Story of a Girl
Nayru: (murdering her computer) This chapter has been deleted one time too many! Time to put an end to this! (types away)
Chapter 19: Fast Changes Arriving! No Need For Slow Changes!
The evening was young, and Andrew was on the phone. Rae was still in the separate cubicle. Karen was breathing heavily, but the sounds of her breathing were drowned out by the Gameboy resting on her belly as she played. Kai was leaned over her shoulder, watching her play. The music clicked and whirred melodically, making a large racket. Cliff was pacing still, his footsteps an even beat. Andrew was in deep conversation with someone, but none of them could tell who. The clock's ticking was inane, and the sounds of a heart monitor echoed within the walls of the building. Finally, Andrew put down the phone and walked towards the cubicle. As he entered, he turned the music on Karen's Gameboy off. He gave her a stern look, and she laughed nervously. The sounds were monotonous, tappings, beatings, and the ticking of the clock. Kai almost felt like breaking it in half just to end it. Nobody wanted to speak. They had nothing to say.
Finally, Karen spoke.
"I just wet myself." She mumbled. Kai looked at her.
"You mean...?" Karen smiled cheerfully.
"We got married at the same time, we got pregnant at the same time, what makes it so impossible we'd give birth at the same time?"
"Shit!" Kai cried. Andrew emerged from the cubicle.
"Karen, in here, now." He grabbed her hand and dragged her into a different cubicle. He calmly pulled away the curtain between the two, and Rae could see Karen. She waved cheerfully as Andrew put her on a monitor, and went back out to make another phone call.
"Rae!" Karen gasped softly.
"You ok, Karen?" She asked. Her voice was light and sleepy.
"Yeah, I was hoping it'd end soon. You in pain?"
"Actually, the fall didn't hurt that much. It was just the sensation of my water breaking un-naturally and the shock of the fall... not to mention these contractions." Rae laughed nervously. "But honestly, I'd been feeling them since yesterday..."
"But it's too soon!" Karen gasped. "You're early!"
"So are you." Rae replied.
"I mean, I've been feeling contractions for a few hours, but... Now it hurts."
"There you go." Rae smiled cheerfully. "You'll get your epidural after he's called your folks... I think he actually called my dad."
"He called your dad...?" Karen whispered.
"I don't get why we have to escort Rae's dad." Cliff grumbled. The midwife had arrived in the clinic three hours after Karen had been sent in. Karen's mother was helping Andrew, Elli, and the Midwife in birthing both women. Kai and Cliff had been sent to retrieve Rae's father from the ferry.
"I've never met or seen the man. I know that the farmer who was here before Rae had a son, he'd be about thirty-five by now." Kai frowned. "He was fourteen when she was born."
"Wow. Fourteen... I'll bet you anything he was an abandoner. One of those guys who gets a girl preggers and abandons her."
"Nah, I don't think he's running from the law. What I heard was that the girl abandoned him. No crime in that... Damned abandoners, all of them." Kai spit distastefully on the ground. Cliff scowled.
"They called me an abandoner, Kai."
"Oh." Kai responded shortly. Cliff folded his arms.
"Only the worst of people abandon their lovers. They are, in my opinion, the scum of the earth."
"Not as bad as a man who abandons his daughter." Kai remarked.
"I'll bet he had no choice but to leave her an orphan." Cliff sighed.
"I'll bet he did." Kai scoffed, as they arrived at the ferry dock. The ferry had just pulled in, and the buyers from the city were meandering towards the market. Two people, a man in a three-piece business suit and tie in his mid-thirties and a young woman of barely twenty clutched to his arm, waited in the center of the dock, talking to his girlfriend in a loud, arrogant voice.
"... completely disgusting! I mean, I dumped this kid on my old man fifteen years ago! I haven't heard from the kid, I don't even know her name or what she looks like! I don't frankly care. Out of the blue, a phone call saying that she's having a baby, come see her 'right now, dammit!' in the words of that vile doctor- he must have gotten his license from a Cracker Jack box!- and we're expected to up and go! We did, on the word that her husband would be here to escort us, and the hick man he sent got lost on the way to the do-"
"Excuse me." Cliff interrupted his rant. "I'm not a hick." The man lowered his high-class sunglasses, eyeing Cliff over their rims.
