Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (8 page)

“She’ll be fine,”
the nurse smiled as she dialed Dr. Percell’s number on the
telephone.
Never has there been
a father to be that wasn’t nervous
, she thought. She set
the phone down on the hook after speaking with the doctor. “Dr.
Percell said he’d only be a few minutes. He lives just a couple of
blocks from here. Let’s go see how Mary’s doing while we wait.”

“I don’t know if
the baby’s going to wait much longer,” one of the other nurses
said as Joe arrived in the delivery room.

“Are you all right,
honey?” Joe asked as he took Mary’s hand.

“Yes, I’m fine”
Mary responded trying to appear calm.

“Dr. Percell will be
here in just a couple of minutes. Try to hold on,” Joe said trying
to comfort her.

“I’ll, oooh! I’ll
try.” Mary was clearly trying to fight delivering before Dr.
Percell’s arrival. “I hope he hurries.”

“Did I tell you how
proud I am of you?” Joe asked. “I know you’re going to be the
best mother there ever was.”

Dr. Percell was just
walking into the delivery room when one of the nurses exclaimed,
“Here it comes; I can see the head!”

Doctor Percell dropped
his little black bag and peeled off his coat. “Here, let me take
that,” he said to the nurse as he cupped his hand under the baby’s
head. “All right now Mary, push, again.” He gently cradled the
baby’s head like the old country doctor he was. “A little more
now, that’s it, you’re doing just fine.” Dr. Percell knew just
to let Mother Nature take her course. “All right, Mary, I’ve
got…” Dr. Percell paused for just a moment, “him! It’s a boy.
Joe, you’ve got a son!” he said turning his head toward the door
where Joe stood.

Mary raised her head
slightly. “A boy?” she asked.

The nurse handed a
clamp to Dr. Percell for the umbilical cord. Once it was cut, he
passed the baby to a nurse. The nurse wiped the newborn off and
wrapped him in a small blanket. She then took the baby to Mary so she
could hold him for a few moments. Everyone in the delivery room could
sense the joy they felt.

“Look at those eyes,”
Mary said. “I’ve never seen a baby with such depth and awareness
in his eyes before.”

“I see what you mean.
He seems so aware of everything,” Joe responded.

“Dr. Percell,
shouldn’t he be crying?” Mary inquired.

“He does seem rather
quiet. Let’s have a look.” Dr. Percell checked the baby’s heart
and lungs with his stethoscope. “He seems perfectly healthy to me,
and amazingly calm. I think you have a very special little miracle
here. I’m happy for the both of you.” Doctor Percell went on,
“You better get some rest now, Mary, and you too, Joe. Why don’t
you go home and get some sleep and come back in the morning.”

The nurse gingerly took
the newborn from Mary and took him to the nursery. Dr. Percell gave
Mary a quick check and a clean bill of health. “You get some sleep
now and I’ll be back to see you in the morning. Oh, yes, and
congratulations!”

* * *

“Good morning, Mary
and Joe. How are our new parents this morning?” asked Dr. Percell
as he entered Mary’s room. “And how’s…?” Dr. Percell
paused.

“Christopher,” Mary
responded. “We’ve decided to name him Christopher.”

“Well, how is
Christopher this morning?”

“He’s amazing,”
Joe replied. “You know he hasn’t cried once—not a peep. He just
keeps looking at everything. He watches every move we make.” Joe
was beaming with pride with every word.

“I’m happy for all
three of you,” Dr. Percell said as he set his little black bag on
the small table by Mary’s bed, “happier than words can describe.”
Doctor Percell paused as Joe and Mary looked at each other and
Christopher. They all three seemed to glow with joy. “I hesitate to
bring this up, but, as you know, I still have no idea how you were
able to conceive. To the best of my medical knowledge, you shouldn’t
have been able to have Christopher. I have a friend, Dr.
McKinley—he’s a specialist at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington
D.C. I spoke to him last night about your situation. I’d like him
to have a look at you. Perhaps he can tell us how you were able to
defy nature and give birth. With your permission, I’ll call him and
he can be here later this afternoon. If anyone can figure this out,
he’s the one.”

