Inspire. Create. Write.TM
Last week was Daddies & Mommies week on
The Blog Tag.
So let me start by saying #MadRespect to all the Daddies & Mommies out there! For all the love, support and magical wisdom you provide to your kids.
The writing prompt is...
What does it mean to be a Mother?
Last week I shared the beginning of a short story I wrote, titled
The Lady in Blue Heels.Thank you for all the amazing feedback received on the first part. It means so much that y'all loved the story.
Today is #WednesdayWisdom and I will be sharing the Second part of the story.
Let's catch up shall we:
Grace Annalise Scott has just graduated college with flying colors and to top it all off the love of her life, Lancelot Archibald proposes to her right then and there!
Weeks later, while attending a fundraiser hosted by her hated soon-tobe mother-in-law, Grace becomes extremely nauseous. Surprisingly Mrs. Archibald is the one to comfort her and offer her the shocking news that she's pregnant!
Lance is overjoyed at the prospect of being a dad while Grace is unsure as to how she feels about it all.
Find out what's in store for Grace as she comes to terms with her pregnancy & how she finds a connection to the child now growing within her womb.
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| Model: Cosplayer Taz Noble |
The next day went on as normal with the same routine: breakfast, shower then campus. At least today was just to pick up the stuff from her locker and then sign all the forms for her release from this academic prison. The pregnancy hung over her head like a giant time bomb.
“Grace! Grace!" Her friends Ashley and Nicole called. Ashley was a tall and lean blonde supermodel looking girl with lightly sprinkled freckles over her nose and cheeks. Nicole was as short and feisty as she was honest and loyal. Her heart shaped face always had an inviting smile.
"Are you ready to go? I have a 2 o'clock mani\pedi scheduled and Antoine is going to be there, you know he's the best stylist around. I'm not in the mood to take the jet to see Marcus, he always talks about his poodle." Said Ashley, tossing her already flawless hair over her shoulder.
Grace smiled, "Angels, there's something I need to tell you.”
Nicole smiled her smile, "What is it Grace? You look stressed and pale.”
"Oh god don't tell me you're pregnant now." Ashley drawled.
"Actually, yes, I'm pregnant!" Her friends’ mouths hung open for a few seconds.
Nicole was the first to break out and hug Grace tightly. "Oh wow! Congratulations! That's just perfect. You and Lance would make awesome parents!”
Ashley uncrossed her arms and squared her eyes, "Grace are you sure about this? Have you thought this through? Have you considered abortion or adoption?”
Nicole wrinkled her nose, "Why can't you just be happy for her?”
Grace laughed, "Its ok Nicole, no Ashley I'm not sure, and as much as I am, I can't consider abortion I would never do that. Lance is so sure of this and we have discussed it before. It just came a bit early that’s all. Look, you two are my best friends for life and I can't do this without you. I need my sisters.”
"Fine, I'm in but nobody ever, EVER, calls me Aunty Ashley."
Nicole giggled then replied, "Yes we will all just pretend the wrinkles aren't there. Of course you have us Grace. We love you." Grace and Nicole shared a tear-filled hug.
"So how'd the old ding bat, mama Lance, take the news? Bet she's already planning how to off you so she'll have Lance’s heir all to herself." Ashley said crossing her arms.
Grace chuckled, "Actually she helped me the night I found out, she even sounded sincere." Ashley scoffed at the reply. "Ok I have to go now, Lance and I have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”
"Oooohhh, can I come?" Nicole was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet now.
"Not this time Nikki, I think this is something I have to face with Lance, at least for the first time.”
"Ta bitch." Ashley said in her signature nonchalant manner as she walked off dragging Nicole with her.
"Please lie on down on the chair for me Miss Scott." Instructed the sweetly nurse. Grace settled in the chair trying to make sure her gown didn't fall off. Lance stood there with his hands in his pockets looking 7 kinds of uncomfortable. It would be hilarious under normal circumstances but she didn't feel like smiling. Dammit why did having a baby feel like the end of the Grace she'd spent her life trying to find and accept?
"Hello Miss Scott, My name is Dr. Rampasanth and I'll be doing your check up today." said the caramel skinned, petite doctor who stepped in and hadn't looked up from her clipboard until she finished reading. The Indian lady slowly averted her eyes from her notes and smiled at Grace mysteriously as if reading her mind. "Shall we begin?”
The gel was indeed cold. The sonogram took a little time to form an image. "Hmmmm let's see, a little to the left. Ah there we go, say hello to your baby." None of them said anything, just stared at the screen in awe. Until now Grace had felt detached from the thing growing inside her. She felt like she had no connection to it, like it was just there growing apart from her. But now, now there was her baby, in front of her very eyes. Grace could see that this baby wasn't growing apart from her, it was growing inside her, with her, dependent on her to survive, to be cocooned and kept safe until it was ready to enter this world. "Would you like to know the sex of the baby now? Or would you like it to be a surprise?" Dr Rampasanth asked, with that same tranquil smile on her face.