"You're Cliff Hawk?"
"That's right. You must be Mr. Ginram."
"John Ginram." Cliff and Mr. Ginram shook hands. "Vice-CEO of GR Technology."
"Wow, you're THE John Ginram of Glorious Revolution Tech? I had no idea Rae had such a high-class father." Kai exclaimed.
"Who's that?" Mr. Ginram inquired, looking at Kai.
"My best friend, Kai Sernet."
"Sernet? I just ordered the firing of a man by the name of Sernet." Mr. Ginram rose an eyebrow, glaring at Kai.
"My dad used to work for you." Kai folded his arms. They stared at each other uncomfortably. The girl on Mr. Ginram's arm still smirked at them.
"Excuse me, miss, I didn't catch your name." Cliff smiled in her general direction. She smirked.
"Lily Blaine." She responded simply.
"Soon to be Lily Ginram. This is my fiance." He smirked, kissing the top of her head. At a closer view, it was apparent Lily was younger than Rae.
"Erm... so how long has it been since you saw Rae? Fifteen years?"
"She was about six." Mr. Ginram shrugged.
"Well, I bet she's changed a lot from what you remember."
"Hn." Mr. Ginram shrugged.
"Are you at all happy to see her?"
"I was interrupted from an important business meeting, and the CEO told me that since it was my daughter, I HAD to go... I mean, it could have waited a few hours, it's just a baby!" Mr. Ginram snorted. Lily laughed coldly. Cliff and Kai scowled.
"Let's just go." Cliff turned and walked away.
"Just follow us." Kai added, following Cliff. Lily and John both followed, snickering nasty things in low voices.
Rae had watched Karen's cubicle close off. Andrew and the Midwife were both in Karen's cubicle, and Elli and Karen's mother beside her. Rae shivered, afraid, as she heard Karen scream. The door opened and shut four times in succession.
"Karen?!" Popuri gasped.
"Is she ok?!" Mary cried.
"What's going on?!" Harris interjected.
"Should I call the downtown hospital?" Gray asked.
"She's fine, yes, nothing, no!" Elli called out through the cubicle sheet. "Honestly, you four do that EVERY time she has a bad contraction!"
"She screams like she's in pain." Popuri whimpered.
"SHE IS IN PAIN! NOW GET OUT! YOU'RE DISTURBING RAE!" Both Karen's mother and Elli yelled. Four people squeaked in fright, and Rae heard the door opened and shut four more times. Elli smiled soothingly at Rae.
"Are you ok?"
"I think the medicine's taking effect." Rae responded with a smile.
"How can you remain so calm? It's like you're not in pain."
"Actually, I'm in a lot of pain, but if I keep on smiling- ow ow ow ow ow OW OW OW OW OW AAAAAGH!" Rae's calm, detached tone slowly turned into a scream. Elli gasped, and stroked her hand.
"Shh, shh..."
"It hurts, it hurts..!" Rae cried.
The door opened and shut six times.
"Rae?!" Six voices chorused.
"Don't make me lock that door!" Karen's mother shouted. The door opened and shut six more times. The door then opened once.
"Hello? Why is everyone doing the runaround?" Kai inquired from outside the cubicle.
"Ah! Kai! Get out!" Karen's mother rose to shoo him out, but not before Karen could scream again.
"Oh, gods..." Kai dropped to the ground, fainted. Elli emerged from the cubicle. Cliff, Mr. Ginram, and Lily were standing in the door. Cliff was staring at Kai, shocked.
"Childbirth. Nasty business." Mr. Ginram snorted. "Is there an inn we can stay in while we wait for the end of the 'blessed' event?"
"Arrangements have been made, sir." Elli responded, chirping. "Ask Doug for the 'Ginram' party. We'll notify you when the baby has been born." Mr. Ginram nodded sternly, and left with Lily on his arm.
"I hate him." Cliff grumbled, heaving Kai's dead weight onto the bench.
"I don't blame you." Elli sighed in response.
"He's just so cold! Talking about his own daughter as though she was nothing to him! I'd never do that to my own kid." Cliff scowled.
"I'm glad you feel that way. Your kid's almost here." Elli smiled at Cliff. "Rae's almost ready. It's just the waiting game."
"And Karen?" Cliff asked.
