JC: Ed Biggers
Part 4: Adjournment
Chapter 2
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Sitting on the floor, Ed was playing with the blocks as Beth 
crawled towards him. She was able to move around the room with 
ease and fast enough that it was difficult to catch her when she 
wanted to evade a pursuer. Without much of an effort she sat up to 
concentrate on the blocks that Ed had stacked one atop the other. 
With great deliberation, she knocked the bottom block out of the 
stack and watched it fall down. Looking up at Ed, she said, 
"Good."

Ed rebuilt the stack and watched as Beth studied the stack. 
Reaching out, she knocked out a middle block. Again the entire 
pile fell, as the top blocks brought down the bottom blocks as they 
traveled back to the floor. A frown crossed her face as she said, 
"Bad."

Ed was about to rebuild the stack, when Beth started grabbing the 
blocks. Watching her as she recreated the tower, he was struck by 
the concentrated effort that she made to reproduce his tower to the 
same number of blocks. Once it was done, she looked at it for a 
long time before knocking the top block off the tower. The tower 
remained standing as the knocked block fell harmlessly to the side. 
A smile crossed her face and she said, "Good."

She replaced the block and then knocked off the top two blocks. 
Again, the rest of the tower remained standing as the two blocks 
landed to the side. Looking up at Ed, she said, "Good."

Staring at her open mouthed in amazement at what she had done, 
Ed said, "That was very interesting Beth."

John looked up from the couch where he was reading a journal 
article and asked, "What was interesting?"

Ed answered, "Beth brought down a tower of blocks by knocking 
the bottom block out. She then tried knocking the middle block 
out, but the whole tower fell. Then she rebuilt the tower and 
knocked off the top block leaving the tower standing. She rebuilt 
the tower again and then knocked the top two blocks off."

"That is interesting." John wasn't surprised that Beth was knocking 
the structure down and rebuilding it. He had read that a lot of 
children did that, but she was doing it a little earlier than most 
children did.

"It's even better. She commented good and bad if the behavior was 
what she expected."

Sitting up a little straighter at the new information, John asked, 
"Really?"

"Yes, really," replied Ed. Ed added, "Her expectations were pretty 
good."

"It would have been interesting to see what she would have 
thought of frictionless blocks," replied John. He considered the 
demonstration of gravity that she had performed a couple of days 
before. Noticing that Ed had rolled his eyes, he added, "She's a 
physicist."

"I think it is too early to say that. She said that my rocks were 
pretty," replied Ed. 

"She just built an arch! She's either a physicist or an architect. 
Besides, your rocks are pretty even if you aren't a mineralogist," 
commented John.

The men were still discussing the future occupation of their 
daughter, when Beth said, "Mama Ling."

Both men looked up at Ling standing at the entrance to the 
informal living room. Her swollen belly looked like it was about to 
burst any moment. A grimace crossed her face as she bent over. 
Anyone could see that she was having a contraction and a major 
one at that. Ed pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial. One 
the second ring, Dr. Hayes answered, "Hello."

Excited, nervous, and happy at the same time, Ed exclaimed, "Ling 
is having a contraction!"

"Calm down. Has her water broke?"

Ed looked over at Ling as John was helping her into the room. He 
asked, "Has your water broke?"

"Yes."

Seeing the excitement of the adults in the room, Beth started to get 
fearful. As Ed relayed the message to the doctor, he reached down 
and picked up Beth. She immediately calmed down in his arms. 

Dr. Hayes said, "Get her to the van and stop by to pick me up. I'll 
ride with her to the hospital. You and everyone else can follow in 
your own cars because I don't want the van crowded in case I have 
to deliver a baby."

Ed hung up the phone and said, "John, get her to the van and pick 
up Doc Hayes. I'll get everyone else and we'll meet you at the 
hospital."

John picked up Ling and carried her out of the room despite the 
fact that she could still walk. At least he didn't run, although he did 
walk a little faster than necessary. 

Looking down at Beth, Ed smiled and said, "You are about to 
become a big sister! I think that you'll love being a big sister."

