8228 - Really Bad Dialogue
>sorry, my work computer hates LJ cut. fixed now<
Edward was unceremoniously shoved into his own lab.
“WHAT?” he complained.
“You know those biological samples that you thought were stupid to grow and test?” asked Madeline?
“What? What about them?” Edward asked, looking confused.
“Well, look!” Madeline had continued to pull Edward to her tiny section of the lab.
“Ya don’t have to push, ya know, “ Edward protested. His childhood accent, from before his family moved from Minnesota to Chicago, squeaked thought.
Madeline looked annoyed.“You never did pay any attention to green. Or red.” She sighed.
“Okay,” she begin. “Look at the control plants. See the nice tomatoes?” She mimicked the word tomato from Edward’s favorite Lord of the Rings movies.
“Okay, yes, they are RED, I can see that.” Edward looked at her. “I do to notice the color red!”
“Okay,” she repeated. “Experimental group A is the next case over.” She walked the couple steps to the case on the left.
“See anything?”
“Oh, well, there are no tomatoes.” Edward mimicked the word, too.
“Yeah, problem. These are the same age as the first case of tomatoes.” She was amused and pissed that Edward said the word tomatoes like Merry. Something about Edward brought that irritation and amusement out of her.
“Okay. Problem.”
“Now look at the next case.” Again, she stepped over a couple feet.
Edward looked, and looked again. “Are the tomatoes supposed to be black like that?” He dropped the cute tomato.
“Uh, no. Or that small. Or that poisonous. Come on, the tomato was once thought of as poisonous, then I think it a love apple or something.. anyway, no. This is bad.”
Edward looked at her. “What did you do to the plants?”
“Nothing.” She sighed again. “You did it.”
++++++
Thomas, true to his word, dragged Edward to Maggie’s baby shower. It would be good to see her again. She was such a beautiful, slender, graceful and happy bride. It would be nice to see her husband Sam again as well. He wondered if Maggie told Edward that his former beau would be there, practically acting as au pair, even before the tiny bundle of joy arrived. Thomas would leave that surprise to Edward to find out. It’s been three years, a bit over that. He had hoped that Edward would have found someone else, but Edward appears to be the absent minded professor as far as the same and/or opposite sex goes. Except for the absent minded part, he mused.
Edward blinked in the sunshine. His pale face was even more evident in this mild fall. He sighed. He wanted back in his lab. Even with Madeline there, harping about her tomatoes, he wanted back. He didn’t need to see Maggie or Sam or Dad or Mom, that’s want the Net was for.
“THOMAS!” yelled a woman from the house door. “and EDWARD?!” she continued, astonished. “Wow! You are so thin and pale, Eddie Boy, what are you doing to yourself??”
“Hi Mom.” Edward looked down at his mother and submitted himself to her bone crushing hug. “Hi,” he repeated, not having anything to say.
Martha released Edward quickly, to Edwards relief. Martha knew her boy, even though she will get a hug in, she will make it brief.
“Thomas!” Martha looked up at her oldest.
“Mom,” Thomas’ hug picked Martha up from for floor. He shook her a bit in his embrace.
Martha squealed. “Thomas!” she falsely admonished. “Put your poor aged mother down!” She giggled. No, Maggie doesn’t take after Mom at all, Thomas thought.
Treating Martha as gently as a newborn kitten, he set his mom down. “Now, where’s the Womb of Honor?”
“What??” said Maggie, walking up from behind Martha.
Thomas started, “There you are, you…” He trailed off.
Maggie blinked up at him. “What?”
“Uh, “ Thomas tried to regain his composure. “Uh, wow, you look great! And no pregnancy weight? How did you do that?” Thomas looked confused, concerned.
“Oh, that. I’ve lost weight since the wedding. To much marital activity, I suppose! Here’s the proof,” Maggie thrust her melon balled stomach at Thomas. “Meet your Whatsit!”
Thomas laughed, touching her belly. “Oh, there he is. Or she,” he corrected. He smiled. But he was going to talk to Mom about this weight thing, as soon as he got a chance.
