Sowing Season

by Brian Patrick Edwards

  “No ovarian cancer!” Paul shouted happily, forcing something positive from his bleakness. He walked over to their workbench and obtained a needle and wipes, anxious and ready to get to the bottom of the mystery.

  “So, what now?”

  “Blood work.” He was already cleaning her arm at the intended puncture site. Maria stared down the length of her arm and watched as the silver sliver of metal sank into her skin. Deep crimson filled the container, bubbling a little and she became lightheaded at the sight.

  “Lucky for y’all, medicine has come a long way since Paul and I started. Used to take days for people to hear results.”

  “What results?”

  Paul removed the needle and unscrewed the container to the needle, carrying the sample of blood to a machine in the corner next to another monitor. He placed her blood into the tiny metal hands of the machine and it received it like a gift, greedily ready to run its tests. A status bar blinked upon the monitor beside it, pulsing like a heartbeat.

  “Hello? What results?” Maria asked again, irritated with their dramatic secrecy.

  Amelia scooted her chair noisily over to Maria’s and held her hands as they waited together. She patted the tops of them, calming herself mostly, Maria still anxious. The doctors’ silent and captivated faces focused toward the screen, unwilling to answer her questions just yet.

  The status on the monitor read complete and revealed its findings, signaled by the shared gasps from the married couple. Paul wrapped his arm around his wife, accidentally blocking the sight of the screen’s revelation from the visitors. Sandra made noises and brought her hand to her mouth, as if she were choked up over whatever she saw. Paul spun his chair around to behold the patient who didn’t have a single sick bone in her body. Apparently, Maria was healthier than any other patient they had received in many years. It was unbelievable to him. Fathomless wonder filled both doctors as they returned to their seats, unable to decide on the best way to break the news.

  "You guys are really creeping me out," Maria cried, tears falling from her eyes, as she began to think the worst. Amelia rubbed her sister-in-law's back, her own tears free falling from the edge of her eyelids.

  “Pregnant," Paul answered bluntly, unable to use the happy tone of voice he used when giving this news to women so many years ago -- a time long gone and no longer relevant. They offered no congratulations; received no excited applause for confirming the news. Instead, emotion filled the silence with an intensity louder than a trumpet blast. Just that single word, “pregnant” had enough power to shatter the glass windows upstairs, it seemed; the partition between their fears and hopes came tumbling down.

  “How?” Amelia asked for her shocked friend, who mouthed the word soundlessly.

  “There’s hCG in her blood.” Sandra regained composure as her mind sobered from the initial surprise. “It’s the hormone produced by the placenta after implantation.”

  “Oh, my God,” wailed Maria, raising from her seat. “What the hell am I going to do? There’s no way they’d let me get away with this.”

  “Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Paul spoke in his most calming tone. “It’s still far too early to know if it’s viable and many things could happen at this stage.”

  Maria mumbled a couple of very unladylike words then shook her head, “I’m pregnant!” She stood and paced around the room, glancing at the machine’s readout in an effort to reconfirm what the doctors already told her. “Things are clearly already happening. How is this even possible?”

  “Maybe Unity’s work came undone somehow, or, I don’t know, got reversed?” Sandra guessed, with no concrete knowledge one way or the other. She drew from the many conspiracies people bandied about over the years.

  “Could simply be a miracle,” Paul offered from the corner where he stood. His eyes were filled with awe as he watched her pace. “You two need to keep very quiet about this. We all need to keep absolutely quiet about this,” he warned.

  “Maybe I could also conceal the potbelly too,” she retorted sardonically, tears filling her eyes again, but this time she began to weep uncontrollably. Amelia tried to comfort her, rubbing her back as she handed her a Kleenex.

  “I’m serious, you cannot take this lightly,” Paul reiterated, his expression sobering with deep concentration. Maria sarcastically mumbled more swear words. “People will want to take this gift away from you. They’ll rip it straight out of you.”

  “Paul!” Sandra shouted, shocked that he used such blunt wording.

