Doorstep Baby

Welcome

7 Months later

Carter was in school and also taking gymnastics at the Y, much to the joy of my little nieces. They were actually encouraging Carter and Bethany in particular seemed to love working with all of the little ones. They couldn't let her do much, but she pitched in as much as possible, and Carter looked up to both of the twins like they hung the moon.

Jason had just made a huge decision. If all went well, I'd graduate either in May or August. So Jason decided it was his turn for college next year. He wanted me to be able to spend as much time as I could with the new baby, especially since I'd like to breastfeed, and meanwhile he was taking some prerequisite courses at the local community college, mostly online.

Gretchen and I were finally getting to know each other, and she was helping me get to know our mom through her memories, what few photos she had, and some letters our mother wrote to me (but of course never mailed) through the years.

Lauren and Cole, Jr. were still a big part of my life, and sometimes I thought she and Gretchen were as much like sisters as could be, maybe more than we were. Lauren had always been so open that people felt immediately comfortable with her, and she and Gretchen just clicked. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Lauren's life was getting even more interesting in the past couple of months because she found a man, or more precisely he found her. Asher was a mechanic, and he also ran his own shop. I thought Lauren would run him off...she certainly was mean enough to him in the beginning, but he stuck it out, and his patience paid off. I could tell he loved her, and I knew for a fact that he loved Cole, and Cole just lit up whenever he would come by.

Asher has a son, too. Alex is only a few months older than Cole. Asher has been a single father since Alex's mother died from complications after her C-section. The day Cole met Alex, it looked like he would cry with joy. He ran up to Jason and said, "Look, Unca Jason, we won't be numberjacked anymore!" We were laughing so hard we could barely explain to Asher.

So there I was, 13 months pregnant (okay, 39 weeks, but it felt like a couple of years), and I was waddling onto the set for a taping of the Ellen Show show (no, not that Ellen) at the local affiliate. My ankles were non-existent, and I couldn't stand to wear pants anymore because they kept ending up on the floor, and there was a weird brown patch of discolored skin on my left cheek. The makeup lady just took it all in stride, telling me they'd seen worse.

"Okay, in 5...4...3..." A director told me, mouthing 2 and 1. I walked out waving to the twenty or so people in the studio audience. Ellen, a cute woman in her thirties with long red braids and the coolest purple glasses I've ever seen, gave me a hug and we sat down.

"Folks, today we're talking with local author Sydney Carson. You might have heard of her runaway best seller, BOOK TITLE HERE, and if you haven't, you might want to get out from under that rock! This was Ms. Carson's first book, and part of its appeal is that the book is about her own life--and it's been an interesting ride so far.

"Sydney, you're from Florida, right?"

"That's right, I was born in Cape Coral, although I wasn't sure about that until about a year ago. Until then, all I could be sure of was that Cape Coral was where I was left at an orphanage." I felt a jab in my lung. This kid was going to be a soccer player.

I continued with the highlights of my story, just some of the details I had always known, punctuated by bits of the things I'd learned from Gretchen. I was careful not to mention her or her family by name. I stopped at the part where I found Carter on my doorstep.

"Wow that's amazing, but folks, you'll have to buy the book if you want to hear the rest of this incredible story. Sydney your book has been flying of the shelves, or the equivalent of that in e-book sales, since its release 2 months ago. Has your life changed since then?

"It is changing every day," I motioned to my enormous belly, "and I would imagine that it's about to change again...dramatically." The audience laughed. "I just finished my social work degree, and I had a daughter, and I was married, and I was still working part time, but I was also still pretty young. I honestly would never have thought of sharing my story, but my husband pointed out that I was a unique position to shed some light on today's foster care system."

"Have you gotten any negative feedback?"

"Well, there will always be those people. I have gotten some comments, like one saying it was wrong of me to 'sell' my eggs. Understand...I was compensated for the egg donation simply because of the risks involved and such, but I truly thought that it was a terrific way for me to help myself through a financial difficulty while helping someone who desperately wanted a child. Nobody could ever have predicted the situation that Carter's birth mother found herself in."

"Has your opinion on egg donation changed after your rather unusual experience?" Ellen asked.

"Yes, and no." I paused, searching for the right words. "I still think there are situations where that is a wonderful thing to do, but I think that it is also important that we work to improve the foster care and adoption system in this country, and make it more possible for children who already exist to be adopted. Right now, it's extremely difficult. That's why I'm donating half of the proceeds of my book to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. No child should have to feel unwanted while there are people who want a child." The audience, small as it was, erupted in applause, and the director had to shush them from off camera.

"That's wonderful, Sydney. Viewers, you'll find a link to the Dave Thomas Foundation as well as one to Sydney's book on our show's website..." she continued, giving them the web address.

"Before we go, Ms. Carson, how are your husband and daughter feeling about the upcoming arrival?"

Carter was standing off-camera with Jason, who clutched her hand like his life depended on it, but Carter yelled out, "I love it!" and the audience lost it. The director even giggled as he shushed everyone again.

"And there you have it, everyone's ready for that baby! That's all we have for today. We'll see you the next time on the Ellen Morning Show," she said. 

***

I was so happy to get home. My feet were throbbing, and I felt like my back would never feel okay again. Carter came running from the back of the house with a couple of pillows, and she helped me prop my feet up on the ottoman, stuffing one pillow under my feet and the other behind my back.

"Thank you, Honey. That feels so nice. You are such a wonderful helper." Jason came out of our room, walked over to me and bent down to kiss me on the forehead.

"You were fantastic, you know. I bet book sales will go even faster now."

"Good, good, but could you give me a minute? I'm having Braxton-Hicks contractions." I said. "I need to count." I saw him flinch in fear.

"What?"

"Calm down."

"Mommy, is the baby coming soon?" she asked.

"Soon, but not just yet." She smiled then ran back to her room.

So of course my water broke at that precise moment. All over my favorite couch. Okay, my only couch, but you'd understand. I wanted this baby out, but this was ridiculous.

Jason was freaking out the whole time we were gathering our things to go. I was getting Carter ready to go to Gretchen's, stopping to breathe through contractions as we tried to get her into her car seat.  She was asleep almost the entire time, and by the time we got to Gretchen's house, Lauren was there, too, dropping off Cole. Jason called his mom on the way, with me dialling and turning the phone on speaker, but not doing much else. I wanted a natural water birth, so were set up to go to a birthing center very similar to the one Lauren had used years ago. Once I got in the water, around the 6th hour of labor, it felt amazing. Of course, it still hurt, but the contractions were much more centralized and felt more manageable.

I was in labor almost 12 more hours before our new little girl showed up. Aria Grace Parker. She had dark hair like mine and bright blue eyes like her daddy's. She was finally here, and I couldn't have been happier to see her.