"She's in delivery. Unfortunately, with Karen, it's a struggle. We think the baby is upside-down. Breaching. The Doctor said it might be twins, so they're struggling to get out."
"Lucky Kai!" Cliff smiled. Karen began to scream again in the background. Elli immediately jumped up and slammed the lock on the door. There was the sound of six people slamming into each other. Cliff and Elli laughed.
"An unexpected surprise, but a pleasant one." Just then, there was the sound of a baby crying from Karen's cubicle. Six people slammed into the door again. "Oh! Wow!" Elli cried, running into Karen's cubicle. Cliff looked down at Kai, and shoved him to the ground to revive him.
"Oooooow..." Kai moaned.
"Dude, Karen just had a baby." Cliff murmured to him. Kai's eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet- instantly falling back on his butt, slipping on his pants. There was more crying from Karen's cubicle, and Kai got to his feet again, and ran in. Cliff heard cooings and squealing. He smiled. The babies stopped crying, and except for the sounds of heavy bretahing from Rae's cubicle, all that could be heard was Karen and Kai quietly discussing names. After about ten minutes of the talking, Kai emerged from the cubicle with a wet, pink baby in a white blanket. His face was glowing.
"Twin boys." Kai rambled. "Two boys. This one's Gabriel. Karen's got Rhamiel." Kai held up a little plastic bracelet on Gabriel's tiny wrist with his name on it.
"Angel names!" Cliff exclaimed. "Suitable..."
"They're perfect." Kai bubbled. "Perfect, perfect, perfect..." He wandered back into the cubicle. Cliff sighed, folding his arms. The sun was setting fast. He heard Rae whimpering, her whimpers escalate to a scream, and fall silent. He sighed, standing and walking out. He wandered off the farm and into the forest.
"How can I please her? I mean, I'm not sensitive, or rich, or smart. I can't be a good father, I can't do anything right. How in the world will I be able to make Rae happy after she went through this for me?" Cliff sighed to himself.
"You didn't do it for her, you did it with her." A voice murmured back.
"But... I haven't done anything. I haven't helped."
"You stood by her."
"What can I do, strange unidentified voice?!" Cliff yelled.
"Stay by her." The voice answered simply. Cliff thought for a minute. He grabbed a few flowers from a patch nearby, and ran back onto the farm.
He burst into the clinic, to hear the sounds of crying.
"Cliff, you missed it." Kai chuckled. "And I had NO idea Rae had that vocabulary. Most of it referring to you." "Great!" Cliff chortled. He entered the cubicle. Rae was leaned back against the pillow on the bed, a new baby laying on her chest. Andrew was writing down the baby's information, and Elli was stroking Rae's hand.
"...Baby girl; mother; Rae Hawk, father; Cliff Hawk, born on April the Eighteenth, year..."
"You did so well, Rae. Cliff's here." Elli moved aside, and Cliff crouched next to Rae. She smiled weakly at him.
"Everything I said about you, I didn't mean." She whispered.
"I brought you flowers." He mumbled nervously, offering them to her.
"Aw, thanks! Look, baby, daddy brought you and mommy a present..."
"The anaesthesia's still wearing off." Elli laughed. "She's completely out of it, and will be out of it for a day, at least."
"What do we name her, Cliffy?" Rae wondered.
"Uhm... you pick?" Cliff suggested.
"I think... Ezra..." Rae yawned. "Ezra... Hawk...."
"Then Ezra it is." Cliff kissed her on the forehead. Rae managed to sit up, and held Ezra in her arms, tight to her chest. "Now I have two girls." Cliff grinned.
Later that evening, Kai and Cliff were on the roof. Rae and Karen were still inside. Kai was holding Gabriel.
"Wow." Kai reflected.
"Wow." Cliff nodded.
"What do we do next time?"
"Well... I think we're going to give the audience a choice this time."
"Dog races are fun, right?" Kai blinked.
"And cooking contests." Cliff nodded.
"Or we could do a 'Day in the Life of' featurette."
"Those are good. Let's have the audience decide."
"See you next time on..." Kai and Cliff looked at eachother.
"STORY OF A GIRL!" Both cried.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Nayru: Your choices are:
1) The Dog Race!
2) The Cooking Contest!
3) A Day In The Life Of Mary!
Xiao: Review please!