  “There are people that would never allow a pregnancy to continue, Sandra, you know this.” Then turning again to address Maria, “I’m unsure about what other advice to offer, but you must conceal this at all costs. If you must, tell your husband, but no one else.”

  Amelia wondered, as the reality of the situation solidified, if the pregnancy occurred due to some anomaly exclusive to Maria, or if others -- even many others -- might end up with the same shocking news. She chewed her lip, glancing over to the doctors, “Do y’all think there are others, or is this just a one time and one person deal?”

  “Only time will tell.”

  The words filled Amelia with hope. Her deepest and greatest desire was to have a child of her own. Unity and its co-conspirators robbed her, and all women, of their God given ability to experience the incredible gift of creating life within their own bodies. Yes, she thought bitterly, Unity -- or Satan, whatever that thing really is -- stole the most natural manifestation of married love, like stealing the spring-time blossoms of trees.

  “I’d think it’s more likely to happen to others as well, which could be both good and bad.” Sandra continued thinking out loud as possibilities flooded her mind, “And if it does happen to others, the powers-that-be will quickly become aware of the situation, considering that multitudes could potentially end up pregnant. At the same time, it would take the focus off of you.”

  “An organized hunt for all those affected would commence the minute Unity becomes aware of pregnancies,” Paul added, catching an angry glare from his wife who preferred delicate words.

  “Your bedside manner sucks right now, Paul. This is a miracle, no matter how divisive it may become.”

  “Do you want a test as well, Amelia?”

  "I haven't had any symptoms.” A frown formed from beneath her sparkling eyes. “I’ll be sure to visit if anything changes.”

  “Are you sure, sweetie?”

  Desire pounded within her, but she couldn’t bear to hear the word negative in reference to her test results. She committed to pray for the opportunity, hope for it, but she would not kill her hope right then and there in that room. Amelia possessed a fair amount of the virtue of patience and would wait for whatever changes made this possible to come to her in their own time.

  The four of them decided to leave the office together, they emerged from the staircase, bewildered and changed by tears, fears, and a sort of unearthly hope they’d never before experienced. The young ladies decided to inform their husbands together in the company of the doctors. At least, the doctors’ presence will unequivocally verify everything for John, so he won’t take Maria’s news as an absurd joke or a sign of her developing some sort of mental illness.

  …

  John and Michael worked hard in the heat, the sun beating down on them as it bounced between the solar panels. It felt like they were standing in a microwave oven; sweat poured off of them and their breaths came in short, fast pants as they continued the grid repairs. Thieves, who constantly stole the cabling for scrapping, damaged a section of the grid. Michael cursed those petty thieves each morning as he repaired the damages they caused. It made him feel as if he were scooping water from a sinking boat, cursed to start over and make the same fixes every day.

  “Ain’t it a little late in the year to be so darn hot?” John asked rhetorically, his hands made slippery from sweat, as he swung his hammer.

  “It’ll get a little better next week. The forecast looks good,
" Michael grunted, while he threaded the cables through racks and tightened them against their places with zip-ties.

  "Apparently, Maria went to the doc’s with Amelia earlier this morning." John then took a quick break to check his messages. He stared into the air, viewing the screen of messages displayed on his Visum device.

  “What?” Michael dropped his tools and waited for a response, now checking his own messages. He hadn’t received any. “Must not be anything too bad. Amelia hasn’t sent me anything.”

  “Your sis pisses me off sometimes, man. So, vague all the time. She’ll have news. Tell me she has news, and then not tell me anything at all.”

  “Try being raised alongside her.”

  “Try being married to her.”

  “No, I’m good.”

  The two chuckled a little before returning to work. A gentle breeze touched them briefly, offering a tease of cool refreshment. Their short bit of relief immediately gave way to stifling heat once again, leaving them to long for evening and swearing to each other about the cruelty of it all.

