Abbey Loves Cock & Pussy

Abbey pitched the first game and Kingsport secured a sloppy ten to six win. They had a few hours off between games. Abbey asked her mother, "Where is daddy today?"

"He got a call last night. One of his bigger clients wanted to meet with him at two this afternoon. He said that if we had taken off yesterday afternoon to come down here, they never could have gotten a hold of him."

"I thought that that was why he was a corporate lawyer -- no weekends and very few nights."

"Yeah. It seems that this guy is leaving town for two weeks and needs your father to take care of something for him while he is away."

"Oh well. By the way, I think that I am going to ride home with you after our last game. Don't leave without me."

"Fine. Just make sure that you clear it with the coach."

The championship game was not an exciting affair. Kingsport was sporting a nine to two lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Abbey reached first on a single. With a two and one count on the next batter, the pitcher was just about to start her windup. Abbey began screaming for timeout. When time was granted, Abbey sprinted to the sideline fence on the first base side and began to vomit. The coach rushed out of the dugout, wondering what the problem was. Abbey was insistent that she could stay in the game; but the coach inserted a pinch runner for her. When a substitute took her position in the field for the last inning, Abbey began to pack her equipment.

There were two out in the inning and as the last batter was approaching the plate, Abbey asked, "Coach, do you mind if I ride home with my mother instead of riding the bus?"

The coach replied, "Since you have been sick for two days, it might be better. We don't want your teammates catching whatever bug you have."

Abbey said, "Thanks, coach." Then as she turned from him, she muttered to herself, "I don't think that they can catch this from me."

Abbey loaded her equipment into her mother's car and they began the two-hour trip home. When they were out of the parking lot and on the fifteen-mile stretch of road leading to the interstate, Amanda asked, "Abbey, have you been feeling poorly for any length of time?"

"Yeah. I've felt nauseous and crappy for some time now."

"Maybe you need to see a doctor."

"Probably."

Abbey's last response caught Amanda totally off guard. Abbey never wanted to see the doctor. She even tried to get out of seeing him for her sports physical. Amanda decided that she would wait until they got home before she pried any further. They sat in silence until they reached the interstate. They would now have a ninety-minute stretch until their next turn-off. Amanda sped up to seventy-two and put it on cruise control. Abbey had been staring off into the distance until she turned toward her mother and asked, "Mom, do remember back in March how you said that we would just put that night behind us?"

Amanda got a puzzled look on her face as she replied, "Yes. I remember. Why?"

Abbey looked away from her mother as she said, "I don't think that we will ever be able to put it completely behind us."

Amanda was silent for a bit and then asked, "Does any of this have something to do with you getting sick on the softball diamond?"

Amanda could see the tears forming in Abbey's eyes as she replied, "It has a lot to do with it. I'm pregnant, mom."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

"No."

"Then why are you so sure?"

"I am so late that I can't even count the number of weeks and I have been getting sick to my stomach all of the time. Then last night, I took a home pregnancy test. It was positive."

Amanda simply said, "I see." She drove for several miles before she spoke again. Finally, she asked, "What do you plan on doing."

"I don't know yet. I have to rethink all of my plans for the coming years."

"Have you given any thought to having an abortion?"

"Not for one second. I would never think of that."

"Why are you so adamant about that position?"

"I know that we are not a religious family and I won't make any pretense that I have religious convictions. It is just all of the human values that you and dad have taught me all of my life; they tell me that it would be wrong. Even though I didn't have sex voluntarily, it was my mistake that caused this to happen. I have to pay the price and if motherhood is the price for my mistake, I will just be the best that I can be."

They spent the rest of the trip discussing what plans Abbey had for raising the child and what Abbey planned to do about her own education. When they were almost home Amanda said, "When we get into the house, I would like for you to go straight to your room. I will talk to your father for a while and then when I call you, the three of us will sit down and discuss it. There are several options that are available and we need to be sure that all of us are doing what is best for you and for the baby."

