Carrying His Baby

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.