17 YEARS AGO
"What did you say?"
"I said that I did a pregnancy test and... I'm pregnant."
I watched my husband as he stared at me in confusion. We hadn't been married long, about three years. I thought he would be happy, I thought he wanted to start a family with me... but... the look on his face told me everything.
"You're not happy."
"I'm... processing."
"Processing what, Bruns?"
Brunswick looked at me, his green eyes conveying every negative feeling that I didn't want to see.
"How am I going to do this? I'm still in school and I can hardly afford the apartment and- and- and-"
"Honey..." I stood up, going to him and touching him on the shoulder. He looked at me, lost. "Baby, we'll figure this out. You don't have to do it alone. I'll be with you and we'll help each other."
"But I can't be a father!" he yelled, pulling away from me. "I can't do this, not right now! I don't want it."
"Brunswick!"
"I don't want it." He growled angrily.
I breathed in deeply and stood up straight. "Then who the hell says I have to stay with you? If you don't want our baby, then I'll just go and raise it myself. If you're not man enough to take responsibility, then I married the wrong man."
Brunswick looked at me and then at my stomach and crossed his arms, looking away from me.
"I don't want you to kill it, I just don't want to keep it."
"Unacceptable."
"Why can't you understand-"
"Understand this, Mr. Taylor: this baby will be my life, my love, and my joy. You don't matter, this baby does. We had sex, we made this baby, and if you aren't going to take up the role of a father then fuck you and I'll raise it myself. I'll be father and mother and give it all the love it ever needs. It won't need you."
"I-" He leaned against the wall, his hands over his eyes.
I knew he didn't mean anything he was saying. It was true, we were struggling and he was trying to get through school. He was working two jobs and I was going to get one myself until I found out I was pregnant. Bruns always said he didn't want me to work if we had kids, at least not for the first two years of the baby's life. Me getting a job would have helped tremendously but now I'm pregnant. I knew he was scared.
I walked over to him and hugged him.
"Brunswick, you're going to be a great father. Our child is going to love you so much and you're going to love it. I know it's frustrating and hard and scary, but we will get through this together. As a family."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
"I know, sweetie."
"I want this baby... I want to be a good dad..."
"And you will be... You will be..."
9 MONTHS LATER
With on final push, my son came into the world. My beautiful baby boy. There were a few times during the pregnancy that Brunswick went into a little depression, worrying about finances and how he was going to ever forgive himself for wanting to give our son away and for even a split second he wanted me to abort him. But he persevered and soon, he was hugging my baby belly at night, talking to my stomach, and talking about the life we would create with our son in tow. He would be a good father.
"Mrs. Taylor, would you like to hold your son?"
I held out my weak arms, shaking from holding onto the railings of the bed, and I took my son into my arms. He was precious and perfect. He opened his big blue eyes at me and I smiled.
"Hello, my love... I'm your mommy..."
I touched his face with my finger, so delicate and soft. He was everything I could have ever dreamed about. I looked up at Brunswick, who was smiling at me with so much pride. I moved my arm.
"Come see your son."
He walked over and looked at him and then held his hands out. The nurse took him and placed him in Brunswick's arms. He was so cute looking, such a big, strong man with a delicate little baby in his hands. In his eyes I could see that whatever doubts he may have had were gone. His eyes were determined and full of love.
"Don't you worry about a thing." he told him. "I'll always be there for you. No matter what happens, I won't ever let you go. I will protect you with my life from now on until the day I die. That's a promise."
The nurse took him away and another one walked up.
"Do you have a named for the child?"
"Max. Max Winchester Taylor."
17 YEARS LATER
I came home from work and noticed that something was wrong. The TV wasn't on and the only light on was the kitchen light. I didn't see any lights on upstairs and no odor was in the kitchen. I slowly walked into the kitchen, afraid of what I was going to find, but was surprised to find Brunswick.
"Bruns?"
He looked up, his eyes red but I couldn't tell if it was the drinking or because he was crying.
"Brunswick? What's going on?"
He leaned on the table, grabbing his glass and taking another sip of whatever he had.
"I can't find Max."
"What do you mean?"
