Sarah Webber called Oksana.
"I have results of your pregnancy test," she said.
"Oh," Oksana said, not too fazed. Surely that was negative. "What are they?"
"Oops."
Oksana stopped what she was doing. She'd been putting her shoes on. She dropped the other shoe and sat down on the bed.
"You mean?"
"Yes."
Oksana wondered how she could have been so stupid.
But it wasn't bad news, really. It was just such a surprise.
"You want to come in and talk about it?" Sarah asked. "You and your husband?"
"Yes. Just me."
"OK," Sarah said.
They set up the appointment.
Oksana thought as she continued with getting dressed for Jaden's christening.
Alexis had managed it. And Jaden was Alexis' first baby, too.
There was no doubt she wanted the baby, Oksana thought, going down the stairs. She could hardly believe she was thinking about this to herself. Could she really be pregnant?
She ought to tell Jax right away.
Yet he had accepted the idea of not being a father. And she, Oksana, was so old. Maybe it was better not to tell him until she was sure everything was going to go well? It would be awful to get his hopes up only to have them dashed.
But she was healthy. She had not had a single problem with her previous pregnancies.
But she had been so young then.
Irina was hopping up and down at the bottom of the stairs. Oksana smiled. That child was so active. She was a happy little girl. Very resilient and adaptable.
Oksana thought she would at least talk to Dr. Webber first. If the chances were good enough, she could tell Jax. Really, they must be good. She felt guilty at the same time. She was in a quandary.
In the meantime, the very thing she had to do was hold a baby, her godson, Jaden, with Jax standing there, as the godfather. Jax's nephew. Her nephew, by marriage.
During the ceremony, Oksana looked down at the little boy she held. The clergyman touched his tiny forehead with his thumb, which was as big as the baby's forehead.
Memories flooded back. Little Aleksander and Little Peter. So she'd have another one. Maybe even a girl.
At one point, she handed the baby to Jax. She couldn't stop tears from forming in her eyes. Jax looked surprised, but at the same time, as if he understood. He thought she was remembering her sons as babies, probably. He had a mother, after all, so he knew all about the motherhood thing.
As Jax took the baby from Oksana, it seemed to him also that Oksana was choked up about he, Jax, holding a baby. She always let it get to her that he would not have children. He smiled and winked at her conspiratorially and was rewarded with a little smile.
There was a party at Oksana and Jax's house. Alexis and Jerry had a penthouse apartment. Now that they had a baby, they were looking for a new house, however. Oksana's house, as it was commonly called, was a better place for a party.
Rosa and Irina had put decorations all through the house. Jaden's name was everywhere. Irina had made her own signs saying "Welcome, Jaden." Peter had made a few for her, and Zander and Quinn had made one in Russian.
Jaden bore with the festivities with equanimity, crying once or twice and having to be returned to Alexis.
"He has good lungs, that boy," said his grandfather, John.
Katie McElhinney ran out of the house and hugged Maureen. "My love!" she exclaimed.
"Katie, thank you for coming," Maureen said.
"I had to be here to welcome you," Katie said. "Couldn't wait."
"I'm glad, Katie," said Maureen.
Katie looked at Jason. "And to get the first look at you," she said, and she hugged him.
"I'm glad you're the first one we see, truth be told," said Jason. He smiled at Maureen.
"I didn't expect you to be here, Katie," Maureen said. "It's so nice."
The mansion was large, like the Quartermaines', but more old-fashioned, especially the furnishings. Anything modern was discreetly hidden.
Rep. Jill Bridges Donovan, State Representative for the 86th District in the Indiana House of Representatives, the wife of State School Superintendent David Donovan, President of the Central Indiana Cultural Foundation, Director of the Indiana Arts Council, former CEO and majority owner of TTP Facility Services, Inc., former Vice President of the Board of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, member of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), Leadership Council and of the Republican Women's Leadership Forum, and mother of Maureen Donovan, stood up as her daughter came in through the door with Katie McElhinney and a young, but very handsome man.