“Edward!” Maggie yelled. Edward stepped awkwardly forward. Maggie waddled over the last few feet and gave Edward a brief, gentle hug. “Oh, and you wore a yellow shirt for me! How sweet!”
Edward smiled, but inwardly he thought, god, I thought woman gained weight when they were pregnant. Is it really a parasite?
“Edward! It is not a parasite!” Maggie admonished. “You were thinking out loud again.” Maggie smirked at her twin. “What evar,” she mimicked the slang of their youth.
He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t thinking out loud. You are just weird. Still weird.” Maggie smiled happily and bounced, gently, back to her other guests.
++++++
“What is wrong with Maggie, Mom?” Thomas finally cornered Martha in the kitchen.
Martha smiled, “Wrong? She’s pregnant, honey. Would have thought that a biology / ecology / environmentalist doctor type person could see that. Want to see the dead rabbit?” Martha’s smiled turned nervous.
“Mom,” Thomas started.
She sighed. “I know, I know. And I don’t know. The doctors say she is fine, just thin.”
“Thin? She’s a rail! I can see her ribs! The only healthy part of her body, that I can see, is her belly!” He gasped, eyes widening. “The baby, what…”
Martha shushed him. “He, or she, is fine. Oh, Maggie wanted to do the old fashioned thing and not know the gender of the baby. I told her that she was going to get a lot of gender neutral clothing, yellows and greens, and she laughed at me. Said yellow was her favorite color and green was yours, so it was alright. Oh, I’m babbling.”
“Really?” Thomas cocked his head at his mom. “Uh. How about that.”
“Thomas,” Martha shook her head at her son. “Behave.”
“The doctors, they don’t know what’s wrong? Really? But the baby is alright.” Thomas’ eyes had that concerned look again. “Really?”
“That’s what Maggie and Sam said.” Answered Martha. She looked up at her son again. “What? What?”
“Don’t you remember our family motto, mom?” Thomas looked sternly at her.
“What. Oh. Well. I tried really hard to stop that genetic / behavioral train wreck of a family communication, heh, style.”
“Yeah. ‘I didn’t want you to worry’.” Thomas left the kitchen to track down his waddling sister.
++++++
Thomas strode back into the living room. He easily spotted his front heavy sister talking to her twin.
“Honey, I love that you wore yellow, I really do, but next time you ware that top, don’t wear these green slacks. If you want to go the green route, they need to be much darker, otherwise you look, uh,…”
“Mags?” Thomas interrupted.
Edward looked up gratefully at his older brother. Maggie turned and was about to ask, what, but saw the look in his eyes. “Oh,” she said instead.
“Let’s talk, hon.” Thomas extended his arm, like in the good old days, for Maggie to put her arm though. But his face was not the happy go lucky face he wore back in the day.
They left the room together. Edward breathed a sigh of relief.
“Eddie?” said a tenitive voice from behind him. Edward turned, already beginning, “I can’t believe that there is someone in this family who still insists…” Then he stopped. Looked at the man before him. And at the 2 year old girl child holding a plush bunny by the ear.
“Hi Eddie.” Jory said. “Honey, say hello to Eddie.”
Edward corrected him. “Edward.” He repeated his name to the little girl, nodding at her. “Edward.”
“Edwared”, repeated the girl, somehow managing to insert another syllable in his name. “Hi Edwared!” She stuck her thumb in her mouth and contemplated the man before her.
“Honey, don’t do that. Thumb out of mouth, please.”
The girl made a popping sound as she pulled out her thumb. “Not Honey. Aurora.” She said firmly. She looked sternly at her dad, like the man did, and wandered away.
“Well, you already have influenced her. First time she’s ever insisted on me calling her full name.” Jory said to Edward.
“Ah. Um.” Edward said.
“What am I doing here, you ask?” said Jory. “Friends with your sister, Godmother to Rory, uh, Aurora,” he annunciated.
“How did you met her? Did you look her up? Did you look my family up?” Edward started, disbelieving, “Why? Why did you?”
