For Your Babies
'Hold up a minute,' Roland Carter interjected. 'You're telling me that you two are married?'
'Pretty much.'
He and Anna had been married for six weeks, if you were planning on being accurate about things. Carter was the happiest he had been in his whole life, and had been told more than once that the two of them were acting like a couple of teenagers. But he had been putting off telling his family, who had never even known that they were dating, much less engaged. Millicent knew, of course, but this was the first that any of the others had heard of it. And Roland and Josephine Carter were quickly managing to make their son irate.
'Anna Del Amico? I'm sorry, son, but couldn't you have found someone a little more like us?'
Carter's grip on his wife's hand tightened and he replied calmly, 'It's Anna Carter, and has been for a while now. And as far as someone "like you" is concerned, you could hardly have produced a son more different from you.'
'You're right,' said Josephine sadly. 'Maybe if Bobby was still alive he would be a son that had turned out right.'
'Look, Anna and I came here to invite you to the reception.' It had seemed only fair that since they had cheated their family and friends out of a wedding, they should do something to make it up to them. 'If you don't want to go, just say so.'
'Fine. We don't want to go.'
'Peachy.' They turned to leave and were headed for the door when Carter spun round. 'I'm sorry, I've been waiting to say this since I graduated med school.'
'What would that be?' His father's icy sarcasm stung.
'God, do you two have any idea what I do for a living?' he spat out. 'I work in an ER. In one day I can see things that most people go their whole lives without seeing. I save lives! Doesn't that make you even a tiny bit proud?' There was a dead silence, and he answered his own question. 'I guess not. Anna, let's go. We're not wanted here.'
As he sat in the Jeep five minutes later, he let out a ragged breath and his hands clutched the steering wheel.
'John, calm down. You can hardly drive home in the state you're in, and I don't particularly want to be stuck here all night, but just sit for a minute, okay?' His hands dropped down and she continued. 'I don't care what they think of me. So neither should you. Look, this way we can spend tomorrow with our friends. I mean, did you really want them to come in the first place?'
'No,' he admitted. 'But it wasn't that bit that hurt.'
'I know. I'm proud of you,' she added. 'If that means anything.'
'Not just that. Okay, that most of all. Just - oh, everything. They're so bloody traditional, and that's the polite expression for it. It's the…'
'Class status?'
'Yeah.'
'John, you were right. You and I, we save lives. Hundreds and hundreds of people owe their lives to you. They don't know what kind of a gift that is. You're an excellent doctor. And a good man.'
'An instrument of god.' He laughed, a little shamefacedly.
'A what?'
'Just something a patient called me once. The Christmas after you left. Long story.'
~~~~~~
Carter's head was spinning. They had decided on an evening reception on the premise that they wouldn't therefore get kicked out anytime before 2am, and that people would actually get drunk and let their hair down. Which they would be unlikely to do at four in the afternoon. However, an evening reception did not prevent him from having to meet Anna's family for the first time. They were nice, he didn't challenge that. But by some miracle, every last one of them was there and the result was your stereotypical Catholic family. Her seven younger brothers, her grandmother, her parents, and her seven thousand aunts and uncles. So far, he had managed to get his head round Aunt Tessa, the grandmother, and James, the oldest brother. For the rest, the names were all there, but he seemed unable to match them up with faces. He finally escaped to someone with whom he was on more familiar ground.
'Hey, you guys. I'm so glad you could be here.'
'We planned on being at the wedding,' Carol Hathaway admonished him. 'Trust you to never do anything the easy way.'
'It probably was the easy way,' Doug pointed out. 'Imagine a wedding in Chicago with the Carter family. I notice that your parents aren't here.'
'No,' Carter admitted. 'They only found out about Anna and me yesterday, and they… well, they didn't take it too well. I get the distinct impression that Gamma is the only one talking to me.'
'So I would imagine. Don't worry about it, Carter. You guys are made for each other.'
'Thanks, Doug.'
Casting his eye over the room, Carter could see dozens of familiar faces. Abby and Luka… Kerry and Kim… Jeanie Boulet and her husband… Dave… Mark and Elizabeth… Randi… Susan Lewis…
'Jerry?'
'Hey Carter.'
'What are you doing here?'
'I've got my sources. Anyway, when did I ever miss a party?'
'Um, never, if I remember correctly.' He was with people whose names he knew and his brain persisted in resembling mush. Jerry Markovic? He hadn't seen the guy in years. Not that he was complaining. Jerry and Malik could be counted on to liven things up a little, given half the chance. He had obviously run into Anna as well, because the next thing he knew she was at his elbow.
'What is Jerry doing here?'
