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He's here! After nine months, three weeks and two days of waiting, he finally arrived! I couldn't hold my excitement in any longer. I had skipped my two afternoon lectures just to see him. I needed to. I had rushed off campus and into my car just to beat the mid-afternoon rush and, thankfully I had. I left my car windows wide open and revelled in the stuffy humid breeze that hit my damp face as I drove. My long nutmeg curls tickled my cheeks and occasionally collided with my teeth, while I sang along to my radio. The city of Johannesburg flew past me while I let my right arm rest on the hot door in the hopes that the blistering South African summer sun would colour my once pale winter skin. The highways were empty and soon I was nearing the all too familiar landscape of city complexes.
I turned down the steep hill and made sure to apply pressure to the brake as the cars speed increased. Once I reached the bottom of the hill I made a sharp left turn and soon the large maroon palisade gates reached my view. I leaned over through my open window and quickly punched in the password I had memorised two years ago. The heavy skyscraper gates opened ever so slowly, only further testing my patience. I put my tiny Volkswagen into first gear and drove through the parking lot until I reached the visitors parking for unit 306. After ensuring my car was in a shady spot and all my windows were closed, I rushed up the twenty steps until I came nose to nose with the cement coloured door. I didn't bother to knock as I quickly shoved my key into the lock and pushed the door open with a bang.
"Maggie Marie Becket let me see my godson!" I shouted as I closed the door and walked through the narrow three step passageway. I was instantly greeted with loud squeals of a heartbroken new born.
"I swear Tori Carradale I am going to murder you!" Maggie's angry voice shot through the amplified wails.
"Crap! I am so sorry Maggie. I guess I shouldn't have screamed huh?" I whispered and crouched down on the lounge floor where Maggie sat cradling what looked to be a bundle of blankets. "You're going to boil him alive covered in that." I pointed out. Maggie shot me a murderous glare and quickly rocked the bundle gently in her arms while softly cooing. It wasn't long before the room fell into a peaceful silence again.
Maggie carefully placed the bundle into a baby car seat and quietly rose from the floor. She stretched her back by lifting her tiny frame as high into the air as possible, her cherry red hair falling with the motion until the ends hit the very tip of her bottom. She placed a finger on her pale pink lips and then motioned for me to follow her. We left the small room quietly until we were outside on the balcony. After taking a seat alongside Maggie, I turned to her anxious and confused.
"Shouldn't we be watching him?" I asked pointing behind me.
"No. I can hear him in case something happens so he'll be fine. I just need some fresh air and adult time." Maggie rested her head on the top of the chair and her eyes closed briefly.
"Do I get to meet him when he wakes up? I've only waited three days for you to get home from the hospital." I looked accusingly towards my exhausted best friend.
"I'm sorry about that by the way. You had that difficult essay to finish and my parents wanted to spend as much time with him as possible." She answered.
"It's okay. I have to thank you for that anyway. If I had been allowed at the hospital I probably wouldn't have finished the assignment. You always do know what's best for me." I teased.
"It comes with age." I laughed along with Maggie. The question of her age was always a joke between us. Maggie and I had been best friends since the beginning of high school where we discovered that her birthday was exactly two months before mine and that we shared a love of apples.
"Oh wise one, tell me more." I joked. Maggie rose her eyebrows up questioningly and stared me down.
"I might be older- barely, but we both know I am not the wiser of us two. If I were, I wouldn't have fallen pregnant at twenty one." Maggie played with her fingers nervously.
Though Maggie was older than me by a few months, I was the slightly more responsible one between us. During the last three years of our University life, Maggie had drifted further and further away from who she used to be. Her once beautiful blonde hair was died a ferocious red and her left eyebrow was pierced with a silver loop. Her nails always sported a dark bland black and her wardrobe ventured from short skirts to ill fitting cargo pants and colourless tank tops. Though she would never admit it, I always felt that the slow decline of both her parents' health was affecting her in the worst way possible. Far too many times had I needed to bail her out of trouble that her other friends had placed her in.
"Have you spoken to- what was his name? Oh yes, Josh 'Sledgehammer' Jacob." I mocked. Dating Josh was her biggest mistake in my opinion. The only upside of that failed relationship was the blessing Maggie had just received.
"Don't do that," she chastised. "He is Tommy's father after all."
"Sperm donor, Maggie." I turned to Maggie and held her lips in my hands. "Say it with me. Sperm Donor." I pushed her lips in every direction as Maggie tried to repeat my words. Mumbles escaped her lips before a tiny giggle and a string of spit escaped. "That is gross Maggs!" I pulled my slightly damp fingers away and rubbed them on my pants. "So when are you going to answer me?" I looked to Maggie who sat staring at the large Jacaranda tree blocking any view she wished to have from the only balcony in her tiny townhouse.
"I called him and before you moan, he deserved to know Tori." She pointed accusingly in my direction and I shut my already open mouth. "It didn't help though. I called and told him that I had given birth and asked whether or not he wanted to see the child. He was so rude Tori." I watched as my best friend and unofficially sisters' eyes watered. "He said some very colourful words and basically told me it was my fault that I was in this mess and that I better stay away from him. How could he deny his own child?" her voice wobbled.
I rose from my seat and crouched down alongside Maggie as I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Maggie but you knew from the start he wasn't interested. He left you the moment that stick showed positive."
"I know. I just hoped his mind would've changed during the nine months. I look at my baby boy and at how beautiful he is and I keep thinking how anyone would ever want to deny such perfection. It breaks my heart but deep down I'm relieved, which only makes me feel even more horrible."
"Why do you feel relieved?" I asked.