Nayru: (murdering her computer) This chapter has been deleted one time too many! Time to put an end to this! (types away)
Chapter 19: Fast Changes Arriving! No Need For Slow Changes!
The evening was young, and Andrew was on the phone. Rae was still in the separate cubicle. Karen was breathing heavily, but the sounds of her breathing were drowned out by the Gameboy resting on her belly as she played. Kai was leaned over her shoulder, watching her play. The music clicked and whirred melodically, making a large racket. Cliff was pacing still, his footsteps an even beat. Andrew was in deep conversation with someone, but none of them could tell who. The clock's ticking was inane, and the sounds of a heart monitor echoed within the walls of the building. Finally, Andrew put down the phone and walked towards the cubicle. As he entered, he turned the music on Karen's Gameboy off. He gave her a stern look, and she laughed nervously. The sounds were monotonous, tappings, beatings, and the ticking of the clock. Kai almost felt like breaking it in half just to end it. Nobody wanted to speak. They had nothing to say.
Finally, Karen spoke.
"I just wet myself." She mumbled. Kai looked at her.
"You mean...?" Karen smiled cheerfully.
"We got married at the same time, we got pregnant at the same time, what makes it so impossible we'd give birth at the same time?"
"Shit!" Kai cried. Andrew emerged from the cubicle.
"Karen, in here, now." He grabbed her hand and dragged her into a different cubicle. He calmly pulled away the curtain between the two, and Rae could see Karen. She waved cheerfully as Andrew put her on a monitor, and went back out to make another phone call.
"Rae!" Karen gasped softly.
"You ok, Karen?" She asked. Her voice was light and sleepy.
"Yeah, I was hoping it'd end soon. You in pain?"
"Actually, the fall didn't hurt that much. It was just the sensation of my water breaking un-naturally and the shock of the fall... not to mention these contractions." Rae laughed nervously. "But honestly, I'd been feeling them since yesterday..."
"But it's too soon!" Karen gasped. "You're early!"
"So are you." Rae replied.
"I mean, I've been feeling contractions for a few hours, but... Now it hurts."
"There you go." Rae smiled cheerfully. "You'll get your epidural after he's called your folks... I think he actually called my dad."
"He called your dad...?" Karen whispered.
"I don't get why we have to escort Rae's dad." Cliff grumbled. The midwife had arrived in the clinic three hours after Karen had been sent in. Karen's mother was helping Andrew, Elli, and the Midwife in birthing both women. Kai and Cliff had been sent to retrieve Rae's father from the ferry.
"I've never met or seen the man. I know that the farmer who was here before Rae had a son, he'd be about thirty-five by now." Kai frowned. "He was fourteen when she was born."
"Wow. Fourteen... I'll bet you anything he was an abandoner. One of those guys who gets a girl preggers and abandons her."
"Nah, I don't think he's running from the law. What I heard was that the girl abandoned him. No crime in that... Damned abandoners, all of them." Kai spit distastefully on the ground. Cliff scowled.
"They called me an abandoner, Kai."
"Oh." Kai responded shortly. Cliff folded his arms.
"Only the worst of people abandon their lovers. They are, in my opinion, the scum of the earth."
"Not as bad as a man who abandons his daughter." Kai remarked.
"I'll bet he had no choice but to leave her an orphan." Cliff sighed.
"I'll bet he did." Kai scoffed, as they arrived at the ferry dock. The ferry had just pulled in, and the buyers from the city were meandering towards the market. Two people, a man in a three-piece business suit and tie in his mid-thirties and a young woman of barely twenty clutched to his arm, waited in the center of the dock, talking to his girlfriend in a loud, arrogant voice.
"... completely disgusting! I mean, I dumped this kid on my old man fifteen years ago! I haven't heard from the kid, I don't even know her name or what she looks like! I don't frankly care. Out of the blue, a phone call saying that she's having a baby, come see her 'right now, dammit!' in the words of that vile doctor- he must have gotten his license from a Cracker Jack box!- and we're expected to up and go! We did, on the word that her husband would be here to escort us, and the hick man he sent got lost on the way to the do-"
"Excuse me." Cliff interrupted his rant. "I'm not a hick." The man lowered his high-class sunglasses, eyeing Cliff over their rims.
