CHAPTER 1

Gloria Geist awoke from the dream overwhelmed by a feeling ofdread. It was that same dream again and it left her feelingvulnerable, afraid and pregnant ... very pregnant.

She did not want to have a baby. Not now, not at this stage ofher life. She was 46 years old. She had a married daughter whowas expecting her first child. She had come to terms with beinga grandmother before she was ready. She didn't think she couldcome to terms with being a pregnant grandmother. Besides, herhusband and daughter would be horrified. This couldn't behappening, but she was pretty sure it was.

She shivered with apprehension as she finally confronted hernagging fear. She went into the downstairs bathroom, locked thedoor and peed on the pregnancy-detection stick that she hadhidden weeks ago. If her fear was confirmed, and those last fewmonths without periods were because of pregnancy, she wouldhave to tell Jared she was pregnant rather than menopausal.

Feeling faint, she stayed seated on the toilet and put her headdown between her knees. She held the stick tightly between thethumb and forefinger of her right hand. She was going to giveherself a few seconds before she looked at it again. Maybe shehad read it wrong the first time. After all, it had been years sinceshe used one of these.

As the blood began to flow back to her brain, she was able tothink more clearly. With the fingers on her left hand, shecarefully counted back the months to the last time she and Jaredmade love. Not enough fingers on one hand. This was bad, reallybad.

It didn't add up right. She didn't see how she could haveconceived. Jared had been gone for a month-long businesstraining right about the time she would have had to conceive ifher missed periods were an indication of when she got pregnant.This didn't make sense. She decided to get to her gynecologist assoon as possible. She needed answers ... and soon.

Her visit to the doctor left her with more questions, thananswers. If her doctor was right about how far along she was, shewould have had to conceive while her husband was out of town.This was a total impossibility. She shivered as she contemplatedwhat this could mean.

As she walked to the parking lot, she began to feel off balanceand out of it; the same way she felt after taking antihistamines.Her heart beat rapidly as she tried frantically to figure out howshe could possibly be only three months pregnant. Maybe itwould be better to walk. She headed towards Touro Park. A shortwalk around the perimeter might clear her head. What she reallyneeded was someone to talk to, but how could she share thisnews with anyone? It would be devastating if it got back to Jared.

She sat on a bench and started to cry. Before she noticed, aman in a tattered pea coat, mismatched boots and a dirty watchcap sat down beside her.

"Hey, Curly, why the tears? What does a pretty lady like youhave to cry about?"

She recognized him as soon as he started to speak. It was thehomeless man whom she saw almost every time she went to thepark. Most people thought he was crazy. She made a habit ofgreeting him and treating him with respect, even though Jaredthought he might be dangerous. One day a few years ago, whenher unruly hair was blowing into her face, he called her Curly.Ever since, that had been his name for her. They had developed afriendship of sorts, based on friendly greetings and heroccasional gifts of hot drinks, gloves, socks and much-neededtissues. She figured she was one of the only people who treatedhim like a normal human being. She went out of her way to bekind to him. He often said to her, "Don't you worry. I've got yourback," even though there was no reason to think she neededsomeone to have her back.

She wished he would leave her alone now, but knew that hewouldn't go if he thought she was in trouble. Wiping away thetears on her cheek with the back of her hand, she looked at himintently.

"I know you can keep a secret. Right?"

"Hell yes, Curly. I can keep a secret. No one talks to me, andwhen I talk to folks they think I'm psycho. I'm your man for asecret. Just call me your secret keeper and I'll call you my secretweeper."

She considered his answer. Maybe he is crazy, but no one willbelieve anything he says about me.

"I've got a problem. I'm pregnant and ..."

"Unplanned babies. Hmmmmm, there are lots of those in theworld, Curly. Look at the stars, probably as many unplannedbabies as stars in the skies. Did you know that we are made ofstars?"

"Sure. I know ... lots of unplanned babies but this one can't bemy husband's," she said, tears beginning to flow again.

"Oh, well that's a different problem ... Curly, I hate to tell youbut you are in some deep shit. Cheating women, ummm, ummm,ummm ... lot of songs been written about them cheating women."

"I didn't cheat! I didn't even have sex. I just ... well ... I think ithappened in a dream," she said tentatively.

"And people think I'm crazy? That's a good one, Curly, buteven a wacko guy like me can't believe that one. Unless, you arethe Virgin Mary come back to life in the here and now. Youaren't, are you?"

For an instant she considered the story about the Virgin Mary.She had never really believed this story, but for a moment sheempathized with the Virgin Mary and what she must have gonethrough before she told Joseph that she was pregnant. Shewondered when people started referring to Jesus' mother as theVirgin Mary, and that led her to wonder ruefully how peoplewould refer to her. The Cheating Gloria? Maybe the CrazyGloria?

"Hey, Curly, don't look so sad. Why don't you tell me thewhole story? I'll figure out an answer. You know that when I lookthrough a window, I always see things no one else can see," hesaid.

"I don't want to disappoint you, but the only reason I amtelling you any of this is because I know no one will believe youif you ever repeat it," she said.

"Yeh, I get that. That's for true. Go on, tell me how you gotyourself in this fix, Curly."

"I don't even know and I sure as hell don't know which willbe harder, telling my daughter that I am pregnant or telling myhusband I am pregnant with a baby that is not his."

"That one is easy, Curly. Telling your husband is gonna beharder for sure. Whoooeeee, that's gonna be a hurtin' time."

"You're no help. You don't even believe that I didn't cheat onJared. But l didn't. You know the beginning of menopause doesweird things to a woman's cycle and people have change-of-lifebabies. My periods have been kind of random lately."

"Maybe I don't need to know all the woman stuff details aboutthis," he interjected.

"But, it's important. See, if I wasn't pregnant and my periodswere regular, I would be just about due for my third period sinceJared's business trip. According to the doctor, I am fourteenweeks pregnant. That means I got pregnant while he was gone.But that's impossible."

"Sure is impossible if he's the daddy," he added

"We didn't even have sex for months before he left because ofhis back sprain, and before that I got poison ivy on my legs, andthat was gross. So if I figure back to the last time we actuallymade love, I would have to be at least six months pregnant, andthe doctor says I'm definitely not."

"Ummm, ummm, that's a mystery."

"God knows what he thinks about why I kept insisting that Ihad to be farther along. He probably thinks I'm having an affair.Like that would ever happen."

"Curly, you got a world of trouble here. I...