Chapter 4 Godparents and cousins

Howard's point of view

*FLASHBACK*

6 months after Tony was born.

Obie and Maria came over for dinner.

Maria barely said a word, the whole night. She barely smiled, except when Peggy said she could put Tony to bed. Her eyes lit up, and she took Tony upstairs, bathed him,put him in his pyjamas, read him a story, sang part of an aria to him, fed him a bottle and put him down for the night.

"What's going on Obie?"
"Maria and I found out recently that she cannot bear children of her own. She can conceive but she cannot carry to term. We've had 10 miscarriages in the past 15 months. She is going to have a hysterectomy sooner rather than later because the more times she conceives the more dangerous it becomes."
"Oh… Obie I'm sorry".

"He's down for the night."
"Good."

"Did Obie tell you?"
"Yes. I'm so sorry Maria".

"I've learned to accept that I can never have children of my own. We're looking into adoption… or fostering".

"Why don't you talk to Ana? She can't have children either."
"That's very wise advice Howard, thank you. Now do you see that we made the right choice about ending things?"

"Yes, I do."
"Thank you for understanding."

Whenever Peg and I had to be away for longer than a weekend we entrusted Tony to his godparents.

Tony was 5 when Maria's sister and brother-in-law were murdered…

Obie's point of view

I heard the phone ring, I heard Cecily wake Maria and ask her to come to the phone, then I heard a scream and I heard Maria sobbing and that's when I got up.

"What's going on?"
"Dr Stane has received some very tragic news."

"Oh"

"Gloria and Joe were in a bad accident, they didn't make it. The kids… need legal guardians…"
"We can do it Ria, don't fret."
"Are you sure you want to? Gloria and Joe have 8 children. 7 girls and 1 boy. My other godson."

"Of course Maria."

45 minutes later, another call came.

"We're getting an 8th daughter. Her name is Natalia, she's 11, and she was rescued from that awful Red Room place that SHIELD has infiltrated."

Howard's point of view

16 months before Tony was born, Peggy was attacked. She was violated by her assailant. She conceived without knowing and delivered a little girl on the floor of the downstairs bathroom 8 and a half months later. The child – who I named Jane – was taken in by an orphanage. That orphanage ran out of funding and now had to close. I decided to call Obie (since he had told me his news about the 9 children he and Maria would be raising.)

"Do you think you could handle another child?"
"How old?"
"8 months, a baby girl. Jane Elizabeth Foster."
"The baby Peggy delivered on your bathroom floor?"
"Yes. The orphanage is closing, and I don't want her to go to another orphanage."
"OK…"
"Peggy knows because I told her. She said that she is happy that the child that she delivered would be loved."

"When Jane gets older we can move to Malibu, I can manage the office"
"I would appreciate that Obie, Thank you."

At dinner that evening, we sat the children down and explained things to them and then asked them to introduce themselves."

"I'm Georgina Faith, known as Gina or Gia, I'm the oldest, I'm 15"
"I'm Joseph Francis, known as Joey or Joe, I'm the only boy and the second eldest, I'm 14."

"I'm Dina, I'm the 3rd oldest I'm 13. My full name is Daniella Grace. No one ever calls me that."

"I'm Tina, I'm the 4th oldest, I'm 12. My name is Christina Charity but no one ever calls me that".

"I'm Mary Angela. I'm the 5th oldest I'm 11."

"I'm Mary Theresa, I'm the 6th oldest I'm 10."

"This is Veronica, she's 6, and she's very, very shy"

"And this, is Cookie, her full name is Cordelia, but Veronica couldn't say that when she was younger, so we shortened it to Cookie. Cookie is 4, and she doesn't speak much yet."

We had all the children evaluated. Gina, Dina, Mary-Theresa, Mary-Angela and Veronica were all very good students, Joey and Cookie had challenges with their learning. Joey had severe Dyslexia and Dyscalculia. Cookie was diagnosed with Autism. All the medical professionals we encountered recommended putting Joey and Cookie in special education schools across the country. With "their kind" Maria and I refused to do this.

"We will homeschool our children – all of them. I will teach Joey and Cookie personally while the others learn from Mr and Mrs Stark. I think it is phony and despicable that you still think segregation for children who have learning challenges is appropriate. I'm disgusted, and I'll be speaking to the Medical Board of New York about you." Maria said firmly. "Just because an individual has challenges or extra needs does not give you the right to ridicule and ignore them"