Jory took a step back from the freaked man. “What the hell? No, I wouldn’t stalk you. Why? You made yourself perfectly clear.” Jory looked at Edward. “Remember? I was part of the cleaning and sterilizing staff? Mm? When I left, I didn’t know where to go or who to go to. So I went to my former supervisor’s house. Calley. You know, your dad?”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Edward asked.
“Tell you what? What? You didn’t want to talk to me. Ever again, if I recall.” Jory looked hurt, though, still after these few years. “Eddie, sorry, Edward, we didn’t even make the connection until a month or two later. I call, called, you Eddie. No one in your life has ever done that, more than the one time it takes you to tell them to never do it again.
“I called to Eddie when I told your dad what happened. He didn’t even dream it was you. It was only when he pulled out a family album that I saw your face, my Eddie. Then, why tell you? That I was staying at your families house for a few months to get back on my feet?” Jory paused. ‘It wasn’t your families house that I went to, Edward. It was my supervisors house, a boss that turned into a good, good friend. Better than anyone deserves, anyway.” Jory looked across the room at his daughter. “Better granddad than anyone else, too, I would bet.”
Edward calmed down. “Oh,” he said. “Alright. Sorry. I’m, sorry. Just, uh, well, stupid I guess. I’m sorry.” He said again. He said that he was sorry, but his eyes said that he was sorry for everything.
“It’s okay.” Jory told him. “It’s okay.”
+++++++++
Thomas walked with Maggie up into her old bedroom.
“This is about the weight, isn’t it?” stared Maggie.
“Ya think?”
“Look, it’s okay, I know that you haven’t seen me since, and by the way, who told you to stay away for three years? Your overlords? Fine brother you make…”
“Thank you, Miss Change the Subject.”
Maggie shrugged. “Well, yeah, okay. Look, though. It’s really okay. I’m really okay. I’m just thin. Baby is fine.”
Thomas shook his head. “Yeah.” He said contractiding his head shake.
Maggie looked up at her brother. She sat on the bed, with somewhat less grace than in years past.
“Hey, where’s Sam, anyway?” Thomas suddenly thought of his brother in law.
“What? Oh. He’ll be here soon. He’s almost off work.”
“Does he know?”
“Know what?’
“Maggie!”
Maggie closed her eyes. “Damn you and your observational skill set, “ she said, repeating some report that Thomas gave at some point in their childhood years.
“Yeah” Thomas repeated. He had not set down yet and was looming over Maggie.
“Sit down, will ya? Gosh, we aren’t from Minnesota, are we?”
Thomas snorted. “Oh, yah, ya betcha.” He turned, found a chair, and pulled it towards the bed.
“Now, enough. Out with it.”
“I don’t know. They don’t know.”
“What? Not helpful!” protested Thomas. “What do they THINK it is?”
“I’m not taking in nutrients, proteins, amino acids, whatever science y thing. I’m not digesting food property. I’m, well, as much as I eat, it doesn’t make a difference. I’ve been slowly losing weight ever since before my wedding. Remember when I said my ring was too loose, that I thought I’d damage it?”
“What? Oh .Yes.”
“Well, that was me, starting to drop weight. I didn’t mind at first. I thought it was wedding jitters, then I thought it was honeymoon, uh, jitters, then newlywed jitters, and I just kept taking the pounds off. Sam noticed at the first, but I told him that I was watching my figure, whatever. But of course, he’s just about as observant as you, “ Maggie paused, smiling to herself, ‘but he has different access, ya know?”
“Anyway, “ Thomas prompted.
“Yes, yes, anyway. Well, I finally went to the doctor, and a couple more doctors, and they can’t figure it out. I’m dropping weight. And I don’t have a lot to drop anymore.”
“Not that you did in the first place.”
“Yeah, well.”
“Are they doing anything? Anything at all?”
“They told me to eat anything in sight that I wanted to eat. Also to eat anything that I didn’t want to eat, and to eat anything that I couldn’t see,” she smiled at her verbal jumble. “Anyway. They have been making a special food for me, that is insanely easily digestible, and that has slowed the weight loss.”