When they walked into the house, Reggie quickly apologized to Abbey for not getting to her game. He then asked how the tournament had gone. Abbey told him that they had won the tournament and she quickly recapped her statistics for the weekend. Abbey approached her father and put her arms around him and said, "I love you, daddy." She then turned and walked to her room.

Reggie gave his wife a questioning look and asked, "What was that all about?"

Amanda said, "Reggie, sit down; we need to talk." Amanda reminded him of the Sunday in March when he wondered what her big conversation with Abbey had been all about. She explained that at the time, she thought that the psychological trauma that Abbey was experiencing dictated that she not share the details with her husband. Amanda said that it now appeared that that evening was going to affect them all. Amanda explained what had happened that night in March. She concluded by saying, "Abbey has just learned that she is pregnant."

Reggie went silent. He was visibly upset; but he did not speak for some time. It was difficult for him to express himself; but he tried to tell Amanda how he was feeling. Although he was upset to find out that his daughter was pregnant, he said that he would do everything that he could to help her. Amanda spent about forty-five minutes discussing the matter. During this time, Reggie learned that his daughter had completely ruled out the possibility of an abortion. Although he did not say so at the time, that fact made him happy. He had a moral objection to that procedure although he did not openly advertise that opinion.

Finally, Amanda asked, "Are you ready to calmly and rationally discuss this matter with Abbey?"

Reggie stated, "I'm as calm as I am going to get and yes, I am ready to rationally discuss this with her and you. There are a lot of things that have to be decided and the sooner that they get decided, the better off we will all be."

When Amanda arrived in her daughter's bedroom, she found Abbey sobbing uncontrollably. Amanda tried to get Abby to stop crying; but Abbey explained that that was all that she had done when she was alone for the past day and a half. Abbey's sobbing eventually stopped and Amanda took her to the bathroom where they tried to make Abbey's face look somewhat refreshed.

Abbey took a seat at the kitchen table next to her father. As a lawyer, much of Reggie's success was the result of his ability to articulate under pressure. Tonight, if he had been in a courtroom, he would have lost his case. He had great difficulty expressing what he was feeling and what he was thinking. He finally got through to his daughter that although the situation that they were facing had upset him, he was not upset at his daughter. He was concerned about the poor judgment that she had shown that night. He went on to say that he had always had confidence in her judgment in the past and he was not going to let this matter affect his confidence that she would show good judgment in the future. He told his daughter, "It's a shame; but it happens more often than not. The people who normally show good judgment are the one who get bit in the ass the hardest when they have a lapse."

The three of them sat at the table until after midnight discussing how they would cope with this event in their lives. Reggie tried to impress upon Abbey that they, as a family, would do everything that they could to help her get through this time and to continue with her education. On Sunday, that again was the main topic of discussion in the Robbins household. At times, Abbey had had her fill of understanding and planning. She would retreat to her bedroom for hours at a time.

On Monday, Abbey missed softball practice for the first time in her high school career. The fact that Abbey had been sick when the team had been at the tournament the prior weekend made the coach understanding about the situation. Amanda had been able to get an appointment for her with Dr. Hermann for early that afternoon. Typical of a doctor's office, they spent almost a half an hour in the waiting room. Then there were several tests that had to be run. They had been in his office for nearly an hour when Doctor Hermann invited Abbey and Amanda to his examination room. The first thing that he did was to confirm what they already knew; Abbey was pregnant. They learned that the baby would be due in December, which they also already knew. He spent some time examining her and asking her various questions. He spoke to her at length about nutrition during pregnancy and how much weight he expected her to gain.

Abbey had been concerned about this spelling the end of her high school softball career. Doctor Hermann, whose daughter was one of Abbey's teammates, understood her concern. He told her that he wouldn't worry too much about the remainder of the high school season. He said that he was somewhat hesitant about her playing the entire summer season. He told her that for the time being that she could plan on starting the summer season; but they would re-evaluate that decision each time that she came for a doctor's visit.

The remainder of the softball season progressed and no one was aware of the cause of Abbey's mystery stomach virus. She was fortunate enough that her nausea did not revisit her on the softball diamond again for the remainder of the year. Most mornings and many evenings, it was a problem for her.

