Wilson's Hard Lesson (28 page)

Buoyed by her mother’s words, Shannon felt better for a
while. But that joy faded as the minutes turned to hours, and the hours turned
to the remainder of the afternoon. When the end of the day came without Brendan
making an appearance, Shannon was despondent.

“Well, I guess it’s easy to see how this love story is going
to go,” she said to herself as she closed the door to the backroom.   “Wham,
bam, thank you, Ma’am.”  Shannon locked the cases holding the more precious
crystals and gold jewelry; it was the only inventory a random thief would
value.  There wasn’t enough cash in the register to warrant making a bank run.
She tucked the paltry handful of bills inside a hollowed out copy of the
Heptameron Chloe kept on the shelves specifically for this purpose and turned
the register off. Then Shannon killed the lights. The store looked as good as
it ever did. It was time to go home.

She went out the front door, hoping against hope to see
Brendan there. But she was alone on the sidewalk. “Figures,” Shannon muttered,
turning back to the door to make sure it was locked and alarmed properly. “I
don’t even know who I thought I was fooling.”

“Hey,” Brendan’s voice came from behind her. “Nobody calls
my girl a fool and gets away with it.”

Shannon whirled on her heel. Her eyes got wide when she saw
Brendan. He was wearing a dark blue suit, with a white shirt and a tie, and he
was holding a gigantic bouquet of red roses.

“I really screwed up yesterday when we were talking,” he
said. He held out the roses to her, smiling when Shannon took them in her arms.
“Would you please let me try again?”

Tears prickled in the corners of Shannon’s eyes. She nodded
her head and whispered, “All right.”

Brendan took a deep breath. “Shannon, I have loved you for
as long as I could remember. I’m sorry I never worked up enough nerve to tell
you that until now. I wish I’d said a lot of things a long time ago. But I
can’t change what I didn’t do then. I’ve only got right now, this moment, to
tell you what’s in my heart.”

The roses smelled incredibly sweet. Their strong fragrance
pushed its way up Shannon’s nose. She was feeling a little lightheaded, but in
a good way. Brendan was saying everything she wanted to hear.

“I’m not going to try to pressure you into anything. I know
it’s too soon to call this a real relationship. But what happened, happened,
and I think that means something.”  He reached into his coat pocket.

“Oh, my god,” Shannon breathed. “This isn’t happening.”

“I can’t ask you to marry me yet,” Brendan said. “I’m just
not ready. I’ve got to finish school, so I can provide for you and our little
one.” The box in his hand was small, velvet and black. “This ring is my promise
that I’m going to do that. I’m asking you to wait for me to be ready. It won’t
be long,” he said, opening the box to reveal a shiny silver ring with a red
heart shaped stone shining on the top. “And I promise it will be worth it.”

“Oh, god, yes!” Shannon said. “I’ll wait for you. But I
don’t want to wait alone.” She cocked her head. “You’ll come down here and see
me?”

“Every chance I get,” Brendan promised.

“And when I drive up there to see you?”

“I’ll be waiting with open arms,” Brendan replied.

“All right,” Shannon said. She nodded and burst into tears. 
“Because I don’t want to have to do this all on my own, Brendan.”

“You won’t have to,” he said. “I promise you that.”

“I’m just not sure that having a sonogram on Halloween is
the best idea ever,” Brendan joked. He laid one hand on Shannon’s tiny baby bump
affectionately. “Who knows what they’re going to find in there?”

“The odds are fifty-fifty that it’ll be a perfectly
wonderful human baby,” Shannon replied.

“Why only fifty-fifty?” Brendan asked, concern clear in his
voice.

“Well, it might take after you,” Shannon joked. “Mr.
my-baby-is-a-Halloween-monster!”

Brendan laughed. “You never know,” he said.

They were the only couple in the waiting room. One very
visibly pregnant woman had come alone; another woman was there with her best
friend.  “I’m so glad you could be here with me for this,” Shannon said to
Brendan. She squeezed his hand. “I’m excited, you know? But a little scared.”

“Me too,” Brendan replied. “This is going to be…different.”
He looked down at Shannon’s stomach. “I’m still getting used to the idea that
there’s a little person in there.”

“It’s so weird,” Shannon agreed. “I thought I felt her
moving the other day, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. It could have been
gas.”

“You think it’s a girl?”

“Maybe,” Shannon said. She’d had dreams about her new baby;
in one, she’d given birth to a tiny boy. In the other, she had a daughter. “My
Mom definitely does.”

Brendan laughed. “Well, my Mom thinks it’s a boy, so I guess
we’re even on that front,”

“Dueling grandmas,” Shannon said.

“Oh, don’t call Mom a grandma yet,” Brendan said. “I tried
that, and she burst out crying. I think she needs time to get used to the
idea.”

Shannon’s laugh died on her lips. She wasn’t sure yet how
she felt about Brendan’s parents’ reaction to the news the little one was
coming. When she was with Brendan, they were nice enough, but while he was at
school, she’d heard a few comments that weren’t exactly nice. “May will be here
before too long – I hope she’s used to it by then.”

