CHAPTER 3:
Murray had decided not to tell Edison that he was the baby's father. He knew if he had it would cause a problem in his team that he was not willing to put up with. Besides, he had reasoned, it was Bryce's job to tell Edison. If he wanted to tell him.
The lack of that knowledge did not stop Edison from deciding to have his own little child with Bryce about the baby.
"Just don't mention giving it up," Murray said. "He refuses to even think of such an idea."
"He probably figures the kid will be a genius," Theora told them. "I bet he thinks that nobody else will ever understand the child the way he can."
"That's the point," Edison told her. "He won't be able to understand the kid. Not just because of the baby talk. But because each generation has it's own way of communicating, the music, the slang, even the body language changes. I just wish we could convince him that it's not as easy as he believes it will be."
"I think I'll have him spend a long weekend with my brother," Theora suggested. "Give him a little dose of reality. If he still thinks he wants to raise a baby after helping Winnie and Shawn out with their baby for three days in a row then I'll accept that he probably is."
"That sounds acceptable to me," Edison agreed.
Theora went to Bryce's studio to talk to him about the idea. When she got inside she found Bryce lying in bed. He was still in his pajamas which meant he had not got out of bed that morning. He was gasping for breath, his stomach very swollen from his pregnancy and Theora guessed that his insides were being crushed by the growing child.
She ran to the vu-phone and contacted the med center. Then she went over to Bryce and took his hand. "We'll get you to the hospital," she told him.
"Baby…." Bryce managed to say somehow.
Theora knew what he was trying to say. He didn't want to go. He didn't want them to end this pregnancy
"I'll tell them you want to keep the baby," she told him. "Maybe they'll just shift it around a little to lessen the pressure."
Edison, on his way to cover a story, spotted the ambulance and saw the paramedics bringing Bryce out on a stretcher.
"What happened?"
"The baby grew too much all at once, I think," Theora told him as he joined her in her pickup. "He was barely breathing when I found him."
Edison felt terrible. Even though he hadn't thought of Bryce as being a very good parent at this stage of his life, the idea of him suffering such a loss was heartbreaking to him.
They ran inside when they got to the medical center.
Theora filled out Bryce's information while Edison tried to find a doctor who would give him any information about the young genius.
"He's already in surgery," Theora told him when she joined in. "They said the doctors are aware of his condition and they're going to do what they can to save them both."