Among the Ducklings (8 page)

“Very
funny, Jeremy.
 
I was in her office today and she told me
that she moved down here because she wanted to be closer to her nieces.”

“She didn't
move for you after all?”

“Nope.
In fact, I met one of the nieces.”

“Is she a
doctor too?”

“No. She is
a computer expert. She creates programs for tablet computers.”

“Smart
family.
 
What does she look like?” asked Jeremy.

“Just like
her aunt except forty years younger.”

“Sounds
like she is very pretty then.
 
What are you waiting
for?”

“Nothing.
First of all, she is engaged.
 
Secondly, she is going to therapy herself for
a bad car crash,” Phil said. “She is in a wheelchair now.
 
She told me she should be out of it soon.”

“OK.
 
For one moment there, I thought she was going
to be the one to take your mind off Stacy.”

“My mind is
not on Stacy,” Phil replied.

“Come on,
Phil, it is me you're talking to. You refuse to go out on dates, and, whenever
you do, you always manage to get rid of your dates.”

“I told her
that I wanted to see her again.”

“Who?”

“The
niece,” Phil answered.

“You're
kidding me. Are you right in the head?”

“You just
told me that I needed to go out,” Phil said

“Well, that
was before you told me that the girl that you like is engaged and
disabled.
 
Are you sure you know what
you're getting yourself into?”

“She is
very nice.”

“There are
tons of very nice girls out there.
 
It
doesn't sound like you. So, what did she say when you invited her out?”

“I didn’t
invite her out. I only told her that I wanted to see her again.”
 
Phil didn’t want to tell Jeremy that he told
Isabel he loved her.
 
Jeremy would really
think he was crazy since until today, Jeremy never heard Phil talk about
Isabel.

“What did
she say?”

“Nothing.
Her fiancée was there.”

Jeremy was shocked. “You are
unbelievable.
 
You are inviting a girl
out in front of her fiancée?
 
Does that
sound right to you?”

“She
doesn’t seem happy with him.”

“Since
when you are a psychologist?
All I have to say is be careful.
 
There
are crazy people in Miami,” Jeremy added.

“OK, let's
change the subject,” Phil said. He was getting uncomfortable talking about
Isabel.
 
“How is Michelle?”

“Same
as always.
Busy with
her classes. So when do you plan on seeing that girl again?” asked Jeremy,
coming back to the subject.

“Hopefully,
tomorrow.
 
We usually sit by the lake at the Center in
the afternoon after therapy sessions.”

“What's her
name?”

“Isabel,”
Phil answered.

“Cute
name.
Well, I have
to come down here for a case. Hopefully, I get to meet her,” Jeremy said,
hoping to be able to convince Phil in person to forget about Isabel.

“When are
you coming?”

“Not
sure yet.
 
Still working out time and date, I will let
you know,” Jeremy answered.

“OK. Say
hello to Michelle.”

“Will
do.
 
And Phil?”

“What?”

“Don't do
anything crazy, OK.”

As Phil
began to protest, he realized that Jeremy had already hung up.

Phil
could not sleep that night. He was replaying in his head his conversation with
Jeremy.
 
Was Jeremy right? Was he making
a mistake? After all, being disabled changes a person's entire lifestyle. The
car had to be
changed,
bathrooms and bedrooms had to
be reconstructed, etc.
 
Was he ready for
that? As he thought about all this, he felt guilty and selfish. Then feeling
more resolute, he said to himself, “if Isabel needed him, he would be there for
her as he promised her aunt, as he had promised to himself.”

##

One of the
advantages about computer work was that it could be done anywhere. For Isabel,
having the accident did not completely cause her to stop working. She had a
dedicated high speed internet connection installed in her house years ago just
to send files and communicate with her office. The night before, Isabel
received a file from her office that she needed to review. However, as she was
working on the project the next morning, her mind kept going back to her
conversation with Lucy.
 
Self-doubt was
now creeping in on her. Why was no wedding date ever set? What had she and
Richard been avoiding?
 
When you are in
love, wasn't getting married just supposed to come naturally?
 
Why was she excited at the thought of
possibly seeing Phil today at the Center? Can you have this feeling for a man
while engaged to another?

As Isabel
started reading and making changes to the file on her computer, the door to her
home office opened.
 
It was
 
Rebecca.

“Good
morning, Isabel.
 
Did you have a good
night?” Rebecca asked.

“Good,
you?”

“Yes,”
Rebecca replied. She was looking at Isabel furtively as if she wanted to say
something but could not.

“Are you
OK?” Isabel asked, now turning her eyes from the computer screen to Rebecca.

Rebecca looked just like Mother
, Isabel thought. She was one inch shorter
than Isabel, with vivid light brown eyes. She purposely wore some fashionable
glasses that made her look smart. Coupled with her nice face and figure, she
looked like a fashion model that you would see in a commercial for eyeglasses.

“I am ok,”
Rebecca answered, standing by the door. She looked younger than her twenty
years, and her pajamas, which were stamped with multiple cartoon characters,
only added to her adolescent looks.
 
Beyond the glasses, Isabel could not avoid noticing that Rebecca’s brown
eyes somehow showed traces of red as if Rebecca had been crying.

“Why were
you crying?” Isabel asked. It was as if Isabel's question was a cue to open the
floodgates. Immediately, big drops of tears started streaming down Rebecca's cheeks.

