Pregnant again

10

"Joey what's wrong?" Miranda asked as he rambled into the phone. "Calm down... Joseph."

"My English teacher Mrs. Davidson wouldn't grade my paper. She says that she doesn't believe I wrote it on my own. She handed it back to me crumbled into a ball and gave me a zero."

"She did what?" Miranda yelled scooting back from her desk.

"She gave me a zero and balled it up."

"I heard you. I just don't understand."

"I'm so angry. I spent days researching, verifying and writing that paper. I thought it was really good. I got really upset and I made a loud out burst and I got sent to the office." He huffed.

"It's okay. I'll handle it. I'm coming on my lunch break." Miranda assured him and then she heard him let out a deep breath.

"Just calm down honey and wait for me to get there."

Miranda finished some of her paper work and she got up to leave to go to Joey's school.

She looked over as her phone rung and she saw Ben's name flashing on the screen. Miranda reached over and hit answer.

"Hey honey you want lunch?" Ben asked hoping he didn't set himself up to start off a chain of sex everyday again.

"Nope I can't do lunch." Miranda replied quickly and Ben could hear her shuffling around.

"Miranda what's the matter?" Ben asked quickly.

"I'm going to the highschool." Miranda replied.

"Is it Tuck or Joey? Are they sick, hurt." Ben questioned.

"No but someone at the school will be just as soon as I get there."

"Baby can you slow down and just tell me what happen."

"Joey's teacher gave him a zero and then balled his paper up handing it to him crumbled up." Miranda explained fuming all over again.

"They did what?! Why would they do that?"

"She said she didnt think he wrote it, but I'm going up there to get more answers."

"Yeah because regardless you don't ball our kid's paper up. What the hell is wrong with them?" Ben snapped.

"Exactly." Miranda dragged out and Ben could hear her sniffling.

"Hey are those tears I hear, are you crying?" Are we angry or we're sad?" Ben questioned confused.

"I'm angry." Miranda huffed "and I'm... I'm saddddd." Miranda burst.

"Baby." Ben voiced.

"Our son put in all that hard work, he researched, he made sure it was great. I proofed it and then some teacher decides for themselves that he isn't capable and on top of that you disrespect and degrade him in front of his peers. Who does that to a child?" Miranda cried harder.

"Hey baby just calm down don't go in there all mama bear."

"I will not be calm. They are going to feel this raft. You get mama bear when you mess with her cubs." Miranda snapped.

"Should I come there?” Ben asked worried about what she would do. He didn't want her to go there and get her blood pressure sky high.

"It's okay honey. I got this. I'm going to calm myself."

"Okay good I don't want you to send yourself into preterm labor."

"I'm calm." Miranda responded. "I'm pulling up into the school now."

"Okay call me as soon as you leave."

Miranda parked the car and she slid out slowly, holding on to the handle to get down.

She waddled into the school's office and went to the front desk.

"Hi how may I help you?" The woman asked.

"Hi I'm Joseph Phillips' mother." Miranda replied.

"Okay, he is in conference room B. We will tell him to come on out."

"Oh no,  I'm not picking him up I want to talk to his principal and teacher." She replied quickly.
"Well the principle is in a meeting and his teacher is also teaching her class."

"I don't care how long it takes. I'm meeting with both of them today." Miranda said firmly rubbing her belly. "I know his teacher has a free block so she can meet then or either find someone to cover her class for a few minutes but I'm not leaving, so call the teacher on the phone to figure something out." Miranda added.

The secretary looked at her and Miranda raised an eyebrow. She watched as the woman turned and grab the phone sitting down. She could also hear the woman talking to his teacher.

"She will be down here during her free block but that's not for another 45 minutes. I can see if the principal or one of the assistant principals can meet. Would you like to go sit back here with your son?"
"Yes." Miranda answered and the lady led the way.

"Hey" Miranda greeted walking into the room.

Joey stood and greeted her pulling out a chair for her and helping her sit.

"Are you comfortable?... you could put your feet up on my legs." Joey offered and Miranda smiled. She had such sweet kids.

"I'm comfortable." She told him with a smile.

After 45 minutes the door opened and two people walked through.

"Hi Dr. Bailey. It's very nice to meet you. " The principal greeted.

"Hello nice to meet you as well. Wish it could have been on greater terms. " Miranda replied.

Miranda looked at Joey's teacher who was blonde with glasses and looked to be maybe 60 but she held a justified attitude.

"My secretary told me you wanted to speak with me and it was urgent but I wasn't informed on the problem."

