On Sunday at noon, the doorbell rang at Carolyn's house. She was somewhat surprised to answer, as all her daughters, family, and friends had already arrived and she wasn't expecting any more guests that day. When she opened the door, she was amazed to see Addison and Derek.
"SURPRISE!" they both shouted at the same time, with Derek's hands resting on Addison's belly.
"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Carolyn began crying with excitement. "MY GOD!"
"Happy birthday, Mom!"
"Derek! How could you do this to me? Jesus Christ, you're going to give me a heart attack," she tried to calm her breathing, but couldn't.
"Mom, please don't die now. You have to meet your new grandchild," Derek laughed at Carolyn's dramatic reaction. He expected nothing less from her.
"Oh, my God... Addison..." she said, placing her hands on her belly.
"Hello, Mom," Addison responded, also excited to see her mother-in-law crying the same way she had cried with her other daughters.
"I can't believe it, I'm going to have a grandchild. Am I dreaming?"
"Oh, no. This baby is very real," Derek said, pulling an envelope from his coat pocket. "Look."
He handed her a couple of printed ultrasounds that had been taken the week before. She took them, her hands trembling.
"Oh, my love... it's so tiny," she whispered, unable to stop smiling.
"In fact, it's quite big. It has long legs and arms like its mother."
"How many months are you, dear?" She looked up to see Addison.
"19 weeks tomorrow, almost five months."
"Has this creature been with us for five months and you're only now telling your grandmother about its existence?"
"We wanted to do it in a special way, Mom. Don't tell me you weren't surprised."
"Well, actually, I was..." she looked at the image in her hands. "Oh, Derek, it looks like you."
"Do you think so? It's Addison's profile."
"Why is there so much commotion on the porch?" Kathleen said, approaching.
"Heyy, hello Kate," Derek smiled at her with an ultrasound next to his face.
"NO WAY!" she looked at Addison. "NO WAY!"
"What the heck is going on… Addison's pregnant?!" Liz shouted, appearing behind her sister.
Both of them ran to where she was and placed their hands on her belly. Addison couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. No one had reacted like this upon hearing the news. That euphoria and excitement were typical of the Shepherds.
"When did you find out?" Liz asked.
"How many weeks?" Kathleen said.
"Oh, they're already five months..." Nancy approached with a victorious smile.
"You knew about this?" Liz exclaimed, turning to see Nancy indignantly.
"Well, well. I think it's better if we go inside, the neighbors don't want to hear this screaming," Carolyn said.
~•~
Everyone was gathered around the large table in Carolyn's dining room. Three of Derek's sisters, their husbands, their 9 nieces, their 5 nephews, Carolyn's sisters, their families, several colleagues from work, some neighbors, Addison, and him.
The children had taken care of decorating everything with colorful balloons and garlands. There was a great variety of dishes, such as roasted turkey, smoked ham, salads, stuffed potatoes, vegetable pies, snacks, and rolls made by one of the sisters. Everything looked delicious to Addison.
"So you're building a house in Seattle... that means you won't be living here anymore," Carolyn said somewhat upset.
"The house will have several guest rooms, when we inaugurate it, we would like to receive you there," Derek said, taking a sip of soda.
"And are you still living in that trailer?"
"No, we're living in a building near the hospital... in fact, Mark lives there too."
"Oh, Mark is nearby... Stay awake and pray, so that temptation doesn't overcome you. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak..."
"Oh, Mom..." Kathleen closed her eyes.
"And what about Amelia?" Addison asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Oh, she's in Los Angeles right now, she's part of Dr. Geraldine Ginsberg's team," Carolyn proudly responded.
"Is Amy with Ginsberg?" Derek questioned, incredulous.
"Oh, she is. Since the beginning of the year. She's a very good neurosurgeon."
"Oh, that would have to be seen to be checked..."
"You should call your sister, Derek. She has changed a lot since the last time you saw her. She's a very professional and competent doctor."
"Maybe I'll consider it when she calls me to apologize for everything she put us through."
There was a long and uncomfortable silence at the table. Everyone knew that Amelia's youth had not been an easy topic in the family.
"Aunt Addie, do you already know if it's a boy or a girl?" Riley, one of Nancy's daughters, asked.
"Oh... we still don't know that, darling," Addison responded somewhat nervously. She knew the children would ask about that.
"It's obviously a boy," Louis, her older brother, replied.
"Where do you get that conclusion from?" Margaret, Liz's daughter, interrupted.
"Well, my mom is the oldest, and her first baby was a girl, Anne. Next comes Uncle Derek, who will have a boy, then Aunt Liz, who had you, Margo, then Aunt Kate, who had Bruce. That means girl, boy, girl, boy."
"That doesn't make sense," Anne said.
"Of course it does, and when Aunt Amy has a baby, it will be a girl."
"If your logic made sense, Mom's second baby should have been a boy then, and it was Ashley," Riley questioned.
"You shut up, elementary kids can't have an opinion on this," Louis said, covering his sister's mouth.
