It shouldn’t be so hard
Written for the lgbtfest
It shouldn’t be so hard.
Author: Marea67
Fandom: Brothers & Sisters
Pairing/characters: Scotty and his mother, Bertha
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Brothers & Sisters doesn't belong to me but to ABC - Just borrowing
Prompt: 602. - Brothers & Sisters, Scotty Wandell, he wants to tell his mother Kevin and he are trying surrogacy, but he's afraid of her reaction. When he finally talks to Bertha, he's met with unexpected enthusiasm on her part .
Summary: Should he do it?
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Unbeta-d. All mistakes are mine.
*****
This must be the 7th or 8th time he picked up the phone to call her, only to immediately break the connection, before she can pick up. Scotty closes his eyes in desperation. This shouldn’t be so difficult. This should be fun. Every son should be able to call his mother and tell that she will become a grandmother...
But not when you’re Scotty Wandell and your mother is Bertha Wandell, who
a/ has issues with you’re being a gay man,
b/ has issues with the fact that you’re married to another man
c/ will remind you that you won’t be able to this ‘the natural way’ and
d/ she will probably consider this entire surrogacy as a way to ‘play God’ and ...
Scotty sighs. He doesn’t want to consider the negative vibes, that she’ll be sending his way. Why can’t she be more like Kevin’s mother? Nora immediately wanted to know, what she could do, how she could help, she wanted to be there for them... She completely supports them...
And that makes Scotty envious, because he knows that the world will probably stop turning from the pure shock, if his mother would show some interest in what is going on in his life. He rubs his hands together as if they’re cold, takes a deep breath and picks up the phone again. This should not be so hard. Just dial the number and tell her... Just tell her...
But halfway the telephone number, that for some reason he still doesn’t have on speed-dial, probably because Kevin and he don’t have the desire to ‘accidentally’ call her, he throws it back on the desk. He runs his fingers through his hair and rubs his face and covers his ears momentarily with his hands as if he’s trying to cut away all the noises.
He can however not silence her voice in his head. “Scott, this is unnatural.” Or perhaps “Is that what he put you up to?” Kevin is never ‘Kevin’, but always ‘he’, and Scotty knows, that when she says that tiny little word, her face will have that repulsed look as if she just found a cockroach in her dinner.
Scotty gets up and, in the kitchen, pours himself some tea. He paces the floor a few more times. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t tell her? His parents are divorcing and his father is fully on his side. Is it really so important that his mother knows as well? All she will do, is dislike him and his husband even more.
But...Would she be hurt, if Scotty didn’t tell her? Could she understand the reasons why he wouldn’t call her? Probably not, Scotty, as her gay son, is by definition always wrong. So ultimately whatever he does, it really doesn’t matter. If he tells her, then what he’s doing is unnatural and wrong. If he doesn’t tell her, he should have and he’d still be wrong. It’s a no-win situation.
This is too ridiculous for words. For two days he’s been rehearsing his lines on how to tell his mother. Just pull up the curtain, start the show and get it over it! He grabs the phone and quickly punches in the number. His hand still trembles as he hears that a connection is made.
“Hello?”
“Hi, mom?”
“Oh. Scott.” - Yeah, mom, nice to hear your voice too.
“If my calling is inconvenient...?”
“No.”
“Good. I have something I want to tell you...”
“....” The silence thunders in Scotty’s ears.
“Kevin and I are trying to have a baby...”
He holds his breath, waits for the sharp reply, a protest... a hang up? ... but nothing happens...
“Did you hear me, mom?”
“Yes, honey, I was waiting for the rest of your story.” Bertha replies calmly.
Oh-kay, so Bertha is still with him.
“We’ve considered adoption first, but we decided to go with surrogacy instead. It was a lot of deciding, but we’ve found a mother and a friend of mine is willing to carry our child and....”
Cue to speech on ‘not natural behaviour’ laced with ‘what God wants’ and a dash of ‘not approving of this’.... but again, it remains quiet from Bertha’s side. So Scotty goes on:
“... and Michelle, my friend, just found out she’s pregnant. If all goes right... Kevin and I could hold our baby in 7 to 8 months.”
