Jackie
Everybody dreams about that perfect life: white picket fence, loving husband, great kids, and not a care in the world. Maybe there’s a reason why they call it the American Dream, because it’s just that; a dream. The real world doesn’t follow the rules of fairy tales or idyllic opportunity. It throws you into its jaws, chews you up, and then spits you back out without so much as an apology.
There was a moment where I thought I had it all. I was twenty-three and my boyfriend, Axel Blackwell, got a great job working in construction after his twenty-fourth birthday. We finally signed a lease on an apartment, and then I found out I was pregnant. Our daily lives were insane, but they were good. Axel took the news well, but we both agreed that baby would have to stay a secret from our families. He promised me he would stay, we would get married, and we would raise our baby together. We had each other, and that was all I needed.
The day everything changed, I was standing in the kitchen making breakfast before Axel’s shift; bacon and scrambled eggs with cheese. It was simple, but I wasn’t exactly a five-star chef, and Axel always liked it when I made bacon. I felt the baby kick inside of me as I was stirring the eggs.
I reached down and rubbed the mound rising from my stomach.
“I know, you’ll be out soon, I promise,” I whispered.
The bacon popped and sizzled beside me as I heard Axel walk into the kitchen. He sat down at the table and I heard his industrial strength smartphone hit the surface shortly after. He let loose a long sigh.
“Everything alright, babe?” I asked.
“Frankie wants me to work overtime again this week,” he said.
“Well, isn’t that a good thing? We need the money after all.”
Axel slammed his fist on the table and I jumped in shock. The spatula I was using to stir the eggs fell to the floor.
I turned around and saw him hunched over the table with his head in his hands. He ran both hands through his thick black hair and leaned back as he let loose another sigh.
“Yeah, course we need the money babe, but what about me? I’m killing myself out there!”
I felt the baby kick again and braced myself against the counter.
“Well, maybe you can get a better job, something less physical?”
Axel looked over to me with his dark brown eyes and shook his head.
“How many times are we going to have this conversation? I never went to college, hell I didn’t even finish high school! What cushy office job is going to hire me? The only thing I’m good for is hard labor.”
I felt a surge of pain in my sides and back. I had false contractions before, but this was different. They were coming faster, more intense. Axel was still talking, but his voice had faded as my mind focused on the tightening pain in my back.
“Axel, I think the baby is coming,” I said.
He stopped mid-sentence and leapt out of his chair. He wrapped his arm around my back and steadied me against the counter.
“Alright, I’ll call out of work. Let’s get you to the hospital,” he said.
He led me through our small apartment and out the door. The sun was just rising above the horizon. The air was thick and humid after rainstorms the night before. Sweat formed across my head as I awkwardly limped to the car. Axel laid me down in the backseat and closed the door before leaping into the driver’s seat.
“Just hang in there baby, both of you.”
I smiled through the pain as he turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space. He always drove a little on the aggressive side, but this time he was pushing speed limits and switching lanes like a madman. Normally I would tell him to cut back on the alpha male crap, but in this situation his bravado came in handy.
We were at the hospital in a matter of minutes. He led me through the emergency room doors and immediately made a scene in front of the people scattered across the waiting room.
“My wife’s going into labor!” he shouted.
I felt the eyes of the onlookers all around me as a security guard and a nurse in a pale blue smock rushed toward us.
“We’ve got it from here,” the nurse said.
“I’m just going to park the car, I’ll be right back,” he whispered to me, and then turned to the nurse, “You take good care of her, that’s my son in there!”
It’s not much of a secret baby if you talk loud enough for the world to hear.
They led me through into the hospital proper and laid me down on a stretcher. The wheels squeaked and squealed as they carried me to the delivery room. I was on a proper bed with monitors and wires surrounding me before I knew it.
It was amazing how far technology had come. I was born in 2001 and now that it was 2025 everything was so different. Hospitals had technology beyond anything I would have imagined. They even offered to genetically alter the baby to remove the chance of defects or even just change his eye color.
Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t want any of that. Even if I did, the government’s idea of health insurance wouldn’t cover it, despite our massive monthly premium. I wanted my son to be the boy he was meant to be, no science involved.
Axel returned, just as he said he would. He was dressed in the same outfit as the doctors with a sterile mask over his face. He patted my shoulder with a gloved hand.
“How’re we doing?” he asked.
I looked over to the monitor beside me. It was somehow able to show us the baby in perfect detail as he sat inside of me.
“We’re doing well. The painkillers are working.”
Despite all of the pain, the stress, and the incredibly exhausting process, I held my baby son that day in my arms. It was the best day of my life.