“Slowed? How about stop? Stopping is good.”
“Not yet. Right now, I’m focusing on the baby. I’m eating all I can, even the special food, for her.” Maggie winced. “Oh, kick!” She grabbed her belly.
“No no no no, you aren’t getting away from that. HER?” Thomas asked.
Maggie straightened up immediately. “Oh well. College try, yadda yadda. Yeah, it’s her.”
“Name?”
“What? No!”
“Name?”
“No!”
Thomas looked at her.
She snorted at him. “Alexandria.”
Thomas smiled. “Wow. Mouthful.” He leaned over Maggie’s abdomen. “Ello, ‘lexandra!”
“Silly,” Maggie smiled.
Thomas looked into her eyes. “I’m worried about you. Can I do anything? Sneak out some new medicine and technology out of the Tower? Pre chew your food? Rub your feet? No, not rub your feet. Ew.”
Maggie laughed. “The doctors are working on it. Really. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m eating!”
“Hey! It’s a worm!” Thomas leapt out of his chair. “It’s a tapeworm! My god, I’m an idiot! Why didn’t I see this when I walked into the house! Doctor Callefail!”
“Ew! And, no, sorry hon, they already checked. Not only a full body scan thingy with some of that famous new medience and tech, they already flooded my body with anti whatevers to kill anything that may have been hitching a ride.”
“Alexandria?”
“No worries, this was before she was conceived.”
“Okay. Huh, you used to be better with your vocab.”
“What ev! Hormones! Sure!” Maggie shook her head. “Like, whatever! Nouns are pretty much gone, ‘k?”
“Like, okay,” Thomas smiled. He then sobered. “Look, girl, this gets worse, you call me. You call me outta whatever stupid important over glorified lab rat crap they got me doing.”
“Lab rat crap? You are going scatological research now?” Maggie grinned. “HA! Vocab my ass.”
“Yeah yeah, you call me, ya hear?” He reached over and thumped Maggie’s forehead softly.
Maggie leaned away from his knuckles, “Yes, big brother!”
Edward was unceremoniously shoved into his own lab.
“WHAT?” he complained.
“You know those biological samples that you thought were stupid to grow and test?” asked Madeline?
“What? What about them?” Edward asked, looking confused.
“Well, look!” Madeline had continued to pull Edward to her tiny section of the lab.
“Ya don’t have to push, ya know, “ Edward protested. His childhood accent, from before his family moved from Minnesota to Chicago, squeaked thought.
Madeline looked annoyed.“You never did pay any attention to green. Or red.” She sighed.
“Okay,” she begin. “Look at the control plants. See the nice tomatoes?” She mimicked the word tomato from Edward’s favorite Lord of the Rings movies.
“Okay, yes, they are RED, I can see that.” Edward looked at her. “I do to notice the color red!”
“Okay,” she repeated. “Experimental group A is the next case over.” She walked the couple steps to the case on the left.
“See anything?”
“Oh, well, there are no tomatoes.” Edward mimicked the word, too.
“Yeah, problem. These are the same age as the first case of tomatoes.” She was amused and pissed that Edward said the word tomatoes like Merry. Something about Edward brought that irritation and amusement out of her.
“Okay. Problem.”
“Now look at the next case.” Again, she stepped over a couple feet.
Edward looked, and looked again. “Are the tomatoes supposed to be black like that?” He dropped the cute tomato.
“Uh, no. Or that small. Or that poisonous. Come on, the tomato was once thought of as poisonous, then I think it a love apple or something.. anyway, no. This is bad.”
Edward looked at her. “What did you do to the plants?”
“Nothing.” She sighed again. “You did it.”
++++++
Thomas, true to his word, dragged Edward to Maggie’s baby shower. It would be good to see her again. She was such a beautiful, slender, graceful and happy bride. It would be nice to see her husband Sam again as well. He wondered if Maggie told Edward that his former beau would be there, practically acting as au pair, even before the tiny bundle of joy arrived. Thomas would leave that surprise to Edward to find out. It’s been three years, a bit over that. He had hoped that Edward would have found someone else, but Edward appears to be the absent minded professor as far as the same and/or opposite sex goes. Except for the absent minded part, he mused.
