Invisible Touch

Invisible Touch

Chapter 2 ~ Maggie

Ernie's childhood was far from anything one might consider "normal." His life was decidedly different from the beginning, and that started with his mother.

Margaret Maxwell had everything figured out. She wanted a child. She needed a child. But she had no use for a husband. She had nothing against men as a group. She simply didn't want one for herself.

John and Betty Maxwell had raised her well, by any measure. Their only child, she received all of the attention they might have lavished on a dozen kids. They might even have had that many, but Betty had had trouble conceiving even one child and was never able to do so again. So they counted what blessings they did have and filled their life with Maggie.

Education was the key, they always told her. It was a message that would be constantly reinforced, both in words and in actions. Mom and Dad were always helping with school work of any kind. How could they know so much, she wondered. And school became the center of Maggie's life. She even wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. Her life was filled with Honor Rolls and Dean's Lists and academic awards of all kinds.

And she did grow up to be a teacher. After completing her college degree, she continued working to achieve her lifelong ambition. With her teaching certificate in hand, she went to work teaching in the same elementary school she had once attended.

Maggie had never left home. John and Betty never felt the need to push her out of the nest. Now with a teaching salary, they felt she ought to save what she did earn without the cost and burden of a separate household. And they loved having her around. They loved hearing about the subjects she was teaching. They loved hearing the stories she would tell of the children in her classroom. They were still so proud of her and all she had accomplished.

When she came to them one day and told them that she was thinking it was time she started a family, they were more than a little bit surprised. She hadn't been dating anyone that they knew of. She certainly wasn't involved in a serious enough relationship that a proposal of marriage was on the horizon, was she? They were actually relieved when she told them she wanted to do it on her own. Relief did not equate with approval, however, and they had a lot of reservations. It had taken every ounce of the two of them, they told her, to raise such a fine daughter. They welcomed, delighted at the idea of a grandchild, but a child needed a father, they told her.

But they didn't say no. Maggie was a grown woman and it wasn't their place to approve or disapprove. Yes, she lived under their roof. But it was her home and always would be, if she wanted it to be. They wanted to be supportive of this bright girl they had raised to be an intelligent woman. She had always shown excellent judgment as a child, even as a teenager. Maggie always had everything figured out. And she did even now, they felt. She was her daughter, their only daughter, and she would always be welcome in their home, her home, no matter what.

Family is family, whatever its shape or size, but a father is at the very least a biological necessity. That was the way Maggie looked at the situation. She took a very unemotional approach to what she considered the "process" of having a child. As her parents had suspected, there was no one in Maggie's life of any romantic involvement. But this made things easier, she felt, not harder.

Maggie had many friends, though. All through her childhood, she had never been a very popular girl, but the friends she had, she never lost contact with. Through her college years, and now in her professional years, she was surrounded by people she could really consider true friends. It would not take long, though -- it would not even take a minute to go through her address book and find the one person she felt she needed in this situation. She knew he was unattached and she knew he would be discreet. She just hoped he would be willing.

She knew what his weekdays were like, so she waited until the weekend to call and pop the question. They had known each other since first grade. They saw each other at least every week. There was no need for much small talk.

"I have a favor to ask," she told him.

"I am at your service, Maggie. What's mine is yours. You know that," he said.

"I'm going to have a baby," she revealed.

He could barely contain his laughter. "That's a good one," he finally said. "When did Angel Gabriel contact you?" And his tone turned more earnest. "I'm sorry, that's not fair. I'm just thinking Virgin Maggie and Baby... Jesus is already taken." And the laughter returned.

"Cut it out," she returned, but couldn't contain her own laughter. "I'm serious about this."

"OK, OK." And he decided he'd had enough fun with her. "Who's the lucky guy?" he finally asked.

There was a silence on the line and he wondered if they'd been disconnected.

"You are," she finally said. "And no more laughing at me. I'm serious about this."

Bewilderment overtook him. "OK, Maggie. What's this all about?"

"I've decided it's time," she told him. "You know we're not getting any younger. My biological clock keeps ticking louder and louder. It's deafening!"

"Ahhh, I see." He finally understood that she was asking and not telling. "'Going to have a baby.' Future tense. I gotcha." And he thought for a minute. "We're friends, Maggie. Best buds, of course, Maggie. But you know, I don't... I'm not.... You know, I'm..."

"I know, I know," she cut him off. "But that doesn't mean you couldn't do it with a woman. Physically, I mean. And I'm not asking for any kind of commitment. I'm not asking you to marry me or anything like that. You won't ever, ever be responsible for the child. Nobody will ever, ever know about your role in this." And she really stressed each "ever."

"Oh Maggie, this is a lot you're asking. And I don't want to ruin our friendship. Are you really sure about this?"

"Absolutely. You're smart, you're good looking." And she could hear him agreeing on the other end. "And I can count on you not to get all weird and clingy and attached."

"Holy cow. Wow. I'd be a daddy. That's something I never thought I'd have to think about."

"Well, our agreement would have to go both ways." She replied. "You'd need to promise, swear to God, absolutely promise to never, ever, EVER reveal that you're the father. For your own protection, you know."

This was serious, and he thought about it.

"Like I said, Maggie. What's Mine is yours," he said again. When are you thinking about..."

"What are you doing tonight?" she asked him.

"Umm, don't you remember? It's bowling night. I guess it's not bowling night, tonight." He tried to sound disappointed. He enjoyed the weekly bowling night, but it was more about being with this group of friends.

"Afterwards," she said. "It won't take long. I mean... I don't mean... I didn't mean..."

"I know what you mean," he said with a laugh. "No, I guess it won't take long at all."

And it was settled. Their night of bowling was fun. And it wasn't awkward at all. If it was, she was going to call it off. She loved him. They were such great friends, and she couldn't bear to lose that. They went back to her place afterwards; she had sent her parents to the movies. He had been to Maggie's house before, but never to that particular room.

"Thank you," she said, before they started. He just hugged her in reply. The rest of the "process" was kind of fun, they both agreed. And they hugged again after they got dressed.

"Feel funny about this?" she asked him "'Cause please don't."

"Nope," he said. And he meant it. They would always be friends, he knew. And they would.

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