"I don't think I've ever said this before, but I am deathly afraid of this place," Ginger said, holding her sister's hand and staring up at Babies R Us two weeks later. Ginger had been avoiding coming here for one simple reason�being here meant that she was really having a baby. She was buying the crib, the bassinet, all the clothes, bottles, pacifiers�everything. She didn't know where to begin. "I think your mom should be here with us."
"Why?" Kris asked, looking up at the large Babies R Us sign that resembled the Toys R Us sign she used to love to see as a kid.
"She knows what she's doing, doesn't she? She's had two kids."
"She doesn't know what she's talking about. The people who work here know what you need."
"I think it would actually help us to have her along. The people who work here are just trying to make money." Kris nodded. Ginger felt a kick in her stomach and she jumped a bit. "I think we should go in. I'm getting kicked standing out here." Kris smiled and the two went inside the store. "Now I made a list of the practical stuff, but I don't know how much of this we can get today. I don't have a lot of money."
"We'll get something. You have plenty of time to get all of this. You're only five months."
"True. But the doctor said these next four are going to go by faster than I expect and that I should do everything as soon as possible so I'm prepared." Kris gave Ginger a look. "What? This is my first baby! I don't know what the hell I'm doing! I'm taking her advice!"
"Rose, you're going to be just fine."
"Whatever. Oh my God, look at that." Ginger pulled Kris over to a section of baby clothes. There was a table with baby shoes on it. "Aren't these darling? These have got to be the tiniest little shoes I have ever seen in my entire life." Ginger picked up a pair of little girl's pink shoes. "These are like baby doll shoes! This is so cute. I want to buy some."
"Jenny's going to be born with her feet bigger than those shoes, Rose. Don't buy them." Ginger pouted, her fingers walking in the air with the shoes, then set them back down. "All right, give me your list. Today we're only going to get things on the list. Nothing else. Next time we can worry about what you don't have."
"Oh my God look at that!"
"Rosemary, no." Ginger huffed and followed her sister around. "All right, the first you have on here is a crib. What kind of crib do you want?"
"Something that is pretty, not that expensive, and will hold Jenny until she's ready to move into a bed." Kris nodded.
"Okay. That only narrows it down to everything over there," she said, pointing to the sign that read all of the cribs were on sale. Ginger made a face "Well, we might as well start looking. Remember, we don't have to commit to one today. We can shop around and then come back to it."
"I want that one," Ginger said.
"Or we could pick one out right away," Kris said. Ginger was already over at the crib that she had picked out.
"This is so beautiful," Ginger said. "This is the crib I want." Ginger looked over it. It was white with a pink decorated bedding, with the cutest baby duck etched out of the headboard. "How much is it?" Kris looked at the price tag.
"One-fifty."
"Okay," Ginger said, nodding. "How much do cribs normally cost?"
"I have no idea."
"Look around at some of the other ones and see how much they are."
"This could be a really expensive store too."
"I doubt it. Look." Kris casually checked around, looking at random price tags as Ginger fell more and more in love with her new crib. Kris came back a few minutes later. "So?"
"They're all about the same. This one's actually cheaper than most."
"Good. Then I'm getting this one."
"Fine. I hope you're not getting swindled."
"Me too. You know, maybe I should have gone baby shopping with Janey." Kris turned around.
"Who's Janey?"
"My pregnant friend across the hall. The one who actually knows what she's talking about."
"That would have been the smart thing to do. She would have taken you to the good places. We're just here at the general baby store." Ginger nodded.
"Oh well."
"Oh well!" Ginger took a ticket from the price on the crib and they moved on to the next thing. "Okay, next thing on the list is baby clothes. Hmm�what do you mean by baby clothes?"
"Something to wear so my baby won't be running around naked."
"You really should have brought that Janey chick along." Ginger nodded. "Well, anyway, next stop, clothes for the naked baby."
"Oh, fuck," Ginger said, arching her back to try to get in a more comfortable position. It was in the evening of September ninth, she was now approaching her due date and she was definitely ready for it to be over. Kris started coming over more often than not to check up on her, and even given Ginger a temporary cell phone to call her if she went into labor. They were expecting it to happen any day now.
She'd just been to Dr. Amoroso recently and everything was still just perfect. Jenny was the most perfect little baby that ever could be, but Ginger wasn't feeling that way. All the time, night and day, the baby was kicking and jumping around her in stomach. Ginger had gotten over the embarrassment of having gas in public and being swollen to the point where she couldn't fit in any of her shoes any longer, but she was still not used to how big her stomach was. She kept running into the things and just the day before she went grocery shopping with Kris and knocked over a display of Pringles that a very unhappy employee of the store had to clean up.