Mary and Joe looked at
each other for only a moment, and then Mary replied, “Please don’t
misunderstand, Dr. Percell. We’re very grateful for all you have
done, but, we just want to go home and begin our lives as a family.
We have a son to raise now and, well— you understand, don’t you?”

“I believe I do,”
the doctor replied. “If you should change your mind, please don’t
hesitate to let me know.” Dr. Percell turned his attention to
Christopher and said, “Well, let’s see how the newest member of
the family is doing this morning.” Dr. Percell proceeded to give
Christopher a quick check. “I’ll stop by the house and see how
you and Christopher are doing in a couple days. In the meantime, I
don’t see any reason why you can’t go home in the morning. If you
need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me. Okay?”

As Dr. Percell turned
to leave, Mary responded, “Thank you, Dr. Percell. I’ll see you
in a couple days.”

All children are
curious and Christopher was no exception. As a matter of fact, he
made curiosity an art form. If it could be disassembled, he took it
apart. He was especially fascinated with the radio. He pulled the
knobs off so many times that Mary decided to leave them in the
kitchen drawer. He also continually tried to get into the back of the
radio in order to find out where the voices and music came from.
Unlike most things, which once examined were discarded and no longer
considered to be of interest to Christopher, the radio was the one
thing that he was unable to make sense of. Mary seemed to sense that
his attention to the radio wasn’t due to the voices or the music,
but rather where they came from. Mary hadn’t yet made the
connection between Christopher’s curiosity and her need for puzzle
solving, but she soon would.

Christopher seemed to
grow much faster than other children—not necessarily in size, but
rather in his level of awareness and in his ability to communicate.
He was already starting to walk by the time he was 9 months old and
he started talking at 18 months. He was nothing short of amazing.
Mary and Joe knew they had a truly gifted child on their hands.

Not being in a position
to put Christopher into any kind of special preschool, Mary decided
to share with Christopher her fascination with puzzle solving.
Christopher was just turning two when Mary pulled out a puzzle she
had done several times while pregnant. She spread the pieces on the
floor. Christopher watched as she began to put the pieces together,
and, to Mary’s amazement, he was soon putting the pieces into their
place as fast as she was.

It’s
time to get serious and do something
, Mary thought. She
realized she was running out of things to satisfy Christopher’s
never-ending thirst for information. With Christopher in tow, Mary
headed off to the school supply store a few blocks away.

Even though Joe had
been doing well these past two years, Mary was still a prudent
shopper. There was so much to choose from, and Mary was careful to
select only those items that would most benefit Christopher’s
developing mind. Flash cards for both the alphabet as well as basic
math were a must. Mary thought a first grade basic reading book might
not be such a bad idea. Then Mary noticed the frosting for the
cake—puzzle books! She was able to find a couple puzzle books for
first graders that didn’t require reading skills—mostly mazes,
connect the dots and the like.
These
will be perfect for Christopher
, she thought.

“Good looking boy
you’ve got there. Look at those bright eyes. What’s his name?”
the clerk asked.

“My name is
Christopher.”

The clerk was
stunned—he didn’t expect Christopher to be able to talk. “How
old are you Christopher?”

“I’m two,” he
responded. Mary could see the clerk was at a loss for words.

“Christopher is quite
a gifted young child. I’m hoping these materials will help fill his
desire to learn for at least a little while. He just seems to absorb
everything so fast.”

“I’m sure all this
will keep young Christopher busy for a while,” the clerk replied.
“Thank you very much, and come back any time. You too,
Christopher.”

Mary was beaming with
pride on the short walk home. Christopher, of course, was asking
questions the whole way. It was only natural for a mother to be proud
of her child, but Mary seemed to have a little more reason than most.

As much as Mary wanted
to get right to the new materials she had just gotten for
Christopher, it would have to wait. It was getting late and Joe would
be home soon and there wasn’t much time to get dinner ready. Mary
gave Christopher one of the puzzle books and a crayon and then went
right to work in the kitchen.