After a minute of looking at Ed, Beth said, "Mama Ling."

"She's okay. She's having a baby and we need to take her to the 
place where people have babies," replied Ed. 

Ed picked up the phone in the room and called Cathy. When she 
answered, he said, "Cathy, let everyone know that Ling is on her 
way to the hospital to have a baby."

This was going to take a little time since Kelly was in her 
bedroom, Leroy was at the University, and Linda was at the 
library. Chuckling at how difficult it was to get the whole family in 
one place, Cathy answered, "Okay, I'll send out the word."

Within minutes, Kelly showed up in the informal living room. She 
looked at Beth snuggled comfortably in Ed's arms and listened as 
he explained to the baby that she was about to become a big sister. 
She interrupted, "You two ready to go to the hospital?"

"Yes, we were just talking about how Ling was going to have a 
baby," replied Ed.

Shaking her head, Kelly felt that Beth was too young to understand 
exactly what that meant. She went over and accepted Beth from 
Ed. The first action that Beth performed was to grasp the medallion 
that hung around Kelly's neck. Noticing the action, Kelly said, 
"She just loves my medallion."

Puzzled, Ed said, "She totally ignores mine."

"That's because she's always holding your finger," replied Kelly 
with a smile. She had come to believe that Beth really looked 
forward to being with each of her parents. She dealt with each of 
them in very individual ways. If she was feeling finicky, no one 
could calm her down faster than Linda. It was interesting how 
fascinated Beth had been with Ling's belly. It was as if she could 
feel the life growing within Ling. Beth would race around the 
room, crawling as Leroy chased her and then they would reverse 
roles. Of all the relationships, the one between Beth and John was 
the most complex and hardest to describe. 

Getting out of the chair, Ed put an arm on Kelly's back to guide her 
to the car. On the way out of the house, he stopped and picked up 
the baby bag with spare diapers, a change of clothes, and a book. 
After that, it was a matter of buckling the baby into the baby seat 
of the car. It always amazed Ed at how much longer it took to get 
somewhere with Beth along. 

At the hospital, Ed and Kelly went to the waiting room. Dr. and 
Mrs. Hayes were already in the room, sitting on two of the chairs 
talking to each other. When they entered, Mrs. Hayes said, "Give 
Beth to me so that I can be a grandmother for a few minutes."

Laughing in acknowledgement that getting time with Beth was 
difficult at best, Kelly handed the baby over to the elderly woman. 
Mrs. Hayes bounced Beth on her knee remarking, "She's such a 
well behaved baby."

Puzzled by the comment, Ed asked, "Why wouldn't she be well 
behaved?"

"Some babies are fussy."

"When she's fussy, we give her to Linda and she calms right 
down," answered Ed as though that explained everything. Of 
course, having six parents meant that each could deal with the 
child in their own fashion. Linda calmed her down and Leroy 
cheered her up.

It wasn't long before Linda and Leroy showed up in the waiting 
room. After a quick hello, Linda headed off into the hospital to be 
the Lamaze coach for Ling. Leroy came over to Dr. and Mrs. 
Hayes to see how they were doing. Leroy had basically taken care 
of the elderly couple ever since they had arrived. However, little 
Beth had different ideas about what Leroy was supposed to do and 
exclaimed, "Daddy Leroy!"

When Beth started to struggle, Mrs. Hayes set her on the floor. 
Within seconds, Beth was racing around the room, crawling as fast 
as she could. Leroy was on his hands and knees chasing her. Even 
though she was outpacing him, he called, "I'm going to get you!"

After about four circuits around the waiting room, Beth was tired 
and hungry.  She returned to Kelly and slowly stood up using 
Kelly's leg as a support. With a wink at Leroy, Kelly picked her 
up. Once Beth had reached her lap, she started pulling at the 
buttons of the shirt. Getting the hint, Kelly undid her blouse to feed 
her. As Beth went to suckle, her hand closed around the medallion. 