She'd gotten everything that she could think of for the baby. If the thought popped in her head, she bought it. Kris had come over and helped her out with the nursery, and everything was set. She was physically and financially set for this baby, but she wasn't quite sure how her emotions were running. She was so scared she was going to be a bad mother she couldn't help but worry every chance she got. Janey across the hall had her baby girl Angie back in July and helped out whenever she could, but with the new baby Janey had no time to do much of anything any longer.
Ginger got up carefully (it took her forever just to stand up now) and walked over to the refrigerator. She opened it and got herself a small jug of apple juice. She'd gotten over trying to get glasses from the cabinet because she couldn't reach anything with her large stomach in the way. "I could never be fat," she muttered to herself and walked back to the couch, where she lowered herself onto the cushion and put her feet up. She picked up her book again and began reading again. She'd read maybe two paragraphs before she got an unsettling feeling and a pain rose out of her stomach and rippled through her body.
"Oh my God," she said, putting a hand on her stomach. She tried to get up again but it hurt too much. "Oh�fuck." She forced herself up and rushed to the phone, where she dialed Kris's number. She began walking around, hoping it would lessen the pain, but it wasn't working. "Come on, pick up!"
"Hello?"
"Kris?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm in labor."
"What? Now?"
"Yes now! Get over here right now and take me to the hospital!"
"All right. I'll be right there." Kris hung up the phone and Ginger continued to walk around the apartment as she waited for Kris to get there. She had her little suitcase packed and ready (Dr. Amoroso said she should have a suitcase filled with things she'd want to take to the hospital ready to go now that her due date was approaching) and she was dragging towards the door when Kris came rushing in.
"Wow," Ginger said. "That was really fast."
"Come on, give me that. Let's go." Kris took the suitcase and led Ginger carefully but quickly out of her apartment, down the elevator, and out to the car.
"You know," Ginger said once they were in the car and Kris was driving like crazy to the hospital, "I don't think you've ever gotten to my place so fast. I'm going to have to remember that." Ginger looked at Kris's speed. "You can slow down, it's going to be a while before Jenny comes out of me. My water hasn't even broken yet."
"Don't jinx it!" Kris said. "You're not shooting icky water all over my car."
"Nice to know you care about me, Kris."
"Shut up and cross you legs." Kris shuddered. "That would be so gross." Ginger laughed.
"Uh-oh�" Ginger said.
"You did not!"
"I'm just kidding," Ginger said, laughing. "You're so gullible, Kris."
"I told you to shut up! We're almost there." Kris made a sharp turn and Ginger cursed. "I think you're going to have to curse a lot less if you're going to me a Mom in a couple of hours." Ginger grew silent and began to think.
"Kris�"
"What?"
"I'm going to be a Mom in a couple of hours." Kris nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, you are." They both quieted and Kris parked in the hospital parking lot quickly. Kris got out first, carrying Ginger's suitcase, and got her sister out of the car. They went into the hospital and Kris went up to the counter.
"May I help you?" the woman behind the counter asked.
"Yes. My sister is having a baby."
"All right. Rich! Bring a wheelchair!" Rich brought a wheelchair and took Ginger away, Kris following close behind. In a few minutes Ginger was in a bed and they began the long waiting process.
"What do you think?" Kris asked, sitting on the edge of Ginger's bed, flipping through a magazine. "Blonde hair or red hair?"
"What about brown?" Ginger asked. "She might have brown hair."
"Well, think about it. Everyone in Zac's family is blonde and everyone in your family is a redhead. She's going to be one of the two."
"His father's got brown hair."
"One out of the many. So what do you think?" Ginger thought about it, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm thinking blonde."
"I'm thinking red." Kris thought about it some more.
"Want to make it interesting?" Ginger raised an eyebrow. "Ten bucks say she's got blonde hair."
"Deal," Ginger said, and shook Kris's hand as the doctor walked in to check on Ginger. This woman was different. Her name was Dr. Alderman. She was a hospital obstetrician who Dr. Amoroso recommended. Ginger had met her a few times. "Hello." "How are you holding up?"
"Just fine."
"I think she's faking it," Kris said. "We've been here an hour now and she hasn't said a word about the pain. She doesn't even have any drugs in her!"
"Some people can do that," Dr. Alderman said. "Different women have different pregnancies and have different labors. Some women take thirty hours while some women can't get here fast enough and end up having the baby in the car on the way here." Ginger looked over at Kris.
