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Chapter
16: It’s A Girl!
“Faith! Are you home?” Morgan called from just below Faith’s window two
mornings later. In her hands she held a bag of bagels and two large coffees.
“Yeah, hold on, I’ll buzz you in,” Faith called down to her as she
lumbered out of bed and to the intercom. She pressed the button and stepped away
to open the door for her friend. They greeted each other with smiles and Faith
led Morgan into her kitchen. Both sat down at the table and immediately grabbed
for the food.
“So, how have you been holding up?” Morgan asked, her mouth full of
raspberry bagel.
“Pretty good, actually, even though my feet and back are killing me,” Faith
answered as she took a bite of her cinnamon raisin bagel. Morgan laughed.
“Wait until you start having kids! You’re gonna have the same problems!”
“At least you’ll be around to help me,” Morgan replied.
“I don’t think I have that long,” Faith said as she shoved the rest of her
bagel into her mouth.
Morgan looked up suddenly, her eyes glazing over. “What do you mean?” she
asked.
“I mean I don’t have that long left. The doctor gave me six months,” Faith
said as she took a sip of her coffee.
“Faith! Why didn’t you tell me this before? And how can you be so nonchalant
about it? You’re going to die in six months, and you don’t even care? I
don’t understand how that’s possible,” Morgan rambled.
“Mor, I’ve lived my life the way I was meant to live it, to it’s fullest.
I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished, and I accept the fact that I’ve
only got six months to live. I know it’s going to be a wonderful six months
because I’ll be with my daughter. That’s all that was missing in my life,
and once I experience it, I can die happy,” Faith explained.
“What’s going to happen to Hope when you go?” Morgan asked as her voice
began to crack.
“I don’t know. Do you want to take her?” Faith replied.
“Me? No. What about Darren? It’s his daughter. He should at least know that
much,” Morgan reasoned.
“He’ll find out. I’ve already written it in my will.”
“You’ve been real thorough with this, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I thought of almost everything.”
“That’s good.”
They were silent for a long time, their thoughts racing. Morgan wondered what
she was going to do. She couldn’t believe she was going to burry another
friend, the third and final one remaining from the original group. Faith, on the
other hand, was thinking about Darren, and wondering what he was going to do
when he found out that he had a daughter. She smiled inwardly. ‘He’ll be
shocked,’ she thought.
“Hey, Faith, you got a class today?” Morgan suddenly broke the silence.
“No, why?” Faith replied.
“I want you to come with me to meet someone,” Morgan said.
“Who?”
“Just someone I want you to meet.”
“Will you tell me his name?”
“No, I want it to be a surprise.”
Faith shrugged, “Okay.” She finished her coffee and threw the cup in the
wastebasket near the sink. “I’m going to get dressed. I’ll be right
back,” she added, leaving the table and walking into her spacious room. As she
was looking through her closet for something nice to wear, she felt a pain in
her stomach. She shrugged it off as indigestion and continued her search for the
perfect outfit. About a minute later, she felt the pain again, this time a
little worse than before, and immediately knew what was happening.
“Mor!” she yelled from her room.
“What?” Morgan ran in to see what was wrong.
“I think the baby is coming,” Faith replied as she put her hand on her
abdomen.
“Are you sure?” Morgan asked, her mind racing.
“Yes. Quick, call a cab. I need to get to the hospital.”
* * *
“Darren, I’m sorry I ditched you today, it’s just that something
unavoidable happened, and I had to take Faith to the hospital,” Morgan said on
the payphone at the hospital in as much of calm voice as was physically
possible.
“What? Is she okay?” Darren asked, concern noticeable in his voice.
“Yeah, she’s just fine.”
“What hospital are you at?”
“Wait, you’re not coming down here are you?” Morgan asked. This time it
was her turn to be concerned.
“Yeah, why not? I want to see her. I just want five minutes, that’s all,”
Darren replied in almost a pleading tone.
“Uh, you’re impossible. Fine, we’re at Loyola, the maternity ward, room
104,” she instructed.
“Maternity?” he questioned.
“Don’t ask, just come over here.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Morgan hung up the phone and walked back into Faith’s room. It had been nearly
two hours since she had delivered a healthy seven pound eight ounce, twenty inch
long baby girl. Faith was holding the little bundle of joy as she walked in.
“She’s so cute!” Morgan said as she sat down beside Faith in the large
private room.