  “Christ have mercy,” Michael opined, looking over their work and its beautiful completed state with the fresh cabling neatly tucked and wrapped between the racks just like the thieves loved it.

  “Lord save us, they’ll have it stolen before nightfall.”

  “It’s likely already been. We’re just having heat strokes, hallucinating, thinking it’s all still here,” he imagined, chuckling at his own joke.

  Michael bumped John to leave and the two of them descended the platform. Their eyes adjusted, allowing them to remove their sunglasses once beneath the cover of the panels. The sweat began to dry, leaving their skin feeling frigid, since the sun couldn’t reach them now.

  They had absolutely no idea what was in store for them once they arrived home. The busy workday left them little time to ponder on anything outside of paneling, cabling, and the growing desire to murder the thieves. The simplicity of the constant workflow acted as a refuge, a sly shelter protecting them from the terror they'd experience once they stepped through the door to the house.

  …

  Greasy and sweaty, the two husbands knew something was awry the minute they walked inside. The unfamiliar sight of the Rendas sitting in the living room gave the first clue. Second, Cole looked extremely perplexed, surrounded by family and having removed his headset only seconds before.

  “What’s going on?” John asked nervously, gripping his wife, searching her eyes for answers.

  “Everything all right?” Michael put his things down and joined his own wife on the couch.

  “We’ve got some news for everyone that, by no means, can leave this room unless by absolute necessity,” the doctors began. Then, interrupted by a cough from Maria, asked "You want the honor?" She nodded, her eyebrows raised, as if they replied, of course, it’s mine. Everyone’s eyes darted to Maria immediately, waiting for this mysterious news to issue forth from her lips.

  “Well,” she cleared her throat, then, after what seemed an eternity to her listeners, “I wasn’t feeling well, and I haven’t been,” well aware of her recent moods and sickness the family’s irritation grew. “So, Amelia talked me into visiting the Rendas.”

  “Yes, get to it,” John urged, shaking her arm, dying to hear the explanation.

  “Honey, I’m pregnant.”

  “Huh?” Michael grunted.

  John watched her lips make the word seemingly with no sound. As the word slowly made its way into his consciousness, a long silence clung in the air before he actually began to comprehend it. His ability to hear became evident when he fainted. Before anyone realized it, he fell from the sofa, almost pulling Maria down with him. The wooden floors shook and dishes clinked in the nearby china cabinet as his heavy body tumbled down.

  “John!”

  “He’s okay. Was a hot day up there, and you guys decided to play demented jokes on us.” Michael rushed to help his brother-in-law back to consciousness.

  “It’s no joke, Mikey. Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t lie about this.” Those were the first words John heard as he re-entered the realm of consciousness, and they made his head spin.

  “Maria,” he croaked, his voice shaking as his hand reached out, weakly grasping for her hair.

  “We did all the tests, honey. The Rendas say I’m pregnant.” Evidently, she had an infinite supply of water behind her eyes, pouring it over his filthy face as tears fell.

  “How?”

  “I don’t think any of us need the answer to that,” Michael smirked. He and Maria shared the same humor, passed on to them by their father, but she wasn’t entertained.

  “There’s no telling. I’m just as shocked as you are.” She patted his head. “But we need to keep this secret. No one can know.”

  “Of course not!” Michael exclaimed. “But what are we to do? Please God, tell me the Auris hasn’t heard any of this.”

  “I thought we had ours reprogrammed?” Cole’s face suddenly drained of color. He seemed to recall a conversation with Stone to that effect.

  “We did. He’s right, Mikey. Don’t get hysterical.”

  “Hysterical?” He raised his voice to his sister, “You don’t have any legal right to a baby. Don’t you remember? Forgive me for my concern about Unity listening in on us.”

  Maria helped John to his feet and they took their places next to Cole on one of the two couches in the room. This situated them across from Amelia and the doctors. Michael stood in front of the fireplace, looking into its depths, searching his mind for ways to protect his sister.

  “Where’s the priest when you need him?” He looked over to the others, placing his finger over his mouth to quiet them as he called him.

