Good Intentions
Helena's injured hand vastly improved once she followed everyone's advice and refrained from using it – especially as her physical exclamation point. Two weeks later, Nurse Brown confirmed her 'fit for duty' and the expression was lost on the Brit who never had taken any time off. The whole ordeal gave Gloria more insight into the couple she was looking out for and she was truly beginning to understand why people were so infatuated with them.
The discussion of tea never came up again as the occasion to make it for Helena never arose.
Myka was feeling good, but her next prenatal checkup proved to be one more hurdle for Helena to get over. The doctor suggested the precautionary procedure of amniocentesis when Myka was in her 16th week, a diagnosis of any prenatal chromosomal abnormalities. Both Myka and Helena knew about the test and weren't surprised, but when the doctor said it was due in part to Myka's 'advanced maternal age,' Helena found the term derogatory and went on a rant – until Gloria, who was present, explained that this was simply the medical term used for women past 30 years of age having their first child.
"I have to put …down…the reason," the doctor said apologetically, ever so grateful for the nurse's calm manner in handling her most challenging patient. The doctor also explained that, if they wanted to know, she could confirm the sex of the baby to which Helena scoffed and said – "Don't be ridiculous; it's a girl."
The doctor took it as Helena's blunt manner, but the nurse thought it was very curious of Helena to be so sure.
The test came back negative and the doctor smiled when indeed, the sex of the baby was a girl.
The couple spent many a quiet evening at home together. Myka was amazed that she could possibly find one more thing endearing about Helena, but catching her wife gazing at her own protruding abdomen and touching it gently was it.
"I have one request, Helena," Myka said one night as she played with a stand of Helena's long locks, Helena's head on her shoulder, her hand resting on Myka's stomach.
"One?" Helena teased because she had been waiting for Myka to develop cravings and none seemed to appear.
"Please give our daughter your accent," Myka begged.
"Well, you know that accents are not genetic and that it has more to do with the reginal local in which they are raised, and since she will be growing up in the urban area where the English spoken is barely….," Helena theorized.
"Please?" Myka said, placing her finger tip on Helena's lip.
"I shall do my very best," Helena said because there was nothing Myka asked that she would refuse.
Leena was very excited that she had been given the duty of arranging for all of the objects that had been released from the Warehouse to be put on display in the new HG Wells Museum. Helena had, of course, been very convincing in her appeal to the Board of Directors for Central Park and they agreed to sell her the property if she kept part of it as a learning center for children. The duties of arranging for the opening night of the museum up were turned over to Eileen. Leena and Eileen worked in tandem, carefully designing the displays for the treasure trove of the HG Wells artifacts. The museum was also going to bring to life the work of Irene's sister, Mary, whose book about the duality of the real HG Wells was still on the New York Times best seller list.
Wells Corp was abuzz with the impending dedication ceremony for the museum and Gloria Brown was privy to much of the information going around. It made her consider donating something she thought she'd never part with. She had wanted to mention it to Helena, but the right moment had not yet presented itself. It would before the opening day.
Soon enough, Helena did start noticing the small, yet glaring, changes in Myka's moods and concentration. She had anticipated the cravings, and it did seem Myka's love of Twizzlers had increased. Helena never minded watching her wife's mouth as she devoured the long stick of licorice. But now they were everywhere! When Helena suggested they try to substitute a healthier choice, Myka broke down in tears. "I'm going to be a terrible mother," she wailed and was inconsolable for an hour. The very next day, Helena sent a team of scientists into the lab to create a healthier version of the sugary snack. The kale version made Myka throw up. The second try was a little more tolerable with the least amount of sugar they could manage. But they weren't red and Myka insisted she couldn't eat them unless they were, so the team went back to the drawing board until they got it right. Then, when the craving seemed under control, the mood swings started.
Helena soon knew that just because Myka was leaving the house happy, did not mean she wouldn't be upset by the time they got to the car. "Why is there traffic?" the usually tolerant passenger complained loudly. "Every day, traffic, traffic, traffic!" she bemoaned and Helena searched for a solution.
"Helena," the Mayor repeated for the umpteenth time, "…no one likes the congestion in Manhattan, but there is no way I can have traffic diverted at rush hour so your wife can get to work without seeing another vehicle."
It was the first time he had refused Helena anything.
Myka was well aware, of course, that her moods were alternating. She had read the books and talked to the doctor. What she was surprised at was the swiftness of the swing from one extreme to the other. She openly wept one evening when Helena brought her flowers because she was so touched. A minute later, she cursed that there was no room temperature water in which to place them. Helena's initial responses were to scurry and fix whatever was bothering Myka, but sometimes she couldn't keep up.