"You're Cliff Hawk?"
"That's right. You must be Mr. Ginram."
"John Ginram." Cliff and Mr. Ginram shook hands. "Vice-CEO of GR Technology."
"Wow, you're THE John Ginram of Glorious Revolution Tech? I had no idea Rae had such a high-class father." Kai exclaimed.
"Who's that?" Mr. Ginram inquired, looking at Kai.
"My best friend, Kai Sernet."
"Sernet? I just ordered the firing of a man by the name of Sernet." Mr. Ginram rose an eyebrow, glaring at Kai.
"My dad used to work for you." Kai folded his arms. They stared at each other uncomfortably. The girl on Mr. Ginram's arm still smirked at them.
"Excuse me, miss, I didn't catch your name." Cliff smiled in her general direction. She smirked.
"Lily Blaine." She responded simply.
"Soon to be Lily Ginram. This is my fiance." He smirked, kissing the top of her head. At a closer view, it was apparent Lily was younger than Rae.
"Erm... so how long has it been since you saw Rae? Fifteen years?"
"She was about six." Mr. Ginram shrugged.
"Well, I bet she's changed a lot from what you remember."
"Hn." Mr. Ginram shrugged.
"Are you at all happy to see her?"
"I was interrupted from an important business meeting, and the CEO told me that since it was my daughter, I HAD to go... I mean, it could have waited a few hours, it's just a baby!" Mr. Ginram snorted. Lily laughed coldly. Cliff and Kai scowled.
"Let's just go." Cliff turned and walked away.
"Just follow us." Kai added, following Cliff. Lily and John both followed, snickering nasty things in low voices.
Rae had watched Karen's cubicle close off. Andrew and the Midwife were both in Karen's cubicle, and Elli and Karen's mother beside her. Rae shivered, afraid, as she heard Karen scream. The door opened and shut four times in succession.
"Karen?!" Popuri gasped.
"Is she ok?!" Mary cried.
"What's going on?!" Harris interjected.
"Should I call the downtown hospital?" Gray asked.
"She's fine, yes, nothing, no!" Elli called out through the cubicle sheet. "Honestly, you four do that EVERY time she has a bad contraction!"
"She screams like she's in pain." Popuri whimpered.
"SHE IS IN PAIN! NOW GET OUT! YOU'RE DISTURBING RAE!" Both Karen's mother and Elli yelled. Four people squeaked in fright, and Rae heard the door opened and shut four more times. Elli smiled soothingly at Rae.
"Are you ok?"
"I think the medicine's taking effect." Rae responded with a smile.
"How can you remain so calm? It's like you're not in pain."
"Actually, I'm in a lot of pain, but if I keep on smiling- ow ow ow ow ow OW OW OW OW OW AAAAAGH!" Rae's calm, detached tone slowly turned into a scream. Elli gasped, and stroked her hand.
"Shh, shh..."
"It hurts, it hurts..!" Rae cried.
The door opened and shut six times.
"Rae?!" Six voices chorused.
"Don't make me lock that door!" Karen's mother shouted. The door opened and shut six more times. The door then opened once.
"Hello? Why is everyone doing the runaround?" Kai inquired from outside the cubicle.
"Ah! Kai! Get out!" Karen's mother rose to shoo him out, but not before Karen could scream again.
"Oh, gods..." Kai dropped to the ground, fainted. Elli emerged from the cubicle. Cliff, Mr. Ginram, and Lily were standing in the door. Cliff was staring at Kai, shocked.
"Childbirth. Nasty business." Mr. Ginram snorted. "Is there an inn we can stay in while we wait for the end of the 'blessed' event?"
"Arrangements have been made, sir." Elli responded, chirping. "Ask Doug for the 'Ginram' party. We'll notify you when the baby has been born." Mr. Ginram nodded sternly, and left with Lily on his arm.
"I hate him." Cliff grumbled, heaving Kai's dead weight onto the bench.
"I don't blame you." Elli sighed in response.
"He's just so cold! Talking about his own daughter as though she was nothing to him! I'd never do that to my own kid." Cliff scowled.
"I'm glad you feel that way. Your kid's almost here." Elli smiled at Cliff. "Rae's almost ready. It's just the waiting game."
"And Karen?" Cliff asked.