'I just asked him the same question.' They didn't have time to get into an argument about it, because the music cut out and a voice said,
'Hi. Uh, it's been requested that I make a speech, so here goes. I see a few unfamiliar faces, so I may as well introduce myself. I'm Kat, I'm Dr Carter's daughter.' She paused. 'I've known Carter and Anna for just over a year, and never really when they weren't together. At this stage, I find it difficult to imagine them without each other. I did know my dad for just a few weeks before he started dating Anna, and one night just before she came back to Chicago, he told me that he was like Vivien Ward, the Julia Roberts character from the film Pretty Woman. He wanted the fairytale. I think that he and Anna have found that in each other.' She picked up her glass. 'To the bride and groom.'
'To the bride and groom.'
'Right. I'm almost done, but I have a request for a song. For Your Babies by Simply Red, and it's from Anna Carter to her husband.'
You've got that look again
The one I hoped I had when I was a lad
Your face is just beaming
Your smile got me boasting, my pulse roller-coastering
Anyway the four winds that blow
They're gonna send me sailing home to you
Or I'll fly with the force of a rainbow
The dream of gold will be waiting in your eyes
You know I'd do most anything you want
Hey I, I try to give you everything you need
I can see that it gets to you
I don't believe in may things
But in you I do
Her faith is amazing
The pain that she goes through contained in the hope for you
Your whole world has changed
The years spent before seem more cloudy than blue
In many ways your baby's controlling
When you haven't laid down for days
For the poor no time to be thinking
They're too busy finding ways
You know I'd do most anything you want
Hey I, I try to give you everything you need
I'll see that it gets to you
I don't believe in many things
But in you I do
You know I'd do most anything you want
Everyday I, I try to give you everything you need
We'll always be there for you
I don't believe in many things
But in you I do
As the song ended, Carter looked into his wife's eyes. 'Did what I think happened just happen?'
As a reply, she put a picture into his hand and, as he gazed at it, his mouth dropped open. 'Are - are we…' She nodded. 'Oh, my god. Anna…'
'What?'
'Thank you.'
'For what?'
'For being there. For making me the happiest man in the world. For everything.' Staring down at the ultrasound, he said shakily, 'We're going to have a baby, Anna.'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Yay! I fulfilled my promise and got it done by the end of the weekend. Technical point: I finally finished getting this chapter down on paper at 1am. I must be freaking mad. As I said, the song was Simply Red, For Your Babies. I don't know whether this band is known in America, but suspend belief. Part 11, coming real soon now. Tuesday night, hopefully.
'Hold up a minute,' Roland Carter interjected. 'You're telling me that you two are married?'
'Pretty much.'
He and Anna had been married for six weeks, if you were planning on being accurate about things. Carter was the happiest he had been in his whole life, and had been told more than once that the two of them were acting like a couple of teenagers. But he had been putting off telling his family, who had never even known that they were dating, much less engaged. Millicent knew, of course, but this was the first that any of the others had heard of it. And Roland and Josephine Carter were quickly managing to make their son irate.
'Anna Del Amico? I'm sorry, son, but couldn't you have found someone a little more like us?'
Carter's grip on his wife's hand tightened and he replied calmly, 'It's Anna Carter, and has been for a while now. And as far as someone "like you" is concerned, you could hardly have produced a son more different from you.'
'You're right,' said Josephine sadly. 'Maybe if Bobby was still alive he would be a son that had turned out right.'
'Look, Anna and I came here to invite you to the reception.' It had seemed only fair that since they had cheated their family and friends out of a wedding, they should do something to make it up to them. 'If you don't want to go, just say so.'
'Fine. We don't want to go.'
'Peachy.' They turned to leave and were headed for the door when Carter spun round. 'I'm sorry, I've been waiting to say this since I graduated med school.'
'What would that be?' His father's icy sarcasm stung.
'God, do you two have any idea what I do for a living?' he spat out. 'I work in an ER. In one day I can see things that most people go their whole lives without seeing. I save lives! Doesn't that make you even a tiny bit proud?' There was a dead silence, and he answered his own question. 'I guess not. Anna, let's go. We're not wanted here.'
As he sat in the Jeep five minutes later, he let out a ragged breath and his hands clutched the steering wheel.
'John, calm down. You can hardly drive home in the state you're in, and I don't particularly want to be stuck here all night, but just sit for a minute, okay?' His hands dropped down and she continued. 'I don't care what they think of me. So neither should you. Look, this way we can spend tomorrow with our friends. I mean, did you really want them to come in the first place?'
'No,' he admitted. 'But it wasn't that bit that hurt.'
'I know. I'm proud of you,' she added. 'If that means anything.'
'Not just that. Okay, that most of all. Just - oh, everything. They're so bloody traditional, and that's the polite expression for it. It's the…'
'Class status?'
'Yeah.'