"I may be in elementary school, but I'm still smarter than you, booger ball," she bit his hand and he screamed.
"Children, behave," Nancy interrupted.
"I think it will be a girl," Carolyn said. "That belly looks like a girl."
"Excuse me?" Addison nervously laughed.
"When the belly has a round shape, it means it will be a girl. And when it ends in a point, it's a boy."
"Actually, the shape of the belly depends on the mother's body, as well as the position the baby is in and the amount of amniotic fluid," Addison responded, she was very skeptical of those kinds of myths.
"The shape also depends on the mother's pelvis. If it is narrow, the belly will tend to protrude and take on a pointed shape," Nancy added, she is also an obstetrician.
"Oh, Addison doesn't have a narrow pelvis," Carolyn whispered under her breath.
"Mom," Derek said, annoyed by the comment. Addison was uncomfortable.
"Well, that's what you get for having sex with your husband's best friend," she muttered.
"What is sex?" Erick, Liz's son, asked. He was only 8 years old.
The teenagers couldn't contain their laughter while the adults looked at each other, not knowing what to answer.
"It's what grown-ups do to make babies," Riley replied.
"How?" her cousin asked again.
"Well, who wants dessert?" Nancy said, getting up from the table.
~•~
"That thing of not wanting to know the baby's gender is a whim of rich and privileged people, who don't have to worry months in advance to get things for the baby," Carolyn said annoyed, she was in the kitchen preparing coffee with Derek.
"As far as I know, in the era when I was born, we couldn't know the baby's gender until birth."
"That was different, we didn't have the technology to know. It wasn't because we didn't want to."
"Well, but following the correlation with what you just said, whether you were rich or poor, there was no way to know."
"Your sisters were already buying things for their babies from the first trimester. It's too expensive to buy everything when the baby is born."
"The baby has things, mom. And things like the crib or the stroller don't need to be pink or blue. Other colors don't depend on the baby's sex. Addison liked some black ones..."
"Black for a baby? What is this, the mourning stage because her life as a carefree woman is over?"
"Carefree? Don't you know she's the head of two surgical departments?"
"And what are you going to do when the baby is born? Will she quit her job or will the child be raised by nannies?"
"There's a daycare at the hospital..."
"Nannies," she replied curtly.
"We are two doctors, we can't completely give up our lives because of the arrival of a baby. We have to make him or her adapt to ours."
"Addison doesn't need that job, she could live five more lives without lifting a finger and still be bathed in money anyway."
"She's not that type of person, mom. How many times have we talked about how her family's money doesn't interfere in our lives?"
"How is it not interfering when you made us live in the most expensive area of Manhattan?"
"We both chose that place because we liked it and because we could afford it."
"And now it's an abandoned house, thousands of dollars wasted..."
"Look, it's none of your business how we manage the economy in our family or how we choose to raise our child. I'm sure you didn't question my sisters as deeply with each of their fifty children."
"Because I raised your sisters to be good mothers, I never needed an employee to change one of my babies' diapers."
"Well, then rest assured because you raised me and I know how to change diapers. Or do you think it's just a task for women?"
"I didn't say that..."
"Stop making these comments under your breath, Addison is very sensitive and everything affects her twice as much. Don't question her capacity as a mother or as a professional, because she can handle both. God, do you understand that she works with babies every day? If there's anyone who knows babies, it's her. Of course, she'll be a good mother."
~•~
"Your mother hates me," Addison said. She was sitting in the garden with Kathleen, Nancy, and Liz, watching the children play.
"She doesn't hate you, she's just controlling with the golden child," Liz said.
"She's happy with the news, Addie," Kate added.
"She just has to process it in Carolyn Maloney Shepherd style," Nancy said.
"She will love your baby, she loves all her grandchildren equally. She loves John's children..." Liz said.
"Hey, don't mess with my husband," Nancy replied.
"Why didn't he come today, huh?"
"He has a work meeting tomorrow in Connecticut, he couldn't travel. Hey, speaking of that... are you going to visit your parents, Addison?"
"Oh, the East Coast torture has a second part."
"When are you going?"
"Tomorrow afternoon. I have to bring the good news to the other grandma..."
"She'll surely be happy, it's the first grandchild."
"Oh, it's Bizzy. That woman doesn't show any reactions on her face," she shook her head.
"Babies always touch people's hearts, especially grandmothers..." Kathleen said.
"Bizzy doesn't get touched by anything. I don't think she felt any tenderness even when I was a baby... Oh, someone's kicking," she made a face with her lips.
"Ohhh," the three of them said in unison.
"It must have been the cake..." Addison smiled.
"Is the baby moving a lot?"
"Not so much for now, I felt it for the first time yesterday on the plane."
"Oh, they become intense later on. Especially boys," Nancy sighed.
"Well, in my case the most restless of my four was Julie," Kathleen said, "I could feel her stretching her legs against my diaphragm every night."
"God... Julie is turning four in October," Addison whispered.
"She'll no longer be the baby of the family," Nancy said.
