Earlier that afternoon, and after Nora had gathered the last of her stuff, Gonzo and Linnie were hard at work cleaning up the guest room, moving furniture around, picking up some of the soda and occasional beer cans that were littered on the ground, cleaning the carpet, and talking, with Linnie brainstorming how he wanted to decorate the new "nursery".
After they had gotten finished, Gonzo took Linnie to the mall and shopped around for various baby things. The more and more stuff he saw, the more excited Linnie had gotten. He had even had to cover his mouth and hold back tears as they picked up a mahogany brown, oak baby crib, alongside a baby mobile with ducklings and small animals that smiled gently at whoever was beneath. Despite the less than ideal circumstances, Linnie felt himself overwhelmed with joy, wishing that he could just hurry up with the pregnancy so his newborn would be out of his stomach and into his arms.
"Son, are you ok?", Gonzo asked softly, noticing the tears sprinkling off the concern of Linnie's eyes, "Nora hasn't done or said anything else stupid, has she?"
"No…no dad I'm ok. She hasn't.", Linnie squeaked, taking a breath, "Sorry. I'm just..so excited. I'm just imagining life after he or she is born. How different everything will be."
"Yes, well, you know taking care of a baby is a big responsibility. It's not like babysitting. This is YOUR child."
"I-I know! I can't believe it.", Linnie cheered, tears spilling from his cheeks, "I'm sorry dad. I can't help it. I just love the little darling so much!"
Rubbing his back softly, Gonzo couldn't help but smile gently at his son, grateful that the child would at least have one parent that loved them. Though he didn't say anything, he noticed all the things Linnie had been working on since they found out about the pregnancy. He noticed how long Linnie would stay up researching baby names, or watching videos on proper care techniques. Mountains of parenting and child care books towered Linnie's desk as he read every one, writing and taking notes on each one. As disappointed as he was on the situation, and though he wished his son were more responsible, Gonzo had no doubt in his mind that Linnie would be an amazing father. If only he had waited just a little while longer…
"Dad?", Linnie asked, snapping Gonzo out of his thoughts, rubbing his hands on his belly, "The baby's hungry and my feet are starting to hurt. Can we take a break? Please?"
"Oh really? I'd figure you'd never want to stop.", Gonzo smirked. Linnie chuckled softly.
"I wish I didn't have to, but the baby's the boss right now.", Linnie said, "They really want sushi right now."
"Well, we can't have sushi. Raw foods aren't good for the baby.", Gonzo explained, making Linnie frown. "But don't worry! We can get something like a pizza if you want. There's a few things we need to discuss anyways."
"Oh..I didn't know that. Oh dear, what was I thinking? Giving my baby raw food.", Linnie squeaked, sniffling.
"Don't beat yourself up sweetheart. It's your first child after all. But yea, raw fish and meats typically aren't good.", Gonzo said, taking Linnie towards the pizza stand in the middle of the food court, "Uh..one large pizza with everything, please."
After Gonzo had paid, he led Linnie to a table towards the middle, placing the baby stuff gently next to their seats. Linnie sat down uncomfortably, unsure what his father had to talk about.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No. It's just…I think it's important we talk about the future. For starters, we need to start coming up with a birth plan for this child."
"Birth plan? But I'm not even a month in yet."
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared. You never know what kind of surprises pregnancies can bring.", Gonzo explained, "I had you and your sister early and let me tell you, I'm so glad we planned ahead of time. Had we not, then you'd probably would've been born on our living room couch."
"That bad?"
"Mhm. Plus these months tend to fly by. It's never too early to prepare.", Gonzo explained, "So…I've noticed you've been doing a good bit of research on the computer lately. Do you have any thoughts of what you might want?"
"Well…not really.", Linnie said softly, "I didn't realize you had to have a plan. I thought you just…gave birth when it's time."
"It's a lot more too it than that.", Gonzo said, "First of all, who all do you want in the room with you? You know, it's only men allowed in the birthing room once you begin to push, but beforehand?"
"Well, you, and mom, and Daisy of course. I want all my family."
"What about Nora? You know…the supposed mother?"
"Uhm…no I don't think so. I don't think she'd be interested anyways."
"Ok forget about what Nora wants for now. She's not the one giving birth.", Gonzo said, a bit more harsh than he wanted to, "What does Linnie want? What does the child's father want?"
"Uhm…", Linnie stammered, "I don't know. I really wish Nora would love this child as much as I do. It is a part of her after all."
"Well", Gonzo said sadly, "Sadly that's not something you can force on someone. As much as I hate Nora for what she put you through and how much I think she sucks for abandoning you and the child, at the end of the day, it's her call to make. Mothers don't have that natural parental instinct like us fathers do."
"I guess that makes sense.", Linnie said quietly, "I guess I don't want her then. You know, ever since I had gotten pregnant, she hadn't called once to check in on me and the baby. The last couple of times we talked, it was because she wanted a favor for me."
"Yes, I noticed the two of you talking after your interview. What did she want?"
"Some cash for a hotel."
"She really needs to get off her ass and get a job.", Gonzo muttered, jumping slightly as he saw Linnie grasp his stomach, "What? What's wrong?"
"The baby just kicked. I don't think they like it when you swear.", Linnie said softly. Gonzo laughed slightly as he placed a hand on his son's stomach.
"Hey now, don't blame your daddy, little one.", Gonzo laughed, looking at Linnie's bump, "It's not his mouth Grandpa Gonzo needs to wash his mouth with soap."
"You seem to be taking this whole thing better than mom.", Linnie chuckled, before his frown returned, "Is…is she still mad at me?"
Gonzo paused for a second as he returned to his seat, unsure how to respond.
"Well..", he breathed for a second, "Not nearly as mad as she is at Nora, I'll tell you that. But if I'm being honest, I do think it's going to take some time for her to process everything that happened. You've got to look at the situation through her perspective, Linnie. You've always been her baby boy; her little prince. Not to say she doesn't love your sister, but the way she sees it, Nora took advantage of her baby boy."
Linnie squirmed in his seat, frowning slightly. Gonzo also noticed Linnie twiddling the ends of his suit jacket as he looked away.
"I know you feel guilty Linnie, but it's so important that you don't blame yourself. Yes, it takes two to tango but you didn't do anything wrong-"
"But Mama said I needed to learn how to be more assertive."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean this is your fault. Nora was the one who decided to drag you to a club, and she was the one that decided to disrespect your body. You need to stop letting Nora have that much power and control over you."
"I know it's just…", Linnie stammered, finishing the last of his lunch, "I don't know..As much as I love my soon to be new baby, I can't help but feel slightly guilty. Plus, I just worry about what's going on with Nora. She's had nowhere to go..a-and she texted me a while ago talking about her mother."
"What's going on with her mother? I thought they stopped talking?"
"Apparently, her mother is on her death bed from alcohol overdose."
"Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.", Gonzo snarked, "Look, I can't sit here and tell you what to do. I can't force you to make good decisions or have relationships with the right people. All I can tell you is that you need to look after yourself and this child from now on. Nora's bullshit is not your problem."
"But she's the child's moth-"
" .Problem.", Gonzo said as a matter-of-factly, "You can do whatever you want with Nora, but at the end of the day, all that misery…all that hate inside her heart…and all her problems are her own damn fault. Misery loves company after all."
"I guess you're right. Thanks dad, I needed to hear that.", Linnie said, getting back up, his energy picking back up, "Shall we go look at baby bottles before we head home?"