Carrying His Baby

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 raise 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!”

Margaret was sitting back and watching the show, looking like she could do with some tea. The dogs – Hope and Strife, as Margaret had chosen to name them – sat beside her, and looked like they were not just used to such shenanigans, but enjoyed them.

“You are not the only one involved in this, Hallie. I am responsible for the well-being of my child, too.”

“Your child is currently a part of me, so hands off, billionaire boy. You might order everybody around and you might be used to that, but you don’t do it with me.”