Kingsport had lost just one more game during the regular season and they entered regional play as the top seed in the tournament. The regional tournament was a cakewalk for them and they easily advanced to the sectional tournament. The previous season had ended with a first round sectional loss to Eisenhower. This year, they would face Eisenhower in the final. A berth in the state tournament was at stake as these two intense rivals took to the diamond. This game was no less exciting than most of their previous meetings. Through thirteen innings these teams battled with neither being able to plate a run. In the top of the fourteenth inning, five consecutive Kingsport batters had base hits to score three runs. In the bottom of the inning, the Kingsport pitcher struck out the side to complete her fourteen-inning perfect game.

Kingsport moved on to the state tournament. Although it was being played thirty miles from their home, the team would spend Thursday and Friday nights at a motel and they would return to Kingsport after the championship game on Saturday. They would adhere to that schedule even if they were eliminated from the tournament on Friday. As the coach explained, that would be their reward for earning a spot in the state tournament. When trying to justify his position to the school administrators, he said, "There are over six hundred and fifty high school softball teams in the state and only eight qualify for the state tournament. The girls deserve something for achieving such a lofty goal. Rules prohibit us from giving them anything of real value for their achievement; but we can pay for a weekend that will be a memory that they can keep forever."

Kingsport was playing the second game of the tournament at three o'clock on Friday afternoon. They had fallen behind by three runs early in the game; but they slowly chipped away at that lead. They entered the top of the seventh inning trailing three to two. Abbey had gotten a base hit and the following batter had walked. There were two out and the batter stroked a sharp single to right field. Abbey had gotten a good jump off of second base and the coach was signaling for her to score.

As Abbey was approaching home plate, she saw that the ball was also nearing home plate. She knew that the throw was on target and it was going to be a bang-bang play at the plate. Abbey purposely waited until the last second to begin her slide; she wanted the impact with the catcher to be as severe as possible to hopefully dislodge the ball if the throw beat her. She was certain that the ball had struck the catcher's glove just before her foot hit the glove. The force of the slide caused her foot to drive through the glove. The spikes of her right shoe caught in the shin guard of the catcher and the two of them tumbled into a heap. Abbey heard the catcher scream and then she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

The pain that Abbey felt was like none that she had ever experienced before in her life. She still did not know whether she had scored or not. Suddenly she spotted the ball rolling about three feet from them. A smile crossed Abbey's face as she thought, "She didn't hang on to the ball; I scored. The game is tied."

The catcher was cursing and trying to disentangle herself from Abby. The catcher was obviously in as much pain as Abbey was. When she had freed herself from the entanglement, Abbey could see that the catcher was clutching her left wrist. The pitcher was watching the two obviously injured players when she picked up the ball and approached Abbey. When the pitcher reached out and touched Abbey with the ball, the umpire hollered, "The runner is out."

Abbey had dislodged the ball; but her pain had kept her from making sure that she had touched home plate. The game was over and Kingsport had lost three to two.

The catcher had a severe cut on her wrist and it appeared that there was probably a broken bone. The coaches from both teams had rushed to the field immediately after the collision at home plate. The Kingsport coach had been calling for the paramedics before the umpire had called Abbey out. The coach was loudly and not too politely arguing that Abbey had touched home plate on her slide. His argument was going to be of no avail and it was made more difficult by the fact that the base umpires were trying to usher the plate umpire off of the field.

When the coaches had summoned the paramedics, Amanda and Dr. Hermann had each rushed from the stands. They were each stopped by the security personnel from entering the field. Doctor Hermann was admitted as soon as he identified himself as a doctor. Even though she told them that her daughter was the injured player, security did not want to allow Amanda on the field. She simply pushed the man out of the way and rushed to Abbey's side.

Doctor Hermann was tending to Abbey when the paramedics arrived and when they learned who he was they took instructions from him. One paramedic was tending to the catcher while two others were trying to immobilize Abbey's leg and load her onto a gurney.

