by: Bobbie J. Laughman

“It’s like looking in a time-travel mirror. She looks exactly like me. Well, except for the part about her being a girl. If I’d been born a girl, I would have looked just like that.”

Kimberly was listening to her temporary table companion sputtering in astonishment, but still kept her smiling eyes on her freckle-faced daughter, who was taking charge of the restaurant’s play area, directing the other children in a game, whether they wanted to play along or not.

Unable to take his own eyes off the child, Stephan had to go with the obvious question, knowing the impossibility of what he was asking.
“Is she mine?”

Kimberly stifled a laugh. She’d been awaiting the question, ever since she had noticed Stephan noticing her little girl.

“How can you ask me that? You and I both know that we never…Stephan Harker, you know full well that all we ever did was kiss. One time. The day you said we got “carried away” and then you pretended it never happened.”

Keeping an eye on her little cherub, Kimberly sipped her now room-temperature coffee and scowled at the McStyrofoam cup, pushing it away. Coffee should be hot. Or cold. Lukewarm coffee was spew-worthy.

“Don’t you need to get back to your family, Stephan?” Kimberly indicated the table on the other side of the play area, where the harried woman who had come in with him was arbitrating disputes among three dark-haired preschoolers. Not one of them looked remotely like Stephan.

“What’s your daughter’s name?”

“Hmm?” Kimberly dragged her attention away from Stephan’s arguing children and looked at him. “None of your kids look anything like you, Stephan.”

“Not my kids. That’s my cousin-in-law Alyson. She’s married to my cousin, Jeremy. The one you thought was such a jerk in high school.”

“Ah, yes. Jerk-face Jeremy,” Kimberly laughed, “So, is he still…?”

“A jerk? Yeah, kind of…I stopped by to return something. Alyson was overwhelmed with a broken washer and the kids, and instead of helping, Jeremy just berated her because dinner wasn’t ready, then he took off.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m just trying to help.”

“So, shouldn’t you get back to your…cousin’s family?”

“Yes, but first….your daughter: what do you call her? What is her name?”

“I call her Dumpling. But, her name is…Stephanie.”

He looked over at Kimberly’s little Dumpling.

“You named her after me?”

“Here’s my number. Call me. Now, go help Alyson. One of her little darlings has just dumped milk down his mother’s back.”

——————————————————————————–

Kimberly answered the knock at her door.

“Who’s her father?”  Stephan, unsurprisingly, was right to the point.

“You know, with so many variables in the universe, I find comfort in the things that are constant. The value of Pi. The speed of light. You, being blunt. Hello. Come in and let me shut the door.”

“Well? Who is Stephanie’s father?” Stephan tried again as he stepped into the foyer.

“That’s up for debate,” Kimberly replied.

“That’s not like you. Promiscuity – “

“Promiscuous? Stephan, I’ve never been with a man. I’ve never even kissed anyone….but you.”

A light went on in his head. “You adopted her. But, how can she look so much like me?”

“Come sit down. Do you remember what my mom told us, when we were little, about where babies come from?”

Stephan followed her into the living room, but remained standing, even as Kimberly took one end of the sofa, curling her legs up under her and grabbing an oversized pillow to hug.

“Kimberly, what are you talking about?”

“Sit down! My mom. Babies. Your parents were away, so you were staying with us, and you and I were sitting on the back steps, eating popsicles. I think we were about four years old. You started bragging that you knew where babies came from.”

Stephan closed his eyes briefly, and nodded, still standing. “Yes, now I remember. Banana popsicles.” He opened his eyes, staring at her skeptically. “Storks?”

“Mom said when a man and woman love each other so much that their love is too big to keep inside, their love, that pure love, overflows and becomes a baby. Love gets an upgrade, like computer software. And a stork brings the baby to them. Do you remember?” Kimberly’s eyes were unreadable.

“I had forgotten the details, but now I remember. Made sense at the time. But, we were four. I hope you’re not…” he broke off.

“How could I ask you to believe a story for children?” she replied. “There’s a logical explanation. There must be. Right? So….Stephanie’s a clone. I had you cloned. There – quite simple. Perfectly reasonable.”