It’s as if Bertha has been holding her breath because, it seems to Scotty, he can definitely hear her exhale.
“That is wonderful news.” Her voice trembles a bit. “So, I’m going to be a grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“I hope you will allow me to see him.. or her?”
“Yes, mom, of course! What did you think? You’re our child’s grandmother.”
“Who’s child will it really be? Yours or his?” Is it Scotty’s imagination or does the ‘his’ no longer sound like a cockroach, but more like a tiny fruit-fly?
For a moment Scotty is tempted to reply that he doesn’t know, because it really should not matter, but then he changes his mind, because he knows it matters to Bertha.
“Mine. I’m the biological father.”
“Oh, that must be so hard for Kevin?” Oh, it’s ‘Kevin’ now?
“No, not really. He will love our child.”
“Of course he will. How could he not? If your child will turn out to be as cute and easy as you were....” Scotty is shocked that his mother actually sounds ... pleased?
“Mom? ... Are you okay?” He asks, feeling slightly concerned by this unexpected twist.
She laughs. She actually laughs and tears well up in Scotty’s eyes, it’s been so long ago since he heard her laugh.
“Scotty... I’m going to be a grandmother. And that baby will be yours and I will love my grandchild... Honey, your dad told me what you and ... Kevin... were planning to do. And I was really hurt, when I found out, from him, because I realized that you obviously felt like you couldn’t tell me, that you wanted to be a father. I thought ... you didn’t want me to be a part of my grandchild's life..?”
Scotty shifts position on the chair. He isn’t sure what to think of this turn of events. Maybe his mother had an epiphany and maybe she had seen what she was about to lose. On the other hand, she might be just jealous at the idea that his father and his new girl-friend, Moira, would play a bigger part in her grandchild’s life than she would.
But whatever the reason is, Scotty is not going to question it. He only wants to lean back in the knowledge that his mother has opened up the lines of communication and seems to want to be a part of this process and, for now, he just wants to enjoy the idea of having a mother who supports him....
THE END
It shouldn’t be so hard.
Author: Marea67
Fandom: Brothers & Sisters
Pairing/characters: Scotty and his mother, Bertha
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Brothers & Sisters doesn't belong to me but to ABC - Just borrowing
Prompt: 602. - Brothers & Sisters, Scotty Wandell, he wants to tell his mother Kevin and he are trying surrogacy, but he's afraid of her reaction. When he finally talks to Bertha, he's met with unexpected enthusiasm on her part .
Summary: Should he do it?
Warnings: None
Author's Notes: Unbeta-d. All mistakes are mine.
*****
This must be the 7th or 8th time he picked up the phone to call her, only to immediately break the connection, before she can pick up. Scotty closes his eyes in desperation. This shouldn’t be so difficult. This should be fun. Every son should be able to call his mother and tell that she will become a grandmother...
But not when you’re Scotty Wandell and your mother is Bertha Wandell, who
a/ has issues with you’re being a gay man,
b/ has issues with the fact that you’re married to another man
c/ will remind you that you won’t be able to this ‘the natural way’ and
d/ she will probably consider this entire surrogacy as a way to ‘play God’ and ...
Scotty sighs. He doesn’t want to consider the negative vibes, that she’ll be sending his way. Why can’t she be more like Kevin’s mother? Nora immediately wanted to know, what she could do, how she could help, she wanted to be there for them... She completely supports them...
And that makes Scotty envious, because he knows that the world will probably stop turning from the pure shock, if his mother would show some interest in what is going on in his life. He rubs his hands together as if they’re cold, takes a deep breath and picks up the phone again. This should not be so hard. Just dial the number and tell her... Just tell her...
But halfway the telephone number, that for some reason he still doesn’t have on speed-dial, probably because Kevin and he don’t have the desire to ‘accidentally’ call her, he throws it back on the desk. He runs his fingers through his hair and rubs his face and covers his ears momentarily with his hands as if he’s trying to cut away all the noises.
