Tangie's SIMulated Stuff: Laura's Legacy Chaper 1.7: Happy Birth Day

I obviously couldn't do any full body acting jobs with a baby on the way, but I continued to report to work and in the evenings I conducted whatever promotional events the studio asked me to do.

I also made sure to keep up with the entertainment news. One day as I was reading the paper after work, I spotted a picture of me from a couple of weeks earlier. The caption read; "A visibly pregnant Laura Herrington was seen working out at the gym recently. When asked about the baby's father, Ms. Herrington said, "No comment".

Ugh! I thought. That makes me sound so defensive! I should have thought of something charming and witty to say.

In the same paper, I spotted another picture. The caption read, "Love Birds Pat Gabriel and wife Julia Sterling were seen lip locked in front of the theatre recently".

Oh my Goth! I kept staring at the picture. Then I stood up and heard the paper fall to the floor. I felt dizzy and thought I was going to faint. I closed my eyes and sat back down and waited for the feeling to pass. About an hour later, my phone rang. I saw it was from Pat, and choose not to answer it. I couldn't deal with speaking to him right now, I just couldn't. But I should have known that wasn't going to deter him. About 15 minutes later I hear my call box going off and Pat wants me to buzz him in. By this time I had calmed down to the point of just feeling numb, so I let him in.

He looked at me and knew that I'd seen the photos. "Laura, it was for the publicity opportunity. You know that Julia and I have another movie coming out soon. Laura, I love you!"

I wanted to believe him. I needed to believe him. I didn't ask any questions. He kissed me and he spent the night with me.

Pat's agent was still trying to track down a suitable house when a few weeks later I called and asked him to come over to stay for the night. "I think the baby might come soon and I don't want to be alone. Will you stay the night? I hope I'm not being too much of a bother".

"Of course I don't mind, Honey", Pat said when he got there. "I'll be here whenever you need me."

The next morning when I woke up, my labor started. Pat jumped around in a panic, which I momentarily thought was hilarious. It was nice to be distracted from labor if even for a brief time. This hurts!

After rushing to the hospital for the baby's birth, we were delighted to learn that we had a baby girl. Because Pat was into the environment and ecology, I suggested that we name her Meadow. Pat thought the name was perfect. He escorted us back to the apartment to help us get settled in.

"Where do you want me to put the crib?", Pat asked. I had bought one but it was still stashed in the box. Neither of us had gotten around to putting it together.

I'd at least been thinking about where to put it, though, and there were only two places in this tiny apartment where it would fit; either the living room or my bedroom. "I guess it's going to have to go behind the sofa for now".

After he finished assembling and setting up the crib, we sat down on the sofa to relax a few minutes. The crib and Meadow were behind the sofa, as I had requested. "We have GOT to find you a bigger house to live in", Pat sighed. "I'm calling my real estate agent again and telling him to work a little harder at finding a place!".