“What is
it?” an alarmed Isabel asked Rebecca.

“I
didn't... I couldn't tell you before with the accident and all..,” Rebecca
mumbled.
 
“I was afraid of what you would
say.... I made a mistake and...”

“You know I
love you and whatever it is, we'll get through it together,” Isabel assured
her. “Is it about school?”

“No, you
don't understand. I don't know what I'm going to do.”

“Do about
what?” Isabel asked.

“I'm
pregnant.”

Chapter
Six

For one
moment, Isabel froze. She didn't know what to say. People always said that
there was no guide to raising children. There was no guide for this type of
moment either. Isabel was silent for one moment. She was biding her time.
 
She needed to think about the best cause of
action. She was upset but didn't want to show it.

“You are
having a baby?” Isabel finally asked.
 
 

“Yes.”

“Are you
sure?” Isabel asked.
 
Isabel's mind was
racing.
 
She still did not know what to say
or what to do. She was furious.
 
She had
spent the past twelve years devoting
herself
totally
to raising Rebecca.
 
She loved her more
than she could imagine a mother could love her kids and gave her everything
that she needed and wanted in life. Now Rebecca was throwing everything away.
Everything Isabel had dreamed that Rebecca would have: a good education, then a
good job, then a good career, then marriage, then kids. Rebecca was starting
everything in reverse.

She wanted
the best for her. What should she say to Rebecca?
 
What would Richard say? What would Phil say?
What would Tia Marcia say?
 
How do you
behave as a mother or soon-to-be grandmother at a time like this?

“I am three
months pregnant,” Rebecca answered

“Does Tia
Marcia know?” Isabel asked.

“No,”
Rebecca answered.

Isabel
didn't remind Rebecca about their Catholic faith and the belief of no sex
before marriage.
 
It would sound like a
lecture and it was too late anyway. She wondered what she had done wrong. Maybe
if she had spoken to Rebecca more about sex or abstinence, it wouldn't have
happened.
 
But Isabel wasn't sure.
 
Rebecca considered her old-fashioned.

“Does Mark
know?” Isabel asked.

“Yes, but
he said that I needed to get an abortion, that we needed to finish school and
get a job first before we have kids,” Rebecca said, still sobbing. “I
couldn't.”

That bum
, Isabel thought.
 
He was having sex but didn’t want to face the
consequences of his actions.

“Do Mark's
parents know?” Isabel asked.

“I don't
think so,” Rebecca replied. “Mark said he was not going to tell them.”

“So, he's
not going to marry you?”

“No.
 
I don't want to get married either,” Rebecca
answered.
 

What's this
world coming to? Isabel asked herself. “So let me get this straight,” Isabel
said, with a puzzled look, “both of you are having a baby and neither of you
wants to get married.”

Rebecca
didn't respond.

“Rebecca,”
Isabel then added, “both of you
have
made a big
mistake and you have to take responsibility for your actions.”

“I know,”
Rebecca
answered,
her voice almost inaudible.

“Raising a
child comes with a lot of responsibility.
 
Obviously, I am disappointed in you. You can live here, but I expect you
to continue going to school and to graduate from college,” Isabel added.

“I’m so
sorry,” Rebecca said.

“You will
also need to get a full time job to help you with expenses for the baby.
 
I will talk to Tia Marcia to see if she can
find you a job at the Center.

“OK.”

“I have to
think about this.
 
But I will talk to
Mark's parents today,” Isabel added.

“I don't
know about that.
 
Mark said he didn't
want his parents involved in this.”

“He’s still
living with his parents and cannot hide the baby from them.
 
Besides, I’ve met Mark's parents. They would
want to know if they’re going to have a grandchild.”

A few hours
later, after Rebecca left for school, Isabel emailed her completed work to the
office.
 
Then she placed calls to Mark
and Mark's parents, Frank and Melinda Miles. She could not reach either of them
and had to leave messages. It was already early afternoon when she reached the
Center for another grueling therapy session and an equally unnerving possible
meeting with Phil.
 

##

Earlier
that day, when Phil woke up in the morning, all of his self-doubt was
gone.
 
He took a quick shower and headed
to the office. His company was a short twenty-minute drive from his house in
South Miami.
 
However, with the slow
Miami traffic at its peak in the morning, it took him more than one hour to get
there. Phil, who took French and Spanish classes in college, was listening to a
Spanish ballad called “Rosa” in his car by Italian singer Nicola Di Bari, when
he reached his office in Coral Gables.

“Hi Boss.
Everyone is in the conference room. Meeting starts in five minutes,” Myra, Phil's secretary, said
as he entered the office.

The
building was an old, Spanish style, one story house converted into an office
building. The top of the front door and each of the windows was curved like an
arch with painted glass that seemed to belong more to a church than an office
building. The interior of the building was completely remodeled with the lobby
being at the center, and the rooms and offices forming a circle around the
lobby.
 
Except for the size differences,
each of the individual offices was a two-room suite with the same design: a
sitting room at the front with the secretarial desk facing the sofas for the
guests, and an interior office for each individual expert in the back. In a few
short years, Phil's company had grown from a one-man shop to a staff of
fifteen, with experts from different professional backgrounds, ranging from
Accident Reconstruction to Evidence Evaluation and Jury Consulting.
 
The weekly meeting was to provide updates on
the firm's cases. It lasted about an hour.