  “How far along are you?” questioned Cole, now sharply curious.

  “Shut your mouth, Cole!” Michael screeched, leaving the living room to find a quiet place, while he waited for the priest to answer.

  “Hey Michael, I was just thinking of you.” The greeting made him uneasy.

  “Father, we need you over here, immediately.”

  “Is everything alright?”

  “Just come, please.”

  “What’s going on, Michael?” The priest’s voice troubled by Michael’s urgency.

  “No time to explain. Please, for the love of Christ, get here quickly.”

  “Fine, I’ll be there in a few.” Michael could hear the sound of rosary beads jingling on the other end of the call.

  “Bring those too, please,” he requested, before ending the call to rejoin his family in the den.

  “Dang, it’s dark in here,” Michael observed, flipping on every light in the room.

  He explained that the priest was on his way and, in minutes, he manifested at the front door with a loud knock. True to his word to come as fast as he could, it seemed to the family that he arrived almost immediately. The dazed state of their thoughts compressed time in a strange way.

  …

  Michael answered the door, opening it only a crack, and saw the sweaty, wheezing priest waiting to cross the threshold.

  “Come in,” Michael invited, closing the door behind them. “Apparently, Maria’s pregnant and everyone has lost their minds.” The priest seemed unfazed by the news, a reaction that greatly agitated the other men in the room. Their mouths hung open, unable to think of any questions or additional reasons to explain why they so urgently called for him.

  “Can you picture me dancing with joy, right now?” the priest asked, perplexing them all, and making them jokingly wonder about his sanity. “You know -- just as David did before the Ark, or John the Baptist did within Elizabeth's womb when the Mother of God came to visit?”

  “Father, you must understand why we’re all pretty freaked out right now.” Michael looked desperately for a hint of seriousness in the priest’s facial expression.

  “Did you call me over here to get all freaked out with the rest of you, or to offer peace of mind?” The priest retorted, walking over to take a kn
ee beside the expecting couple. He unclasped his collar and removed one of the many medals hanging around his neck. “Maria, I want you to wear this. It’s an exorcised Saint Benedict medal. It will protect you and the new soul growing within you.”

  “Thank you, Father.” She took the beautiful necklace and studied the Latin inscriptions carved into its golden surface. Maria carefully regarded the saint, whose image stood on the medal’s face. Flanked by a raven, he carried bread and a chalice with a serpent coiled around it. She put it around her neck to join her crucifix and miraculous medal.

  Father Burns wet his hands with holy water and laid them on the couple. He bowed his head to mutter prayers, his lips moving rapidly. Once finished, he made the sign of the cross and kissed his fingers before standing.

  “Alright, now that the formalities are done--” Michael began, but the priest interrupted him.

  “Do not call these formalities, young man!”

  “Right. Sorry, but now that we’ve finished praying, do you have any ideas? How’s this possible?”

  “You’re better off asking the doctors.”

  “We’ve no clue, Father,” Paul spoke up, his face still wearing the look of astonishment from earlier. “There isn’t any rational explanation that we can think of.”

  “Well, could be a miracle. How far along is she?”

  “Few weeks.”

  “She’s had the Eucharist.”

  “You think this is a miracle?” John questioned, his mind brimming with dread of what might come of it in the end. “Why would God make a miracle that jeopardizes us, so?”

  “Miracles most commonly occur during times of jeopardy,” he remarked with a peaceful tone. “Don’t you think Mary, mother of our Lord, felt frightened when the angel appeared, telling them to flee to Egypt? King Herod had plans to destroy the infant Christ. Sounds like jeopardy to me and that miracle, fleeing to escape Herod’s evil plans, safeguarded the Word, our Salvation.”

  Maria began to weep as it occurred to her what their lives would become. She foresaw nothing but pain and heartbreak -- a relentless destructive force that would seek them out and leave nothing of them unscathed. John tried to console her, but her lamentations were so fierce she could not hear him.