Game of Chance

 

Chapter 28

“Why didn’t you tell me that the worst was going to be your mother?” Marshall demanded once she slipped into the car.

“Because I wanted to pretend that maybe she would understand,” she replied harshly, loudly.

“I’m being an asshole.  I’m sorry, baby.  I just…didn’t know.  I was expecting to have to run for my life from your father and brothers.”

“My brothers love me.  My father loves me.  My mother resents me.”

“How could she resent you?”

“She doesn’t like that I get more attention than her.  Or that I seem to have gotten better genes than she did.  She didn’t want a girl because she didn’t want to compete with someone else.  She’s not always terrible…but there’s always a certain reluctance.  She doesn’t have to say she hates me for me to know it.”

“Oh, god!” he groaned.  “She couldn’t hate you, baby.  No fuckin’ way!”

“I—I learned to accept it a long time ago, Marshall.  I lived eighteen years of my life with her, I know her better than you do.”

“A mother couldn’t hate their child.”

“No?  What about your mother?”

“My mother didn’t hate me.”

“Did you think she loved you?”

“All right.  You have a point.  But my situation is so different from yours.”

“How?”

“The family dynamics.  Your parents aren’t beating your ass because you were late to school.  Your brothers care about you.  Your dad, too…”

“All right, our situations aren’t the same.  But that doesn’t mean my mother couldn’t—doesn’t—hate me.”

“If she hates you, why do you care what she thinks so much?”

“She’s my mother!” Contessa said with emphasis.

//

“You feel okay, baby?” Marshall asked as he looked expectantly at her, noting the tenseness in her posture.

“I’ve never lived outside of this area.  I just feel like I’m leaving everything behind.”

“It’s only until the baby’s born.”

“I know,” she replied and smiled wistfully.  “Let’s go,” she said brightly as she turned away from her apartment.

“You know, it’s not like you’re losing your apartment or anything.”

“I know, thanks Marshall.”

He kissed her softly.  “Hailie’s waiting for us.  She’s very excited that you’re moving in with us!”

Contessa smiled gently.  “I’m glad she doesn’t hate me.”

“How could she?  You’re too damn wonderful.”

//

“Contessa!” Hailie yelled as the front doors swung open and daylight poured in.

“Hey, baby!” Contessa replied enthusiastically and swept the little girl up into a hug.

“I didn’t believe Daddy when he said you were really gonna come and live with us, but now that you’re really here, maybe it’s true after all!”

“’Fraid so.  Think you can handle another woman in the house?” Contessa teased.

“Oh, please!  Daddy needs all the help he can get!”

“Hey!” Marshall interjected in his defense.  “I don’t need any help!”

Contessa snorted.  “Yeah, right.”

Hailie giggled.

//

“You’ve surprised me, Marshall,” Contessa murmured as she put her head on his shoulder.  “I really didn’t expect you to want the baby.”

“Am I really that bad?” he teased.

“No, but look, I was a fan of yours, so I’ve heard your songs.  You don’t seem to want to get involved in something permanent.”

“I didn’t think I wanted to have a girlfriend again, either,” he reminded her.  “Then Curtis finds the hottest girl in the club, and I started fighting a losing battle!”

She laughed softly.  “I wasn’t completely sober.”

“But you remembered everything.”

“That’s true.  I hold my liquor remarkably well.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty small,” he grinned as he ran his hand along her side.

“I won’t be for long,” she smiled brightly.

He smiled, too, as they both became lost in their thoughts.

//

“Hello Contessa, my name’s Dr. Brown,” the man in the white coat introduced himself and held out his hand.

She took it and shook it tremulously.  “Hi,” she squeaked.

“I hear we’re pregnant,” he smiled softly.

“Yes,” she returned his smile and grabbed Marshall’s hand.

“Did your doctor before explain the conditions to your pregnancy?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Don’t look so sad,” the doctor challenged.  “It won’t get difficult until after the first trimester.  And just because it’ll be hard, doesn’t mean that we won’t get you through it.  All right?”

She nodded slowly.

“We want to make this pregnancy go as smoothly as we possibly can.  Right now, there’s not much that you can’t do because it’s still early enough in your pregnancy that everything will go on as they would under normal circumstances.  Avoid any overly strenuous activities; in other words, don’t go climbing Mount Everest quite yet.  I trust you know about keeping yourself healthy?  No liquor, stay away from excessive caffeine, no smoking…  Here comes the harder of the conditions, I would like you two to abstain from any sexual intercourse.  Normally, this isn’t recommended until a little later into the pregnancy, but this is a delicate case.”

Marshall paled slightly, but nodded.  “We’ll do whatever you need us to do,” he replied solemnly.

“Good,” the doctor said brightly and clapped his hands together.  “You’re about three and half weeks along.  We’ll run a few tests now, make sure everything’s where we want it to be.”

“Okay,” Contessa nodded.

//

“No sex,” Contessa sighed as she moved into the passenger seat of the car.

Marshall cringed.  “Don’t remind me.”

“Hey, it takes two, you know.  You’re not going to be the only one suffering.”

“He only said actual sex.  There are…other things,” he suggested lewdly.

“Oh, Marshall!” she teased.

“I’m just thinking of my sanity,” he said seriously.

“Soon enough, I’ll be fat and you won’t even want me.”

“I’ll always want you,” he reassured her softly.

Chapter 29

Author: zines@aol.com

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These stories are for entertainment purposes only.  They are completely fictitious, and the authors mean no harm to EMINEM, his family, friends, or anyone else that may have been depicted as a 'real life' character.  No money was made on the fiction here, either directly or indirectly, i.e. paid advertising. In other words - it's just a bunch of shit we wrote for fun. Please don't take it seriously.