'John, you were right. You and I, we save lives. Hundreds and hundreds of people owe their lives to you. They don't know what kind of a gift that is. You're an excellent doctor. And a good man.'
'An instrument of god.' He laughed, a little shamefacedly.
'A what?'
'Just something a patient called me once. The Christmas after you left. Long story.'
~~~~~~
Carter's head was spinning. They had decided on an evening reception on the premise that they wouldn't therefore get kicked out anytime before 2am, and that people would actually get drunk and let their hair down. Which they would be unlikely to do at four in the afternoon. However, an evening reception did not prevent him from having to meet Anna's family for the first time. They were nice, he didn't challenge that. But by some miracle, every last one of them was there and the result was your stereotypical Catholic family. Her seven younger brothers, her grandmother, her parents, and her seven thousand aunts and uncles. So far, he had managed to get his head round Aunt Tessa, the grandmother, and James, the oldest brother. For the rest, the names were all there, but he seemed unable to match them up with faces. He finally escaped to someone with whom he was on more familiar ground.
'Hey, you guys. I'm so glad you could be here.'
'We planned on being at the wedding,' Carol Hathaway admonished him. 'Trust you to never do anything the easy way.'
'It probably was the easy way,' Doug pointed out. 'Imagine a wedding in Chicago with the Carter family. I notice that your parents aren't here.'
'No,' Carter admitted. 'They only found out about Anna and me yesterday, and they… well, they didn't take it too well. I get the distinct impression that Gamma is the only one talking to me.'
'So I would imagine. Don't worry about it, Carter. You guys are made for each other.'
'Thanks, Doug.'
Casting his eye over the room, Carter could see dozens of familiar faces. Abby and Luka… Kerry and Kim… Jeanie Boulet and her husband… Dave… Mark and Elizabeth… Randi… Susan Lewis…
'Jerry?'
'Hey Carter.'
'What are you doing here?'
'I've got my sources. Anyway, when did I ever miss a party?'
'Um, never, if I remember correctly.' He was with people whose names he knew and his brain persisted in resembling mush. Jerry Markovic? He hadn't seen the guy in years. Not that he was complaining. Jerry and Malik could be counted on to liven things up a little, given half the chance. He had obviously run into Anna as well, because the next thing he knew she was at his elbow.
'What is Jerry doing here?'
'I just asked him the same question.' They didn't have time to get into an argument about it, because the music cut out and a voice said,
'Hi. Uh, it's been requested that I make a speech, so here goes. I see a few unfamiliar faces, so I may as well introduce myself. I'm Kat, I'm Dr Carter's daughter.' She paused. 'I've known Carter and Anna for just over a year, and never really when they weren't together. At this stage, I find it difficult to imagine them without each other. I did know my dad for just a few weeks before he started dating Anna, and one night just before she came back to Chicago, he told me that he was like Vivien Ward, the Julia Roberts character from the film Pretty Woman. He wanted the fairytale. I think that he and Anna have found that in each other.' She picked up her glass. 'To the bride and groom.'
'To the bride and groom.'
'Right. I'm almost done, but I have a request for a song. For Your Babies by Simply Red, and it's from Anna Carter to her husband.'
You've got that look again
The one I hoped I had when I was a lad
Your face is just beaming
Your smile got me boasting, my pulse roller-coastering
Anyway the four winds that blow
They're gonna send me sailing home to you
Or I'll fly with the force of a rainbow
The dream of gold will be waiting in your eyes
You know I'd do most anything you want
Hey I, I try to give you everything you need
I can see that it gets to you
I don't believe in may things
But in you I do
Her faith is amazing
The pain that she goes through contained in the hope for you
Your whole world has changed
The years spent before seem more cloudy than blue
In many ways your baby's controlling
When you haven't laid down for days
For the poor no time to be thinking
They're too busy finding ways
You know I'd do most anything you want
Hey I, I try to give you everything you need
I'll see that it gets to you
I don't believe in many things
But in you I do
You know I'd do most anything you want
Everyday I, I try to give you everything you need
We'll always be there for you
I don't believe in many things
But in you I do
As the song ended, Carter looked into his wife's eyes. 'Did what I think happened just happen?'
As a reply, she put a picture into his hand and, as he gazed at it, his mouth dropped open. 'Are - are we…' She nodded. 'Oh, my god. Anna…'
'What?'
'Thank you.'
'For what?'
'For being there. For making me the happiest man in the world. For everything.' Staring down at the ultrasound, he said shakily, 'We're going to have a baby, Anna.'
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Yay! I fulfilled my promise and got it done by the end of the weekend. Technical point: I finally finished getting this chapter down on paper at 1am. I must be freaking mad. As I said, the song was Simply Red, For Your Babies. I don't know whether this band is known in America, but suspend belief. Part 11, coming real soon now. Tuesday night, hopefully.