Edward blinked in the sunshine. His pale face was even more evident in this mild fall. He sighed. He wanted back in his lab. Even with Madeline there, harping about her tomatoes, he wanted back. He didn’t need to see Maggie or Sam or Dad or Mom, that’s want the Net was for.
“THOMAS!” yelled a woman from the house door. “and EDWARD?!” she continued, astonished. “Wow! You are so thin and pale, Eddie Boy, what are you doing to yourself??”
“Hi Mom.” Edward looked down at his mother and submitted himself to her bone crushing hug. “Hi,” he repeated, not having anything to say.
Martha released Edward quickly, to Edwards relief. Martha knew her boy, even though she will get a hug in, she will make it brief.
“Thomas!” Martha looked up at her oldest.
“Mom,” Thomas’ hug picked Martha up from for floor. He shook her a bit in his embrace.
Martha squealed. “Thomas!” she falsely admonished. “Put your poor aged mother down!” She giggled. No, Maggie doesn’t take after Mom at all, Thomas thought.
Treating Martha as gently as a newborn kitten, he set his mom down. “Now, where’s the Womb of Honor?”
“What??” said Maggie, walking up from behind Martha.
Thomas started, “There you are, you…” He trailed off.
Maggie blinked up at him. “What?”
“Uh, “ Thomas tried to regain his composure. “Uh, wow, you look great! And no pregnancy weight? How did you do that?” Thomas looked confused, concerned.
“Oh, that. I’ve lost weight since the wedding. To much marital activity, I suppose! Here’s the proof,” Maggie thrust her melon balled stomach at Thomas. “Meet your Whatsit!”
Thomas laughed, touching her belly. “Oh, there he is. Or she,” he corrected. He smiled. But he was going to talk to Mom about this weight thing, as soon as he got a chance.
“Edward!” Maggie yelled. Edward stepped awkwardly forward. Maggie waddled over the last few feet and gave Edward a brief, gentle hug. “Oh, and you wore a yellow shirt for me! How sweet!”
Edward smiled, but inwardly he thought, god, I thought woman gained weight when they were pregnant. Is it really a parasite?
“Edward! It is not a parasite!” Maggie admonished. “You were thinking out loud again.” Maggie smirked at her twin. “What evar,” she mimicked the slang of their youth.
He shook his head. “No, I wasn’t thinking out loud. You are just weird. Still weird.” Maggie smiled happily and bounced, gently, back to her other guests.
++++++
“What is wrong with Maggie, Mom?” Thomas finally cornered Martha in the kitchen.
Martha smiled, “Wrong? She’s pregnant, honey. Would have thought that a biology / ecology / environmentalist doctor type person could see that. Want to see the dead rabbit?” Martha’s smiled turned nervous.
“Mom,” Thomas started.
She sighed. “I know, I know. And I don’t know. The doctors say she is fine, just thin.”
“Thin? She’s a rail! I can see her ribs! The only healthy part of her body, that I can see, is her belly!” He gasped, eyes widening. “The baby, what…”
Martha shushed him. “He, or she, is fine. Oh, Maggie wanted to do the old fashioned thing and not know the gender of the baby. I told her that she was going to get a lot of gender neutral clothing, yellows and greens, and she laughed at me. Said yellow was her favorite color and green was yours, so it was alright. Oh, I’m babbling.”
“Really?” Thomas cocked his head at his mom. “Uh. How about that.”
“Thomas,” Martha shook her head at her son. “Behave.”
“The doctors, they don’t know what’s wrong? Really? But the baby is alright.” Thomas’ eyes had that concerned look again. “Really?”
“That’s what Maggie and Sam said.” Answered Martha. She looked up at her son again. “What? What?”
“Don’t you remember our family motto, mom?” Thomas looked sternly at her.
“What. Oh. Well. I tried really hard to stop that genetic / behavioral train wreck of a family communication, heh, style.”