"Aren't you lucky I didn't do that?" Ginger asked. "That would have been really gross." Ginger turned back to Dr. Alderman. "She was afraid my water was going to break in her car."
"Nope, luckily it happened here. Let me see how you're doing." Ginger put head back on the pillow as she felt yet another uncomfortable hand up places she'd never thought she'd have so many people explore. "Well, you're definitely on your way. This is going to be a quick one, Rosemary. You're already four centimeters."
"What are we aiming for?" Kris asked.
"Ten centimeters." Kris nodded.
"How big is that?" The doctor spread her fingers apart the approximate distance and Kris's mouth dropped. "Holy shit, she's supposed to squeeze a baby through that?"
"Yup."
"Oh my God. Honey, I have got a completely new respect for you," Kris said, turning to Ginger. "But you're still going to have to pay me if I win the bet."
"You're betting?" Dr. Alderman asked. "That's a new one. I don't think I've heard of too many people betting. What's it on?"
"The color of her hair," Kris said. "I'm saying blonde, Rosemary's saying red, ten bucks goes to the winner."
"What happens if she has brown hair?"
"�Nothing," Ginger said, looking at Kris. "But we don't really expect that to happen. My entire family has red hair; the father's entire family has blonde hair. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but it's not likely."
"All right, well, I hope one of you is right. I'll be back in about an hour to check up on you again," she said, standing up. "You shouldn't be in you third phase for a while, but I'll be around if you need me." Dr. Alderman got up and left and Ginger was stuck with Kris asked.
"Are you doing all right?" Kris asked, tucking Ginger's hair away from her face. "Do you want me to get you anything?" Ginger shook her head.
"No. What time is it?" Ginger looked at her watch.
"Eleven-thirty. Looks like she's going to be born tomorrow." Ginger smiled.
"Hmm�September tenth. My baby's birthday is September tenth." Kris nodded. "You know what? I wish Zac were here. He would really be enjoying this."
"You were the one who decided not to tell him," Kris said.
"Me?" Ginger said. "I didn't decide anything. He decided everything for me. He made that very clear when he told me he never wanted to see me again. I don't think he deserves to know."
"All right. It's your decision." Ginger nodded. "Do you think you'll ever tell him?" Ginger hadn't thought about that. Zac had said he never wanted to see her again, but how long was never? Never didn't mean forever until the end of time, especially when used in the context he used it in. But Jenny�Jenny was forever. Jenny would always be there. Even if, God forbid, she were to die before Ginger did, she would still be there. She still would have been there. Even if Ginger saw Zac again, no matter if were a few days or a few decades from then, Jenny would still be around.
"You know what? I think I will. I won't go looking for him to tell him, but one of these days, when I meet him again, I'll tell him. He has every right to know. I just don't think he has a right to know right now." Ginger sighed. "And Jenny will want to know about him. After Jenny can talk and she sees all of her friend's dads she's going to want to know where hers is. I guess I'll have to start thinking of something to tell her. She doesn't need to know her Mommy screwed up and her Daddy kicked her out of the house before he ever knew she was pregnant. And if she doesn't meet him, I'm sure by the time she becomes a teenager she's going to want to go look for him."
"That'll be a shock, won't it?" Kris asked, laughing. "Zac's living his life, having a good time, he's still young! He's still playing the field! All of a sudden this thirteen-year-old girl shows up at his door and is like 'Surprise! I'm your daughter!' That will kill him."
"Yeah, it will," Ginger said. "But he deserves it for kicking me out on my ass." Kris smiled and went back to her magazine. The conversation ended there.
Well it seemed Ginger didn't need an hour to become fully dilated. As time went on her contractions started getting closer and closer together and started hurting more. Kris got so freaked out she ran and paged the doctor and sure enough Ginger was crowning and barely made it to the delivery room on time before Jenny came out.
At 1:15 in the morning of September tenth, Jenny was born. "Here she is," Dr. Alderman said. "Bright red hair." Ginger gave a smug look to Kris, who made a face, but that all quickly when away when the baby cried and Ginger saw her. In a moment Ginger was holding her daughter in her arms, Kris by her side looking on.
"Hi," Ginger said, tears falling out of her eyes. "Hi you. I've been expecting you." Ginger looked up at Kris. "She's so beautiful."
"Yeah she is."
"Do you have a name?" Dr. Alderman said. Ginger nodded.
"Jennifer Kristina. Jennifer Kristina Hanson."