FALLING STARS
Chapter Twenty-Five
In the weeks that followed, Rose continued to
feel unwell. The upset stomach and faintness she had experienced even before
she learned of her son’s death continued, with unpleasant mood swings now added
to the problem.
Rose continued to ignore the symptoms,
attributing them to the heat, her age, and her grief over the loss of her son.
No one else seemed to be affected in quite such a way, but she paid no
attention to that.
One morning early in July, Ruth came to
visit, and immediately noticed that Rose was still feeling poorly. Rose had
been waving off her mother’s concerns since May, and Ruth hadn’t pushed her
about it. Now, however, with Rose still feeling ill, Ruth was growing
concerned. Rose might be forty-nine years old, but she was still Ruth’s baby.
"You’re still not feeling well, I take
it?" Ruth asked as they sat down for tea. Rose sipped her tea, nibbled on
a cookie, and then pushed everything away.
"I’m fine, Mother. I’ve just been upset.
I’ll feel better soon enough."
"I know that you’ve been grieving over
Adam, Rose, but you’ve been feeling unwell since before he died."
Rose shrugged. "It probably has
something to do with my age. The heat is bothering me more this summer than it
ever did before."
"I’m twenty-five years older than you,
and the heat doesn’t give me this kind of trouble."
"I think it’s the change of life. I’m at
the age where that happens."
"Forgive me for being skeptical, dear,
but as one who went through that long ago, I don’t think that’s what’s
bothering you." Ruth took a sip of her tea. "You’re acting more like
a pregnant woman than one who is experiencing the change of life."
"Mother!" Rose had started to pick
up her tea, but set it back down again. "I am not--I repeat,
not--pregnant. I’m much too old for that. Besides, if I was, I think I would
recognize it. I have had six children."
"You haven’t had a baby in fifteen
years, and you might have forgotten some things. Besides that, you might not be
too old. My friend Elizabeth Phillips had a child when she was fifty-one. These
things do happen."
"Mother, really." Rose blushed.
"I’ve started into the change of life, I’m sure. I haven’t...haven’t bled
since April."
"And you’ve been feeling unwell since
May."
"Exactly." Then Rose’s eyes
widened, as she realized the implications of her words. "Oh, my..."
"Perhaps, Rose, you should go see a
doctor."
*****
A week later, Rose walked into the office of
the family doctor, Dr. Meyer. He had been the doctor for the Dawson family
since 1927, and Rose trusted his opinion.
Dr. Meyer was a tall, brown-haired man in his
late forties, and he had treated different members of the family for various
illnesses and injuries over the years, as well as delivering Rose’s youngest
son, Andrew.
"What seems to be the problem, Mrs.
Dawson?"
"I haven’t been feeling well in a while,
since around the middle of May, in fact."
"What’s been happening?"
"I’ve been feeling faint at times, and
also nauseous, especially in the mornings. I’ve been having some mood swings,
too. I thought it was the change of life, but my mother thinks that I might be
with child. I think that I’m too old, but..."
"Well, why don’t we try to find
out?"
Rose lay back on the examining table,
allowing Dr. Meyer to complete his examination. Finally, he had her sit back
up.
"Well, what is it?" she asked.
"Am I going to live?"
He smiled. "Yes, you’re going to live,
and you should feel better soon."
"So..."
"You’re pregnant," he told her.
Rose wasn’t entirely surprised, not after the
conversation with her mother, but it still seemed odd to her. She shook her
head.
"I can’t be."
"You are."
Rose still protested. "I’m forty-nine
years old. I’m a grandmother, for crying out loud! I have half-grown
grandchildren. Grandmothers don’t have babies."
"Are you unhappy about being
pregnant?"
Rose touched her stomach thoughtfully, then
shook her head. "No. I’m just...surprised is all. I thought I was too old
for that."
"Until you’ve completed the
menopause--until your menstrual cycles have stopped for at least a year--there
is the possibility that you can still conceive. And you’re not the first young
grandmother to have a baby, nor, I expect, will you be the last."
Rose was still somewhat stunned. "A
baby...I never expected this."
"Does your husband have any idea of
what’s been happening?"
"Of course, but I don’t think he
realized..." Rose’s face broke into a smile. "This is wonderful. Oh,
I just can’t believe it. Another baby, after all these years..." She
sobered somewhat. "Do you think that there could be problems, with my age
and everything?"