Jason felt immediately surrounded by aristocratic old ladies. Maureen's father was not in yet, but her mother, both grandmothers, and her Aunt, Eunice, were in the room, as if waiting to receive them and pass judgment on him.
His best prior experience involving such women would be his late Grandmother Quartermaine.
"Jason," Maureen said, deliberately turning the introductions around from the way they were properly to be done in Jill's eyes, as Maureen well knew, "This is my mother, Representative Jill Bridges Donovan. Mother, this is Dr. Jason Quartermaine."
"Pleased to meet you," Jill Bridges said, holding out her hand.
"Likewise," Jason shook her hand. He could feel Maureen's hand on his other arm. It was sweet of her. Jason knew she felt protective of him in this situation, though he felt able to handle it.
"Quartermaine," said Grandmother Bridges. "I've never heard that name."
"This is Grandmother Bridges," Maureen said to Jason.
A silver haired and impeccably dressed lady regarded him.
"We're from Western New York, Mrs. Bridges, " he explained to her, as if that explained why she'd never heard of his family.
"Buffalo?" Grandmother Bridges asked.
"Near there. A little town, Port Charles."
"So you're from the same town you practice medicine in," said Grandmother Bridges.
"Of course," Jason said.
Maureen resisted the temptation to inquire of Grandmother Bridges what difference that made. Clearly this was some new standard by which to judge people, and Maureen wasn't interested in Grandmother Bridges' standards.
"This is Grandmother Donovan," she continued, speaking to Jason.
"I' m please to meet you," Grandmother Donovan said, more or less graciously. "Maureen has told us so much about you."
Jason smiled at Maureen.
"And this is Aunt Eunice," Maureen said, with the slightest touch of mock warning.
"Hello," was all Aunt Eunice said, to his amazement, but Maureen looked into his eyes with a smile that said, "Wait and see."
They finally sat down. Maureen's female ancestors asked Jason a series of questions, and he answered pleasantly. When she'd had enough, Maureen said, "Can we have this conversation without it being all questions for Jason?"
"I'm merely trying to get to know him," Jill said.
"Let him get to know you a little," Maureen said. "Any questions for her, Jason?"
Jason heard Katie snicker, ever so slightly. He smiled. "Yes," he said. "Are you from Indianapolis, originally?"
"Yes," Jill said.
"What got you interested in politics?"
"I wanted to make a difference."
"Please, Mom," Maureen said. "Not the campaign speech."
Jason flashed her a smile. "How old was Maureen when you got started?"
"Very little," Jill said. "She can tell you about many a campaign."
Maureen grimaced. She hadn't told him much of what she knew of that.
"I'll ask her," he said. "It sounds very interesting."
Later, a maid came to show Jason to his room. Maureen walked into it, flashing a flirtatious and conspiratorial smile.
"Let me show you where my room is," she said.
There was a poster of Humphrey Bogart, facing some danger while half-embracing Lauren Bacall.
"Oh, the one thing you and your mother have in common," he said. She closed the door.
"Does she have a poster?" Jason asked her, pulling her down onto her bed.
Maureen didn't answer, but put her arms around him. "Thank you for putting up with them so graciously," she said of the conversation in the living room.
"They don't talk about you much," he said, kissing the top of her head. "So far, at least."
"Your parents talk about you all the time," Maureen said. "And would have, in the reverse situation. And AJ, even if it's not always positive."
Jason looked thoughtful. "I wonder if that would make him feel better," he said.
"It might," Maureen said.
"So you get to sleep in your childhood room tonight," Jason said.
"Um, no," Maureen said. "I will be sleeping in the guest room assigned to you."
He smiled at her, and then kissed her on the lips. This kiss developed into something more involved.
"Umm," Maureen jumped up. "I closed the door, but did not lock it, and that's what I'm going to do now."
He laughed and put his arms out to her as she returned to the bed.
No one bothered them anyway.