Chapter 3: Charlie


Casey had it all planned out. She called the Planned Parenthood clinic and made an appointment for the following Tuesday afternoon. She had arranged for her sister to pick her up and take her home afterwards. Everything was going according to plan right up until Charlie unexpectedly came by for a visit.

"Charlie!" Casey exclaimed upon seeing her son. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"P.D. Day Mom. I thought I'd stop by and give you this while I had the chance before I go to California for a few weeks. " Charlie beamed. "Thanks again for letting me go. Coach Bombay says he's going to take us to do all the things we should have done during the Goodwill Games. "

Casey stiffened at the mention of Bombay's name but quickly recovered. Luckily for her, Charlie was way too excited about his upcoming trip to notice.

"Well, make sure to remember to call home every so often," Casey said. "And be careful. California isn't like Minnesota."

"Yes, Mother." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Besides, Bombay will be there if anything goes wrong."

" I hope you remember to thank him for doing this. He does a lot for you and your friends."

"I know." Charlie pulled out what looked like a blanket from his backpack. "Here," Charlie said handing her a blanket.

Casey took the blanket and gasped. Charlie had taken some of the clothes that he had as a child and had made a blanket out of them. Casey was speechless. "When did you learn to sew?"

"Home Ec." Charlie shrugged. "They left it up to us what we did for a final project. You told me to clean up my room and these were just sitting there in the closet. You're not mad, are you? I thought I'd make you an early mathers day present."

Casey smiled at Charlie. Mathers Day was an inside joke between herself and Charlie. Since Casey was the only parent Charlie ever knew, instead of Father's Day, he celebrated Mathers day because his mother took the place of both mother and father.

"Of course not. I love it. " She took the blanket and sniffed it. "Although it could use a wash. Did you wash all those old hockey jerseys like I asked you to?"

Charlie had a guilty look on his face. Casey shook her head. "Grab me your jerseys. I'll wash them when I'm out with Jess this afternoon."

"Thanks, Mom. You're the best!" Charlie threw his arm around Casey and gave her a big hug. "I gotta go. I'm supposed to meet Linda in an hour and I don't want to be late."


"How long do you think you'll be?" Jess asked parking the car.

Casey checked her watch. "Not long I hope. I just want this over this. Three maybe?"

Casey shifted uncomfortably in the front seat. Jess saw how uncomfortable Casey looked. "I'll come in with you if you want."

Casey shook her head no. She wanted this over and done with. Never to be spoken of again. "I'm fine. Would you be able to go to the laundry mat and wash this blanket for me while you wait? Our landlord keeps saying he'll fix the large washing machine but it never happens."

"Sure." Jess looked at the blanket. "Hey, where did you get this? I don't remember seeing this before."

"Charlie made it out of all his old baby clothes." Casey took the blanket. "Do you remember this one?"

Jess laughed. "Isn't that the one that Maggie gave you for his first birthday? You know the one where he puked all over the place including the cake?"

"I remember that," Casey reminisced. "I miss Charlie being that small. Used to crawl into bed with me every night after the afternoon shift at the diner."

"Only have a wait a few more years and you'll be able to do that again," Jess said.

"If you are talking about grandkids, it'll be a little longer than a few more years before Charlie starts having kids if I have anything to say about it."

Jess turned serious. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"You too?" Casey was astonished. First Bombay. Now her sister. "This is an odd way of showing support."

"Sorry.," Jess mumbled. "I just thought, you know, given your feeling towards Bombay that you might consider otherwise."

Casey sighed. "I thought about that. He even offered to give up everything and move back to Minnesota. I can't expect him to do all that. It's not like we were in a relationship. He didn't ask for this."

"Maybe not," Jess said thoughtfully. "He's one of the good ones you know."

"I know."

Casey touched the blanket to her skin. Even though it smelled mostly of sweat and hockey gear, she could still smell the faint smell of Charlie when he was a baby. That new baby smell. Casey shifted uncomfortably in the seat.

Sensing that Casey was uncomfortable, Jess spoke up. "We can do this some other time if you want," she offered.

Casey shook her head. "No."

Casey put down the blanket and open the door to her sister's 1989 Ford Taurus and stepped out. She heard her sister say something along the lines that she'd be back in an hour before driving off. Her sister made sure to drive her to the back of the building so she wouldn't have to deal with the protesters out front. Casey could hear the chants of 'murderer' and other obscenities from the protesters as she stepped inside the clinic.

The clinic was at the end of a cold sterile hallway on the second floor. Once she was in the clinic, Casey took a seat in one of the hard chairs lined up against the wall and waited for her name to be called. It was a mostly empty waiting room with two young teenagers talking quietly amongst themselves in the corner.

"I told you, I need you to do this. I'm not ready to be a father," the boy said quietly to the girl. "If you don't go through with this, I'm gone."

Casey froze when she heard this. This was the exact thing Charlie's father said to her.

"I want to keep her, Scott. I'm sure we can get through this," the girl replied.

"Her? You don't even know if it's a girl or a boy yet," Scott hissed.

"It's a girl. I can feel it," the girl insisted.