Ed noticed the gesture and thought about it. Most people missed 
the medallion, not seeing it unless it was pointed out to them. Beth 
was always aware of the medallion as though it was a bright 
presence that couldn't be ignored. 

Mrs. Hayes watched the domestic scene with interest. When she 
was a mother, most women used a bottle to feed their children, 
often times without ever breast feeding the child once. When she 
was a mother, a woman with money never bared her breast to feed 
a child, especially in public. She commented, "In my day women 
didn't breastfeed their babies. I think we missed something 
special."

After years of hearing her mother talk about breast feeding her, 
Kelly replied, "My parents were free spirits and I was breast feed. I 
guess that was kind of exceptional at the time."

Listening to the conversation, Leroy had a totally different 
perspective. He had seen lots of women breast feeding their 
children when he was growing up. He said, "My parents weren't 
rich and lived in the country. Breast feeding was very common."

For Ed, the conversation was about a topic that he had never given 
any thought. It was an interesting discussion, as he had never 
thought about how people raised their children in such 
fundamentally different ways. He had always thought that 
everyone fed babies milk out of a bottle. He couldn't remember 
ever seeing anyone breastfeeding a baby before. By the time the 
discussion ended, Beth had finished feeding.

Another family came into the room just after Kelly had finished 
buttoning her blouse. There were two women and two men. It 
wasn't difficult to identify the relationships among the group. The 
two men were brothers, about two years different in age, and 
differed only in behavior. The younger brother was very nervous 
while the older brother was calm. The elderly woman was the 
mother of the young men. The younger woman was married to the 
calm brother. 

The people were not well dressed. The brothers wore tee shirts 
with the names of bands on them and looked like they did manual 
work; at least when they worked. The older brother had a pack of 
cigarettes rolled in the sleeve of his tee shirt. The wife wore shorts 
and a halter-top; her hair was cut short and styled in spikes. The 
mother was dressed in tight fitting jeans and a frilly blouse. 

The younger woman came over to Kelly and, smiling at Kelly, 
bent down to look at Beth. She tickled Beth and said, "Goo, Goo, 
Gah, Gah."

With a look of puzzlement on her face, Beth said, "Huh?"

It was at that moment when Kelly realized no one in the family 
ever used baby talk with Beth. The thought of talking nonsense to 
the baby had never occurred to any of them. The woman was 
puzzled by the baby's odd response. She said, "Is she deaf or 
something?"

Looking over at the woman, Kelly explained, "She doesn't 
understand what you said. Could you maybe restate what you were 
saying?"

Without really thinking about it, Leroy added, "I didn't understand 
it either."

Confused by his statement, the woman said, "It isn't supposed to 
mean anything, it is baby talk."

Everyone sat there for a moment not knowing exactly what to say. 
Finally, Leroy asked, "Beth, do you like baby talk?"

"No." 

As she shrugged her shoulders as an apology, Kelly looked up at 
the woman and said, "I'm sorry. She doesn't like baby talk."

The woman scoffed, "You can't be serious. She can't understand 
that much."

As her fingers rubbed the medallion around Kelly's neck, Beth 
answered, "Can."

Looking at the woman, Ed asked, "Why would you make nonsense 
sounds to a baby so that they spend their time trying to learn a 
nonsense language?"

Staring at the baby, the woman returned to sit beside her brother 
and parents. She answered, "You are supposed to talk to a baby 
like that."

Leroy said, "She's not used to baby talk. We tend to talk to her like 
an adult and she is used to that."

The younger man sat in his chair, bouncing his right leg up and 
down out of nervousness, feeling that his sister-in-law was rather 
bossy. Hoping to change the subject, he said, "My wife is having a 
baby today."

Smiling at the young man, Ed said, "So is our wife."

The group just stared at Ed as if he had said something completely 
unexpected. After considering his words for a minute, the older 
woman asked, "Whose wife?"

Gesturing to the whole group, Leroy said, "Our wife."

