Notifying Next of Kin

Waking up that morning, Jing Mei looked out the window. Snow was still lightly falling, covering everything in a fresh blanket of snow. As the Year of the Rooster approached, she entered into her second trimester. Her morning sickness somewhat subsiding, she still felt a queasiness that sent her to the bathroom. Returning, she quietly, she got her clothes together and headed for the shower before Yin Shi woke up.

In the kitchen Rong Ning was already up and getting the morning meal ready. "How are you feeling this morning" she asked.

"Better, are there any steamed dumplings left" Jing Mei asked hopefully. It was a good sign that her morning sickness was beginning to lose its grip on her stomach. She usually couldn't handle anything more than some plain bread and weak tea.

Rong Ning took note "You are feeling better! Yes, we sure do." Jing Mei fixed herself a plate and the two women sat down at the table to talk over breakfast. "So how did you end up pregnant without a husband" Rong Ning asked. Jing Mei trusted her and felt like she could confide in her. Rong Ning had looked after her and protected her, it wasn't likely she would use the knowledge to do her harm.

With her chopsticks, she sort of picked at one of the dumplings. "A very good and sweet friend of mine wanted to make sure I wouldn't be alone. He banked his sperm for me to use if or when I felt I needed to."

"Why not do things the normal way?"

"The normal way was never going to happen for me" Jing Mei said wistfully as she put her chopsticks down and stared at her plate.

Sensing Jing Mei's disappointment over her longed for desire, Rong Ning asked "Does he know that you're pregnant?"

Jing Mei shook her head. "I still have to tell him, been waiting till I feel better".

"Are you feeling well enough to tell him now?"

Jing Mei nodded.

"You should tell him today. He's already missed your first trimester."

Jing Mei shook her head. "No, it's not like that. This isn't a baby we're having together."

Rong Ning looked at her with complete confusion. Obviously it made no sense to her. "How does a man love you enough to give you a child without loving you enough to make you his wife?"

Jing Mei was at a loss on how to answer the question. Western values could be quite puzzling when you don't have experience with the culture, she thought. If this confused her, it was probably better to not to mention that while he was donating his sperm to her, he was pining away after Kem or that by the time she left for China carrying the child conceived through his sperm, he had acquired a new girlfriend, while still pining over Kem.

She dodged the bullet when Chang Hai came into the kitchen with Yin Shi and the conversation immediately moved to a more suitable topic for mixed company. After breakfast he announced "We better get going or we'll be late for work".

Rong Ning and Chang Hai kissed their daughter goodbye and left for work. Rong Ning's parting words out the door: "make the call". Jing Mei said she would when Yin Shi took her nap. For the moment though, she was going to clear the breakfast table and then get Yin Shi dressed.

Morning sickness abated and feeling energetic, Jing Mei took Yin Shi out to play in the snow for a little while. The little girl smiled and laughed as she romped and played in the fluffy white wonderland. Together, they made a snowman and several snow angels. Jing Mei could not remember the last time she felt so good. She was truly happy. She had family here, she had roots here, a connection with people that really cared about her, wanted to be a part of her life and wanted her as a part of their life. She felt like she was in the place she belonged.

Later that afternoon, with all quiet, it was time for Jing Mei to make the call back to Chicago, to John. She called his cell, but got voice mail. Figuring he was at work, she called County. "Jerry hi! This is Jing Mei, is John there?... I'm fine, and you?... Yes I can hold." It was good to hear a familiar voice.

Moments later, Carter was on the line. "Deb?"

"Yeah, it's me" she said cheerfully.

"Hi! How are you?" he sounded very happy to hear from her.

"It's good to hear your voice John." A statement she truly meant. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until she heard his voice.

"I was worried about you. You didn't call."

"I had a kind of a rough time after my dad's funeral. Pretty sick, ended up in the hospital." She was easing into the news of her morning sickness.

"I'm not surprised, between your shifts here and taking care of your dad. It had to catch up with you. When are you coming home?"

"I'm thinking about staying."

"In China?" he asked like she couldn't possibly be serious.

"Mm hmm."

"Deb, I…" he sort of struggled with his words.

She tried once again to tell him about her pregnancy. "Everything's changed for me. This is a new start for my life, I"

"Deb, there's a trauma coming in, I gotta go, call you back later?"

"Okay" and then she was listening to the dial tone. "Bye" she said resignedly as she flipped her phone closed. She knew he had to go. Time was always critical in the ER.

As weeks passed, her belly grew, Winter gave way to Spring and a game of telephone tag was played. Each voice mail left was a tiny sliver of news about the others life. She knew he and Wendell had broken up, that he was funding the new wing at the hospital and that he finally had a plan to get Kem back.

What John knew was that she was living with her cousin for now and she had something important to tell him, she was working with the US embassy to secure a work visa and that she had something important to tell him, that she would soon start as a doctor training medical staff in trauma procedures here in China and she had something important to tell him. She could leave so much news in a voice mail, but not about her pregnancy. That she wanted to share in person, or at least in a live, real time conversation.

It was a beautiful day in the middle of May and Jing Mei with her blossoming belly, was looking at condos near the hospital where she would soon start as the Director of Trauma Services. She was looking for something not only close to the hospital, but also something family oriented – near a good preschool, park, entertainment and shopping. Her cell phone rang.

"Hi Deb!"a very cheerful John Carter was on the other end of the line. She knew immediately something was up, because it had to be around midnight in Chicago, which was a strange time to be so chipper.

"Hi John, how are you?" She was so, so glad to be speaking to him in person.

Carter was eager to share his news. Unable to contain himself, he simply gushed forth: "I went and saw Kem! We did a lot of talking and Deb, she's willing to try! I'm moving back to the Congo. We're going to run her clinic together. We're going to start all over again! We can get married and have babies!"

"That is great news!" she was happy for him. He was a great guy and deserved to be happy."When do you leave?"

"I'm on my way to the airport now."

"John, I'm very happy for you, you and Kem. I wish for you many, many years of wedded bliss, lots of children, and lots of happiness." She very much meant every word of it.

"Thanks, Deb" now shifting to a more serious tone "you know when I get to the Congo, I don't know how much I'll be able to call…"

"It's okay. You know a part of you is with me always." She gently patted her belly. She expected some sort of reply but none came. "John?" She looked at her phone, and seeing the call had been dropped, she navigated to the last incoming call and pressed the send button. The number rang twice and then a voice came on saying "The number you have reached is no longer in service. Please hang up and try your party again."

She looked over at Rong Ning "he's moving to Africa. I think that was the last call out before his Chicago service cut off."

"Did you get his new number?" Rong Ning asked.

"No" she said sadly "and I don't think he heard that last part".

It was probably just as well he didn't know, she thought. He and Kem had been through a lot when they lost their baby. They probably still had a lot they had to work through and knowing she had used his donation and was pregnant may have complicated things to a point they couldn't recover from. She'd give them time to make things work. Someday though, she'd find him and tell him.