"You said you had good news and bad news for me...what would that be...?" Willy asked as he set down the envelope he was partway through ripping open.
"The good news is...I've got a girlfriend..." Weldon said.
"Well, I'd already known that, Weldon..." Willy laughed slightly. "and what of the bad news?" he asked, picking up his mug of coffee and taking a sip.
"The bad news is..." Weldon had come into contact with the most severe block he had ever had to deal with in his lifetime of stuttering.
"...is what?" Willy prompted him.
"...we have to get married, I'm afraid." Weldon finally said. Willy stared at him, processing the statement.
"What in the world do you mean, Weldon?" Willy asked, scratching his head.
"What I mean is...she's pregnant, dad..." Weldon blurted out, desperate not to stall anymore. Willy dropped his pen, which he had been twirling in his hand. In any other situation, the sudden contrast would've been quite hilarious, but this time the situation was far too serious for even the smallest giggle. Willy continued to stare at Weldon, asking wordlessly if Weldon was joking. Weldon shook his head.
"Well...I...I'm..." Willy wasn't fighting off a repetition or stutter this time, he was at a total loss for words. Weldon bowed his head in shame. "No, no, d-don't be ashamed of it...I'm glad that you have the brains to have let me know before it got out of hand and beyond control"
"Define 'control', dad." Weldon asked.
"If you're talking about abortion, oh, no, that's a decision that you and Lillian will make, it's not my choice at all." Willy assured him.
"She says she wants to follow through..." Weldon half-whispered.
"What I meant was, she needs medical attention, and so do you, from time to time. I suppose, for you, though, it'll be on the more emotional side..." Willy stopped when he saw the look of confusion on Weldon's face. "I'm talking about going to a counselor or coming to me if you start to feel overwhelmed..." he explained. Weldon nodded, now understanding. "Is Lillian able to come over, by the way?" Willy asked.
"I'm not sure, why?" Weldon guessed.
"Because this is a talk she should take part in as well." Willy explained.
"...so...you're not mad that you're going to be a grandfather..." Weldon said, really asking it.
"No, not at all, in fact I'm quite excited about the prospect...your grandfather never was around very long..." He said. Weldon gave him a questioning look. "He...h-he died when you were 2, Weldon..." Weldon glanced at a photo on the desk and pointed to it.
"Is that him?" he asked. Willy checked the picture.
"Yes, actually..." Willy's face twitched.
"...why do you do that when you talk about him?" Weldon asked.
"What, the facial twitches? I never really got along with him that well...and I really regret it...it...it brings up upsetting thoughts..." Willy sighed.
"So should I call Lillian and ask her to come over?" Weldon asked, starting to stand up.
"Yes." Willy said, turning to his mail again and finished opening the envelope as he had been doing before the interruption.
"This is just a very weird experience for me..." Weldon said. "I mean, I'm hardly more than a kid myself"
"It's okay, Weldon...everything's going great so far, there's no need to worry." Lillian said, putting a finger to his lips. Weldon moved her hand from his face and held it in his own. He smiled nervously. Lillian laid her head on his shoulder. 4 months left...I'm anything but prepared... he thought to himself. Anyone who didn't already know about this wouldn't be able to tell, though. Weldon was a nervous wreck. He thought about whether he was waiting for a son or daughter, and if they would be anything like him at all. He thought about whether or not everything would turn out alright. He tried to brush the thought away, but couldn't. Weldon started to feel sick, which he attributed to his worry. He was partially right.
"It's merely a case of something that we call 'Sympathetic Pregnancy', Weldon..." his doctor said to him. "It's a psychosomatic thing, it's all in your head...minus the slight weight gain...but everything else is totally imagined"
"It's weird...it feels eerily real...to me..." Weldon said, rubbing away an imagined headache.
"You're just anxious about Lillian, Weldon. Everything's going great, still. There's really no reason to worry, but I can understand if you do. It's what happens to everyone." His doctor kept explaining. Weldon swung his legs back and forth in faked boredom, trying to make himself appear relaxed. The doctor wasn't fooled. "How far along is she, anyway?" he asked. Weldon looked up, surprised at the question, even though he was almost anticipating it from everyone now.
"Oh...uh...I dunno...almost the whole way, I guess..." Weldon said, forced to remember the answer on the spot. His doctor chuckled slightly.