"Oh." It was a very flat response that indicated disapproval. She 
looked over each of them with distrust. A black man, a cowboy, a 
woman with a baby, and two old folks. It was a strange group and 
she suspected they were members of some sort of strange cult. 

Wearing his robe and carrying his walking staff, John strode into 
the room exuding his normal sense of confidence. It only 
confirmed the other woman's opinion of them. Seeing the family 
gathered there, he said, "Ling is doing fine and Linda is doing her 
coaching job. About the time Ling screamed, they chased me out 
of there."

"So that's why she wouldn't let me be the coach. She didn't want 
one of the men to see her screaming," said Leroy knowing how 
proud Ling was about her toughness. 

"I guess so," answered Ed not understanding why Ling would not 
want John or Leroy present.

Going over to Beth, John leaned down and asked, "Do you want 
me to read to you?"

"Yes," replied Beth with a nod.

Going to the baby bag, John removed the book that had been 
packed inside it. He sat down next to Kelly and accepted Beth 
from her. Beth settled on his lap while making a cooing sound. 
Opening the book, he started reading the chapter on inertia. 
Watching from across the room, Ed asked, "What happened to the 
geology book I had packed?"

John didn't answer as he continued reading, but a smile did cross 
his face. Leroy said, "I think someone changed books on you."

The younger woman across the room asked, "Are you telling me 
that you actually read that stuff to your baby?"

Ed looked over at the woman and answered, "Of course. Why 
not?"

"Don't you think that the material is a little advanced?" asked the 
woman. She looked at her mother in-law with a look that 
demonstrated her concerns about the ability of this family to raise 
their children. Whispering to the elder woman, "Social Services?"

"We've been reading this stuff to her since she was born and she 
has never complained about it," answered Leroy. Shrugging, he 
added, "I read my biology books to her. John reads physics. Ed 
reads his geology books. Kelly reads her nursing books to her. She 
lets us know which one she wants to read to her and we read to 
her."

Ed said, "She likes holding my finger. When she wants me to read 
something over, she squeezes it."

Surprised that Beth did that for Ed, Leroy said, "She kicks my leg 
when she wants me to read something over."

Looking over at the other two men, John said, "She knocks her 
head against my chest."

Kelly looked at the three men and Beth, hearing this for the first 
time. She asked, "Are you telling me that she understands this 
stuff?"

Smiling over at her, Ed said, "She was trying to figure out inertia 
earlier, but friction got in the way. It was really rather amazing."

The older woman was convinced that these people were making it 
all up. Chastising them, she said, "You guys are crazy."

Beth answered, "No."

The father to be, who had never understood any of that material, 
asked, "You guys really read all that stuff to your baby?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Ed said, "Yes. Every day that we are 
home, we each read something to her."

"And she understands it?" 

Shaking her head, Kelly answered, "These guys seem to think so, 
although it is hard to say. There are times when I think she does."

Changing the subject, Ed said, "We've been here almost an hour. 
What's the problem?"

Laughing at his impatience, Kelly said, "A lot of women take 
eighteen or more hours to give birth."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Ed sat quiet thinking about what he had learned. Finally, he turned 
to Leroy and asked, "That doesn't sound like a reasonable strategy 
for species survival."

Dr. Hayes said, "It isn't a reasonable strategy. In fact, giving birth 
was…"

Ed felt a need to prevent the doctor from saying it was the leading 
cause of death among women at one time. Rather than allow him 
to complete the statement and worry Beth, Ed interrupted, "Yes, I 
know that."

Beth had been watching Dr. Hayes as he started giving the facts. 
When Ed had cut him off, Beth looked over at Ed with puzzlement. 
She didn't quite understand what he had done. Looking back at Dr. 
Hayes and holding her hands out to be picked up, she said, "Daddy 
Doc."

Recognizing that Beth wanted to go to her grandfather, John set 
her down on the floor. She crawled over to Dr. Hayes and stopped 
when she reached him. She stood up using his leg for support. It 
was clear that in a while she would be climbing up in laps on her 
own. Taking great care not to stress his back, he bent down and 
picked her up to set her on his lap. Once there, she looked up at 
him as she said, "Mama Ling."