Brendan nodded. “She will be, I’m sure.”

The nurse appeared in the doorway and said, “Shannon?”

Shannon followed her, heading to the small bathroom to give
a urine sample – generally the first part of any visit. “Not this time, honey,”
the nurse said. “They’ll get better images if your bladder is full.”

“Oh boy,” Shannon said. She’d put off using the bathroom,
knowing she had the appointment; if a full bladder made the sonogram better,
hers was going to be great.

The exam room was very small and cold. “Just get up on the
table,” the nurse said. “The tech will be here in a moment.” She left, leaving
Brendan and Shannon alone.

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” Shannon said.
“We’re finally going to get to see our baby.”

“Look at all these babies,” Brendan said. There was a
corkboard covered with pictures of newborns. “There’s got to be a hundred of
them.”

“Well, lots of people have babies,” Shannon laughed.

“I wonder what ours will look like,” he said.

“Probably more like that,” Shannon said, pointing to another
corkboard. This one had many small black and white pictures, each one showing
the shadowy image of a developing baby.

“Really?” Brendan peered closely at one. “This doesn’t even
look like a baby,” he said, after examining one. “Maybe I wasn’t wrong about
Halloween monsters…”

“They do look like little monsters at that age,” the
sonogram tech said, as she walked into the room. “But I promise you they grow
out of it!”  She turned to Shannon. “How are you feeling, Mom? Everything going
okay? You eating all right?”

“It’s been all right,” Shannon said. “The morning sickness
finally stopped. Maybe I’m getting the hang of this pregnancy thing.”

“The second semester is so much better than the first,” the
tech said. She gently lifted Shannon’s shirt. “Supposedly this gel is warmed,
but most people tell me it’s on the cool side. So get ready…”

“I’m ready,” Shannon said. “I’m so eager to see this baby,
you don’t even know.”

The tech smiled. “It’s nice to see young parents so
excited,” she said. “Now, are we finding out about gender today?”

“If we can,” Shannon said. She glanced at Brendan. “We do,
right?”

Brendan nodded his head. “Whatever you want to do, we’ll
do.”

“A lot of people like to know,” the tech said. “It makes it
easier for people to pick out outfits, that sort of thing.”

“I’m just curious,” Shannon said. “I want to know who this
little person is.”

The tech brought the sonogram wand up against the side of
Shannon’s stomach. “Well, the first thing I can tell you about your little
person is that they’ve got a great looking arm and hand. See?”

She directed Brendan and Shannon’s attention to a tiny
screen beside her computer. On it, there was the unmistakable image of a tiny
hand, with all the fingers extended.

“One, two, three, four, five,” Brendan counted.

“They’re all there, Dad.” The sonogram tech leaned forward
and hit a button. “We’ll get you a picture of that.” She moved the wand. “And
here’s your little one’s head. Let me take some measurements.” Shannon watched
the screen, fascinated as the tech used the computer to draw some white lines
across the width of her baby’s skull. “You’re four weeks?” she asked.

“Four weeks, three days,” Shannon replied.

“So everything’s right on track size wise,” the tech said. 
She moved the wand, and a large black blob appeared beside the baby’s head.

“What’s that?” Brendan asked, alarmed. “Is it a growth? Is
she having twins?”

The sonogram tech laughed. “It’s just a fluid pocket.
Nothing to worry about.” On the screen, the baby started to move. “It looks
like somebody doesn’t like to be prodded and poked.”

Shannon and Brendan watched while their baby rolled onto its
side, facing the sonogram wand. “Oh, my god,” Shannon said. “She’s beautiful.”

“And she’s sucking her thumb!” Brendan said. “Look at that.
She’s got her hand right to her mouth.”

The sonogram tech hit the button on her computer again.
“That’ll be a great picture.” She turned toward Brendan. “So you think it’s a
girl too?”

He smiled. “I think she might be.”

“Well, let’s see.” The tech moved her wand. “Some babies
make this easier than others.  Right there you see the spine developing –
everything’s looking good – and these dark spots are the kidneys, which are
pretty important.”

“Yeah,” Brendan agreed, as if he’d seen a million sonograms.
Shannon couldn’t help but smile.

“And here we’ve got a hip bone.” The tech frowned. “Somebody
wants to keep their secrets to themselves.”

“Oh,” Shannon said. She tried, but failed, to keep the
disappointment out of her voice. “I think I really wanted to know.”

“Don’t worry.” The tech moved the wand. “Sometimes you’ve
just got to put a little pressure in the right place.” The weight of the wand
felt slightly heavier against the side of Shannon’s stomach. On the screen,
Shannon could see her baby’s legs move apart from each other slowly, like a
swimmer moving through molasses.

The tech smiled. “Well, Mom and Dad, you were right. What we
have here is a beautiful little girl.”

In the middle of December, the entire upstate region was hit
with one of the worst blizzards in years.

“You’re sure you’re all right up there, honey?”  Chloe had
called repeatedly from Florida. “I’m worried about you being all alone with
this weather.”

