Winning Chance by Koller Katherine;

Author:Koller, Katherine;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction;short stories
Publisher: Great Plains Publications
Published: 2019-07-22T16:44:50+00:00

The Maternity Project

When I invite her to my baby shower, Meg can hardly say no. Meg is nineteen and new to the city and, as Mom would say, naïve as paste, like her when she had me. But Meg hops to the Dollar Store at lunch and buys decorations with her own money. Blue for a boy.

She concocts Kraft Dinner with frozen peas for my girls. Snotballs, they call them. They giggle down a few bites, even the peas, then scramble to help Meg stick blue elephants on the windows and walls. I’m about to bribe them to finish their suppers, but I’m too slow and miss my chance. Instead, I eat their leftovers, still warm, while I clear up. I spit the peas into the garburator.

Then I settle down with a tall ginger ale and ice because KD twists my gut, and put my swollen feet up. Since I moved us to the condo, I don’t think I’ve sat down before the girls go to bed. By the time we get home from daycare, it’s way past six, then supper to prep, feeding, playing, bathing, clean up, and lunches to make.

Jasmine came first, then three years later, Jola, and after another three years, here I am, an elephant with little boy blue Jae, one month till payday.

I knew Meg would ask, but at least she had the sense not to in front of Jola and Jasmine. On the subway ride to daycare after work, a knitting blue-hair slows down her tsk-tsk needles to listen, but I don’t care and neither does Meg.

“Why don’t you marry the fathers?”

“That’s old-school.”

“Why not use a sperm bank?”

“Because that costs money, and the fathers support me.”

“Do they know each other?”

“Are you kidding? I let the guy brag about his finances, get pregnant on a one-nighter and then sue for child support when the baby is born. The guys set up payments to stay out of court, then head to Fort Mac. And I go on mat leave.”

“So Jasmine is black, Jola is Latina, and Jae?”

“Asian. He’ll be smart.”

“Is that on purpose?”

“The next one will be Indigenous. Also gorgeous.”

“Where do you find these guys?”

“I have a few lucky bars when I’m on the lookout.”

“When you’re working the system.”

Seriously? We work for the government. “Do you know how much work it is to drop the baby weight and get into decent bar clothes by the time you finish breastfeeding? It motivates me to get back in shape.” This is my livelihood.

But later, at home, Meg goes at me again.

“How many do you want?”

“As many as it takes.” All I want to do is not work, take good care of the kids, and not worry about money. “Lots of expenses with kids and daycare and I want to take a few trips.”

“Trips where, Mommy?” Jasmine says.

“Private Mommy trips. Bikini, martini, and me.”

“Oh,” says Jasmine. She shakes her head at Jola.

“When I get to stay home, every day will be a field trip. We’ll go to the zoo and the pool and the mall.

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