"It’s possible, but most women who give
birth at your age have normal, healthy children, with few problems. However, I
would like you to come in here more often than you did when you had Andrew,
just to be on the safe side."
Rose nodded. "I will. Thank you, Dr.
Meyer." She started to climb down from the examining table, then stopped.
"When should the baby be born?"
"Around late January, early February is
my best guess."
"I’ll be almost fifty then."
"That’s why I want to keep an eye on you
during your pregnancy. You are older than most women who give birth, but
chances are you’ll have a normal pregnancy and a healthy child. You don’t seem
to be experiencing any complications so far."
"No, nothing worse than when I had my
other children. When should I make my next appointment?"
"In about three weeks."
"Can I bring my husband along?"
"If you want." Dr. Meyer was more
liberal than many doctors when it came to the issue of fathers and
childbearing, unlike Dr. Mitchell, who had delivered Gregory thirty-one years
before. He hadn’t objected when Jack had insisted upon being present for
Andrew’s birth, and he wouldn’t object to Jack’s presence at the examinations
now.
Rose broke into an excited skip when she left
the doctor’s office and headed for her car. She stopped a moment, feeling
sheepish, reminding herself that forty-nine-year-old women didn’t skip. But
forty-nine-year-old women didn’t usually have babies, either, and she was
happier than she had been in weeks.
Rose resumed skipping, ignoring the stares of
passers-by, and drove home humming happily to herself.
*****
Rose waited until late in the evening to tell
Jack what she had learned. She wanted him to be the first know.
Once they were alone in their room, Rose
crawled into bed and snuggled close to Jack, brushing a strand of now-silvery
hair from his face. At fifty-two, Jack was still strong and fit, and Rose
thought he was still the most handsome man she had ever seen. The streaks of
silver in his hair and the lines around his eyes only added to his allure, as
far as she was concerned.
Jack pulled her close, giving her a slightly
amused look. Rose had been smiling all evening, laughing happily at anything
that entertained her, but she had refused to say why. She had just kept giving
him secretive looks. Andrew had looked at her as though she were crazy, but, at
fifteen, Andrew often found both of his parents embarrassing. Heidi had spent
the entire evening on the phone with one of her friends, discussing a young man
she had met who had been sent home from the war because of injury, and hadn’t
noticed her mother’s lively mood.
"Okay, Rose. You’ve been dancing around
all evening. What’s gotten you so happy?"
Rose smiled, reaching for his hand and
placing it on her still-flat middle. "I went to the doctor this
morning..."
"And?"
"And we’re going to have another
baby."
"We’re going to...what?!"
"We’re going to have a baby."
"A baby? Are you sure?"
Rose nodded. "I’m sure. Dr. Meyer
confirmed it."
"How long have you suspected?"
"Since last week, when Mother said that
she thought I was acting like a pregnant woman. I didn’t quite believe her, but
I guess she was right."
"A baby...this is quite a surprise. We
haven’t had a baby in fifteen years. Good Lord, this child is going to be
younger than some of our grandchildren."
"I know. I thought I was too old to have
more children, but I guess I was wrong." Rose rested her hands on her
stomach. "It almost seems like a miracle, having a baby now. We just lost
one of our children, and suddenly we’re having another."
Jack ran a hand over Rose’s belly, looking
pensive. "Jack?" Rose whispered.
"What?"
"Are you sorry...that we’re having a
baby?"
He shook his head. "No. I’m just
surprised, is all. It is amazing, having another child now. I am a little
worried, though. You haven’t given birth in fifteen years, and you are older
than many women who give birth..."
"I know, but I’m glad to be having this
child. I never thought that it would happen, but now that it has, I’m glad. I
think that if it wasn’t meant to happen, it wouldn’t have."
"Maybe you’re right. Another baby, after
all this time...and at our age."
"Well," Rose told him, smiling,
"I’m sure you’re not the first older father, and I have been told that it
does sometimes happen that women my age give birth. I think that everything
will be fine."
"I hope so." He kissed her, then
moved away a bit.
"What are you doing?"
"I think I’d best keep my hands to
myself. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize your chances of having a
healthy baby."
"I’ve been with child since May, and our
making love hasn’t caused any problems before." Rose pulled him back
towards her. "It’s fine, Jack. It didn’t cause problems with our other
children, and I don’t think it will cause any problems now."
They moved closer together, their lips
meeting in a gentle, loving kiss, their hands moving over each other as their
passions rose.
"After all," Rose whispered,
"this is how we got this child."