Grace couldn't imagine anyone who didn't mellow out in the doctors presence, she exuded peace. Grace looked at Lance, the big monkey’s eyes were filled with tears almost at the edge ready to fall down his cheeks. He looked to her and they both nodded. "Ok let's see here, by the looks of it I'd say 4 weeks along. Hmmmm....ahhhh a beautiful daughter awaits you at the end of this journey.”
"A daughter." Lance whispered into her ear as he squeezed her hand and stared at the screen in awe. Everything somehow seemed perfect, even with a future obscured and unsure. The doctor frowned at something but it disappeared almost instantly and was replace by that smile again. "I'm going to get my nurse in her to take some x-rays and blood tests, standard procedure, nothing to worry about". Why did that make Grace worry all the more? In her family when anyone said "No need to worry", that meant to worry all the
more. Lance had to step outside to take a call from the office so Grace was left to pushy nurses with sharp needles. An hour later, Grace and Lance sat in Dr. Rampasanth's office holding hands, patiently awaiting the good doctor and her ‘news’. Grace sighed, something seemed very wrong. It was a feeling she had, like a tightness in her stomach, a pull, something she couldn't explain. The door opened, jarring her from her thoughts. The doctor walked in with another doctor. A redheaded spectacled woman in high heels. Her face just screamed "I'm a bossy and straight forward, no BS woman who has hadn’t sex in 6 months.” Something about the woman made Grace agitated, like she should just take Lance and leave right now while they can.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, this is my associate, Dr. Burnstorm. She'll be....sitting in with us." Lance looked suspicious but didn't say anything. Like her, he was going to wait for the answers rather than ask the questions.
"As you know, we took x-rays and blood samples of you Miss Scott, now we've doubled checked the results and-".
"Miss Scott, I'm an oncologist and you have stage 2 lymphoma..... It’s a type of cancer that attacks your lymphocytes but with treatment I believe you will go into remission.” Dr.rampasanth was cut off by Dr.Burnstorm. The woman finished her abrasive statement to a shocked and silent room.
Grace whispered, "Cancer.”
Lance got up to ask, "I'm sorry, did I hear you right? Did you just say cancer?! That my Gracey has cancer?!" Lance was shouting now.
Dr Burnstorm waved her hand in annoyance, "Why is it that people always hear cancer but not the part about treatment and good odds? Those psychology children upstairs
would have a field day with that one. Mr. Archibald is it? Yes your ‘Gracey’ has cancer but with the right chemotherapy and radiation therapy there's a high percentage of her surviving this. During the course of the therapy I will prescribe monoclonal antibody treatments that will give her body a better chance at fighting the cancer.”
Lance slumped back in his seat and palmed his face, "Bloody hell."
Grace put her hand on her stomach then frowned, she looked up suddenly, "What about the baby? What is going to happen to our daughter?”
This time Dr. Rampasanth spoke up, with a grim look on her face, "I'm sorry but under the extreme conditions of your treatments the fetus cannot survive. The only course is abortion. I will provide hormone treatments when you are ready to try to conceive again." Grace almost passed out, she felt like she was flat on the floor with a concrete block laid across her chest.
"Ok fine, what exactly is the way forward from here? I'll not sit by and watch my Gracey die." said Lance, a fire burned in his eyes.
"Well she'll have to be admitted tonight and a biopsy will be taken of her lymphocytes to determine the actual concentration count of the cancer. Then it will be analyzed and from there we will decide on the correct course of treatment." As Lance and Dr. Burnstorm talked about how to save her. Grace felt like she was a million years away, everything went quiet, and then in her quiet darkness she heard the most amazing sound she'd ever heard. Lub-dub, lub-dub, Lub-dub, lub-dub, Lub-dub, lub-dub, Lub-dub, lub-dub, Lub-dub, lub-dub. It was a heart beat! Her daughters heart beat! It was glorious! A perfect symphony of rhythm and magic.
She snapped back to reality. "No", she said softly at first. "NO!" She stood up holding her belly protectively. She looked to Lance's confused face.
After a moment, understanding dawned on his face. He fell to his knees putting his face in her hands, "No Gracey, please don't do this!”
"Do what? I'm sorry I don't understand." Dr. Burnstorm looked back and forth between the pair, utterly clueless.
Grace sighed, then lifted Lance's face so that his eyes met hers, "I'm going to have the baby. Our daughter must be born.”
Dr. Burnstorm crossed her arms just the way Ashley did, "Are you sure? Have you thought this through? You'll be giving your life away in exchange for something that can be postponed. You'll be giving away your life for-".
"For a life... a life for a life. No doctor, I'll be giving my life to my daughter, my daughter right now, right here, who's growing within me seeking my protection and love.”
After a few moments of scrutinizing stares, Dr. Burnstorm waved her hands in frustration and swore, in Russian maybe? "Very well girl, I will collaborate with Dr. Rampasanth and come up with a suitable treatment plan to get you to your due date.”
Grace stood at the edge waiting for clarity, clarity, that this all made sense. Lance had stayed behind with the doctors to discuss a reasonable treatment for her. She needed air and somehow even the air outside the hospital seemed sterile. So she walked and walked, without thinking about anything in particular, until she came upon a huge oak tree. A young man leaned against the tree's base. He seemed scary yet he looked bored and hadn't even noticed her. He took a long pull from his cigarette, it seemed to stretch on forever, she watched in fascination. On his exhale he said, "You're far from the rabbit hole Alice." The shadows hid his eyes from her.