“Yeah. ‘I didn’t want you to worry’.” Thomas left the kitchen to track down his waddling sister.
++++++
Thomas strode back into the living room. He easily spotted his front heavy sister talking to her twin.
“Honey, I love that you wore yellow, I really do, but next time you ware that top, don’t wear these green slacks. If you want to go the green route, they need to be much darker, otherwise you look, uh,…”
“Mags?” Thomas interrupted.
Edward looked up gratefully at his older brother. Maggie turned and was about to ask, what, but saw the look in his eyes. “Oh,” she said instead.
“Let’s talk, hon.” Thomas extended his arm, like in the good old days, for Maggie to put her arm though. But his face was not the happy go lucky face he wore back in the day.
They left the room together. Edward breathed a sigh of relief.
“Eddie?” said a tenitive voice from behind him. Edward turned, already beginning, “I can’t believe that there is someone in this family who still insists…” Then he stopped. Looked at the man before him. And at the 2 year old girl child holding a plush bunny by the ear.
“Hi Eddie.” Jory said. “Honey, say hello to Eddie.”
Edward corrected him. “Edward.” He repeated his name to the little girl, nodding at her. “Edward.”
“Edwared”, repeated the girl, somehow managing to insert another syllable in his name. “Hi Edwared!” She stuck her thumb in her mouth and contemplated the man before her.
“Honey, don’t do that. Thumb out of mouth, please.”
The girl made a popping sound as she pulled out her thumb. “Not Honey. Aurora.” She said firmly. She looked sternly at her dad, like the man did, and wandered away.
“Well, you already have influenced her. First time she’s ever insisted on me calling her full name.” Jory said to Edward.
“Ah. Um.” Edward said.
“What am I doing here, you ask?” said Jory. “Friends with your sister, Godmother to Rory, uh, Aurora,” he annunciated.
“How did you met her? Did you look her up? Did you look my family up?” Edward started, disbelieving, “Why? Why did you?”
Jory took a step back from the freaked man. “What the hell? No, I wouldn’t stalk you. Why? You made yourself perfectly clear.” Jory looked at Edward. “Remember? I was part of the cleaning and sterilizing staff? Mm? When I left, I didn’t know where to go or who to go to. So I went to my former supervisor’s house. Calley. You know, your dad?”
“And you didn’t tell me?” Edward asked.
“Tell you what? What? You didn’t want to talk to me. Ever again, if I recall.” Jory looked hurt, though, still after these few years. “Eddie, sorry, Edward, we didn’t even make the connection until a month or two later. I call, called, you Eddie. No one in your life has ever done that, more than the one time it takes you to tell them to never do it again.
“I called to Eddie when I told your dad what happened. He didn’t even dream it was you. It was only when he pulled out a family album that I saw your face, my Eddie. Then, why tell you? That I was staying at your families house for a few months to get back on my feet?” Jory paused. ‘It wasn’t your families house that I went to, Edward. It was my supervisors house, a boss that turned into a good, good friend. Better than anyone deserves, anyway.” Jory looked across the room at his daughter. “Better granddad than anyone else, too, I would bet.”
Edward calmed down. “Oh,” he said. “Alright. Sorry. I’m, sorry. Just, uh, well, stupid I guess. I’m sorry.” He said again. He said that he was sorry, but his eyes said that he was sorry for everything.
“It’s okay.” Jory told him. “It’s okay.”
+++++++++
Thomas walked with Maggie up into her old bedroom.
“This is about the weight, isn’t it?” stared Maggie.
“Ya think?”
“Look, it’s okay, I know that you haven’t seen me since, and by the way, who told you to stay away for three years? Your overlords? Fine brother you make…”
“Thank you, Miss Change the Subject.”
Maggie shrugged. “Well, yeah, okay. Look, though. It’s really okay. I’m really okay. I’m just thin. Baby is fine.”
Thomas shook his head. “Yeah.” He said contractiding his head shake.
Maggie looked up at her brother. She sat on the bed, with somewhat less grace than in years past.
