Hi Everyone, welcome to my new story. I came up with this one and thought I would post it for everyone to enjoy. Please let me know what you think in the review section!
Project Eden
Prologue
Nicole Edwards
The woman bounces her legs on the chair nervously as she holders her purse tightly in her lap, trying to hide her swelling belly. Her eyes search around the clinic to find nothing but young girls with the look of fear painted on their faces. They are babies themselves. Almost all the girls have someone with them: a disinterested friend reading the magazines, a terrified boyfriend on edge, and a mother scolding their child for being reckless. Yet here she sits, a distinguished woman in her 40s, surrounded by frightened children having babies of their own.
Her eyes lock on a girl sitting across from her. Like her, the girl does not have anyone accompanying her. The girl's posture does not show that she is scarred, and paints a portrait of a disinterested teen, wanting to be somewhere else. Had it not been for the girl's massive belly, the woman would have thought she was here for support.
The girl feels the woman's eyes on her and when she does, they lock eyes. The woman quickly looks away, and when she does the girl smiles and stands up. The girl wobbles to the woman and sits down right next to her.
She smacks her gum in the woman's hear and says "You're a bit old to be in a place like this." The woman swallows harshly unable to respond to the girl. "I always thought women your age wanted babies, but couldn't have them." The woman tugs on her purse trying to hide her belly.
The girl looks around the clinic, then leans in and whispers "I hear they are taking the kids and training them to be assassins for the government."
The woman looks down at the girl, trying to hide her discomfort at the situation. "You have a very grandeur perspective of this place." She says trying to sound disinterested in the girl's story.
The girl exhales and slumps into her seat. She fidgets in her seat for a moment, then looks back at the woman, "I'm Mariah."
The woman looks back at the girl, "Nicole." She simply says.
Mariah looks down at her belly, holding and rubbing the child inside. "It's a boy." She says with a smile, "They haven't told me yet, but boy is he a kicker. I know he is just waiting to get out." She rubs her belly again then looks back at Nicole, "What about you? What are you having?"
"I don't know." Nicole says distantly. Ever since she decided to give away the baby, Nicole had been disinterested in the whole pregnancy.
"I'm sure you haven't been tested, but what does it feel like you're having?" Nicole again says she does not know, and Mariah rolls her eyes. She places her hand on Nicole's belly, Nicole recoils at the girl's touch, but is in too much shock to push the girl away. After a moment of thinking she says, "It's a girl."
"How do you know?" Nicole asks with morbid curiosity.
Mariah shrugs, "I don't know. It's a 50/50 shot." Nicole frowns at the idea that the girl does not have a sense for these things and just took a wild guess.
The woman watches as the girl smiles down at her belly, rubbing her stomach and slightly humming to her belly. The woman is shocked at how connected the girl is to the child. Looking around, all the girls, including herself, are disinterested in their swelling bellies. If the girl is so interested in the child, Nicole questions why she is in this clinic signing paperwork to have her child given up for adoption. The woman looks over at the girl, and without realizing it, she asks out load, what she is thinking, "Why give it up if you want it so much?" The woman bites her lips instantly regretting her words to the young girl.
The young girl shrugs Nicole's harsh and inquisitive question and says, "Sometimes you have to stop thinking about yourself and think about what's better for others." Nicole swallows hard at the comment, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that a teenager unable to buy her own lottery ticket is more understanding than she is.
"Where's your boyfriend…or...whoever…." Nicole asks awkwardly, regretting asking the question.
Mariah lets out a rye laugh than says, "There was no boyfriend. Just an ass who didn't know what 'no' means."
Nicole gets hot at the answer and feels lightheaded. She instantly regrets asking the girl about her situation and should have known that in a place like this, it wasn't out of the questions for a girl giving up her child to be a rape victim.
Nicole stumbles on her words, scrambling to find an apology in them, but Mariah stops her with a soft chuckle. "It's okay. You're not the only one to ask. And you didn't ask if I was drunk or teasing him, so you're better off than everyone else." Mariah sighs and Nicole's heart breaks at the torment this young girl must have received.
Mariah learns back in her chair and places her head up against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. She lets out a sigh and says, "That's why I chose to give him up. I live in a shitty trailer, in a shitty town, full of trashy people. If I brought him into this world, he would end up just like him. I want better for my son." Mariah looks at Nicole with bloodshot eyes. "I want some rich broad buying him Tommy Hilfiger boat shoes and taking him to their summer home where he rides horses and plays with chickens or something." She lets out a chuckle that gets caught in her throat under a sob. "I just want someone to love him more than they loved me."
