Chapter 19
A week later
"Mom, we have some news," Spencer offered once his mother had answered the communicator and after they all said hello.
"What's the news?" Diana immediately asked.
"We just wanted to tell you that you are going to have a second grandchild in seven and a half months," Michelle spoke up.
"You're pregnant?" Diana asked her whole face lighting up with the news.
"Yes, I am, as we've been to the doctor just today and had it confirmed," Spencer said, grinning from ear to ear because he was so happy.
"So, you started getting morning sickness a little early I take it," Diana asked Michelle. "Morning sickness doesn't usually start for a couple of months, but it can start early."
"It's not that early to feel morning sickness, but no, I just realized I had missed my period, which is like clockwork every month, so I thought I'd check just to see if I was pregnant or not and it turned out I was," Michelle answered.
"So, your periods are at basically the same time every month," Diana said, and Michelle nodded.
"Yes, within three or four days of when I had my last one as they never vary much; like I know some women suffer from. It's always been that way ever since I was a teenager," Michelle answered honestly. "It had been over two weeks since I had my last period so I finally decided to buy a pregnancy test."
What Michelle didn't say was that she'd already had multiple pregnancy tests on hand since she tested herself every month to see if she had finally conceived and this saved her from having to go to someplace like a drugstore to buy a test. She had simply bought every one the store she had gone to had at that time and she hadn't run out yet, as they'd had quite a few. All the pregnancy tests she had bought were different brands. She would just save the ones she hadn't used for when she wanted to test if she was pregnant again, two or three years down the road of course. Diana didn't need to know that though so she said nothing.
"Well, you must keep better track of your periods than a lot of women do," Diana said finally. "Most women don't know when their periods are going to start because they're so busy they lose track."
"Well, a lot of women's periods are more irregular than mine are, so it's harder to keep track of them, as I just mark it on the calendar when I should get my next one, so that I'm prepared," Michelle said.
"Smart," Diana told Michelle, smiling. "I am now looking forward to having a second grandchild. It is a shame you can't tell the sex for months yet."
"No right now the fetus is about the size of a pea," Spencer spoke up. "It's not even really considered a baby at this early stage just a fetus."
"I suppose it's too early to start thinking of names since you don't know the sex," Diana said.
"Well, we did decide that if it's a girl it will be named after you," Michelle spoke up. "Though we'll use a slight deviation of your name like Diane or maybe Dina, but only so she won't be confused with her grandmother."
"That's quite the honor," Diana said grinning hugely, at the thought of having the first girl born to her son and his wife named after her. "I'm glad you think enough of me to name your first girl after me."
"I love you, mom and so does Lynnette, so the two of us came to an agreement. If Lynnette and Dave have a little girl first, then they get the honor of naming her after you, but if me and Michelle have a girl first, then we do. Come to think of it, we could even both name a girl child after you, as there are many different versions of Diana, different enough, that nobody would ever know it unless they knew the meaning of the names. I'll make sure I mention that idea to Lynnette and Dave for when they have a little girl. I mean there's Dana, Dina, Diane just to name a few different versions of your name mom."
"We have nothing against using family names, because after all Derrick's middle name is after your son," Michelle added.
"The only name that Lynnette and I are in agreement on that we will not use in any shape or form is William for either male or female," Spencer added looking determined. "We agreed that we will not use any variation of that name, for either sex. Names like Willard, Willa, Willie, Will, Wilfred or any other variation of the name. That name does not deserve to live on in our family and is best forgotten as well as the man attached to it."
"I guess I can't blame you," Diana sighed. "Will really let himself down by leaving like he did."
"We know it's a common and popular name, but I can understand both Spencer's and Lynnette's point of view on this subject," Michelle spoke up. "Lynnette even refuses to use his name and calls him that man or other insults.
"Yeah, I know," Diana sighed. "She takes any insult her siblings, as if it's personal and I can't really blame her, as she loves them. Will left behind a load of emotional scars when he left like he did with no explanation."
"He thought his children were useless when he should've seen himself as such. I mean, they were really young when he left and Lynnette wasn't even born, so how you can tell how a child is going to turn out before their even teenagers is impossible. Personally, I think it was just an excuse, so he could abandon his family," Spencer said his voice, as unemotional as either women, had ever heard it. What this meant was that Spencer was keeping a tight rein on his emotions, tighter than normal.
"He might very well be right that it was just an excuse to do what he did," Michelle said. "All I can say though is, I'm very glad that man is out of his children's lives and he better not pop up again at any point because he'll regret it if he does. Both dad and I are in agreement that your husband will never be allowed anywhere near any of his children, so if he pops up at any point and tries to see them and be part of their lives he will immediately be thrown right back out. Everybody that works for dad will have a picture of the man so that they can recognize him if he does show up."
