Bookends
By Shotzette and Missy

1987
By Missy

He heard the open 'a' shimmer through the air between the laundry room and Skye's bedroom and smiled to himself. Skye practiced her guitar constantly, from the moment she received a model identical to his for her birthday.

She hit a sour note and he winced to himself. OK, she practiced a lot, but she didn't seem to be getting any better.

He sighed to himself as he entered his and Laverne's bedroom; carefully, he began rolling socks into balls, his eyes catching himself in the mirror.

Lenny jutted out his jaw, trying not to notice that his hairline was thinning. But he couldn't lie to himself; he was forty-seven.

Forty-seven...he didn't think he'd live to forty, especially during the years he'd spent at the commune.

Skye's playing prevented him from developing any true sense of concentration; He finished rolling the socks together and studied a framed picture on the dresser.

He couldn't quite believe that it had been eight years since he and Laverne had married. From the way he was clutching her hands in the picture, he understood that he hadn't quite believed it on his wedding day, either.

A gentle patting on the door drew his attention, and there in the doorway stood Laverne.

"Vernie? You're home early.." He went to kiss her but she pulled away.

"Not on the mouth, Len. I've been throwin' up all day." She slumped across the bed."

"Aww, I told ya not to go in this morning.." He placed his hand upon her forehead, "Ya don't have a fever.."

She shook her head, "The nurse at work said I wasn't sick." She shook her head, "I think it's somethin' else."

"What? Somethin' ya ate? Cause I said that maybe ya shouldn'ta had some of Squiggy's sardine and banana sorbet..."

She gulped, "No, Len." She opened up her purse and carefully lay a cardboard container between them. "I bought this."

"What the heck's this?" He asked, picking up the box and squinting at it, "ECT?"

"Yeah." She said to her feet, "I think, maybe..."

"Vernie, spit it out."

She looked into his eyes, "OK. That's one of those new instant pregnancy test kits. I think, and this is a big maybe, that I'm gonna have a baby. What do you think?"

****

Lenny blinked at the pregnancy test, uncomprehending. "Wait a minute, you said you were on the pill!"

"Len, I'm past forty; I thought I didn't need it so much any more." She shook her head, "It ain't so unlikely any more, you know. A girl two years older than me at work got knocked up. Everyone I know there around my age held off on getting pregnant, and now that they're getting married they're having kids already."

"We ALREADY have a kid!" Lenny was sweating heavily in his panic.

"Len, calm down." She grabbed his hand, "It isn't like we know if I'm pregnant or not.."

"How're you gonna find out?"

She opened up the package, "I'm taking this into there," she indicated the bathroom, "Cover for me if Skye comes, OK?"

"Cover?"

"We don't wanna get her hopes up if we don't know yet, do we?"

Lenny nodded, "OK," He flopped down on the bed as Laverne disappeared into the bathroom. Lenny wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh, cry or throw up. All thought was tossed away as Skye entered the room.

"Skyscraper!" He said, too cheerfully, and she made a face at her new nickname.

"Daddy, I'm not that tall."

"Getting' there." He tousled her hair and she smiled, "What's up?"

"I can't get open G tuning," she said, "And how the heck do you work a capo?"

"Lemme see," He took the guitar from her, working the strings carefully. "Ahh, ya see? You got it in C..."

Her smile was wan, "That's bad?"

"Ya gotta go down half a step.." He began carefully tuning her instrument, "What're you trying to play?"

"'Rio'."

He seemed surprised, "Duran Duran? I thought you hated 'em."

"I do," Her eyes gleamed, "I'm trying to write a parody, like Weird Al Yankovich." She winced and patted her lower abdomen.

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, I got a little pain here. It, like, goes and comes, so it's probably something I did in gym."

"You sure? You want some aspirin or somethin'?"

She shook her head, "Nah." She took the guitar back, "Thanks, Daddy!"

She kissed his forehead and left the room, leaving Lenny glowing. Daddy. The word never failed to make him glow; it made three years of living in a squalid commune and watching his idealistic dreams crumble to the ground in a haze of sex and drugs worthwhile. He was almost glad that Karen had disappeared; it afforded him a closeness with Skye that he never would have had, with Karen around. (Karen; the name still set his teeth on edge. He had to tolerate her, and did so, barely, for his daughter's sake.)

Laverne emerged from the bedroom, "The package says we've gotta wait fifteen minutes."

Lenny groaned, "I can't wait that long!"

She socked him in the side, "You couldn't wait! That's why we're here, ya big dope!"

He blushed, "Well, this is easier than having to go to the doctor and find out there."

"Yeah, science is great, ain't it?"

He stroked her shoulder, "When do you think we..."

"If we did...it was probably in April."