What Helena found most challenging was that there was simply no way to predict when the mood change would come. Myka laughed openly that morning with Helena on the way to work, but later that same day at a meeting, she switched gears and lost it.
And she lost it over Helena.
It happened at the weekly meeting of department heads; Myka was so unlike herself, that all Helena could do was stare. The lawyer interrupted Claudia who was about to start and although Myka apologized, she kept talking. "I know we have IT issues…again…, but this is a legal matter that, left unanswered, will undoubtedly cost the firm more money than all the hardware and software combined," the Chief Counsel said in a hormonal rage.
"Sure, you can…go first," Claudia said, because she was worried about the transformation. "Dove becoming a Hawk," she texted to Pete.
Myka kept apologizing, but the more she did, the more the words kept leaving her lips. It was as if everything she ever held back was pushing out of her mouth. Irene knew this was unlike Myka and so she tried to assuage the woman by agreeing with almost anything she said by stating – "Good point. Interesting." But Irene's attempts only added fuel to the fire because Myka knew she was protecting Helena - and for the first time ever- it annoyed her.
Myka slammed a stack of papers down in front of her. "These contracts bear your signature, and yet they do not have our departmental seal on them, which tells me that you didn't follow normal procedures and signed these on a whim," Myka said sternly, looking down the table at the CEO.
She had tried to talk to Helena about it earlier that day, but Helena was busy and said she would look at them later. Helena meant –So that I can give them my full attention. Myka heard – Don't bother me now. It didn't sound like Helena, but it was Myka's pre-Helena past rearing its ugly head and piercing through her logical brain. While Myka's hormones were wreaking havoc and laying it on thick, Helena's patience were wearing thin. She was working feverously during the day so she could give Myka her full attention at home.
The tone Myka used now shot past people who collectively pulled back in their seats, so there was a clearing between the Chief Counsel and the admonished CEO.
"Holy crap!" Claudia said to herself, except everyone heard it.
Most people stared at Myka, to make sure that tone left her usually cool and composed mouth. Then the group slowly turned to look at Helena, whose gaze when confronted aggressively could turn people into pillars of salt. The knee jerk reaction flashed in Helena's dark eyes and was enough to scare people into pulling their chairs away from the table in unison. But as quickly as it appeared, it melted away. "Thank you, Myka," Helena said and Pete whispered – 'Who are you and what did you do to my boss?' They expected Helena to be calm. They didn't expect her to be gracious, too.
"You were not present that day," Helena said slowly, trying to explain. "So I read over the contracts and sent copies to your legal team to see if there was anything that I missed," she smiled.
Myka knew Helena never missed anything, once she paid attention. She also knew Helena was being tactful and didn't want to call attention to Myka's mistake. That didn't stop Myka's gremlins from pointing out that she had just made a fool of herself.
"I appreciate your diligence in following up," Helena said, trying to smooth things over.
She was giving Myka an out and that should have been the end of it, but Myka was seething and Helena wasn't playing. Instead of relieving the pressure building up inside, now Myka had to stuff it all back in and hold onto it.
Irene watched as Myka searched for what to do next. "If you don't mind, could I update you on the Human Resource projects?" Irene asked Helena politely, trying to draw everyone's attention back. Helena agreed, but truly never heard a word as her focus was at the end of the table where her wife was stewing. Everyone went through their updates quickly and then sat back, waiting for the meeting to adjourn.
"Thank you, everyone," Helena said, and people propelled out of their seats and out of the CEO's office. Only Irene and Myka remained.
"I'm not going to chew her head off," Myka snarled at Irene – who never flinched and stayed seated. As soon as the words left Myka's mouth, she regretted them, but she was fighting mad. And no one was fighting back! Irene looked at Helena and could see in her expression she didn't need her, so she got out of her seat, smiled and left.
"She's like your watchdog," Myka said, because apparently she hadn't dug herself in deep enough.
Myka being discourteous to Irene made Helena's head throb, but she never believed for a minute that Myka meant any of it. She got up from the table and walked down to where Myka was sitting - or more like twitching in her seat because she was so agitated. Helena sat down in the chair and pulled Myka's chair around to face her. "What…?" Helena was going to ask when she saw Myka's eyes squint at the word. "Did I…?" she tried, but Myka's look didn't soften. "Are you…?" Helena tried and before Myka could turn back, she added, "…upset with me?"