"I can't blame you for being angry with Will, as you love Spencer after all," Diana told Michelle warmly. "You have every right to be furious at him, even if that's just for Spencer's and Lynnette's sake."
"And also, for you, Roxie and Rocky," Michelle corrected. "I'm not just mad for Spencer or Lynnette sake, but for all of you, because what the Senior Reid did was selfish in the extreme. Yes, I know very well that people can be very selfish, but when it effects people I care about, so of course, I get mad on their behalf. Oh, by the way, I'm way past being mad at William Reid and into right royally pissed off and my dad is also pissed off at him. Pissing off my father is not a good idea, as he has a lot of power and that could get your former husband fired from his law firm. Dad can be quite creative when he's really upset, so you really don't want to make him angry."
"Some people have unrealistic expectations and that was definitely true in dad's case," Spencer said once he was sure, Michelle and his mother would done with speaking about that subject.
"William Reid just wasn't father material. Many men are not, but most of them only have one or two children, not four, even if I know that he knew nothing about Lynnette. I cannot actually blame Mellie or Dave for being so pissed off at him. I know that William Reid had no way of knowing that I would get involved with Mellie who is the daughter of a very powerful man, but since such things do happen on occasion he really should have taken different actions."
"Which makes Lynnette the lucky one, since your ex-husband knows nothing about his youngest daughter," Michelle put in.
"I'm really happy with this news Spencer, Michelle, and I'll look forward to the birth and it doesn't matter what sex it is, though I'm certainly hoping for a girl since Lynnette and Dave already have a boy and not just because you're going to name her after me."
"It'll be months before we know one way or the other mom, so you're just going to have to be patient," said Spencer smiling at the woman who had done so much for him and his siblings. She was everything a mother should be kind, stern, caring, loving.
"I know," Diana said. "Still, that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to when this baby is born. I'll be there in the waiting room just like I was for Lynnette and Dave when Derrick was born. If there's any time to use the shuttles that Dave was nice enough to let me use for free than the birth of a new baby in the family is the perfect time."
"At least Derrick is six months old so we're not dealing with two newborns at the same time. All right, technically, Derrick is still a newborn but by the time this baby gets here he'll be over a year old and hopefully at least walking by then. Bertha has enough to do with Derrick and doesn't need two small babies to take care of at the same time, especially if they're basically the same age, so it's good that I didn't get pregnant for a few months to give Derrick a chance to grow up some and that puts less pressure on Bertha," Michelle said.
Bertha was the nanny that had been hired to look after Derrick and she was proving to be a Godsend. There was also a droid for backup when Bertha needed to sleep.
Dave could always hire another nanny though, if they had to, as money wasn't an issue.
"That's true, Bertha is a hard worker, but she has to sleep sometime," Spencer told his mother.
"Dave has the money to hire another nanny if he has to son," Diana told Spencer. "You're right that two newborns would be a lot for one person to handle, but since your baby isn't going be here for seven and a half months then Derek will not be such a handful when the new baby arrives. He'll still need a lot of time and attention, but he'll be eating solid food by then, which will save Bertha from having to feed him from a bottle while your baby probably cries in the background," Diana said. "He'll still be in diapers though, as you can't change him into big kids panties until they're at least 18 months to 2 1/2 years old. I don't know how people handle, twins or triplets for that matter, unless they have a lot of help from the someone whether family or hired."
"Well, luckily, I'm not having twins at least not as far as I know," Michelle said. "I have no idea of my family history since I was adopted, but as far as I'm aware, multiples, do not run in my family."
"I hadn't thought of that," Diana said thoughtfully. "Since you were adopted, you don't know any of your family history and possible medical problems that could lie in the future."
"I'm afraid so," Michelle said. "That's OK though, I'll just face every day as it comes. I'm not going to worry about what kind of diseases could lie in my bloodline as why worry about things you can't prevent or change? You'll only make yourself ill if you do."
"Good attitude," Diana approved and just before she signed off she added, "I'll let Roxie and Rocky know that you're pregnant Michelle and you know they'll be thrilled."
"Talk to you soon mom," Spencer said before his mother's image disappeared from the communicator screen.
"Well, that's done," Spencer said. "Mom will spread the word to my siblings and I'm sure they'll come to visit once this baby is born."
"I suspect they will, as they've been visiting quite a bit ever since Derrick was born," Michelle said, as she kissed Spencer into silence before he could say anything else. Spencer accepted the kiss, and the two of them headed for the bedroom immediately after it broke.
~~~Dave and Lynnette~~~