"I just needed some air, besides who are you?" She said defiantly, chin raised.
"And you couldn't get this so called air somewhere else, like for example oh I don't know, away from me." He said sarcastically. Grace felt annoyed now, her world had just been torn out from under her and here was this obnoxious, obtrusive, ignorant- "How long did you get?" He said still hiding those eyes.
"Excuse me?"
"Me, I got about a year if I'm a good boy."
Now she understood, without having to see his face. "They gave me 2 years and a dose of BS hopefuls."
His face rose from the shadows. Tears had streaked his cheeks. "Yeah I got that too, lung cancer's a bitch." A hint of a smile playing on his lips.
"You should try lymphoma. Hey! Wanna trade? I'll even throw in one year for free.” He laughed and then she laughed, it was a glorious relief, something she needed
so desperately. They stood there against the tree in silence for a while neither needing to say anything.
"Now what?" She said looking at this kid for an answer that she should have for him.
He grinned, "The hell if I know, all I know is my parents are probably freaking out. If I don't go calm them down, I'm going to hate getting stuck with a needle every month and stuffed full of toxin. They deserve better."
"Would you-“
He cut her off by putting a finger to her lip. "Don't play the what if game with me, firstly you'd lose and secondly whatever it is you've already made the choice firmly in your heart, you just want to understand it. But some things aren't meant to be understood, some things are just meant to be what they are, a beautiful mistake."
She spent the rest of her day wondering who the silly boy, with spikes and the grim reaper shirt, was. Everybody had called and stopped by to offer their condolences and when that was done it was followed by an hour-long session by her grandma telling her she was a putz. Life was never going to be the same and by the tone and looks on peoples’ faces nobody understood her decision. But she did, she now understood her choice, led by an undeniable vision she couldn't quantify nor compartmentalize.
In a week Lance looked like hell, his hair unkempt, his eyes pale and dull, in a month he looked like a broken man, a shell of his former self. Grace was afraid for him and hated herself for what she had done to him. Forced to watch the person she loved wither away before her very eyes. But she knew within the depths of her soul that he was going to be ok somehow, some way. Mrs. Archibald moved to a nearby hotel and pitched up almost every day to take care of Grace. Apparently a pregnant cancer patient suffered way more than a pregnant one did, who would’ve thought? Lance began recording her every waking moment, saying he was going to keep hours and hours of footage of her, just being her...
Her nights were spent on the Malibu pier bench, staring up at the stars and writing in her journal. Which she intended to be read by both Lance & her daughter when she's gone, in the hope that they will find comfort in those trying times.
All Grace wanted was to survive long enough to bring her baby girl's beautiful soul into this world and hold her in her arms for the first time. No matter the sacrifice.
7 years later.....
Gwendelyn stood her ground, the sun was tormenting her, with its bright light and annoying warm glow. Which meant she loved the way it glittered off her skin. She laughed and ran in zig-zags to catch a blue-black butterfly.
"It’s time snugglepuff." Her father called from the bench, doing the same thing he always did, reading the Sunday newspaper on a Tuesday afternoon. She shrugged and trounced off to her daddy.
They came upon a single white stone in the ground, "It’s always so pretty daddy, can we say the prayer this time?" Gwendelyn pouted and tugged on her dad’s suit pants.
"All right honey, go ahead." Her father replied.
She cleared her throat and straightened her tie, "Our Father, who art in heaven, Halloween be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily breath. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Her father pulled her close to him so that she hugged his waist, "I love you more than the world.”
"Do you think mummy can see us daddy? Will she know who I am?" She said sadly.
“Of course she does angel, and hey if you ever, ever feel like you're forgetting her-“ He knelt down and placed his hand on her chest “-Remember that she lives on right here, right here within your beating heart Gwendelyn. And if that fails, you'll always have her embarrassing journals to read." Her father said with his ‘smirky-daddy-grin’ on his face. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his strong neck. There they stood, father and daughter before their
beloved’s white stone, he placed a single hand on her shoulder and together they braved the sunset to enter the new dawn.
THE END.
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Authors Note
NB* I know the other mothers out there know that you can currently only tell the gender of the baby in utero at about 16-20 weeks. But well this is a fictional story after all and technology is changing all the time so that's how the Doc was able to tell the gender of the baby at such an early stage in the pregnancy.
I've also written two blog posts as prequels to this story of Grace in her Formative years:
Confessions of a Teenage Blogger QueenThe Script: Interview of a Teenage Blogger QueenNoticed the Big Sign/Badge on the right-side of my blog, did ya? Yes,
The Blog Tag. An amazing community that supports & encourages bloggers by providing them with weekly themes & daily writing prompts in reference to those themes.
That being said,
How was it? Please let me know your feelings on the second part of the story or the story as a whole. All are welcome.
Loved it? I'm always looking to build my reader base so if you genuinely enjoy my writing style & stories, kindly pass on my blog/posts to your friends & family. A recommendation from you would mean
everything.
~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres
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