The Problem with Dreams

Chapter 42 - Fear vs. Faith

Matt watched his mother leave the kitchen on her way to bed as he and Greg continued to unpack the kitchen things.

"Greg, is Mom all right?" Matt asked curiously.

"I believe so. Why do you ask?" Greg inquired.

Matt shrugged. "I dun know. It's just that with Mom being pregnant ... she's kind 'a old for that, you know? I just want her to be okay."

"We both do, Matthew," Greg assured him. "Her doctor is watching her very closely. So far, everything seems to be going extremely well."

"Well, has Mom had one of those amnio things done yet?" Matt asked.

"You mean an amniocentesis," Greg supplied.

"Yeah, that. She's about twenty weeks,right? That's when Ashley told me they usually do it. And it seems to me Mom would be a candidate for that since she's so much older."

Greg arched his brow. "You have been discussing your mother's pregnancy with your girlfriend?"

"Well yeah. Her mom's pregnant too, so we sort of have that in common," Matt explained.

"I see," Greg said as he considered his stepson. "She and I have opted not to have an amniocentesis done. She is currently at twenty-one weeks, so it would have been done last week if we'd agreed to it."

"Why didn't you?" Matt asked curiously.

"While the test does provide information, it is also associated with an element of risk. It has been known to trigger early labor or miscarriage. Since that is precisely the sort of problem she has had in the past, we decided not to have the test done," Greg explained.

"Even if it means you could find out about something like Downs syndrome or a problem like that?" Matt asked.

"We have discussed it. We know there is a risk the child could have a major medical problem. We would not terminate the pregnancy regardless of the problem found and there is very little they can do to treat a child with those sorts of problems before birth," Greg told him as they worked. "So we will deal with what comes, and pray for the best possible outcome."

Matt nodded, surprise evident on his face.

"Does that surprise you?" Greg asked.

"Yeah it does. If it was me, I'd rather be prepared," he commented. "Generally Mom does too, so it surprises me she decided not to do it. I know she had one done before Zack was born, problems and all. That turned out okay, so I suppose I was just wondering why she hasn't done it this time."

Greg arched his brow. "I didn't know that. Perhaps I should discuss it with her again."

Matt didn't say anything more about it, but his comments did leave Greg thinking and he couldn't help wondering if this had something to do with the increased level of unease he'd noticed in Susan during the past week.

The pair worked in silence for a time,emptying the box with the spices, flour, sugar, and other baking ingredients, leaving them on the counter until morning.

"Greg?" Matt said somewhat hesitantly after a while.

"Yes Matthew?" Greg replied.

"Did you ever find out anything more about Max?" he wondered.

"I haven't had the opportunity to look into it, to be honest. Between the movie, finishing this house and preparing for our move, we've been quite busy," Greg told him.

"Yeah okay. I get that," Matt told him in an odd sounding tone.

"Why, did you?" Greg wondered from the pitch of his voice.