"Ling is okay. She's having a baby," replied the doctor realizing 
that Beth was worried about Ling. Smiling down at her, he added, 
"You are going to be a big sister, soon."

The woman sitting with the other family had been watching the 
exchange with a strange expression on her face. It was impossible 
for her to believe that this child could actually follow the 
conversation.  Conventional wisdom said children that young 
couldn't possibly understand such complex sentences. If anyone 
had told her that she would observe a baby acting like that, then 
she would have called him or her a liar. She asked, "Are you happy 
to become a big sister?"

The question was impossible for Beth to answer. After looking at 
the women, Beth turned to her grandfather for clarification and 
asked, "Huh?"

Mrs. Hayes understood the problem and answered, "She has no 
idea what it means to be a big sister. If you ask her after she meets 
the baby, then she'll be able to answer you."

Leroy explained, "She's never really seen kids before in that 
context."

"You people are strange," replied the woman as she tried to 
determine what game the Carter Clan was playing. 

John laughed at the comment while Ed and Leroy exchanged 
winks. As he settled back in his chair, he said, "We've been 
accused of that more than once.

One of the doctors entered the room and saw the Carter Clan 
sitting there. Going over to Dr. Hayes and the baby, he greeted 
them, "Hello, Dr. Hayes. Hi, Kelly."

As a smile spread over her face, Kelly replied, "Hello Doctor 
Daugherty, how are you doing?"

Bending down to look at Beth, he answered, "Things haven't been 
the same since you left. How's the clinic going?"

Dr. Hayes answered, "It's going very well. I love being a country 
doctor and Kelly is a great nurse."

Beth reached up and stroked the stethoscope around the doctor's 
neck. After a minute, she said, "Doctor."

Doctor Daugherty laughed and answered, "That's right. I'm a 
doctor just like your grandfather."

"Good," cooed Beth.

Shaking his head, he remarked, "That is amazing. I was on my way 
to see Ling and thought I would stop by and say hello to the rest of 
the family. Where's the lovely Linda?"

Leroy answered, "She's the Lamaze coach and is with Ling right 
now making sure that she breathing properly."

"Ah, I doubt she needs a coach. I've never met anyone as 
physically fit or as mentally disciplined as Ling. After meeting her, 
I recommend the martial arts for young women for the physical 
benefits," remarked the doctor.

Proud of his wife, Ed said, "She's undefeated so far. By this time 
next year, I expect her to be national champion."

Winking at Dr. Hayes at the evident pride the family had for their 
wife, the doctor replied, "I have no doubts about that. Let me go 
check on her."

Everyone in the room watched the doctor leave. The elderly 
woman asked, "Did I understand correctly? You are a doctor?"

Nodding in the direction of the woman, Dr. Hayes replied, "Yes, I 
am."

The conversation was cut short when Kelly looked up and 
exclaimed, "Here comes Linda!"

Excited, Linda came into the room and shouted, "It's a boy! Nine 
pounds, eight ounces!"

Everyone responded with excitement. Leroy asked, "When can we 
see them?"

"They are moving her to a room now. The nurse will come out to 
show us to her room once she's ready to see us."

Beth continued to look confused, not quite sure what to make of 
the excitement. She looked up at her grandfather and asked, 
"Good?"

"Very good," replied the elderly doctor with a smile. He asked, 
"Are you ready to see your little brother?"

"Yes."

Kelly picked up Beth so that the doctor could stand and use his 
cane to walk to the room when the nurse came to get them. The 
rest of the family stood, with most of them stretching to get 
movement back in their muscles after the long wait. John picked 
up the baby bag and put the book he had been reading in the bag. 
They had hardly gotten ready when a nurse showed up to take 
them to the room. The family walked behind Dr. Hayes as he 
hobbled down the hall using his cane for a support. 

