Chapter 10: Food For Thought

Author's Note: Dear Annie, please rest assured that Laura has not been, as you say, muzzled by writer's privilege or by any other means. She's having a rough night. Any child in her situation might first be focused on their own well being. She needed to know she wasn't going to live with Mom. Then, she needed to know she wasn't going to be ousted if, and when, the newest member of the family arrives. These are very real, not to mention very scary thoughts for someone in Laura's position. I am confident that when she is completely at peace all manner of questions regarding the "science experiment" will commence. How much do you wanna bet she'll ask some of them at the most inopportune moments?

Monday, October 27, 2007

While Harm and Mac both tend to Laura, making sure the girl is convinced that she will remain well cared for and safe, Trish steps away to answer the knock at the front door. Opening it, she smiles at her husband and kisses his cheek.

"What did the doctor say?" He asks in a hushed voice without stepping in.

Trish sadly shakes her head and quietly breathes. "I don't know the exact details but I know it wasn't good. Laura's mother called a short while ago and upset the apple cart. The poor darling ran and hid in the closet. I had only just managed to get her out when they arrived, so we've all been cleaning up the mess Casey made with Laura. They really haven't had time to explain; only to tell Laura that it will either be surrogacy or adoption."

"Ahh damn." He shakes his head; hope asunder and whispers in her ear. "Are you sure we should stay?" He waits for her to nod before he steps over the threshold. "Are they really up for a family dinner tonight? Maybe we should take Laura home with us; give them a chance to be alone."

She pats his shoulder affectionately. "They were later getting back than I expected. Judging by the looks of them, I'll wager they stopped somewhere and had a good cry. They're trying hard to smile and stay positive; maybe for Laura's sake… maybe for their own. I just asked. Harm said stay. Maybe we can lend support. Nudge them in a positive direction; or at the very least, take their minds off of it for a little while."

"Okay, I'm game." He says quietly as he picks a piece of lint off the shoulder of her summer weight sweater and then makes his presence known by loudly clapping his hands together once. Stepping into action, like a man with a plan, he grins and holds his arms open wide. "Where's my girl?" He smiles warmly at Laura who is still sitting atop the kitchen bar while Trish closes the front door after him.

The girl offers him a smile of her own and reaches out for him. "Mr. Frank!"

He scoops her up and hugs her tightly. "What have you and Miss Trish been up to today? Did you keep her in line?" Frank claps a hand on Harm's shoulder in greeting and offers Mac a one-armed hug before helping himself to a bar stool and settling Laura on his lap.

Laura giggles and begins filling him and on her afternoon; rarely stopping for a breath as she enlightens him.

"Mr. Frank nobody has to watch Miss Trish. She's good. She's really busy too! First, she picked me up after school. She even got to talk to Liam for a minute. We went and got me a Halloween costume. The best one ever! I get to be Snoopy. Snoopy is awesome!" She declares with wide, happy eyes accompanied by her signature chin bob before rambling on. "She even made sure my costume will fit over my brace. Then we went to the gallery. There were lots of people in there today and she let me help her set up Chloe's exhibit. It's almost ready. I can't wait for Chloe to be here. I think it would be really neat to have an art exhibit on Halloween. I bet Chloe is super excited! All the pictures are so pretty, After we came home, we started making dinner and she let me help bake cookies! I've never made real cookies before. Mom and Mimi just by the ones in the store. Then my mom called." The ugly grimace that passes over Laura's face is a fleeting thing, by her own estimation; she has more important things to talk about so she plows on; largely undeterred. "Uncle Harm tried to steal one of the cookies when he got home, but he's too slow for Miss Trish! Uncle Harm and Aunt Mac have to do a science experiment if they wanna have their own baby, but I hope it works! Aunt Mac says they might need a little magic." She pauses long enough to shrug as if she's not worried. "Uncle Harm says he knows everything will be okay, 'cause he believes in Aunt Mac's dreams; even if she doesn't!" Laura tilts her head to one side and breathes deeply. Let's see… I don't think I forgot nothin'. No, that's it. I'm done!" She bobs her chin again in conclusion, but before Frank, or anyone else, can comment on anything that she said she declares with excitement, "Wait, I did forget! Uncle Harm said I get to stay even after the new baby comes, 'cause I was here first! And… We saw Skates and Keeter today!" She briefly turns her attention to Harm. "Uncle Harm, Keeter wants to know how come you have to talk to the doctor about making a baby. He says that you don't listen. He says that he told you how to do that a long time ago!"

After Laura had begun telling her tale, Mac had stepped into the kitchen to help out with what was left of dinner preparation. She now pauses, hot buttered knife midair and laughs aloud. Harm nearly chokes on a, still hot from the oven, roll he's just swiped from her.

Mac thumps him lightly on the back and offers him a paper napkin. When he can, he says "I didn't know he was here, or Skates' either for that matter, but Laura I hope you told that troublemaker to mind his own business!"

Laura shrugs and shakes her head negatively. "I didn't! But… Miss Trish told him if he didn't behave he might leave her gallery on a gurney! Uncle Harm, did he really spill airplane glue and mustard on your mom's rug? Miss Trish says that you took the blame, but she knows it was him."

Harm glances at his mother somewhat sheepishly before he quietly admits, "Yeah, he really did."

With a profound lack of surprise, Trish hands her husband a prepared plate. "Let's move this to the table; shall we?"

The small cottage is permeated with the aroma of slow cooked ribs as they all move to the table; plates in hand. Frank deposits Laura in the chair next to his, and his wife quickly sets to work cutting the child's meat into bite-size pieces. As they settle in, Laura's mind returns to their previous conversation.

Thinking hard, she squints and purses her lips before asking, "Hey Aunt Mac, who gets to be the surrogate? Do you get to pick, or does the doctor?" Laura pushes up the sleeves of her long sleeve tee shirt, picks up her fork, and waits expectantly for an answer.

Mac has to pause her own thoughts as she takes a sip of iced tea. "It's a little of both. Uncle Harm and I get to pick people we'd like, but then the doctor has to run some tests to make sure they're medically suitable."

Laura squints again and all the adults can see she's thinking very seriously. After a protracted moment, she declares with absolute certainty, "I don't know what medically suitable means, but I vote for Miss Harriett. She loves you, and she's good at making babies too; she's got lots of them!"

Laughing, as are the rest of the adults in the room, Mac sets down her glass and takes Harm's hand. "Actually, Harriett was one of the first people to come to mind. Harm and I talked about it this afternoon. But, she lives 3000 miles away and as you so aptly pointed out Laura, she already has lots of babies to take care of. I'm not sure it's fair to even ask her. She's a very busy lady."

Trish sets down her fork. "If I may weigh in…" She waits for both Harm and Mac to nod consent before she continues. "If you wait for the person whom it's fair to ask; I'm not sure you'll ever ask anyone. I also understand the reasons you might be inclined to exclude Harriett. She is an extremely busy woman with four children under the age of ten, but that also speaks to her suitability. I know she and Bud lost a child, but if memory serves, that was through no fault of their own. She's proven that she can manage to be pregnant in the midst of the chaos that only children can bring. That and well, frankly put, Laura's right. Each one of her children are healthy, well looked after, and happy. I'm quite certain there is a rigorous screening process set in place for surrogates. There simply has to be. But I don't particularly care how rigorous that process is. Were I going to ask someone to do that for me I would not only want them to pass through that screening process, but I would want them to be someone I knew personally; someone I could trust intimately. After all, this is your child and my grandchild we're talking about."