She looks down at her belly and Nicole doesn't know what to say. She is driven to tears at the sight of the young girl. Nicole is shocked at how caring the young girl is, more so than her. Nicole places her hand on the young girl's belly, feeling the child move inside her. "He is going to have a beautiful life." Nicole says with a smile. "Someone will love this boy unconditionally."
Before Mariah can say anything the nurse comes out and calls, "Miss Edwards?" Nicole looks back at Mariah who is wiping stray tears from her eyes. Nicole gives her a reassuring squeeze on the hand and makes her way to the back office.
Nicole is weighed and taken to a small room and asked to undress. She lays on the table in the stiff paper gown they have given her to cover her body. The doctor enters to room and smiles a large, almost cartoonish smile at Nicole. Hello Miss Edwards, Dr. Clarke." Nicole nods at the doctor as she sits down in the rolling stool next to her.
"Thank you for coming in today." The doctor says. "I have seen your questionnaire." She says looking down at the clipboard, "Your high I.Q., clean medical history, lack of addictive behaviors, of course your beautiful looks will provide a strong candidate for the baby."
She says and Nicole feels uncomfortable with the idea of selling her child. She tries to think of it as Mariah said; giving the child a better life. "It wasn't really planned." Nicole says quickly, "It was a drunken night with a coworker. A mistake. Uh, not that... it's just… I am in an upcoming company and I can't sacrifice…" Nicole stops talking, hating herself for saying too much and coming off selfish.
The doctor holds up her hand and smiles at Nicole, "You don't have to explain anything, Miss Edwards." Nicole swallows hard and the doctor instructs her to place her legs on the cold metal bars that spread her legs. The doctor uses the cold clamps and Nicole shudders as they touch her skin. The doctor talks her though the process and explains to her that she is doing great.
She pops up and tells me that everything looks great. Dr. Clark prepares Nicole for an ultrasound, but once the doctor locates the baby, Nicole refuse to look, unable to form a connection. Dr. Clark does not ask Nicole if she would like to hear the heartbeat, and tells her that the baby is healthy and ready to be induced. They set up and appointment for two weeks and Nicole reminds herself to ask for the time off from work.
When Nicole is discharged, she searches the lobby for Mariah, however, she is unable to locate the young girl. Nicole frowns at the idea wondering if she will see the young girl again.
Two weeks pass, and Nicole sits in a hospital owned by the same company as the clinic. Nicole did extensive research on the company that owns the two facilities. Being in business, Nicole likes to know the companies and their standings before dealing with them. Nicole gathered that the company's name is Abstergo Industries and besides the clinic and hospital, they own a pharmaceutical company and various distribution centers. Nicole found that the company had been around for a while and had a reputable standing in the business world. She found comfort in the idea when she chose to give the child to a more reputable company, rather than the small state owned adoption clinics around the town.
Nicole is called to the back faster than she was when she was waiting in the clinic. The hospital was provided all of Nicole's medical history, and after going over a few things with Nicole, they escort her to the small dreary room she is to give labor in. The room has an overwhelming smell of chemicals used to sterilize the room and it makes Nicole nauseated.
Once she makes herself comfortable, Nicole is induced into labor and the pain begins. She tries to keep my occupied away from the pain and thinks about work. She thinks about how she successfully hid her bell from those in the office with lose clothes, hiding behind binders and her desk, and chalking it up to petty weight gain if anyone asked. The coworker who impregnated Nicole was unsuspecting of the entire situation and did not speak with Nicole much after the incident. She suspected that he was embarrassed of the entire situation and did not want his job on the line as Nicole was his direct supervisor. Nicole did not want to muddy the waters by bringing in a child into her and his life, knowing that neither wanted the child or were ready to become parents with one another, not having much interaction outside of work.
Nicole begins pushing and empties her mind of all thoughts, focusing on getting this child out of her. Dr. Clarke from the clinic assists in the labor and talks over Nicole's cries of pain, instructing her through the labor. Nicole feels release when the baby leaves her body and the subsequent cries fill the room. Dr. Clarke takes the child to a nearby table where she cleans the baby. Nicole looks over and sees the small hands and feel that flail in the air as the doctor cleans the child.
"Wait," Nicole says as they begin to take the child away.
"Remember Miss Edwards, you signed a contract—"
"I don't want to hold it," Nicole says, knowing what the doctor was getting at. "I…I just want to know…What is it?"
The doctor looks down at the child, then back at Nicole. "You've had a baby girl, Miss Edwards."
"A girl…" Nicole sighs thinking about Mariah. Nicole sits up frantically as much as she can without ripping, "Mariah," She says and the doctor looks back at her. "Her name is Mariah." The doctor nods and leaves the room.
Nicole feels an emptiness inside her and when the cries descend into the hall, no longer heard from her room, Nicole begins to sob quietly to herself, repeatedly chanting to herself that she has done what is best for her child.