Boys Don't Cry

Chapter: 9

Rating: R

In the seventh month of her pregnancy Mary got transferred to Minneapolis just like she had wanted. The one thing she didn't count on though was how hard it was going to be to leave Rhoda behind in New York. They had been best friends for five years, but living together and experiencing Mary's pregnancy had really bonded them in a different way.

Mary had been working as producer of channel three news for about six weeks. It was a much quicker pace than he old job at WJM but slower than the one in New York. A nice even tempo for a woman coming to the end of her pregnancy. One of the things Mary didn't count on when transferring from New York was that Marc Lancaster, the man Rhoda was very serious about, would be transferred with her. They mainly served to remind each other of what they had left behind. Rhoda.

Upon moving back to Minneapolis Mary and Lou got married in a small, quiet ceremony and were now settling into their new home. Everything was moved in and unpacked but there were a few details left to be done. Mary being in the thirty eighth week of her pregnancy decided that they could wait. The only thing on her mind was completing the nursery and having a spotless house.

Mary was sleeping rather peacefully on the livingroom sofa when she heard a familiar voice. "Hey, sleeping beauty." Rhoda said. "You miss me?"

She slowly opened her eyes. "Rhoda?" she yawned. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to surprise you." she sat down on the edge of the sofa. "How ya feeling, kid?"

"Pretty good." she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Fat, but good."

"I think you look beautiful." she said. "You're glowing and...huge!"

Mary laughed. "Thanks, Rhoda." she smiled. "You always know just what to say."

"I try." she smiled back. "So the doctor said it could be any day now, huh?"

"Yes." she replied. "The doctor also said it could be four more weeks."

"Maybe you and baby Grant here should compromise." she suggested. "Have him on his due date."

"I don't know I was kind of hoping that he would come now.' she said. "I'm sick of being pregnant. I've never been so uncomfortable in my entire life."

Rhoda patted Mary's very rounded stomach. "Well, I need you to hold him in a little while longer." she said. "At least until tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow evening?" she questioned. "What's going on tomorrow?"

"Marc and I are getting married." she smiled. "And I'm counting on you to be my matron of honor."

"Married?" she repeated. "Oh, Rhoda, that's wonderful! Congratulations!"

"Thanks, kid.' she replied. "So does that mean you accept?"

"Accept?" she asked. "Of course I'll be your matron of honor. I'll just have to find something to wear that doesn't look like a tent."

"I'm sure we can find you something, I mean unless you think you can have him now and be up and going by tomorrow afternoon."

"I think I'll pass."

"So we have a deal then?" she joked. "You're going to keep him in there for another twenty four hours?"

"I'll see what I can do." Mary replied. "But you really should be making this deal with Hayden and not me."

"Hayden?" Rhoda repeated. "What happened to Liam?"

"I like Hayden better."

"Okay." she breathed out. "Hayden it is until you change your mind again." she put her hands on Mary's stomach. "Okay, Grant here's the deal, Aunt Rhoda is getting married tomorrow and I need your mommy there with me so if you could please wait to have your birthday I would really appreciate it." she leaned in closer to Mary's stomach. "What's that?" she pretended to listen and then looked up at Mary. "Kate wants to know why you've been calling her Hayden."

Mary laughed. "Very funny, Rhoda!" she smiled. "I thought we were in agreement the baby was a boy?"

"That's no guarantee." she replied. "I just don't think it ever crossed your mind that your baby could be a girl."

"I've just always pictured a boy." she said. "Not that I wouldn't love to have a little girl."

"Maybe next time."

"Next time?" she arched an eyebrow. "I haven't even made it through this one yet."

"I think you should have them closer together." Rhoda suggested. "That way they'll always have a friend."

"Maybe you could just have the next one."

"How about when you have little Kate I'll have little Lily and they can be best friends?"

Mary smiled. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I think you have yourself a deal."

"Fair enough."

~The Next Morning~

Lou was up and showered, but Mary was still fast asleep. For the past few days sleeping was the only thing she really wanted to do. Not that he was complaining. It was a nice change of pace because in the previous weeks her sex drive had spun out of control and he was the one needing all the sleep he could possibly get. He knew that the birth of their baby wasn't that far off, he could feel it in his gut.

He sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. "Sweetheart." he brushed the hair away from her face. "It's time to get up."

"Go away, Lou." she said, turned to the other side. "I'm sleepy."

"I know you are." he replied. "I've let you sleep until ten o'clock. You have to get up and get showered so we meet Phyllis and Georgette at the park."

Mary turned over onto her back. "I'm so uncomfortable." she said, opening her eyes. "I just want to sleep."

"I know you do." he said. "But you're suppose to supervise and make sure everything looks good. You don't want to leave that up to Phyllis, do you?"

She sat up in bed. "Of course not." she replied. "That would be an absolute disaster."

Lou pushed up Mary's pyjama top and rubbed his hand over her stomach. "After the wedding we'll come back home and you can take a nice hot bath and relax."

"That sounds really good."

"Maybe if you're up and moving around you'll feel a little better." he felt her stomach tighten a little under his hand.

"What's wrong?"

Lou smiled. "Nothing." he went back to caressing her stomach. There was no way in the world he was going to tell her that he thought she was in labor. Besides first babies generally took a while and Rhoda's wedding was only three hours away. "You just hop in the shower and I'll make you some breakfast."