"That's until one of you has another one, you're taking your time," Addison laughed.
"Oh, no, don't count on me for that. The factory closed with Lucas," Nancy shook her head.
"I'm pretty good with five offspring," Liz said.
"I could have one more to catch up with both of you, but I think four is more than enough," Kathleen laughed.
"Have you thought about giving the baby siblings, Addie?" Nancy asked.
"Hey, first I have to get this one out of me, right?" she pointed to her belly.
"While I was waiting for Anne, I was already planning Ashley, they're only 14 months apart."
"In my case, after Margaret, Ellery came at eleven months, don't rely on the absence of menstruation because it could be a new pregnancy," Liz laughed.
"God, I'm going to stay away from Derek throughout the first year then."
"How are you coping with that? The hormones in the second trimester?" Nancy smiled mischievously.
"Do you mean libido?"
"Does anything else matter in the second trimester?"
"Oh... well, it feels like going back to adolescence."
"I want details."
"Oh, Nancy, the detail is Derek," Liz made a disgusted face. They all laughed.
"We hadn't had relations since the baby was conceived, back in late April because, well... you know the story of the panties."
"Disgusting," Kathleen said.
"Unpleasant," Liz added.
"I loved you at that moment," Nancy laughed.
"And I spent the whole first trimester with nausea, vomiting, headaches... and hating Derek for getting me into this."
"Damn him."
"And... just on our anniversary, he prepared a beautiful surprise for me..."
"And you gave in," Liz guessed.
"Of course," she laughed.
"The bar is set low with men, God," Nancy complained.
"No, he had really earned it. That night was so special... he made me feel loved again. I looked at him and it was like looking at Derek from medical school."
"Addison, only you could have liked Derek at that time," Liz pretended to gag. They all laughed.
"And since then, have you resumed sexual activity?" Nancy asked, as indiscreet as always.
"Resuming wouldn't be the exact word... I think I would say... we multiplied the activity we had."
"Addison!" Kathleen laughed.
"It's the right moment because the baby doesn't take up so much space and... the blood flow to the vessels around the vagina creates congestion in the genitals... and God..."
"Girls, do you want...," Carolyn was peeking through the garden door.
"There's no need for me to explain how great orgasms are during pregnancy!" Addison turned around quickly and felt her cheeks begin to heat up. She felt true terror approaching. "Oh, I... I was just..." she nervously said.
"It's okay, darling, we understand. You don't need to explain."
"Oh, Mom. Don't embarrass Addison, we all talk about sex," Nancy tried to help.
"I just want to remind you that your children are playing just meters away. You have to be careful about what you say near children."
"Sex shouldn't be a taboo anymore, they should be informed to prevent any unwanted situation," Kathleen said seriously.
"Well, if that's how some of you want to raise your children..."
Addison closed her eyes. She just wanted to disappear from the face of the earth at that moment.
~•~
"Then you won't be spending Christmas here..." Carolyn sighed, not entirely convinced.
"I'm afraid not, I'll be almost nine months pregnant by then..." Addison responded.
"But the baby could be born here, so we could meet at the hospital..."
"Mom..." Derek interrupted.
"I can't believe that the next time we see you, you'll have a baby in your arms..." Liz said, somewhat excited.
"You can come to Seattle before that," Addison suggested.
"Oh, don't tell them that because they'll take your word seriously and show up at the delivery room," Derek said, placing a hand on her waist and guiding her to the entrance door.
"It was a beautiful birthday surprise, thank you," Carolyn said before saying goodbye.
"Next time we'll bring the gift outside the oven," Derek laughed.
"Take care, guys."
~•~
"Hi Addie, I heard about your pregnancy. I wanted to send my congratulations to you and Derek... you know. I don't know if he'll want to hear my particular congratulations but... Well, I hope you're doing well. I'm sorry I couldn't attend the birthday, I hope to see you even once you're pregnant. Send me a photo... Wow... I can't believe this, I can't wait to see that little brat. I can't wait to spoil him or her. When it turns thirteen, I think I'll take it to Paris. Do you want to come?... Don't mind Mom, you know how she is. Well... I don't know what else to say, I think this voice message is already too long but... yeah, I hope you're doing well, give a special hug to that belly, love you."
Addison was lying on the hotel bed when she finished playing that voice message Amelia had sent her.
"Was it Amy?" Derek asked, approaching with a towel wrapped around his waist.
"Yes...," she smiled slightly.
"Oh, well. Tell her thanks."
"Your mother hates me. If she didn't before, I now know she does..." she sighed sadly.
"She doesn't hate you, Addie."
"I'm the adulterous bitch who cheated on her beloved son because I'm addicted to sex."
"She said that to you?"
"No... I... forget it."
"Do you know that I love you?"
"I know..."
"And do you know that nothing my family or yours says will make me change my mind?"
"Yes..."
"Come here, don't feel down. You need to recharge for tomorrow..."
"Oh, God. The torture continues, right?"
"Come..." Derek embraced her and she stayed in his arms until she fell asleep.