"We had a fight and he walked out the door and said he was getting chips from the store. After an hour, he didn't come back and so I went to go look for him. The clerk said he had left but... I've been driving everywhere and I can't find him. I called his phone but he hasn't responded. I've called it at least twenty/thirty times..." He looked up at me, tears in his eyes. "Geneva, I messed up."
I walked over and hugged my husband as he cried into my torso. I couldn't really hear exactly what he was saying because it was muffled by my shirt but he was in hysterics, most likely due to the drinking.
"I told him that if he got hit by a car that I wouldn't care!"
"Brunswick, why would you say something like that?!"
"I don't know! I don't know... I was so angry and upset and he just wasn't listening..."
"Okay, okay... Let's go and see if we can find him, okay? You're tipsy and I have fresh eyes. If he doesn't come back by tomorrow, we're going to call the police and report him officially missing. Maybe he got mad and went to Mars or Kole's house and then he turned his phone off because he doesn't want to talk to you right now. I have Adah's number, I'll give her a call." He nodded and I touched his face. "Come on, let's go find our son."
MONTHS LATER
It had been so hard without having Max around. He's been missing for months now and no leads have been called in. I'd find little bits of him around the house and I'd leave them be. Sometimes in my head I'd kid myself and say, 'when that kid gets home...' or 'god dammit, Max, I wish he'd clean up his mess', and then I realized that he wasn't coming home... he wasn't here to clean up his mess... and so I would leave it. I knew that I was just kidding myself by leaving things out, but I felt it a small comfort. If his belongings were around, then maybe I could trick myself into thinking that he wasn't here just at the house and was out there somewhere, eventually coming home.
But that was a lie.
I sighed, and opened the pantry, seeing Scooby Doo gummies glaring at me and I put my hand over my mouth. He loved those stupid things... I looked at the cell phone charging on the small part of the counter next to the fridge. It was Max's, which we found on the side of the road. When we found it, we immediately called the police about him missing. After a few weeks, they deemed him a runaway/missing child but they didn't really pursue anything. Grand Marquis wasn't very fond of failure.
My phone suddenly went off and I jumped in fright, finding a number I didn't know. I answered it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Is this Geneva Taylor?"
"This is she?"
"This is Becka, I'm a nurse over here at Grand Marquis Medical Hospital. I was calling because we have your son here and-"
"Excuse me?"
"We have your son in the hospital. He came in a little earlier and we've been trying to get a name and emergency contact information from him. Can you come to the hospital?"
"YES! Yes, a thousand times yes! I'll be there soon!"
I grabbed my purse and left the groceries on the table, running to the car and calling Brunswick at the same time. Our baby was found and he was alive!
PRESENT
"Hello?"
"Is this Geneva Taylor?"
"Yes, this is she? Who is this?"
"This is Jason from Grand Marquis Medical Hospital. We have someone here that says he's your son?"
"That's impossible. What sort of joke is this?"
"Pardon?"
"Check your records 'Jason'. Does it not say something a little strange to you?"
The man clicked around for a second. "It says he's deceased."
"Exactly. My son is dead! How could you even think to try and do this to us!? What kind of sick person are you?!"
"Mrs. Taylor?"
"Who is this now?" I said with a huff.
"It's Mars."
I blinked for a moment, trying to comprehend what was going on.
"Mars...den? As in Marsden Holt, who's been missing for months?"
"Yeah. Me."
I was silent and sighed. "I'm hanging up."
"No! Wait, please, Mrs. Taylor, it's really me! I got taken by the aliens that took Max and then we were able to escape but we crashed and a couple of people got hurt but-"
It was Mars alright. "Why the hell are you talking to me and not your own mother?!"
"They already called her and she's on the way."
"Then why is the hospital calling me about some bogus-"
"It's not bogus, Mrs. Taylor. Max really is here. He's alive..."
"Even you-"
"Why would I ever lie to you about this, Mrs. Taylor? You know how much I missed Max and I know how much it hurt you as well, but I'm telling you the truth right now: Max Taylor is alive."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A/N: welcome to the third installment of The Oddities of Grand Marquis (the official name of this series). we start off with a little bit of history and also that explanation of what bruns told max in GS about how he didn't want him when geneva was pregnant. anyhow, let's keep this ball a-goin!