Realizing he was staring at her with his mouth hanging open, Stephan closed it. He sat down slowly, eyes locked with hers, waiting, but not saying a word. Slightly annoyed that he said nothing, Kimberly kept talking.

“Stephan’s famous self-control. When we began eleventh grade, you started taking everything so seriously. Never letting yourself get carried away. It was like you had suddenly forgotten how to relax, how to enjoy anything. Always having to be right, know all the answers, so logical.”

“You’re ridiculing me for trying to be responsible, when everyone else was still acting like…teenagers?” he pressed.

“Not at all, Stephan, it’s admirable. You can be counted on to work hard, to get the job done, to do what you think is right, to be perfectly logical. But, I wish you had some…imagination. It’s not a dirty word, you know.”

“Imagination,” Stephan shook his head. “Storks.”

“You were the boy next door: strong, sweet, funny, always there for me. Best friends – you said so yourself. We even decided to go to the same college. You never dated – all through high school and college, there were never any other girls. You just hung out with me. The future I saw was you and me. Together. Married. Children.”

Stephan’s mouth was gaping open again. He still said nothing, and Kimberly continued.

“For a brilliant guy, you can be a little…dense. That day,” she took a breath. “That amazing day we spent together. There were no classes, and the campus was mostly vacated. We hung out, we talked, we walked, we got pizza, we laughed – like we used to do, before you got so serious. I adored just spending time with you. And then, you kissed me – just out of the blue, you were kissing me. Passionate, yet gentle, like I was a porcelain doll. The way you held me…that was when I was sure you felt the same way I did.”

Stephan was making the easy chair look uncomfortable, sitting on the edge of his seat, hands clasped, elbows on his knees. His head was bowed, breathing deliberate, as one struggling to maintain control. She continued to look his way, eyes moist. Her voice broke as she continued.

“But, then you pulled away and looked at me, regret in your eyes: like you thought you’d done something terribly wrong, and you were determined to do what you thought was right. We barely talked as you walked me back to my room before it got dark – you murmured something about stuff you had to get done, and left me standing there, aching. It seemed like you’d rather be with no one at all than admit how you felt about me.”

She realized Stephan was whispering something. She bent forward to listen more closely.

“Idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” His head went up and eyes locked with hers instantly. He moved quickly across the small room and was on his knees in front of her, taking her hands.

“You’re right. I can be a little – a lot – dense. I am so sorry. Yes, we were best friends, and that’s how I had always thought of you, until just before eleventh grade. Suddenly, there was this amazing girl where my buddy used to be. Of course, you’d always been beautiful, but you were like a sister. When I realized…when I really saw you” he kissed her hand, “and realized I didn’t just love you as a friend, but I was in love with you, I felt guilty. I assumed you thought of me like a brother, not….like that. So, I decided to keep my feelings to myself, be strong, do the right thing. When I kissed you, I was ashamed for my lack of control. It never even occurred to me that you might love me. I hope you can forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you – how could I not? Stephan, I already know you love me, that you’ve always loved me. More love than you can hold inside,” she smiled, “Just like me. I have proof.”

Kimberly’s eyes were searching his, and her gentle smile forgave everything.

“You just had to give yourself permission to have the feelings your logic told you was wrong. Because your feelings weren’t wrong – your logic was.” She could see that Stephan hadn’t put things together. She patted the sofa cushion right next to her. He moved to sit with her.

“Now, about Stephanie. Yes, she is named after you. I know you need to have a reasonable explanation. So, I should tell you that, even though I haven’t seen you in three years, somehow I got hold of tissue samples from you, found a lab that would illegally clone a human being, but had them alter the genes so she’d be a girl. And, as unlikely as it is that I could pull that all off without being caught, and that she would survive, and be healthy, I won’t complain if that is the explanation you choose to cling to.”

It finally dawned on Stephan what she’d been trying to get him to understand ever since he arrived. So, he asked one final question, already knowing her answer.

“What is the explanation you cling to?” he asked.

Kimberly took a deep breath.

“Stephanie is my daughter. And she is your daughter. She is made of pure love.”

As Stephan realized that he believed her, completely, Kimberly laid her head on his shoulder.

“Did you take any pictures of the stork?”

1 Comment »

1. I like it!

   Comment by Natalie — October 7, 2009 @ 1:44 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.