April; the cruelest month, because he had been away on a last-ditch attempt to get the New Squiggtones noticed. It had been a miserable failure, because he hated synth pop and wouldn't play it. Sadly, that was the only sound every labels seemed to be interested in signing. He had come home after two weeks on the road tired, exhausted and disheartened; all he wanted was to be alone with his family, more specifically his wife. And so, Alone with Laverne for the entire afternoon in their bedroom, he found his strength again. Skye had been thrilled to spend the entire day at the movies and commented on how 'fresh' they looked when he had gotten home.

"Len, how do you feel about it, if I am?"

He touched her hand, "Scared...but I love you so much that it doesn't matter."

She hugged him, "Me too." She said.

At her words, she caught sight of the clock. "It's time!" She pulled away from him and ran into the bathroom. When she staggered out of it a second later, he couldn't read her expression.

"What's the good word?" He asked.

****

She held out the stick with an expression of pure shock upon her face.

"Vernie?" he asked, concern coming over his expression. Laverne flopped down on the bed.

"46." She muttered, "46, and I'm havin' a baby!"

"Gimmie!" He grabbed the stick from her hand, and saw a very clear blue line on the thing. "So I blue line means..." She nodded, clutching a pillow to her chin. "Holy cow."

"I hafta throw up again." She moaned, running to the bathroom.

"Damn." He said to himself. But then he grinned. He loved his wife, loved his daughter, and one more child in the brood couldn't do anything to disturb their finances.

He remembered how hard everything had been when Skye was born. No money, no steady job: he had been shaken out of his utopia by the harshness of reality.

There wouldn't be that many problems this time around. They had a steady source of money coming in, a house already paid for, and a strong family unit already.

He was surprised, at dinner, to be the only happy person there. His girls picked through their food, unhappy scowls upon their faces.

"Skye? Somethin' wrong?"

"Don't YELL at me!" She shouted.

"Huh?"

The wounded look on his face didn't penetrate her psyche, "Just leave me alone!" she snapped, grabbing her plate and marching it upstairs.

"Geez!" He muttered to himself. "And I was gonna tell her the happy news..."

"Uh uh, mister," Laverne said, "Not until I get to the doctors, just to make sure."

"When's your appointment?"

"Tomorrow at ten."

"AM?"

"Yep."

He smiled, distantly, "I hope it's gonna be a boy."

She smiled, "Yeah...Len, I really don't wanna talk about this."

"Why?"

"Cause..." She heaved a sigh, "I dunno what it's gonna be like, is all. Skye's almost grown up, and..." Billy Idol started wailing upstairs. She groaned. "You want me to go check on her?"

He shook his head, "I don't think I'm her favorite guy right now."

Laverne smiled, kissing him upon his forehead, "Don't take it too serious, Len. She's getting' into her teen years now, and..."

"It's gonna be harder, I know." He grumbled. And she knew that some tiny part of him wished to keep his daughter three forever.

She planted another kiss upon his lips before heading upstairs.

**

When She knocked on Skye's door, the girl burst out of her room. "I gotta talk to you." She whispered urgently, under the howling tone of Billy Idol.

"What's going on...Skye, are you crying?"

She nodded.

"What's wrong."

"I'm bleeding, mom!" She whispered urgently.

"Where?" She asked, "You cut yourself?"

Her daughter's eyes darted downward. Twice. She couldn't even say the word do her.

"Aww! I tought they told sex education in school now."

She shrugged, "They said something about bananas and rubbers...Marianne and I kept passing notes, and..."

"Don't worry about it..This is all good stuff!"

"Why?"

"Because," She said, happily, "You're a woman now. We'll get you fixed up, and I'll tell you why."

****

One long talk and a short lesson later, Skye sat upon her bed, staring at Laverne.

"...So that's it?"

Laverne tok a relieved breath, "Yup, that's all there is to being a girl."

"Well, I knew all the stuff about how babies come around; dad gave me a video when I turned six."

"Oh yeah," Laverne smiled, " 'Baby and You.' Those were real cute."

"Yeah, but they were confusing. Especially since he wouldn't meet my eyes when we would talk about it."

"You know your dad," Laverne laughed.

"Yeah, he's not good with girl stuff."

"He used to have a hard time when I'd just hug him!" She laughed, "He loves you a lot, Skye. He's just not good with the sensitive stuff."

"Yeah.." She rubbed her arm, "I guess I owe him an apology for yelling at him."

"You guess? You know you do."

She sighed, "Can I wait till tomorrow?"

Laverne nodded, patting her arm. "You know it's hard for him, too, to see you grow up."

"You think he'd be thrilled."

"Skye, your father doesn't like change that much. At least not with the important stuff. He only came to California to be with me, and that was the biggest change he ever made in his life."

