Chapter Seventeen
Greg rocked back in his office chair watching his research assistant struggle to find a comfortable position in the chair across from his desk. “You know, Mari, we haven’t discussed what’s going to happen once the baby is born.” The two were relaxing in Greg’s office the Monday before Thanksgiving prior to beginning their week. At least Greg was relaxed. Mari, on the other hand, looked extremely uncomfortable moving around in her chair. Greg took a sip of his flavored coffee, before reaching over and giving Mari a taste. Mari was not really a coffee drinker but when Greg had one of his caramel cream mochas she made an exception. Usually he would just buy her one of her own, but Marla and Dr. Morris had vetoed any coffee drinking and all other forms of caffeine.
Mari sighed in pleasure then handed Greg back his coffee. She picked up her bottle of orange juice before addressing his remark. “Like what? Like the fact I’ll be a raving lunatic due to lack of sleep and hormones?”
“The difference between then and now being what?” When Mari opened her mouth, no doubt with a smart comeback, Greg continued, “Will you be coming back to work?”
Mari thought about addressing that first comment but let it slide, fighting back an almost overwhelming urge to burst into tears as she answered Greg’s second question. “I don’t know. In a perfect world I would stay home, but if Joe doesn’t come back, I’ll have to return to work.” She tilted the chair back on two legs, then let it back down when Greg frowned at her. “If he still doesn’t believe that the baby is his, I won’t make him pay child support and if he divorces me, I don’t want his money. So then I’ll have to keep working.”
“Do you really think that’s going to happen?”
“I have no idea. He’s been gone almost a month. He hasn’t contacted me at all. No phone calls or emails. As far as I know he hasn’t contacted anyone else to see if I’m doing okay.” Mari looked at Greg expectantly but he shook his head.
“When is he expected back?” Greg asked.
“He didn’t give a firm return date. The original assignment in April was for six months. Joe finished it in four. If this is the same thing, six months would put his return sometime in February; that is if he does come home.” Mari shifted again. Her back was aching and because of her size it was getting harder to find a position that offered any type of relief.
Greg abruptly stood. He held out a hand to Mari. “Let’s go. We need something to cheer you up. I think I have just the thing.”
Mari put her hand in his and let him pull her out of her chair. “As long as it doesn’t involve a lot of walking. I feel like a whale.”
He grinned. “I consider myself to be a smart man, so I won’t comment on that one.” He helped Mari on with her coat then flipped open his cell phone. “Hey, babe,” he spoke into the receiver as they left the office. “It’s a go. I’ve got her and we’ll be over in about half an hour.”
Mari narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “What exactly do you meant, ‘you’ve got me’? What was that about? And who are you calling babe? Did you tell Marla on me?” Mari demanded, dragging her feet as Greg led her towards the elevator.
“That was an interesting comment. Define exactly what ‘telling Marla on you’ means. Have you been doing something you shouldn’t be?”
Mari pulled against Greg’s hand. “You had better tell me what’s going on. If you don’t I’ll think of something really nasty to do to your cells.”
Laughing, Greg hit the elevator button. “I was talking to Marla last night after church. No, I did not tell on you, although I would still like to know what it is you don’t want me telling her. We thought you looked a little peaked lately and decided you needed a project to cheer you up a bit. I know it won’t take the pain of Joe’s leaving totally away, but…”
The elevator doors slid opened and Mari entered the elevator with Greg. “I do not look peaked,” Mari protested as the doors closed. Greg remained silent, but the smile on his face broadened. “I don’t!” When he refused to be baited, Mari fell quiet also. She was curious to see what ‘project’ Greg and Marla had cooked up. Hopefully nothing too strenuous. She was too tired to do much of anything. Since Joe left last month, she had been working longer hours than normal then going home to mope around the house, listless, too unhappy to focus on anything. An outing with Greg and Marla might be just the thing to pull her out of the doldrums.
She got in Greg’s car, settling into the soft leather seats. Mari leaned her head against the headrest and closed her eyes, sighing in relief. Greg turned on the heated passenger seat and soon the warmth began to ease the ache in her back. He put an instrumental CD in the player and soft music flooded the interior of the car. That combined with the soothing warmth and sway of highway driving lulled her to sleep in minutes.
When the car pulled to a stop she slowly opened her eyes a crack, then opened them wide in shock. They were parked in front of a mega baby store and lining the sidewalk were about two dozen friends from church. Mark and Jennifer Nolan stood next to the passenger door, grinning. Behind them Mari could see Marla, wearing a very satisfied expression.
Mari turned to face Greg. “Okay. What did you do?”
“Who, me?” Greg asked innocently.
Letting out an exasperated laugh, Mari answered, “Yes, you.”
“I didn’t do a thing,” he assured her as he opened his door. “It was all Marla.” Shifting the blame smoothly to his wife, he climbed out of the car and headed over to open Mari’s door. He helped her out then handed her over to Marla while he went to park the car.
“I bet you’re surprised,” Marla giggled, tugging Mari into the group of people gathered.
“You could say that,” she answered. “Hello everyone. Fancy meeting you all here. In front of a baby store. On a work day.”