"Then expect to be imagining up some stomach pains...actually, that depends...is Lillian planning to take medication?". Weldon was getting irritated.
"No...she'll be at the factory." Weldon snapped.
"No need to snap, just a question." his doctor said. Weldon sighed.
"You sound like my father when you say that." Weldon said.
"Anyway, you're quite alright, I'd see a psychologist if these get worse, though.". Weldon put his jacket back on and stepped out of the office. As he walked down the street, he watched the snowflakes flitting back and forth and in every other direction imaginable...snowflakes...It was snowing! Weldon skipped slightly as he walked now. Suddenly his cellphone rang. It was Lillian.
"Weldon?" she said. She sounded a bit worn out.
"Yeah?" he said, getting the feeling that something was wrong, he lost the skip in his step and started striding with a purpose, if a nervous one at that.
"...it might seem a bit early but..." Weldon needed no other stimulus, he outright bolted, blurting "I'm on my way" into the phone before hanging it up.
As he crashed through the doors, he skidded on the carpet slightly, but quickly ran to the room that he and Lillian had set aside. He threw open the door and it hit the wall with a loud "BANG!", startling Lillian slightly, but she was relieved to see him.
"How are you doing? Is everything going okay?" He asked, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
"Yeah, everything's fine..." she said. Weldon sighed with relief. He knew he'd be useless if he was nervous, and there was no way he could hide his nerves if something was going wrong. Willy popped his head in from time to time to ask how things were going. He brought them coffee after a while, which Weldon gratefully gulped down. Lillian politely declined as another convulsion made her flinch. Weldon was starting to get very excited at this point. He started talking to Lillian about everything, even things as petty as favorite colors and flavors even though he already knew the answers. Lillian knew it too, but it helped keep her relaxed. That was all Weldon was shooting for. If he listened carefully he could hear the low heels of his father's shoes click-click-clacking on the floor just outside.
Finally, everything was over. Willy popped his head in but backed out, explaining that he was put off by the smell of blood. The midwife asked for Weldon to leave the room for a few moments, so he decided to talk to his father.
"...it all feels so unreal..." he said, awed.
"I felt the same when...heh...well..." Willy hesitated.
"I'm not ashamed, and I'm not creeped out." Weldon said.
"When I first saw you, I questioned the reality of everything...especially the pregnancy...because...well...it's just not common...but...most of all I questioned how real you were...and how amazingly similar you looked to me...with...of course, 42 years difference, but you get the idea." Willy laughed.
"Yeah..." Weldon said, glancing through a crack in the door. Lillian was still being tended to, so he decided to keep talking. "Why does it feel unreal, anyway?" Weldon wondered.
"I dunno...looking at it from a cynical position, I'd say that it's purely the release of certain hormones...but from a more emotional point, I'd say it's because it's something new...it's like a painting or a new invention, you're proud of it..." Willy reasoned.
"I guess that makes sense..." Weldon said, glancing back at the crack in the door. Lillian was also looking through the crack in the door, so Weldon walked in and sat down near the bed.
"A girl named Helena..." she said, smiling. "Brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes..." she continued. Weldon looked at Lillian and smiled, then looked at Helena.
"She's so cute..." he said. Willy slowly edged into the room, unnoticed by everyone but the midwife, who was collecting her things. Then he came over and put his hand on Weldon's shoulder. Weldon flinched, startled.
"Oh, don't be getting Warholian on me now, Weldon." Willy laughed. "My goodness...she is cute..." he said, looking at Helena. "I'm proud of you, Weldon." he said. Weldon smiled.
"Well, thanks, but I think Lillian should get the credit, not me...after all..." Weldon said.
"Well, in that case, we're all very proud of you, Lillian." Willy said. Lillian smiled, then yawned.
"It's been a long day..." she said. This was a signal for Willy and Weldon to leave the room and occupy themselves with something quiet. Weldon looked out one of the many windows and saw reporters at the gate.
"Aw, for pity's sake, can't they think of something else to do with their time than pester us?" Weldon asked.
"I guess not." Willy said, grinning.
They let the reporters in at the gate and answered questions...all of them about Weldon's new daughter. As the reporters left, Weldon turned to his father.
"There's going to be a lot of trash today..." he said.
"What?" Willy asked.
"There will be tabloids plastered with our picture...again..." Weldon said.
"Oh, ha-ha...clever." Willy said, opening the door so that they could go inside.
