Broken Silence

Chapter 7: Monica

As I walked to Parenthood, I couldn't help but to think about the baby. I was going to have to take care of it for a week, yet, I didn't even know how to carry her. How did that work out? I was going to have to really look at my partner to learn how to do it. I went into the classroom, most of the class was here and they had babies. Some were cooing at the babies, others' babies were crying and their parents were going nuts looking for what they wanted. I sat down at my desk.

Meanwhile, Mr. Edwards arrival was announced with, "Gabe!" He quickly said 'hi' and sat with me. He grinned goofily at me. I looked at him.

"Our baby took a poo-poo in Chemistry..." He said. If I had been eating I would've probably choked on it.

Why would the first thing you tell someone when you see them be that a baby "took" a "poo-poo"? I admit it was a little funny but a very weird way to start a conversation. I stared at him again. And then took a look at the baby. He was hopping it on his leg. I simply patted her head, as if she could really feel it.

"So? You two are getting along just fine aren't you?" I heard someone say next to Mr. Edwards.

"Hey, Zack, what's up man? I haven't seen you in a while." Mr. Edwards said. I heard a small 'slap' sound, which meant they had shook hands. Looking up, I found myself locking eyes with Zachery "Zack" Smith, sophomore. His father was a dentist and his mother was a secretary, the doctors found a cancerous tumor on her back and they had to perform a surgery to remove it. Apparently it had gone well and she had been kept for further studies. He cocked an eyebrow and I looked away.

"Yeah, I know, but with my mom sick, I had to be there you know. The school understood, being her only son, you know?"

"So, is she out of the hospital yet?" Mr. Edwards asked.

"No, not yet, she'll get the hospital's permission to leave this afternoon." Zachery Smith said.

"That's great man! I'm happy for your family." Mr. Edwards said.

"Thanks. But, hey, getting back to you two. I never thought that for the parenthood partner you would choose ..." He stopped talking or said something really softly. I could feel his light hazel eyes on me.

"Well, what can I say? She ... caught my attention." Mr. Edwards said which made it obvious that his friend had mentioned me. "This is our little baby Monica. You want to be the godfather?"

"Can I?" he asked, the feeling of him looking at me leaving.

"Can he?" Mr. Edwards asked me. I just shrugged. "You can."

"I got a goddaughter! I'll spoil her so much, man, you don't even know." He said clapping his hands. "Hello, little Momo."

The classroom doors opened and Miss. Tatiana came in. She wore a long white robe and had a book in her hand. It was so shocking even I stared at her. Then, I knew what everybody else in the classroom knew ... today were the weddings.

"The weddings are today?!" A boy asked.

"I wanted you all to be surprised!" She said. "You all have your babies, so, we can hurry this up!"

"That sounds reasonable." I heard Mr. Edwards' voice say next to me.

"Teacher, what do I do if I have no partner?" Zachery Smith's voice rang over the other ones.

"Oh, Zack, you're back! How's your mother?" Miss. Tatiana asked.

"She's much better, thank you for asking. But, seriously, what do I do if I have no partner?"

"I think we can figure something out, let's see ..." After that I blocked everything out.

I took out my sketch notebook and found a white page. I wanted to draw the tree outside. It was close to winter and the sky was beginning to darken. It looked amazing, but I wasn't very happy. It was cold and I was wearing clothes that weren't fit for the type of weather, but at least I had my jacket.