"If Josh wanted shared custody it would mean that I would never be free of that lifestyle that Josh is surrounded by. I met Josh during a dark time in my life and ever since I fell pregnant I've been trying to escape it. Tommy is my second chance and I don't need any affiliation with Josh to ruin that for me or my baby."
I smiled and hugged my best friend. "See Maggie, you are wise!" Maggie's melodious laugh tickled my ears and I hugged her tighter. Maggie pulled away and looked at me with an expression I could only define as awe.
"How did I get so lucky to have a best friend like you?" She asked with a grin. I shrugged. "I am so thankful to have you in my life Tori. I don't think I can do any of this without you. You are the family I wished I always had and I want you to always be a part of Tommy's life."
"You don't even have to ask me twice! That little boy is going to see me so often that before he reaches the age of one, he'll be sick of me." I returned to my seat and enjoyed the silence between myself and Maggie.
"I've been meaning to ask, how is your love life? One of us needs one you know. Are you going to let me live vicariously through you?" Maggie asked with a wink, breaking the silence.
I laughed bitterly before deciding how to break the news to Maggie. "I finally ended things with Matt." Maggie's instant silence startled me and I jerked my head in her direction only to come face to face with her joyous smile.
"It's about time." Her loud whisper caused me to giggle. "He never deserved you. I've only been telling you for two years now to end things but no, you never listen. I'm glad you finally came to your senses."
I sighed and rubbed my slightly aching chest. "I caught him again you know. I wanted to surprise him last week at his dorm room on campus. His roommate, Happiness let me in. He was naked on his bed with an equally naked female underneath him. At first neither of them noticed me and I was so tempted to run and hide but, I stood my ground. I watched for like a second before I calmly cleared my throat. Seeing him panic was worth enduring the horrid scene. He rushed for his clothes and kept apologising saying, 'it isn't what it looks like,' as though his actions could be misunderstood." I shook my head and stared at the flowerless tree. "I just told him I was done for good and walked off."
"I'm proud of you sis." Proclaimed Maggie. "After cheating on you three times, it's about time you leave him. Just promise me you won't go back to him?" I nodded.
"I'm done for good. I thought I loved him but if I truly did, I wouldn't feel so relieved to be finished with him." I stated honestly.
"Good. Now here is my question. Why in the world are you only telling me now?" I looked over towards Maggie who had her arms crossed over her now fuller chest. She had one eyebrow raised and I silently wished I knew how to do that.
"You were busy with being pregnant and I didn't want to do anything that would upset you."
"Upset me? Did you not see my smile earlier? This is great news, not depressing news. How would it have upset me?" She asked.
I laughed. "You and I both know that the only thing stopping you right now from tracking him down and beating his scrawny self up is the fact that you have a napping baby in the next room." I pointed out rather triumphantly.
"You have a point," she mumbled.
"Do you know when you are coming back to campus?" I asked.
"I dropped out. I need to focus on Tommy now."
My mouth flew open in shock. "What? Maggie you have one more year left! Can't you just do it part-time? I can help with Tommy."
"No Tori, I don't want to. Look I know you won't understand especially since your parents can afford to pay for your studies but, I just can't. Raising a child costs a lot and I can't ask my parents for money since they're barely scrapping by on their pensions. I need a job if I'm ever going to afford anything for Tommy, which doesn't leave any time for studies. Maybe in the future but I can't right now." Maggie seemed broken and defenceless with her head hung low and resting on her chest. I knew her studies were important to her. Maggie didn't want to be like her parents who floated from job to job and I knew she couldn't rely on her aging parents. Mr and Mrs. Becket had Maggie in their late forties after years of struggling which, unfortunately left Maggie in her current position of having pensioners for parents where mine were still working.
"I'm really sorry Maggie. I wish I knew how to help you." I answered lamely.
"You know how you can?" I hoped she wasn't going to ask me for money or to drop out too. If I could then I gladly would but my life would end the moment I did. My parents still had a certain level of control over my life and my actions, especially when they interfered with my future. "You can graduate and get that career we both dreamed of." She continued and I found myself grinning along with her. I should have known better than to expect anything else from her.
"I will!" I promised.
A loud cry broke through our conversation and Maggie quickly jumped up and ran into the house. I followed behind and stood at the doorway as I watched my once lost best friend stare lovingly into the face of her child and that's when I knew. I knew that Maggie was right. Tommy was her second chance and having seen her with him, I might even go as far as to say that Tommy was always planned to be her future. She was a natural mother.
"Do you want to hold him?" She asked once his sobs had quieted. I nodded and quickly found a seat on her couch. Maggie lowered the bundle into my waiting arms. Having two older sisters and an older brother I was used to holding babies, thanks to all the nieces and nephews they blessed me with.
I made sure to support his tiny head and stared into his closed eyes. His head was so small but strangely larger than his even smaller body. I couldn't tell what clothes he wore thanks to the blanket but I knew he would look adorable purely because he came out of Maggie. He had a cute button nose and pale white skin. His small pink lips were pursed in a pout and his one minute hand stuck out and I could count five short and stubby fingers. He had round and chubby rosy cheeks with small ears on either side of his head. To anyone else he would look like an ordinary, unremarkable baby but to me, he was beautiful.
"He looks like you." I stated. He did. His nose reminded me of Maggie along with the fullness of his cheeks and lips. If he was like his mother, he was going to grow up to be a jaw dropper.
"Thanks," replied Maggie. I let Tommy grip my forefinger as I marvelled in his innocent beauty. He might not have been planned but unbeknown to him, Tommy was our saving grace. With Tommy in our lives, things might finally be looking up for the two of us.