"She is the problem and I can already tell what it is just by her walking into the room. How dare you walk into a room with one of your students' parents and you don't think that you owe me at least a hello." Miranda snapped.

"Respect is the minimum that you can give someone and clearly from your actions today. You do not respect my son. Go on an inform the principal on what you did."

"I had an assignment, a three page paper on writing about a historical figure who you truly believed changed the world and also explain why this person was so significant. However, I gave him a zero because I believed that Joseph didn't write his paper." She said quickly.

"And what made you make that accusation?"

"Because she's prejudice" Miranda snapped.

"Well hold on just-

"No you hold on." Miranda argued. "You sit here in front of me to tell me that my son writes above his level and isn't capable of writing intelligently. You expect for my beautiful handsome boy to have a 2.5 gpa because that's the best he needs to play basketball and football and it's not okay." Miranda huffed standing.

"No that's not the case I-

"You what? You read his work and you deemed it unfit for a black boy to soar the way that he does. I read the paper myself. I proofed his work but I only checked for grammatical issues and what pisses me off more was because not only did you devalue him, you degraded and disrespected him in front of his peers."

Miranda reached out for the balled up paper.

"Did he bring this paper in here balled up?" Miranda asked on the verge of shaking in anger.

"No." The woman stumbled.

"How dare you do this to him?" Miranda asked dropping the paper on the table.

Miranda grabbed her phone and began swiping through her pictures. She held up a picture of Ben.

"My husband what do you think he does for a living? Is he a mechanic or maybe a contractor or no those might be too good for him. Is he a physical trainer? Hmmmmm what would fit the black man?" Miranda asked waiting for an answer.

"My husband is Dr. Benjamin Warren and not a PhD but a MD. Our son is on the path to become a doctor if things like this keep happening. If people keep judging him. He could possibly succumb to your way of thinking. Besides parents, teachers are the next people to have the greatest influence on our children's lives. You spend more time with my son out of the year than I do. You know what Albert Einstein said...everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish on it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing that it's stupid. You don't have the right to determine my sons capability and most certainly disrespect him. He deserves more and I need you to render him an apology." Miranda said rubbing her stomach.

The teacher looked to the principal and the principal nodded.

Mrs. Davidson swallowed hard before opening her mouth." I apologize sincerely Joseph. I will replace your grade in the grade book."

Joey nodded and looked over at Miranda.

"I'm not racist." The older woman informed.

"I never said you were. I said prejudice. Prejudice is a choice and so is fashion but I will not wear prejudice." Miranda said firmly.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Bailey." The principal said sincerely.

"I hope for your sake and the sake of this school that it doesn't happen again or I am going above the both of you."

"It won't I can assure you."

"Can I have a second with my son?" Miranda asked looking around.

"Yes, Mrs. Davidson in my office please."

The two exited the room and Joey got up and hugged Miranda tightly.

"Thank you so much mama Miranda." He said seriously.

"Its what im here for. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah." She laughed a little bit. "You are full of wisdom, kindness, compassion, and courage. I want you to always be that way. Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you, and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too. Mrs. Davidson doesn't see you the way I do or the way Ben does, but you can make her see you, by being you."

Joey nodded taking in what she said. "On that note, my lunch break is over."

"I'm sorry you missed lunch because of me."

"I would do it again besides I am the chief.” She winked. " Do you want to go home or stay for the rest of the day?"

"I will stay, I have a math test next block."

"Okay, see you when I get off tonight. I love you."

"I love you too." He said hugging her.

Miranda walked out with Joey and she saw Madison and Kelly walking out the restroom.

"Hey Mrs. Miranda." Kelly smiled walking over.

"Hi." Miranda greeted. "How is your day going?"

"It's going good." They both replied.

"We were looking at dresses online to get Idea for Madison's prom dress. She can't think of anything and doesn't have anyone to go with." Kelly informed.

"I can help you find a dress if you want." Miranda said looking at her sincerely.

"No it's okay. I don't want to trouble you."

"It's not a problem at all, I promise. Saturday I will take off work and if your dad says it's okay we will make a day out of it."

Saturday came and Miranda pulled into the driveway of Andrews house.

She got out the car even though she didn't really feel like moving, but it was the right and polite thing to do.

Walking to the door, Miranda knocked and waited until someone came.

"Dr. Bailey." Andrew smiled opening the door. Miranda looked at his naked chest then back up quickly. Who answers the door like that. She would be damned if her husband did.

"You can call me Miranda." She told him seriously.