“Mom, I’ve been alone for months.” Shannon said.
“Everything’s going to be fine.” She looked around the living room. It was
stocked with fuzzy blankets, a stack of books to read, and Sunny Delight, an
orange drink she’d been craving recently. “I’ve got everything I could possibly
need, and Brendan will be here soon.”

“He’s driving in this weather?” Close asked. “I’m not so
sure that’s a good idea.”

“He has to come home, Mom. The semester’s over.” Shannon
sounded more confident than she felt. “Besides, he’s done the drive plenty of
times by now.” She forced a perky note into her voice.  “When he gets here,
we’re going to go over the plans for this online trading thing he wants to get
into.”

Chloe sighed. “I don’t know. The internet seems to work well
enough for selling books, but I can’t imagine anyone’s going to want to trust
it for their banking.”

“Brendan says it’s the wave of the future. I figure it’s
worth at least taking a look. If it turns out to be something, I can do it from
home and be here for Mandy while she’s little.”

Chloe laughed. “It’s Mandy now? Last I heard, it was
Amelia.”

“I like Amelia,” Shannon said, “but it’s so old fashioned.
And what would we use for a middle name?”

“What about Amelia Jean?” Chloe asked. “Eighteen hundred
books in inventory, and we don’t have one baby name book left?”

“We do,” Shannon said, “but it’s not helping.” She smiled.
“But we’re down to under seventeen hundred books, didn’t I tell you? Some eBay
guy bought every numerology title we had left.”

“That’s great!” Chloe said.

“Oh, I’ve got to go, Mom.” Shannon could see Brendan’s
headlights cutting through the snowy night. “My sweetheart’s here.”

“Tell him I said hi,” Chloe replied. “And you two be
careful. This storm looks like a doozy.”

“I will, Mom. Sleep tight.”

Shannon opened the door only to be greeted by a whirling
cloud of snowflakes. “You’re here!” she called to Brendan.

“Stay up there,” he cautioned. “It’s really slippery out
here. We don’t need you and Miss Matilda falling down.”

Shannon smiled to herself. “Matilda. That’s got a nice ring
to it. Matilda Marie.”  She laid one hand on her stomach. The baby bump was
quite a bit larger than it had been during Thanksgiving break, when Brendan had
last seen her. Her largest sweatpants were starting to get tight; pretty soon,
she’d have to switch over to maternity pants.

“Wow!” Brendan said, when he came up into the house. “Look
at you! You’re absolutely glowing!”

Shannon grinned. “People have been saying that,” she
replied.  At that exact moment, all the lights in the house flickered once
briefly, and then went out. “Of course, I don’t know if I’m glowing brightly
enough for you to see anything.”

“Don’t worry,” Brendan said. He pulled Shannon close for a
kiss, letting his hand fall onto her swelling breast. “I’ll just feel my way!”

“Stop!” she shrieked. “You’re covered in snow. We’ll get
soaked.”

Brendan chuckled. “I guess you’ll have to help me out of
these wet clothes,” he said.

“With pleasure.” It was a little awkward working in the
darkness, but Shannon managed to get Brendan’s coat undone and pushed off his
shoulders. It fell to the floor with a heavy thud. His shirt and jeans soon
followed, although they weren’t technically wet. Shannon’s clothes were
perfectly dry, but they came off too.

“Now I’m cold,” she murmured, reveling in the feel of
Brendan’s naked body against hers. His rapidly rising need let her know he
wasn’t chilly, but she led him to the couch anyway, where they got comfortable
under a fuzzy blanket.

“Oh,” Shannon said suddenly.

“Are you all right?” Brendan let his hands drop from
Shannon’s chest. “Am I hurting you?”

“No,” Shannon said. She took one of Brendan’s hands and
guided it to her belly. “Feel right here. She just kicked me. Maybe she’ll do
it again.”

They lay together, locked in position, with Brendan’s hand
flattened over Shannon’s stomach. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not sure…maybe
she kicked and I missed it…”

“No, you’ll know,” Shannon said. She gently poked the other
side of her stomach. “Come on, little one. Let Daddy know you’re in there.”

The baby kicked, hard. “Oh my goodness!” Brendan exclaimed.
“I felt that!” He looked at Shannon. Even in the room’s dim light, she could
see the wonder shining in his eyes. “I actually felt that.”

“Isn’t it neat?” Shannon asked.

“It’s absolutely amazing.” Brendan slid down so his face was
right next to Shannon’s stomach. “Hey, little girl. It’s Daddy. I’ve come home
to spend the night with you and Mommy.”

Shannon beamed. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard you
say,” she said.

“Well, I’ve never had a little one to talk to before,”
Brendan said. “Not like this. I think she can hear me.”

“Oh, she can hear you. And I can hear you too.” Shannon
smiled. “I’m so happy that we’re your home.”

Brendan scooted back up, abandoning Shannon’s stomach to
kiss her lips. “The only reason I can bear to leave you at all is that I know
I’m coming back.”  He kissed her again. “You are my family. You are my home.”