“You didn’t think we were going to let you get away without having a baby shower, did you?” Cindy Jones asked. Mari had known Cindy since they were little girls together in Sunday School. She had a four-year-old son, and Mari had planned her baby shower. Cindy was still trying to recover from the embarrassment, although she admitted to Mari that she had loved some of the more intimate gifts she had received, telling her that her husband Terry had been flabbergasted by the white silk nightgown.
“A baby shower? I thought we had those at church, or someone’s house, and there was food involved.”
“First things first,” Jennifer Nolan interrupted. “Because of the circumstances we originally thought we would wait until the baby was born before we amazed you with our loving generosity. But when Marla called last night we decided today was the day to show you just how much we truly love you. So we gathered as many people together as were available on short notice, and here we are.”
Tears pooled in Mari’s eyes. “I’m going to cry and it’s entirely your fault,” she said, hugging Jennifer tightly.
“That’s okay. Mark brought a bucket load of Kleenex. We kind of figured that would happen. All those hormones floating around.” She turned Mari around to face the small crowd. “Okay guys, the slate is blank. She has absolutely nothing. Let’s change that.” Jennifer would have put a drill sergeant to shame with her orders.
The manager of the store, also a member of the church, had agreed to open the store half an hour early to accommodate the party. The group swept into the store, carrying Mari along with them. Laughing, they broke into smaller groups of two or three and headed into different departments of the store. Mari, standing at the front with Jennifer and Mark, caught sight of some of the men riding up and down the aisles on little tricycles. “Hey, you definitely need this,” Jerry Brown called out. He was riding in an electric Jeep.
“No. Absolutely no way,” Mari announced. “I will not have my child being propelled by an electric car. Junior will just have to do things the old fashioned way and hoof it like his mother did.”
Jerry reluctantly got out of the car. He looked around searching for his wife. “Hey Kathy!” he called when he spotted her. “How about this for Jacob’s birthday?” He pointed to the Jeep. His wife just rolled her eyes and turned back to perusing an assortment of diapers. “Guess not,” he sighed.
Mari giggled. No doubt Jerry would do his best to persuade his wife but Mari knew Kathy would not give in. She worked for a competing automotive company and was fiercely protective of it. Mari looked around, watching in amazement as items were gathered and left by the cashier.
Jennifer eyed her with affection. Mari was like her own daughter and Jennifer was worried not only about her physical state, but her emotional one. Since Joe’s departure, Jennifer watched as the life seemed to drain out of Mari. These past weeks Mari had become more pale and withdrawn, and Jennifer was afraid her health and the health of the baby might suffer. She had called Marla last night and cooked up this baby store shower to cheer up Mari. If the look on her face was any indication, the plan was succeeding.
Resting a hand on the large bulge of her stomach, Mari looked down. She could feel and see the baby moving beneath the drape of her crimson shirt and for the first time since Joe left a peace settled over her. Her child would be coming into the world in a few short weeks. That thought brought a smile to her face, albeit a sad one. Joe would not be here, but her heavenly Father would be there for her until Joe returned. And if he never does, Mari thought, I will still love him just like the Lord still loves me. She lifted her face towards heaven, closed her eyes, and smiled. Today she would start a new life, or rather, continue her old life with a new attitude of gratitude to the Father for the wonderful people he had placed in her life.
“Mari! Catch!”
Mari opened her eyes in time to see a football flying towards her from the back of the store. She caught it deftly, and pirouetted around as if scoring the winning touchdown. “I still got it,” she laughed as Tony came up the aisle.
“Yes you do. I can’t wait until this kid is born and I get my wide receiver back.”
“Come on, Tony. This year wasn’t that bad for you. Marla took my place.”
Tony groaned. “Yeah, but she and Greg kept making goo-goo eyes at each other and she missed half the passes.”
Mari handed him back the ball and turned to watch as Greg and Marla came racing up the aisle, Marla pushing a stroller.
“This is so much fun,” Greg laughed as he reached over to poke his wife in the ribs.
“Would you stop that?” With an agile turn, Marla dodged her husband’s tickling hands. She parked the stroller in front of Mari. “What do you think of this one?” she asked.
Mari looked it over carefully, walking around it, jokingly kicking the little tires. “Looks good. But does it have good cup holders?” The people standing within hearing distance laughed. Mari’s constant cup of soda fountain diet Coke was legendary in their circle.
“I don’t know about that,” Greg said, “but it looks like it has everything else. I could pack for a weekend in this thing.” Indeed, underneath the seat was a large basket area, and a bag was attached to the back of the stroller.
“Yeah, but will Junior be able to push me in it when I get old?” Mari asked.
Greg grinned, wisely withholding comment. He wheeled the stroller towards the checkout lane, where the rest of the group had gathered around a huge pile of diapers, toys, and assorted baby paraphernalia. Before Mari could protest that she had not been able to see anything, Jennifer and Mark Nolan hooked their arms around her bulging waist and hustled her out the door. “You’ll get to look at everything in a little while. First, we’re taking you to your second favorite restaurant for lunch.”
“Why my second favorite restaurant?” Mari asked as they walked towards the Nolan’s sedan.
Mark opened her door. “Your first favorite restaurant is closed at this time of day, and not even for you were they willing to open.”
“Well, I like that! Do you know how much money I spend there?”
“Your diet Coke purchases alone could keep them in business for years!” Jennifer laughed as they drove away.
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