“Hey, where’s Sam, anyway?” Thomas suddenly thought of his brother in law.
“What? Oh. He’ll be here soon. He’s almost off work.”
“Does he know?”
“Know what?’
“Maggie!”
Maggie closed her eyes. “Damn you and your observational skill set, “ she said, repeating some report that Thomas gave at some point in their childhood years.
“Yeah” Thomas repeated. He had not set down yet and was looming over Maggie.
“Sit down, will ya? Gosh, we aren’t from Minnesota, are we?”
Thomas snorted. “Oh, yah, ya betcha.” He turned, found a chair, and pulled it towards the bed.
“Now, enough. Out with it.”
“I don’t know. They don’t know.”
“What? Not helpful!” protested Thomas. “What do they THINK it is?”
“I’m not taking in nutrients, proteins, amino acids, whatever science y thing. I’m not digesting food property. I’m, well, as much as I eat, it doesn’t make a difference. I’ve been slowly losing weight ever since before my wedding. Remember when I said my ring was too loose, that I thought I’d damage it?”
“What? Oh .Yes.”
“Well, that was me, starting to drop weight. I didn’t mind at first. I thought it was wedding jitters, then I thought it was honeymoon, uh, jitters, then newlywed jitters, and I just kept taking the pounds off. Sam noticed at the first, but I told him that I was watching my figure, whatever. But of course, he’s just about as observant as you, “ Maggie paused, smiling to herself, ‘but he has different access, ya know?”
“Anyway, “ Thomas prompted.
“Yes, yes, anyway. Well, I finally went to the doctor, and a couple more doctors, and they can’t figure it out. I’m dropping weight. And I don’t have a lot to drop anymore.”
“Not that you did in the first place.”
“Yeah, well.”
“Are they doing anything? Anything at all?”
“They told me to eat anything in sight that I wanted to eat. Also to eat anything that I didn’t want to eat, and to eat anything that I couldn’t see,” she smiled at her verbal jumble. “Anyway. They have been making a special food for me, that is insanely easily digestible, and that has slowed the weight loss.”
“Slowed? How about stop? Stopping is good.”
“Not yet. Right now, I’m focusing on the baby. I’m eating all I can, even the special food, for her.” Maggie winced. “Oh, kick!” She grabbed her belly.
“No no no no, you aren’t getting away from that. HER?” Thomas asked.
Maggie straightened up immediately. “Oh well. College try, yadda yadda. Yeah, it’s her.”
“Name?”
“What? No!”
“Name?”
“No!”
Thomas looked at her.
She snorted at him. “Alexandria.”
Thomas smiled. “Wow. Mouthful.” He leaned over Maggie’s abdomen. “Ello, ‘lexandra!”
“Silly,” Maggie smiled.
Thomas looked into her eyes. “I’m worried about you. Can I do anything? Sneak out some new medicine and technology out of the Tower? Pre chew your food? Rub your feet? No, not rub your feet. Ew.”
Maggie laughed. “The doctors are working on it. Really. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m eating!”
“Hey! It’s a worm!” Thomas leapt out of his chair. “It’s a tapeworm! My god, I’m an idiot! Why didn’t I see this when I walked into the house! Doctor Callefail!”
“Ew! And, no, sorry hon, they already checked. Not only a full body scan thingy with some of that famous new medience and tech, they already flooded my body with anti whatevers to kill anything that may have been hitching a ride.”
“Alexandria?”
“No worries, this was before she was conceived.”
“Okay. Huh, you used to be better with your vocab.”
“What ev! Hormones! Sure!” Maggie shook her head. “Like, whatever! Nouns are pretty much gone, ‘k?”
“Like, okay,” Thomas smiled. He then sobered. “Look, girl, this gets worse, you call me. You call me outta whatever stupid important over glorified lab rat crap they got me doing.”
“Lab rat crap? You are going scatological research now?” Maggie grinned. “HA! Vocab my ass.”
“Yeah yeah, you call me, ya hear?” He reached over and thumped Maggie’s forehead softly.
Maggie leaned away from his knuckles, “Yes, big brother!”