Josie's Chronicle

Chapter: Well, you know

       Josie was in the middle of a rare day off. This was the day of the week that the baby wasn't in her care. It usually meant pictures, visitors, etc. Josie called it pretend day because it was Justine's parents pretending to be,  well, hands-on parents. It'd been six months, and neither of them had ever spent time alone with their child. The Mister had bet on the child being a boy. The Missus, Tina (she was trying to remember to use her name) hadn't wanted a child that wasn't a part of her gene pool.
    On these days, Justine would end her day crankily. She wouldn't eat, and sleep didn't come easy for her or Josie. Today, she'd decided to try something different with her to make it easier somehow. She'd been listening in those parenting classes, and she'd found that taking notes truly did help. She planned Justine's favorite food for dinner and put her favorite toys out. They would also have water play, aka bathtime out on the balcony in the kiddie pool, so Josie could ease her into her bedtime routine.

     Josie stopped to look at her naked body in the mirror. She'd always loved the color of her skin. It was to Josie, a perfect mix of her parents' skin color  which had produced a copper color toned beauty. Josie giggled. She poked at her belly. It was mending nicely, not many stretch marks, and the pudginess was going away. She liked her body and pregnancy hadn't changed that for her.
  She put her hair up into a bun and got dressed. She was going to take a walk before lunch.

                          I

       Tina didn't understand why Josie wasn't included in these outings with the baby. She considered it nonsense to hire a day nanny when they had a perfectly good Josie at home.
   This was just another example of her husband throwing his money around. Today, with his family, wasn't any different than any other time spent with them, even before the baby. This time he hadn't hired a day nanny, which would give Tina no one to talk to during the visit. That truth alone heightened her anxiety.
It was not lost on her that no one in the family ever spoke to her, and now all focus was on the baby. She wondered if they knew that there wasn't any portion of her in Justine. She knew he told them everything, so why should this be any different. She was immediately glad that Josie wasn't there. If they accepted her and made her a part of the family, it would have been too much.
Tina sighed deeply and louder than she'd realized.

   "A thousand pesos for your thoughts."

Tina looked up to find her father in law, Jedidiah, smiling at her. She liked his looks. It caused her to look forward to growing old with her Jessie.
   Her Father in law was regal in his way. His tall lean frame reminded her of pictures she'd seen of Dinka warriors.
"You're more distant than usual today." He said happily.  "I'd hoped that the baby would bring you closer to us, you know, cause you to feel like family."

    Tina smiled. "I don't feel like family, though. No one ever talks to me."

   "Well, let's agree to disagree." He held out his hand for her to put hers in his, "Let's go test the waters. I promise to correct anyone not treating you like family. "
    She took his hand. This was a first. Maybe the baby had helped. She watched her husband interact with his brothers. The conversation was loud, full of laughter and shouting.

  His sister, Sisse and his mother, Amahle, were playing with the baby on the floor of a Pergola covered in Morning Glory. They were sitting in a large multicolored blanket.
 
    "There you are, husband! Her mother in law watched them walk up the path towards them. She stood to embrace her husband. She stepped around him and drew Tina into her arms, "You look lovely today, Tina!"

   Tina was taken aback by her friendliness. "Justine is such a baby doll! I am in love!"
   Tina smiled and sat down on the blanket, next to her daughter. The child didn't seem to notice her. She was watching a kitten stalk a butterfly on a laptop screen.

    "Tummy time has come up in the world." Her mother in law said, laughing. "Back in the day, we were to entertainment."

     Her father in law touched her on the shoulder, "I'm going to join to fellas. You ladies have fun." He winked at Tina, "See, I told you so."

     The conversation between the women was mostly about clothes, food, and babies. The general consensus was that babies cause weight gain. To which Tina responded, "Well, I wouldn't know, I've never been pregnant."
   Her mother in law, smiled. "Neither have I, in a real way." She took a sip from a glass sitting on a small table next to her. "I could get pregnant, but I had trouble staying that way. So we decided to do whatever it took to become parents. We adopted twice and used a surrogate three times. It's why your hubby didn't have any issues asking his sister to donate eggs to get this little honey bunny started."

     Tina was stunned! Her jealousy had been misplaced! The realization of  what she'd set into motion caused her heart to skip a beat. Again she was grateful that her brother had been a poor marksman.
   She looked at her sister in law and mouthed, thank you. The words seemed to stick in her throat, so she couldn't say them out loud, and she didn't want to cry.
   "You're more than welcome,  sis." The young woman said. "Jessiah asked me after the first failed attempt. Science amazes me!" She said, not taking her eyes off of Justine.
   "How are you doing? A lot of women have trouble bonding after surrogacy. We're studying that in my Psych class. Is the surrogate slash nanny still living with you? How long are you gonna do that? Is there..."

    "Sisse!" The elder woman interrupted the barrage of questions. "This isn't one of your classes. Why don't you take some time to go visit and ask your questions? We're here to visit and have fun today!"
   Sisse laughed. "Apologies, Tina. So can you shed any light on the shooting? Jessiah didn't have much information about it." The young woman paused. Ohhh, now I see why the surrogate is still with you." She nodded to herself. "It all makes sense now." She stood up, deep in thought. "Tina, are you guys safe? What if the shooter finds out she's there with the baby? Jessiah said that they have a person of interest."

  "Sisse, enough, now." Let's go get some food before those men eat it all."
   Tina watched her mother in law pick up Justine and walk towards the food ladened table. Sisse reached out to help Tina stand up. She wrapped her arm around Tina's and whispered, "I'm so happy you're speaking to us now."