Chapter Text
She hadn’t been able to get the words out of her head. The fact that they were spoken by a con artist who regularly took advantage of her mother unfortunately wasn’t enough for her brain to completely disregard them.
“You’re going to be a mother.”
Every time that sentence played through her mind on a loop it tore a hole through her heart. It was the longing of her life, to have a child. She’d been telling herself since she was sixteen that when she had a child she would be better than her parents before her. When she was married and alone with a heart full of love she couldn’t bring to give herself anymore she knew that it was meant to be given to a child. To her child. And now, if anything could make the pain she had suffered be worth it, it would be to be a mother.
The words were innocent, and perhaps a happy omen to someone younger, freer, less damaged. To someone who could afford that hope without risk of it killing them when it was torn away. But for Rebecca, that ‘prediction’ was nothing more than unnecessarily cruel.
And yet… the phrase remained ingrained in her skull.
“You’re going to be a mother.”
“You’re going to be a mother.”
“You’re going to be a mother.”
“You’re going to be a…” Rebecca stands up from her desk swiftly in hopes of breaking the echoing cycle. She walks to her credenza only to pace back towards the windows, knowing that she couldn’t hold a teacup right now if she tried.
“You’re going to be a mother,” intrudes once again as she stares unseeingly toward the pitch.
In a drastic and desperate attempt to silence the voice once and for all she swipes her mobile off the desk and phones the first (highly rated, she may be desperate but she still has standards) fertility clinic she can find. Both fortunately and unfortunately for her, they’ve had a cancellation for this afternoon and offer her the spot. She takes it, closing her eyes and begging the universe to let this not be a mistake.
-
Rebecca is the nervous kind of excited as she takes a seat in the waiting area of the clinic two and a half hours later. The feeling sours as soon as she takes a look at the beginning of the intake paperwork they’ve asked her to fill out and she is met with the glaring blank space that is the ‘Emergency Contact’ field.
She forces herself to take a breath and asks herself, if I needed help right now, if I wanted someone to be with me during a hard time, who would I call?
She has an answer immediately, which surprises her, though she doesn’t question it. It’s been a day of impulsive and rash gut decisions so far, what harm was indulging herself in another one. She pulls out her phone and clicks on the little picture towards the top of her favorites list and the phone rings for only a moment before the call is answered from the other side.
“Howdy Rebecca!” her favorite (the only one she likes at all really) American accented voice greets her.
“Hello Ted,” she returns, unable to help the little smile that pulls at her lips.
“I was just thinkin’ about you! Ain’t that somethin’? I was just thinkin’, Rebecca sure would love this t—”
“Ted?” she interrupts what could possibly be a long explanation.
“Yeah Boss?” he doesn’t sound put out by her interruption at all and she is suddenly more than certain she’d made the right decision.
“I’m on a bit of a time crunch and don’t have time to chat.” She is met with the sound of a human mouth mimicking that of a zipper. “Did you just mime— no, never mind. I’m calling because I’m at an appointment and would like to put you down as my emergency contact. It only seemed fair to notify you of that type of decision.”
“Well I can’t say I ain’t flattered, but am I really the one you want Rebecca?”
She smiles again at his respectful questioning. “Yes, Ted.”
“I don’t have a vehicle - that’s a nice word, vehicle, we’ll come back to that - point is, I wouldn’t be able to get to ya in case of an emergency.”
She breathes out a laugh, “It’s a good thing then that ownership of a mode of transportation is not a requirement. Ted, I don’t need you to be able to come to my aid at a moment’s notice. If you are being phoned as my emergency contact then I am likely already in the care of medical professionals.”
“I see your point but that really doesn’t make me feel any better,” he grumbles.
“Ted, there is no one I would trust more to make decisions for me should I be incapacitated than you.”
“Woah, decisions?” that seems to throw him for a loop, though she’s unsure why it should. “Shouldn’t that be your next of kin or somethin’? Maybe your mama?”
“Ted,” she explains, trying to keep hold of her patience, “my mother consults her psychic on what to have for breakfast in the morning, I wouldn’t trust whatever decision those two and whatever spirits they felt the need to involve would think up.”
“Point taken,” he concedes.
“Thank you.”
“Well,” she can hear his apprehension fading, “you know what you need best and if I happen to be the one for you then I would be dang honored to have you write my name in that little slot.”
“Thank you, Ted.”
“Hey Rebecca?” he asks, calling out to her like she’s across the room.
“Yes?” she can’t help the teasing tone that enters her voice.
“Can you teach me how to drive on this side of the pond anyway? I know you said I’ll never need to for this, but just in case I’d like to be prepared.” He sounds genuinely serious and warmth expands inside her chest.
“Yes Ted, I would be happy to teach you. Later,” she promises, “For now why don’t you read off your information for me and I will jot it down on my form here.”
“Sounds like a mighty good plan Boss.” he says, and she can hear the smile in his voice as he tells her everything she needs to know.
When she asks him what his phone number is he asks why she doesn’t just grab it out of his contact in her phone and she finds herself admitting with a light blush gracing her cheeks that doing so would mean ending the call and she wasn’t quite ready to stop talking to him yet. That point, however, doesn’t stand as the second she finishes jotting the number he tells her down she is being called back by a nurse. She is reluctant to end the call, but a promise to speak soon and a double batch of biscuits for her the next morning makes doing so just a smidge easier.
-
To his credit, Ted lives up to his end of the bargain. She immediately notes that he does indeed have two little pink boxes in his hands when he pushes her door open the next morning with a cheerful, “Good morning Rebecca!”
She gifts him with a genuine smile and a warm “Good morning Ted” in response.
He lingers just inside the doorway for long enough that she begins to worry he’s given himself another concussion and is forced to prompt, “Do you have something for me, Ted?”
That immediately puts him into motion and he approaches, plopping into his usual seat across from her and sliding the boxes towards her on her desk. “Just biscuits and a dream,” he tells her. “Hey, speakin’ of dreams, did you have any interesting ones last night? One of them planets up there got retrofitted and it’s supposed to make everything all funky.”
“In retrograde,” she corrects absentmindedly as she opens her first box and biscuits, “and no, nothing of note.”
“Dang it,” his disappointment is apparent but still accompanied by a good deal of humour, “mine weren’t nothin’ special either. Just the usual swimmin’ in barbeque sauce and bouncin’ around a giant jello house like I’m in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”
She guffaws, “If that’s your usual Ted then I’m sure I would be concerned to learn what an astrologically fucked dream of yours would be.”
“Well you’re probably right for that. Say Rebecca, I hope you don’t mind me askin’, and feel free to tell me to mind my own business, but what were you up to that had you in need of an emergency contact yesterday?” he asks.
She takes a large bite of biscuit to delay answering. He doesn’t look away and she is eventually forced to swallow and respond. “Just, your regular, everyday… stuff… at the doctor’s office. Just realized it had been a while and needed to be updated.” She can tell by the look on his face that he doesn’t believe her but isn’t going to call her out on it. She deftly changes the subject, “You know what, on second thought, I did have a rather unusual dream two nights ago, was whatever planet it is this time in retrograde then, too?”