"Doesn't matter, you're getting rid of her." Scott grabbed her arm. "Remember what I said…"

Luckily for Scott, a nurse walked into the room. Casey saw how he grabbed that young girl and was going to step in if the nurse had not come in.

"Here," the nurse said to the young girl handing her a johnny gown to put on. "Put this on."

The nurse glared at Scott. "Is this young man bothering you?" she asked the girl.

Before she could answer, Scott stood up. He had had enough. "I'm outta here. Have a nice life."

The girl took the gown and changed in the adjacent room and sat back down to wait for the nurse to come back. Casey seeing what happened, sat down with the girl. The girl was in tears. She couldn't be much older than Charlie.

"What's your name? " Casey asked. "My name is Casey."

'Christie," the girl mumbled.

"Listen to be Christie," Casey said. "I was in your situation once. Whatever you chose to do, do what's best for you. "

"I haven't even told my parents yet," Christie confessed. " And now my boyfriend doesn't even want me anymore."

"Forget about him," Casey said.

"But I love him."

Casey looked with compassion upon the young gift. "You have to think of yourself for once."

The girl looked at Casey. "Were you ever pregnant at fifteen?"

"Sixteen."

"Did you keep the baby?" Christie asked.

"I did."

"Do you regret having a baby?" she asked.

"No, but I used to." Casey thought for a moment and then hastily added, "But what was right for me is not necessarily right for you."

"What are you here for?" the girl asked boldly. "You with your kid?

"No. I'm here for the same reason you are."

"You are?" Christie was shocked. "I thought this place was only for people like me. Your boyfriend a jerk too?"

Casey shook her head. "No. Quite the opposite. "

"Then why?"

Before Casey had a chance to answer, the nurse came in. "Ready?"


Casey slammed the car door shut as she sunk into the front seat. Jess, upon seeing this, knew better than push Casey when she was in a mood.

Jess drove Casey back to her place and carried the laundry up the two flights of stairs. Casey told her she didn't need the help but relented when Jess said that she heard from a friend that after going through an abortion she needed a day to recover.

"So, are you okay?" Jess asked concerned. Casey hadn't said much all afternoon.

"I'm fine. Want a coffee? Tea?" Casey offered.

Jess smiled and pulled a bottle of white wine out of her bag. "Picked this up at a liquor outlet in St. Paul. Thought it might help."

"I'm good," Casey said glumly.

"You sure? It's your favourite kind," Jess said gleefully.

"I said I'm good," Casey snapped.

Jess was taken aback. Never in her life had she seen Casey this angry at her. Not even when they were kids. Then it dawned on Jess.

"You didn't go through with it, did you?" Jess charged.

"What?" Casey said trying to feign innocence but Jess saw right through it.

"Don't ever become a lawyer," Jess said. "You can fool some people but you can't fool me."

Casey was angry. "Leave!" She pointed at the door. "And don't come back."

Jess knew better. Casey had a temper. It normally wasn't directed at her. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I'm your sister. And I'm here for you. Come what may."

Casey's face softened at the last comment. "I'm sorry." She slumped down onto a chair. "I was ready to do it. I really was. But I couldn't go through with it."

"Was it the protestors? Because if it was, I know another place," Jess offered.

Casey shook her head no. It wasn't the protestors.

"Then what?" Jess pleaded. "I won't judge."

"Charlie," Casey said point-blank.

Jess looked at Casey with understanding. She loved Charlie as her own even if she was only his aunt. "I understand. Although I thought you weren't going to tell him."

"I didn't." Casey saw Jess's look of confusion. "It was that blanket. It took me back to when Charlie was just a baby. How he had that new baby smell. And the softness of his skin."

Jess looked at Casey with understanding."And you want to experience that again."

"I do." Casey looked up. "And I don't know if I'll ever have the chance again…"

Casey trailed off but Jess shook her head. "You're still young. You're only thirty-one. You still have time."

"Do I?" Casey said. "To have a kid. With the right man."

"Maybe you found the right man," Jess said.

"Bombay?" Casey said glumly. "Not anymore. Not after what I said."

Jess sighed. "What did you say," she asked exasperated.

"I told him that I wished the kid wasn't his," Casey replied sadly. "I didn't mean it at the time. I was just so mad. He insinuated that I didn't know who the father was."

"He said that?" Jess asked. She was in shock. Although she had never met the man, that didn't sound like something he would say.

"Not exactly," Casey said. "He brought up that we agreed to see other people as well."

Jess rolled her eyes. As always, Casey let her temper get the best of her. "Let me guess. Because you haven't been with any other guys since you started this thing but he's been with other women, you got jealous and lashed out."

"Something like that," Casey mumbled.

"What am I going to do with you? " Jess threw her arm around her sister. "When are you going to tell him that you didn't go through with it?"

"I wasn't planning on telling him," Casey admitted.

"You what?" Jess said "You have to tell him. He has a right to know. Besides, Charlie will eventually find out and you know he can't keep anything from Bombay."

Casey sighed. Jess was right. She could avoid Bombay but she couldn't avoid Charlie.

"What am I going to do?"

Jess squeezed her shoulder a little tighter. "I don't know little sis. But we'll think of something."


Please R&R