Amanda pulled Doctor Hermann aside and asked, "Is that break as severe as it looks to a lay person."

"I'm afraid so. The bones will have to be set and it is possible that it will require surgery."

"That is what I was afraid of. I think that Abbey would be better off if we took her back to Kingsport to be treated. Do you think that she can handle the trip in a car?"

"I agree that she would be better off in Kingsport. For obvious reasons, I would prefer that she not receive a general anesthetic. I have to talk to her before I can tell if she can make the trip."

Doctor Hermann talked with Abbey for a short while and then told Amanda to drive her car up to the gate. He then told the paramedics that Abbey should be loaded into her parents' car. During all of this, Reggie was standing at the gate watching apprehensively as his little girl was sprawled on the ground in obvious pain. He heard Doctor Hermann tell Amanda to bring the car to the gate and he immediately ran to the parking lot to get the car.

Amanda had just exited the field when she saw their car coming up the drive. Reggie parked next to the gate and the same security man that had hassled Amanda told Reggie that he would have to move his car. Reggie said, "Look ass hole, my wife just pushed you when you hassled her; but I'll knock you on your ass. Now get out of the fucking way so that paramedics can load my daughter into the car." The security man meekly slipped away.

The paramedics carefully loaded Abbey into the car. Doctor Hermann told the Robbins that he would meet them at the hospital in Kingsport. Reggie was driving and Amanda had to continually tell him that he needed to drive a little closer to the speed limit. Amanda kept checking periodically to see how Abbey was handling the pain. They were only a short distance from the hospital when Abbey blew up and said that she was tired of answering the same question. She said, "It hurts like hell, god damn it. You asking me if it hurts every three minutes is not making the pain go away. Just shut up, mom."

Reggie pulled into the ambulance bay of the hospital and rushed inside to tell them that they needed someone to bring Abbey in. The woman at the desk said, "Doctor Hermann called and said that you would be coming; but we didn't expect you for another five to ten minutes." While the woman was talking, two men were wheeling the gurney out the door. They loaded Abbey on the gurney and wheeled her inside. Amanda followed them in while Reggie moved his car.

Doctor Hermann and the orthopedist arrived at about the same time. Doctor Hermann had already called in instructions for x-ray and they were bringing Abbey back from there when the doctors entered the emergency room. Everyone was pleased that the orthopedist was able to set the fractures without surgery. Abbey received her first good news of the day when she was informed that she would not have to stay over night at the hospital.

Abbey's cast had been applied and the orthopedist was leaving the building. Reggie and Amanda were at the desk taking care of the myriads of paperwork. Doctor Hermann sat down on the chair next to Abbey's bed. He said, "There is only one good thing that came from this, Abbey."

Abbey cried, "What possible good could come from today? We lost the game in the state tournament. I have two broken bones in my leg and my softball career is probably over. Good. What good?"

"Abbey, I have watched you play for two years. It was going to break my heart to have to tell you that I didn't want you playing summer ball. You play too hard to take the chance that your baby wouldn't be harmed. If you put half of the effort into being a mother that you put into softball, you will do a fantastic job. Now, you're not going to be able to do much for a few weeks to get any exercise; but I want you to be careful about what you eat. You're at the stage of pregnancy where you could balloon up in a big hurry. Keep your weight down for me. Call my office and make an appointment for late this coming week."

Since both bones in the lower leg had been broken, Abbey's cast went clear to her hip. That cast would remain in place for a minimum of six weeks. At that time X-rays would determine what size cast would be required and for how long. As the summer progressed, Abbey spent most of her time in a wheelchair or on crutches. Simple things, like bathing, became a chore. Amanda had to assist Abbey with almost everything that she did. One of the first things that they did each morning was to bathe Abbey. Trying to keep the cast from getting wet was a huge problem. Although they wrapped it in plastic, that was primarily to keep the splattering water from getting it wet. Even covered, the cast would get wet if it were allowed to be submerged in the water for any length of time. Abbey concentrated on keeping her leg dry while Amanda made sure that Abbey was clean.