She leaned forward and kissed him. "I think you're the most wonderful husband anyone could have." she said. "I love you."

After a shower and breakfast Mary started feeling a little better. Her energy seemed to be returning and for the first time in over a week. She even had to hurry Lou along to get him in the car in time. When they arrived at the park Phyllis was going absolutely overboard in ribbon. She was tying it to the chairs and putting it all over gazebo.

"Phyllis." Mary said. "I thought that we were going to do simple and elegant."

She looked back at Mary from her stance on the ladder. "This is elegant, darling." she smiled. "After all it is a wedding. I want Rhoda to hold these memories for the rest of her life."

She looked over the bright pink ribbon. "I think it's going to be etched into her brain." she told her. "I think we need to tone it down a little."

Phyllis climbed down off the ladder. "Mary, dear." she took her by the hand. "Why don't you just have a seat and let me take care of everything. In your delicate condition you don't need to put so much stress on yourself."

"Phyllis." it was more of a warning than anything. "I'm not to stand here and let you ruin Rhoda's wedding by decorating it in Barbie pink."

"Barbie pink?" she scoffed. "This is a beautiful shade of pink. I thought it would bring out the colors in the flowers."

"Well you thought wrong." she said. "Stop putting up ribbon. Now it's fine on the backs of the chairs and a little on the posts but the rest of it looks ridiculous."

"Mary, you're not being very nice." Phyllis said. "I know that your hormones are a little out of sync, dear, but that's no reason to be rude."

"Phyllis Lindstrom you take down that ribbon right now!" she ordered. "We have a ton of other things to do in the next hour."

"Fine." she caved. "To keep you from stressing out and going into labor we'll do it your way."

"Thank you!"

Everything was coming together rather nicely. The flowers and the decorations were simple and elegant just like Rhoda had wanted. The small band was set up and ready to go. The caterers has just arrived to set everything up during the ceremony so that they could eat afterwards. The only thing left to do was make sure Rhoda was ready.

Rhoda looked absolutely beautiful in her white dress. It was stylish and perfect without being completely over the top with ribbon and lace and beads. She and Mary shared a heartfelt talk and then Rhoda's father came to walk her down in the aisle. Everyone was in their places and the bridal march was playing. And this was the first time that Mary felt a contraction strong enough to recognize it was such.

The exchanging of vows wouldn't last that long and Mary convinced herself that she could make it through. Lou had told her a million times that the first baby took the longest to have and she was counting on him to be right. She would simply make it through the ceremony and then she and Lou would decide what to do next.

Watching Marc and Rhoda exchange their vows and pledge their love for each other almost made her forget about the contraction she experienced right before things got started. And the two she had during the twenty minute ceremony. The groom kissed the bride and then they walked down the aisle. Another contraction hit. Hard this time.

Lou had been watching her the entire time and was amazed at how well she seemed to be handling the situation. As soon as Rhoda and Marc were down the aisle he was at her side. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'm in labor." she replied. "I'm having contractions."

"I know." he confessed. "I knew this morning when I woke you up."

"You knew?" she questioned. "You could have told me."

"I thought it was best to not tell you." he replied. "You wanted to be here for Rhoda and I was confident that you could make it through."

"Well I did." she smiled. "I just don't know how much longer I'm going to make it because my contractions are about ten minutes apart."

"They're about seven minutes apart." Lou corrected her. "I've been timing them."

"Seven minutes?" she asked. "I thought you said that first babies took the longest?"

"Yeah, I did." he breathed out. "I guess I was wrong. We should get you to the hospital." he told her. "The drive across town could take a while and I don't want to deliver our baby in the car."

"If you're trying to comfort me it's not working, Lou."

"I'm sorry, babe." he said. "Why don't you let Georgette walk you to the car and I'll go tell Rhoda that we have to leave, okay?"

"Okay."

~Two Hours Later~

Mary's labor progressed rather quickly and Lou was with her every step of the way. The cries of a healthy almost eight pound baby boy filled the delivery room. And soon his parents were in tears as well. The path which had led them to where they were right in that moment had been a difficult one, but they had made it. And now they were a family.

Not long after giving birth Mary was moved to a private room where the new family could get better acquainted. Lou sat on the edge of the bed beside his wife, watching as she nursed their son. "He's absolutely perfect." he smiled. "And luckily for him he looks just like you."

Mary smiled. "Oh, I don't know I think he kind of looks like you. It's hard to tell though." she replied. "I think he definitely has your appetite."

Lou laughed. "We need to settle on a name." he said. "Do you still like Hayden?"

"Don't you?"

"It's alright." he replied. "What do you think of Morgan?"

"Morgan?" she repeated. "After Rhoda?"

"Yeah." he breathed out. "I think it would be a nice gesture. And Morgan's a good name. Morgan Grant sounds solid. What do you think?"

She leaned forward and kissed him softly. "I think it's perfect." she said. "Middle name?"

"Your choice."

"Okay, how about Richards?"

"Morgan Richards Grant." he smiled. "I like it. Do you like it? Because we can't keep changing his name like before he was born."

"I love the name." she looked down at the baby. "Welcome to the world, Morgan."

The End.