He can however not silence her voice in his head. “Scott, this is unnatural.” Or perhaps “Is that what he put you up to?” Kevin is never ‘Kevin’, but always ‘he’, and Scotty knows, that when she says that tiny little word, her face will have that repulsed look as if she just found a cockroach in her dinner.
Scotty gets up and, in the kitchen, pours himself some tea. He paces the floor a few more times. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t tell her? His parents are divorcing and his father is fully on his side. Is it really so important that his mother knows as well? All she will do, is dislike him and his husband even more.
But...Would she be hurt, if Scotty didn’t tell her? Could she understand the reasons why he wouldn’t call her? Probably not, Scotty, as her gay son, is by definition always wrong. So ultimately whatever he does, it really doesn’t matter. If he tells her, then what he’s doing is unnatural and wrong. If he doesn’t tell her, he should have and he’d still be wrong. It’s a no-win situation.
This is too ridiculous for words. For two days he’s been rehearsing his lines on how to tell his mother. Just pull up the curtain, start the show and get it over it! He grabs the phone and quickly punches in the number. His hand still trembles as he hears that a connection is made.
“Hello?”
“Hi, mom?”
“Oh. Scott.” - Yeah, mom, nice to hear your voice too.
“If my calling is inconvenient...?”
“No.”
“Good. I have something I want to tell you...”
“....” The silence thunders in Scotty’s ears.
“Kevin and I are trying to have a baby...”
He holds his breath, waits for the sharp reply, a protest... a hang up? ... but nothing happens...
“Did you hear me, mom?”
“Yes, honey, I was waiting for the rest of your story.” Bertha replies calmly.
Oh-kay, so Bertha is still with him.
“We’ve considered adoption first, but we decided to go with surrogacy instead. It was a lot of deciding, but we’ve found a mother and a friend of mine is willing to carry our child and....”
Cue to speech on ‘not natural behaviour’ laced with ‘what God wants’ and a dash of ‘not approving of this’.... but again, it remains quiet from Bertha’s side. So Scotty goes on:
“... and Michelle, my friend, just found out she’s pregnant. If all goes right... Kevin and I could hold our baby in 7 to 8 months.”
It’s as if Bertha has been holding her breath because, it seems to Scotty, he can definitely hear her exhale.
“That is wonderful news.” Her voice trembles a bit. “So, I’m going to be a grandmother?”
“Yes.”
“I hope you will allow me to see him.. or her?”
“Yes, mom, of course! What did you think? You’re our child’s grandmother.”
“Who’s child will it really be? Yours or his?” Is it Scotty’s imagination or does the ‘his’ no longer sound like a cockroach, but more like a tiny fruit-fly?
For a moment Scotty is tempted to reply that he doesn’t know, because it really should not matter, but then he changes his mind, because he knows it matters to Bertha.
“Mine. I’m the biological father.”
“Oh, that must be so hard for Kevin?” Oh, it’s ‘Kevin’ now?
“No, not really. He will love our child.”
“Of course he will. How could he not? If your child will turn out to be as cute and easy as you were....” Scotty is shocked that his mother actually sounds ... pleased?
“Mom? ... Are you okay?” He asks, feeling slightly concerned by this unexpected twist.
She laughs. She actually laughs and tears well up in Scotty’s eyes, it’s been so long ago since he heard her laugh.
“Scotty... I’m going to be a grandmother. And that baby will be yours and I will love my grandchild... Honey, your dad told me what you and ... Kevin... were planning to do. And I was really hurt, when I found out, from him, because I realized that you obviously felt like you couldn’t tell me, that you wanted to be a father. I thought ... you didn’t want me to be a part of my grandchild's life..?”
Scotty shifts position on the chair. He isn’t sure what to think of this turn of events. Maybe his mother had an epiphany and maybe she had seen what she was about to lose. On the other hand, she might be just jealous at the idea that his father and his new girl-friend, Moira, would play a bigger part in her grandchild’s life than she would.
But whatever the reason is, Scotty is not going to question it. He only wants to lean back in the knowledge that his mother has opened up the lines of communication and seems to want to be a part of this process and, for now, he just wants to enjoy the idea of having a mother who supports him....
THE END