"She's in delivery. Unfortunately, with Karen, it's a struggle. We think the baby is upside-down. Breaching. The Doctor said it might be twins, so they're struggling to get out."
"Lucky Kai!" Cliff smiled. Karen began to scream again in the background. Elli immediately jumped up and slammed the lock on the door. There was the sound of six people slamming into each other. Cliff and Elli laughed.
"An unexpected surprise, but a pleasant one." Just then, there was the sound of a baby crying from Karen's cubicle. Six people slammed into the door again. "Oh! Wow!" Elli cried, running into Karen's cubicle. Cliff looked down at Kai, and shoved him to the ground to revive him.
"Oooooow..." Kai moaned.
"Dude, Karen just had a baby." Cliff murmured to him. Kai's eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet- instantly falling back on his butt, slipping on his pants. There was more crying from Karen's cubicle, and Kai got to his feet again, and ran in. Cliff heard cooings and squealing. He smiled. The babies stopped crying, and except for the sounds of heavy bretahing from Rae's cubicle, all that could be heard was Karen and Kai quietly discussing names. After about ten minutes of the talking, Kai emerged from the cubicle with a wet, pink baby in a white blanket. His face was glowing.
"Twin boys." Kai rambled. "Two boys. This one's Gabriel. Karen's got Rhamiel." Kai held up a little plastic bracelet on Gabriel's tiny wrist with his name on it.
"Angel names!" Cliff exclaimed. "Suitable..."
"They're perfect." Kai bubbled. "Perfect, perfect, perfect..." He wandered back into the cubicle. Cliff sighed, folding his arms. The sun was setting fast. He heard Rae whimpering, her whimpers escalate to a scream, and fall silent. He sighed, standing and walking out. He wandered off the farm and into the forest.
"How can I please her? I mean, I'm not sensitive, or rich, or smart. I can't be a good father, I can't do anything right. How in the world will I be able to make Rae happy after she went through this for me?" Cliff sighed to himself.
"You didn't do it for her, you did it with her." A voice murmured back.
"But... I haven't done anything. I haven't helped."
"You stood by her."
"What can I do, strange unidentified voice?!" Cliff yelled.
"Stay by her." The voice answered simply. Cliff thought for a minute. He grabbed a few flowers from a patch nearby, and ran back onto the farm.
He burst into the clinic, to hear the sounds of crying.
"Cliff, you missed it." Kai chuckled. "And I had NO idea Rae had that vocabulary. Most of it referring to you." "Great!" Cliff chortled. He entered the cubicle. Rae was leaned back against the pillow on the bed, a new baby laying on her chest. Andrew was writing down the baby's information, and Elli was stroking Rae's hand.
"...Baby girl; mother; Rae Hawk, father; Cliff Hawk, born on April the Eighteenth, year..."
"You did so well, Rae. Cliff's here." Elli moved aside, and Cliff crouched next to Rae. She smiled weakly at him.
"Everything I said about you, I didn't mean." She whispered.
"I brought you flowers." He mumbled nervously, offering them to her.
"Aw, thanks! Look, baby, daddy brought you and mommy a present..."
"The anaesthesia's still wearing off." Elli laughed. "She's completely out of it, and will be out of it for a day, at least."
"What do we name her, Cliffy?" Rae wondered.
"Uhm... you pick?" Cliff suggested.
"I think... Ezra..." Rae yawned. "Ezra... Hawk...."
"Then Ezra it is." Cliff kissed her on the forehead. Rae managed to sit up, and held Ezra in her arms, tight to her chest. "Now I have two girls." Cliff grinned.
Later that evening, Kai and Cliff were on the roof. Rae and Karen were still inside. Kai was holding Gabriel.
"Wow." Kai reflected.
"Wow." Cliff nodded.
"What do we do next time?"
"Well... I think we're going to give the audience a choice this time."
"Dog races are fun, right?" Kai blinked.
"And cooking contests." Cliff nodded.
"Or we could do a 'Day in the Life of' featurette."
"Those are good. Let's have the audience decide."
"See you next time on..." Kai and Cliff looked at eachother.
"STORY OF A GIRL!" Both cried.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Nayru: Your choices are:
1) The Dog Race!
2) The Cooking Contest!
3) A Day In The Life Of Mary!
Xiao: Review please!