Myka wanted to scream! Of course she wasn't upset with Helena, but she felt upset and she felt as if she wanted to be upset with Helena because that might relieve the stress that was building up inside and choking her. "YES! NO!" she answered in quick succession. "Wow, you screwed this up," Myka judgmental inner voice said in her ear. She turned to look at Helena who sat there trying to figure out what the right thing to do was ….. and it dawned on her just how perfect her wife looked. She was dressed perfectly, her clasped hands in her lap were perfectly polished, her skin was flawless, and there wasn't one strand of Helena's hair out of place.
AS USUAL.
"God, I hate that you're so perfect!" Myka said as she got up and walked out, leaving the usually confident Brit stunned.
Irene had made herself comfortable in the waiting area and went unnoticed as Myka stormed out of Helena's office and went on the elevator.
"I am detecting an increase in hormonal levels in Ms. Bering-Wells," Sui said to Irene as she got up from her seat.
"What was your first clue?" Irene said and approached the door. There wasn't a person in that meeting who didn't think that was the cause of Myka's outburst.
"Are you okay?" Irene asked Helena, who hadn't moved from the chair Myka left her in.
"I am…," Helena said slowly, trying to identify what this very odd feeling was. "….At a loss," she said, the concept distasteful in her mouth.
Irene came in and sat next to her friend. "Helena, I'm sure it's just hormones," she assured her.
"I know it is," Helena said. "But what do I do? Myka appeared to want to ….argue….. with me and yet, I know she would not want to do that," Helena said, her face twisted with confusion.
"She's probably just as surprised as you are," Irene suggested.
"Get that nurse," Helena said, because some action had to be taken.
"That nurse? What do you want her to do?" Irene asked.
It took seconds before Helena spoke, the equivalent of hours in mere human time. "Some…thing," she finally said. "This isn't the first time," Helena whispered and got up and told Sui to summon Gloria to her office. Irene joined her at her desk and sat down as the genius came up with her plan. "It's been going on. The other day, she cried when I said I was going for a run. So, I didn't go. Then she yelled because it was raining. She's erratic and impulsive. You have no idea what it's like to be around someone like that!" Helena said – and truly meant it.
"No," Irene said, pursing her lips, "…I would have no idea."
Gloria appeared in the doorway and waited to be invited in. Helena explained what was going on and how it was most unlike Myka to behave like this, so the natural conclusion was that the increase in hormones was causing it. "Things will settle down," Gloria assured her boss and Irene nodded her head because this had been her own experience. Their assurances did nothing to quell the Brit's concern.
"Surely there is something we can do," Helena said, pacing now behind her desk.
"Well, it's been my experience that when this happens to the expectant mother, it appears erratic on the surface, but underneath ….," the nurse said slowly to make sure Helena was getting this, "….it's real issues."
"What did Myka say to you?" Irene asked and Helena explained that she said she was upset because Helena was perfect. Taking what the nurse just shared, Helena came to the foregone conclusion that there was only one thing she could do.
Helena stopped pacing when the solution came to her. "I must appear to be as imperfect as I can around Myka," she concluded decidedly.
"I'm not sure….," Irene said gently, looking at the nurse for back up on this particular conclusion.
"Helena, I think what I meant was that Myka might be expressing real feelings and perhaps if you could talk…," Gloria explained and Irene joined in. "Yes, talk to her, Helena and let her get at what is really bothering her."
"The hormonal changes are allowing some things that Myka may have pushed away to come back up, so support her…," Gloria suggested.
"Yes, good idea," Helena said, having listened to her advisers. "And I'll be imperfect while I do it," came the twist.
"Are you sure….," Irene started to say and meant – Are you sure you want to do that, but Helena interpreted as …. Are you sure you can do it.
"It will be hard, no doubt, but I can try," Helena said, wondering how to go about this.
"She thinks she's….?" Gloria asked, turning to Irene to see if this was for real.
"As close as anyone can get," Irene said and understood that Helena thought she was on the right track.
"How are you going to do this?" Gloria wondered out loud.
Helena considered it a very valid question; one that deserved an honest answer. Her eyes gazed at the ceiling as she considered her options. Then, her answer appeared in the doorway.
"I will appear more… like her," she said, as Bridget stopped and stared at the two women turning in their seats to look at her. "Only better," Helena said, because there wasn't anything anyone could do better than Helena, including being themselves.
Are you still with me? Trying to move the story lines along. Love that so many of you are excited about the 'Bering-Wells Baby'.
It's been done so well in other stories - and I promise to keep that in mind.
Cheers.