"Well.."

"Did he ever tell you that he's afraid of linoleum?"

Skye burst into laughter.

"Shhs! Don't tell him that I told you that!" When the laughter stopped, Laverne concluded, "Let's just say that...someday, he'll be glad for the room."

***

Laverne found Lenny in their bedroom. Very softly, Anita Baker crooned on the stereo. His eyes were screwed tighlt closed.

"How's Skye?"

"She's OK..." Laverne settled down beside him on the bed, "She's got something to tell you."

Lenny's eyes opened wide, "Is she pregnant, too?! Oh wait, she can't be...she hasn't had her..."

Laverne cupped his hand, "Hush. All that matters is that she isn't mad at you." She drew him to his feet. "I want to dance."

His expression showed a wry sense of humor, "You sure?"

She smirked, "I like the way you dance," He wrapped his arms around her, "Slow."

He snorted, "No toes, I promise." The swept slowly across the floor.

She snuggled against his shoulder, "Who knew a guy who ate goat chow and is scared of linoleum could dance like this?"

He gave her a look, "You didn't tell Skye about that, did you?" Shame appeared on his face, but she kissed him again, "Yeah, one of my secret talents." He dipped her. "I have three!"

Laverne's face turned green, "Ugh.." Suddenly, she threw herself out of his grip and ran for the bathroom.

Lenny ran to the door, "I shouldta dipped you, should I?" She groaned. He lay his forhead against the closed door.

Either she was pregnant, or his cooking was worse than he imagined.

****

Laverne brushed her skirt firmly down against her lap. Her fingers held a clump of cotton firmly against the vein which had been drained by her doctor.

She scraped a bit of sugar cookie from beneath her teeth and stared at the clock.

Laverne had been waiting a half hour, while Lenny took Skye to the pedeatrician. It was seven in the morning, they had arrived at six, and she had told her supervisor that she'd be in at eight.

Her stomach roiled and she was suddenly thriled that they had moved her from testing to media relations a year ago.

Lenny appeared, his daughter at an arm's length. "...So I'm sorry I yelled at you, but...you know."

"Yeah." Lenny scratched his ear with his free hand as he released the girl, "Your aunt was like that every month, and your mom's always acted that way, too." Laverne shot him a sour look, which he graciously ignored.

She hugged him impulsively, and he stiffened against her embrace, but quickly became pliant, "I love you, Dad."

"I know you do," He said, "And.." He said, "Don't go thinking that you gotta be a guitar hero or something to make me happy."

She frowned, "I just..wanted to. I wanted to make you happy, I guess."

He kissed her forehead, "You do make me happy. You're you!" The sight of Marianne Ragusa pressing her pretty face against the glass door separating the waiting room from the elevators interrupted his thought. "Marianne and Carmine are here."

"OK," She sighed, yanking her backpack into place, "See you in the afternoon." She hugged Laverne, "I want a little sister!" She declared, before skipping out to join Marianne.

When they disappeared, Laverne swiftly asked, "I thought we were gonna wait..."

"Well, I had to tell her you were takin' a blood test, so I had to tell her something..." Lenny plopped down beside her, his hand resting naturally upon her thigh. "She's smarter than me: figured it out right away. I dunno if I should be real happy about that or not."

Laverne petted her husband comfortingly, "S'OK, Len." She teased, "Maybe this one'll be dumb."

He frowned, "Don't say that."

They paused, "Vernie...No matter what it says: I love you no matter what. And if we don't have kids, well, that was how it was meant to happen."

"I Know, Len." Her voice came in a sigh.

They had discussed it before; her seeming inability to inconcieve. She secretly feared that years on the pill had done something strange to her insides, but her doctor had come to the conclusion that they were simply not the most fertile pair around. They didn't have money enough to try the more advanced fertility treatments emerging at the time.

Her next words didn't reflect her thoughts, "Where did Marianne and Carmine come from?"

"Oh, I called 'em this morning; Skye didn't want to be too late, cause she's on the fall dance committee."

"Yeah, and I bet she couldn't resist another ride in the Rolls."

Lenny's eyes almost lodged themselves permanently in the back of his head as he rolled them backward.

But Laverne's expression was distant.

"What're you thinking of?"

She shrugged, "Recitals, spelling bees, bikes.."

"Bee stings, flus.."

She poked him, "Don't be negative."

"I ain't! I'm well-developed!" And she poked him again for his pun.

"First dates..."

"Buying my first gun..."

Her doctor found them laughing loudly. "Mrs. Kosnowski, I have your results."

He had such a notoriously sour poker face that she didn't know what the results were.

Until he extended his hand toward Lenny, "Congratulations, kids."

THE END


To 1986

To 1988











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