The Son I Didn't Know I Wanted

It had been a harrowing nine months for sixteen year old Maria Bendict. She had become pregnant after her boyfriend had gotten her drunk after returning to his house following the outdoor concert they'd seen on the outskirts of Jolly Roger. She had been only fifteen and he an eighteen year old that had recently moved there in order to make a life for himself. Her mother, who was a pretty demanding woman all on her own, had said that she wouldn't press charges with the sheriff if the man married her daughter and raised the child with her. However, he managed to evade either fate by simply jumping on the first ship out of town and looking for another place to work. So Maria was left all alone to take care of the child she was carrying.

"Don't worry darling," her mother said, "I'm here for my baby girl. You can tell me whatever you need. I won't be like that man and abandon you when you need me the most. You'll stay at my house and I can help take care of the baby." Despite her demanding appearance and somewhat virulent temper, Elena Bendict was one of the kindest women you could ever know. She'd never do anything to hurt her daughters.

"Mom…I don't want to keep the baby. I'm too young to go through this. The second I can do so, I'll put him up for adoption. This child doesn't deserve a mother who can barely take care of him on her own. It is best for the two of us that I do this. He'll have a better life with both a mother and a father," Maria replied.

That brought tears to her mother's eyes. It looked like the girl had given this a great deal of thought. Especially since she had been ostracized for having the child in the first place. Maria had been one of the most popular girls in all of Jolly Roger before the incident. But after becoming pregnant, all her friends left her. It had been only her cool head that saved Maria from hurting herself; it wasn't uncommon for girls at that time that got pregnant to try all kinds of drastic measures to kill the child, and end up dying as well.

She had cried all night on her mother's shoulder instead. It was the pain of her friends leaving her and the rumors that hurt her more than her boyfriend's actions. The loss of respect from those she thought were her close circle was enough to almost kill the girl. That was one of the reasons girls who got pregnant out of wedlock sometimes committed suicide in an attempt to destroy the unborn child. The other reason was that the community talked. In Maria's case, only Elena's temperament saved her from the bad rumors.

. . .

Now, following the long ordeal, the girl was being visited by the local doctor as she went into labor. Maria shrieked in pain as Dr. Elliot Enduro Sr.--father of future Council of Seven member Elliot Enduro Jr.--braced her. His wife, Rina, was also helping to deliver the baby--they'd met at medical school, and were a successful team of physicians. They'd sent their twelve year old son to play with his friend Jessica--Jess--Serenity. Not that he minded, he would take any excuse to hang with the young girl he'd grown up with.

After what seemed like an eternity, the baby was born. It was a boy. Rina handed the child to his mother; who was still breathing heavily to get the wind back after the whole ordeal. As Maria recovered, she saw something that she never expected to see in the child. She saw hope. Holding him in her arms, she could not help but fall instantly in love with the baby boy she had carried. At that moment, Maria felt her mind change about what she wanted to do. This baby was hers, and she was going to keep him and raise him by herself. It would be hard, but she felt that she couldn't let go of this one little life she held near her.

The doctors both left and her mother entered the room to see her daughter and grandson. Maria stated, "Mom, I've decided to raise this child. I never knew the joy that simply holding a baby I carried could mean. I shouldn't have ever thought about giving him up. Rather, I should have been proud to have a child that I could call my son; who could call me his mother. Will you still be willing help me out to raise him?"

Elena looked closely at her daughter and smiled. "Of course I'll help you. Maria, it isn't your fault that you had doubts about raising your son. It is a part of life we all go through. You felt that you had too much of a life to let go of it all just to become a mother. After all, you are still a teenager no matter what has happened to you. Teenage years are full of doubts as it is, this is just one of the more unusual ones."

"Don't worry my darling," the girl whispered to the boy in her arms, "I'm never going to leave you. I will be the best mother that I possibly can. You'll never have to feel alone. I'll take good care of you Malik."

"Is that the baby's name? It's cute. Well, I'm off to get some groceries. If you need anything, you know I'll be back soon. Or you can ask for your sister's help. She's upstairs simply studying for the exam she's taking tomorrow. I still can't believe she expects to become an engineer. Jenine always was the big dreamer. Well, you should get some rest anyway. It was tiring work bringing that boy into the world," she told her daughter. Then, Elena left the house in order to do the shopping; leaving Maria alone with her son.

. . .

Everyone in town had found out quickly that Elena's daughter had finally delivered her child. If the sight of two doctors sitting in the saloon to relax after work wasn't telling enough, then all you had to do was to listen for the cries of a baby from the Bendict household. But it took them awhile longer to learn that Maria was planning to keep the child. Most of her old friends told her that she should just ditch being a mother and return to hanging out with them. However, Maria only told them that they would never be able to understand until they had a child. Of course, they all declined; those girls didn't want to lose their freedom.

But for Maria, it wasn't losing freedom. It was gaining a whole new life. With her son, she didn't have to worry about how she looked or who she associated with. As long as it didn't hurt him, whatever she did would be perfectly fine. He wouldn't see her for her clothes or her cosmetics. Malik would only see her for the person she was…his mother. Never again would Maria have to fear being left alone. She now had somebody who not only didn't want her to be left all alone, but who didn't want to be without her as well.

Maria would have to shelve her old dreams for new ones; ones that would be good for both her and her son. She took on a job at the local saloon as a waitress. That would help her mother out by earning some of the money needed to pay for the upkeep of a baby. With both her mother and sister in the home, finding a babysitter was easy. The three worked their schedules so that at least one person was home with Malik at all times. Maria's job was only at nights so she was able to be with her son during the times when he would be awake the most. And as time passed, she didn't believe she ever wanted to give the boy away.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

Well, I thought that Malik's backstory wasn't covered well enough. First of all, he never mentions his father at all. So I created a situation very similar to what teenagers of today go through; a drunken night, or just a wild one, leads to a girl getting pregnant and the father doesn't take any responsibility for the child. We're going to go forward in time soon to see what happens when he grows up a little more. After all, there's only a few things I can do with the baby; sing lullabies, feed him, and read stories. How much fun will that be? The reason I added Elliot in was that I needed some side characters for the story. So, instead of going on the OC warpath, I used Elliot and his future wife; since I do have some stories in the works where she'll play a role in it'll be more like getting warmed up with her character. He'll be doing research in his home lab for the most part; so most scenes involving a part of the couple will be of her.