“You want to hold her?” Faith asked. She handed her the baby without even a
reply. Morgan gently took Hope into her arms and rocked her back and forth as
she slept quietly.
“She’s so small,” she whispered. Hope’s eyes opened slightly to reveal a
beautiful majestic blue coloring. “She’s got your eyes.”
“Doesn’t she?” Faith replied, a wide grin on her face.
“Hi!” Morgan whispered as Hope looked at her. With her finger, Morgan gently
stroked her cheek. Hope grabbed it with her tiny hand and held it. “Oh, are
you just the cutest little thing!”
“I can’t believe she’s mine,” Faith said. “Morgan, could I ask you
something?”
“Yeah, Faith. What?”
“Would you be the godmother of my baby?”
Morgan looked up at her sharply. Her eyes moistened with tears as she replied,
“Of course! I’d love to!”
“I knew you would,” Faith replied. “Thank you, Mor. You’re the best.”
“You’re welcome,” Morgan said. “So, what now?” she asked, handing the
baby back to Faith.
“I don’t know. I go home tomorrow afternoon, then it’s back to class next
week,” Faith explained as she took Hope back into her arms.
“You shouldn’t be on your feet that long. Besides, why are you still going
to school if you’re going to die in six months?” Morgan asked.
“Because my parents don’t know that I’m sick. They don’t even know about
the baby. The last thing I need is for them to find out about Hope. They’ll
stop sending me money for my tuition and my apartment. That’s not what I need
right now,” Faith explained.
“Why don’t I take care of you these next few months up until the end? It’s
the least I could do,” Morgan suggested.
“No, I can’t let you do that. You need to go back to Yale and study.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m just worried about you. I don’t want you to
have a seizure one of these days and be unable to get up. Who’s gonna take
care of Hope for you?”
“Okay,” Faith reluctantly agreed. “You can stay with me as long as you
help me out, okay?”
“That’s my intention.”
Just as Morgan was about to add to her comment, Darren burst into the room
holding bouquet of white lilies. Faith and Morgan stared at him, both stunned by
his sudden presence. Hope began to cry, signaling that she didn’t like the
sudden commotion in the room. Darren looked at the three of them, a puzzled look
on his face as he slowly walked into the room to see the baby for the first
time.
“Darren,” Faith hissed between her teeth as she desperately tried to get
Hope to stop crying.
“Faith?” he question, still confused about the baby.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she angrily asked.
Morgan inched her way out of her seat and started for the door. “I’m just
gonna leave you two alone,” she said, dashing out of the room before Faith had
time to react.
“That little bitch. And I thought she was my friend,” Faith said under her
breath.
“She really didn’t want to tell me,” Darren replied. “I forced it out of
her.”
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“Because I wanted to see you,” he said, walking closer to her bed. He sat
down on the seat that Morgan had previously occupied and set the flowers down
beside Faith’s bed on a small table. “Is the baby yours?” Darren softly
asked, knowing if he dared to raise his voice, it would only lead to him being
kicked out of her room.
“Yeah,” Faith answered as she cradled her. “Here, why don’t you hold
her?” She gave him the baby before he had a chance to protest.
“What’s her name?” Darren replied.
“Hope,” she proudly answered.
Darren looked down at the tiny baby, her big blue eyes wide open and scanning
the surroundings. “Wow, she’s so beautiful. She looks just like you.”
Faith nodded, her urge to tell him the truth growing by the minute as he sat
there beside her holding their baby. “Look harder,” she said. Darren looked
up at her, confused by what she meant. As he watched the little girl squirm in
his arms, Faith managed to grab the bag beside her bed and pulled out a small
color photo of another baby. She handed it to Darren and added, “Compare the
two.”
“Wow, they look so much alike,” he replied.
“Now flip the picture around and read the name on the back,” Faith ordered.
“Darren… Hayes…” his voice trailed off when he realized that the little
girl in his arms belonged to him. He looked up at her with understanding in his
deep blue/gray eyes.
“She’s yours,” Faith choked, feeling the tears that welled up behind her
eyes.
“Mine?” Darren replied as he too felt the tears start to form.
“Yeah,” she whispered, unable to hold her tears back any longer. Darren
stood up and wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“Wow, she’s mine,” he said.
“There’s more,” Faith replied.
“What?”
“I’m dying,” she continued to cry. Darren was struck dumb. He could feel
his entire body go limp when he heard those two heart breaking words.
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