images, not speaking, or even reacting to what was going on. He was certain she was not even aware of what she was watching. He had noticed that she was looking more and more subdued as the days passed, and was wondering if she was getting nervous about delivering the baby. That might be the problem, he decided. She had spent the past month on bed rest. Initially, Dr Creary had been worried about her elevated blood pressure and weight gain. Dr Creary never used the actual word, but he knew it was preeclampsia. Preeclampsia could cause seizure, stroke and death, he had read on line, which was why Dr Creary was so concerned. Unfortunately, nothing she did seemed to be helping. Samantha was getting more and more bloated, and irritable, and her blood pressure kept climbing. The word ‘Caesarean’ had been muttered on more than one occasion. Samantha had told him the previous week that she did not want a Caesarean so early. Not before Caitlin got to term. According to her research, preemies had all sorts of developmental and health issues. But Dr Creary was not sure they would make it so far. That was enough, Micah thought, to freak out even the calmest human being.

  “Are you worried about Caitlin?” He asked finally.

  “What?”

  “You seem anxious and quiet and sad,” Micah explained. “What’s the matter?”

  Samantha looked at him. What was the matter? Everything was the matter. She had not heard a word from Jeremy all week. Although he was not speaking to her, he would at least call and find out how Caitlin was doing. But it was Wednesday, and almost four days since she had last heard his voice. She wanted Jeremy to call so she could tell him that her blood pressure was not going down, and that she was scared that she might lose thei
r baby or die or both. Dr Creary told her she was being ridiculous, and that neither she nor Caitlin would die, if she had anything to do with it. She was not convinced, and every day that passed that she did not hear from Jeremy, she died a little bit inside. But she couldn’t tell Micah that. She had nobody who she could tell.

  “I’m fine,” she finally sighed. “Or I will be fine soon….”

  Micah smiled. “In just a few weeks you’re going to be a mommy! Are you excited?”

  She sighed again. A few more weeks. Possibly the longest, or last few weeks of her life. She did not know if she wanted the next few weeks to come in a hurry or never come at all. But she could not tell Micah that either. She could not tell Micah anything.

  She couldn’t tell him that Andie had been home for graduation for two days now, and had hardly said two words to her. She could not tell him that her sister, who she had been looking forward to spending some time with, had spent the past forty-eight hours with Nathan, running around doing graduation stuff, barely even acknowledging her. Micah would not understand. He was just so damn insular. All he ever spoke about was the frigging papers he wrote every day, and the boring people at BOJ. Really, after she finished NYU, she would definitely join Persaud Financials. From Micah's account, BOJ was not going to be her cup of tea.

  Micah looked at her. She didn’t look fine. She looked distressed, and he was sure being distressed was not helping her blood pressure in any way.

  “Is there something else that is bothering you that you want to talk about?”

  Samantha was getting annoyed. Why was he harassing her? Why wasn’t he off doing graduation things like Andie and Nathan, instead of vegetating in her room and grating her nerves? “Micah, why aren’t you graduating again?”

  “I told you before it’s a waste of time and money,” Micah responded. “I already graduated from Undergrad. Why do I need to pay to do the same thing again?”

  “It’s an important rite of passage,” Samantha pointed out.