It was a normal hospital room with the standard uncomfortable 
bed. The head of the bed had been raised so that Ling was sitting 
up. Her hair was messed up, her face was blotchy, and her makeup 
was ruined from the effort to give birth. This was not a Hollywood 
birth. The baby was nestled in her left arm. As the family entered 
the room, with a tone of pride Ling said, "I want everyone to meet 
John Carter, Junior."

Surprised, John said, "I'm really honored that you chose to name 
him after me."

When it was time for Kelly to see little John, Beth stretched her 
arms and said, "Mama Ling."

At a nod from Ling, Kelly set Beth next to Ling. Beth ran a hand 
over Ling's stomach puzzled by the change. As Ling laughed at her 
confusion, Beth looked up at her relieved. Ling said, "Come over 
here and meet your brother."

Beth crawled across Ling, moving gently, and stopped when she 
finally caught sight of little John. Her hand reached out, hesitating 
for a moment, and then touched the infant. Moving closer, she 
examined him with great interest and curiosity. She looked over at 
Ling and said, "Small."

Smiling at Beth, Ling nodded as she said, "Yes, he's still very 
small. You have to help him."

Touching him with a gentleness that was quite striking, Beth ran a 
hand along his arm. After a minute, she said, "Good."

Kelly picked up Beth and said, "Ling and little John need to rest 
now."

Without complaining, Beth settled into Kelly's arms. She watched 
as Ed stood over little John with a smile on his face. Reaching 
down, he stroked Ling's face in a gentle caress. As Ling smiled, he 
said, "He's very handsome."

Reaching down, he took little John's hand in his. The little hand 
almost disappeared in his large hands. The shape of his eyes was 
the same as his mother's giving his face an oriental cast to it. The 
hair was black and rather sparse on top. The skin was reddish and 
would change color over the next few days. When little John 
opened his eyes, they were the same color gray as his. Ed smiled 
and said, "His eyes are like both of ours."

Laughing, Ling said, "Maybe he has my temper."

"I'm afraid to reply to that," Ed joked as the rest of the family 
laughed.

When the family returned to the waiting room, the woman asked, 
"So, little girl. Do you like being a big sister?"

"Yes," replied Beth. She was silent for a moment as she considered 
her answer. Finally, looking at the other woman with an unnerving 
directness, she said, "John is small."

The family looked at each other in surprise as the woman stared at 
Beth. Finally, the woman said, "She spoke a whole sentence."

Mrs. Hayes answered, "Of course. She's smart, just like her 
mothers and fathers."

"Aren't you a little old to be married to these young people?" asked 
the woman.

The question was such a surprise that everyone laughed. Dr. Hayes 
said, "We are the parent-in-laws. Little Beth is our granddaughter 
and was named after our daughter."

"So it is your daughter that is having the baby?"

A moment of silence fell on the room as everyone considered their 
loss. It was Leroy that answered, "No. She was killed when a car 
ran over her. The car injured her father and we took them in while 
he was healing. We are lucky that they've decided to stay in the 
area. He and Kelly have opened a health clinic in the town that 
serves anyone regardless of economics. Mrs. Hayes is a jewel that 
lends a perspective on things that we often need."

This didn't sound like the actions of a cult. Usually, cults tried to 
keep families away from them rather than embrace them. The 
woman asked, "What kind of cult are you?"

"We are a family, not a cult. We love each other very much," 
replied Leroy rather irritated at the label. 

"Oh come on, you have a group marriage. You have to be some 
sort of cult. What religion are you?"

Mrs. Hayes answered, "My husband and I are protestant. Our 
daughter was protestant. Leroy is a Southern Baptist and his father 
is a deacon in the church. Linda is Catholic. Ling is a Buddhist. 
Kelly, John, and Ed are Druids."

Confused by the large number of religions represented, the woman 
asked, "So what religion will you bring up the children?"

"It will be their choice. We will expose them to all of the religions 
and allow them to choose the one that calls them," answered 
Leroy. This had been an area of discussion for a long time. They 
had been careful not to discussion religion in front of Beth.

Grabbing the medallion around Kelly's neck, Beth said, "Lady."