Mary had just finished
working her usual magic in the kitchen when she heard the slam of the
car door in the driveway. It was the right time for Joe to arrive,
but the slam of the car door didn’t sound like Joe’s old Chevy.
She feared that the old Chevy had finally died for good, leaving Joe
to hitch a ride home from someone at the office.

Whoever
it is, I wish they would stop honking the horn
. Mary went
to look out the window, and saw it was Joe honking the horn, only he
wasn’t in the old Chevy.

“What do you think?”
Joe asked as Mary walked down the driveway.

“Well, it’s very
nice, but—”

“It’s all ours,”
Joe interrupted.

“But Joe, we can’t
afford something like this,” Mary responded.

“I didn’t tell you
because I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but today I closed a
deal with the Henderson farm—a policy to cover their entire family.
Come upstairs and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Oh, honey! That’s
wonderful. Well, let me take a look at this first. It’s beautiful.
Joe, are you sure we can afford it?”

“Come on, I’ll tell
you all about it over dinner.”

As Mary brought dinner
in from the kitchen, Joe explained. “Like I said, I didn’t want
to get your hopes up about this deal because I didn’t know if it
was going to go through for sure, but it’s a big one—my biggest
deal yet.” Mary knew, as did everyone in that area, that the
Henderson farm was the largest family run farm in the county. “And
as if that wasn’t enough, their oldest son just went away to school
and they were looking to sell his car. They made me a terrific deal
for treating them so well. One of their hands bought the old Chevy to
boot. Sweetest deal I ever made.”

Mary said, “After
dinner, how about we all go for a ride?”

“Good idea. I know
you’re really going to love it,” Joe replied.

It was far from a new
car, and they still lived in a second story flat and didn’t even
own their own television, but they felt rich in happiness. Joe was
even becoming good friends with his boss, Mickey. As they drove
along, Christopher in Mary’s lap and Mary’s hand on Joe’s
shoulder, life was good.

That night, after Mary
put Christopher to bed, Joe sat in his favorite chair listening to
Benny Goodman on the radio. Mary brought him the puzzle book
Christopher had been looking at while she was making dinner. “Look
what I got for Christopher today,” Mary said as she handed the
puzzle book to Joe.

“Looks as if he’s
already been hard at it,” Joe said as he opened the book to the
first page. “Will you look at that,” he exclaimed as he looked at
the maze on the first page. “He solved this maze the first try. It
looks like he never lifted the crayon from start to finish.” Joe
turned to the next page, then the next, and the next. “How long did
he work on this?” Joe asked as he continued to turn the pages.

“Just while I was
making dinner,” Mary paused. “I can’t believe he did so much.”
Joe and Mary looked in amazement as they turned the pages to realize
Christopher had completed three mazes, four connect-the-dots, and two
find-the-differences perfectly.

“You know, Joe, he’s
really special. I’m not just saying that because he’s ours. He
really is gifted.”

“You know, you’re
right, honey,” Joe said.

“We need to find some
kind of program for kids like Christopher. There must be something
somewhere.” Mary continued, “Didn’t the Henderson boy go to a
special school or something?”

“Well, I’ll tell
you what,” Joe replied. “I have to take the final policies back
out to Mr. Henderson this week. I’ll ask him if he knows anything.”

Mary smiled, “Oh,
honey, do you think they might?”

“I’ll ask him, I’ll
ask him.”

A couple days went by
and then Joe headed out to the Henderson farm. Mary tried to wait
patiently for him to return home that night, but it seemed to take
forever. Mary knew her son was special and she could only imagine how
he would benefit from an opportunity to attend a special school.

Finally, Mary heard the
car pull in and the motor come to a rest. She went to the door to
greet Joe.

“Hi, honey,” Joe
said as he took off his hat and coat. “Well, I talked to Mr.
Henderson, and he gave me the name and address of the teacher that
worked with his son. He thought Christopher might be a bit too young,
but it couldn’t hurt to try.”

Mary was filled with
excitement. “I’ll write to them tomorrow while you’re at work.”

The next day Mary
looked a little sad when Joe came home. As much as she tried to hide
it, Joe could tell.

“Hi, honey. What’s
the matter?” Joe asked.

“They said
Christopher is too young.”