August Flash #2 - "Anything"

“I’d do anything.”

It’s something you say.

Allison’s sister has four daughters. Madison’s girls seemed to just come on demand, like GrubHub.

Not for Allison. Not after checking Allison’s lady parts and trying IVF (bankrupting, excruciating), not after quality testing Chip’s sperm (embarrassing, validating).

It wasn’t Chip’s fault. Not Allison’s, either. Some things just aren’t meant to happen. And for Chip, personally, was he devastated by not starting a family?

Devastation is such a strong word. And when he watched Madison snipping and sniping at her husband – never changed a diaper, clueless, I’d love to have a weekend away just for myself, but I can’t leave the girls with their father – Chip can see the positive in how things have turned out. He’s okay with actually getting along with his wife. He’s fine with having Allison all to himself.

But can Chip really be that selfish?

Maybe. Sometimes you get what you want from a relationship, sometimes you’re happy with how things are right now and there’s no good reason for anything to change.

Besides, Allison has already made her peace with it. She got some online counselling, read a book all about not having kids (you can get a book about anything). And so when Chip says what he says, standing in the back yard with Madison responding to her hushed whisper - it must be so hard for both of you, Allison was born to be a mother, it’s really about the optics. Sure, let them feel sorry for you. Earn some pity points. It’s not as though they’re going to do anything about it.

“I’d do anything,” says Chip. He looks out into the starry night, thinking to himself that he’s okay not messing up his yard with a Slip N Slide, and a tetherball set.

The sister-in-law rests a hand on Chip’s arm. She waits until he’s looking at her, and then she smiles. “I know you would, Chip. I know how much you love Bree. I know you’d do anything to give her a baby.”

Chip nods, and he wishes he could cry on command, but he has to make do with nodding, swallowing, and whispering back, “Anything.”

“Anything,” Madison agrees. She presses on Chip’s arm, until it’s more than a touch, it’s something that will leave a bruise, until Chip is forced to cry out in surprise and pain.

And then he is in Allison’s arms.

She is.

A baby girl, dressed in pink and surrounded by softness.

A pudgy-faced girl peers at the baby. “Can I hold her?” she asks her mother.

Madison replies, “Later, honey.” She smiles. “You love your baby cousin, don’t you.”

The girl nods. “She’s so small, Mommy.”

“Because she’s brand new!” Madison shoos her daughter away and then sits on the bed beside Allison. “She’s perfect,” says Madison softly.

Allison nods. She can’t take her eyes off the baby. Her baby. As if it’s a surprise, as if Charlotte came from nowhere. “I can’t believe it,” she says. Because she can’t. Because this is what she’s always wanted, prayed for, cried for, but she’s not at all sure how it came about.

“You won’t have to do this on your own,” says Madison. A hand on her sister’s arm, the gentlest of touches. “You got me.” She grins. “My turn to be the best aunt ever.”

Just like that, just like magic, Allison is reassured. Questions answered, recent history filled in. She’s bound to feel shell-shocked, she’s a brand-new mother. But she knows with crystal clear certainty that she loves her baby.

Charlotte can’t see well. Fuzzy vision, eyes that haven’t yet learned how to focus or cooperate. She listens to the sounds around her, the warmth cradling her. Charlotte doesn’t know anything, and so, for now, the fuzzy face above her, the soft words and touches, are everything.

The End

"A man would give anything in the world to see his childless wife's dream fulfilled." - DukodukoNe