"Miranda." He said drawing out the syllables of her name.

"Uh come in. She should be down in a few minutes."

Miranda nodded and he led her to the living room. She sat down on the couch and waited.

When he came back into the room he was fully dressed and handed her a water bottle.

"Thank you." Miranda smiled taking it from him.

"How have you been?" He asked her.

"I've been good, since the last time I saw you two days ago. What about you? Did you get the promotion?"

"I did." Andrew smiled brightly.

"Congratulations." She awed.

"Thanks. I didn't think I was going to get it. I always wanted to be in charge of my own team."

"I told you, you were."

"You did. Thanks for that confidence. That's probably why I was more motivated in my interview."

Miranda blushed and smiled before she could say something else Madison came rushing down the stairs.

"I'm sorry I'm late." She stressed. "My twist out didn't cooperate with me."

Miranda laughed. " it's okay. Its looks good though."

"Thank you... oh man I forgot my purse. I will be right back." She said dashing out the room.

"Thanks for doing this and for hanging out with her." He said seriously. "She really likes you and she doesn't seem to be as sad anymore."

"It's no problem. You don't have to thank me. I enjoy her company too. I figured we could just lean on each other. I just lost my mom a few months back."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Andrew said sympathetically.

"Thanks."

"Here take my card for shopping." He said holding it out to her.

"I’m fine. I got it."

"No it's my responsibility. I’m supposed to buy the dress right."

"This is not a wedding." Miranda laughed and he chuckled.

"It's just a dress and accessories. I can handle it." She said seriously.

"You're the best." He remarked.

"You ready?" Madison asked coming back in the room with her purse across her body.

"Yep, Can I use your bathroom though." Miranda said rocking to her feet.

"Yes of course. It's right there." She said walking her over.

Miranda used the bathroom and then washed her hands before coming out. She let Madison drive since she had her license.

They walked into a dress store and the two browsed the aisles picking up dresses to try on.

Most of the dresses that she tried on were off the body and puffy at the bottom.

"Try something more figure flattering. You don't want to hide in the dresses." Miranda said seriously.

Madison came out in another dress and Miranda smiled.

"See I like this one, but that color no."

"Me either." She laughed.

"Try that navy blue one. It's satin, the back is out, it's going to show your shape."

"My shape?"

"Yeah your silhouette." Miranda clarified.

"I wish I had one like yours. That's to die for."

Miranda looked up to make sure she was talking about her.

"Me?!"

"Yes ma'am. You have everything that a man would want."

Miranda blushed. She did have a nice shape, but most men wanted stick figures.

"Madison you are absolutely stunning and shapely. You have hips, breast, and that's what everyone wants , trust me. Don't be afraid to show it a little bit. Especially on a day like prom. You can still be modest and sexy."

Madison picked up the dress Miranda picked out and tried it on.

When she came out Miranda looked up. "You look beautiful."

"You were right. I love this dress." She said turning around and showing Miranda the back.

"Yeah. It's beautiful. You just need either Pasties or backless bra. Which we can find today too."

Miranda paid for the dress and they found accessories, and heels to go with it.

They sat down in the mall food court and Miranda ate a Philly cheese steak sub and Madison ordered an Italian.

"I need to get a woman's doctor. I can't see my pediatrician anymore."

"You're not on birth control?" Miranda asked confused.

"No." She answered somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh honey you should always protect yourself and your future. As sweet as my son is and if you were to have a baby, he or she would be taken care of, but you don't need a baby. You have a big and bright future ahead and you don't want anything to stop you from reaching your goals.

"You know why most women don’t continue or finish after a baby.... because once you have a baby that's your baby. Your body makes milk to feed the baby, and you get emotionally attached to your baby. The baby can scream and cry all night and a man won't hear it or move, but it will wake a woman out of their sleep. Having a baby at this age is almost like your training for an Olympic race and then you chopped off your right foot. You could potentially still win it's just a lot harder and going to take more work, rehabilitation and strategy."

"I uh never told my mom that I was having sex." Madison answered.

"Oh okay. Why didn't you?"

"I was going to, but I was scared of her reaction. We never talked about sex before. It was so taboo."

"I'm sorry." Miranda felt bad. Sex was not a taboo subject and parents owe their children to talk about it. Any questions they have, they should be able to ask their parents. Because when they get out there and want to have sex, it wouldn't be foreign. "Back to your original statement, there are several fantastic obgyn's at my hospital that you could make your primary care physician."

"Thanks and for the talk too."

"No problem. You can always come to me or ask me anything. No judgment."