Leonard's Bets

Velvety blonde locks sprung from her head like an old box spring. She was curled in her father’s arms, resting her head on his shoulder. Dried tears crusted her plump pinkish cheeks, which illuminated red by the blinking ambulance lights.
It was Halloween night 2005.
Leticia’s Trooper zipped along Sixth Avenue toward LDS Hospital.
"Watch out!" shouted Eddie, sitting in the front passenger seat. A trickle of trick-or-treaters were crossing the street pulling a Radio Flyer wagon. Leticia swerved to miss them and blew a tire when the SUV slammed into the curb.
Cameron leaned tensely against George’s chest, her legs sprawled eagle in the cargo space. The jolt of hitting the curb started another contraction, which were occurring more often.
"Oh god, we have to get to the hospital now!" Cameron hissed through gritted teeth.
"Hold on baby," Eddie encouraged her. "I have an idea."
He jumped out of the Trooper, demanding — but also frightening — the young trick-or-treaters give him their wagon.
"Look," Eddie said unclipping the identification card from his lapel, handing it to a pint-size Jack Sparrow pulling the wagon. "My name is Fox Mulder. I’m an FBI agent and I need your wagon to get to the hospital now."
"It doesn’t really look like you," said the pirate. "And why’s your shirt undone?"
"Listen kid," Eddie retorted. "If we don’t have the key, we can’t open whatever we don’t have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don’t have, without first having found the key what unlocks it?"
Expressed with utter confusion, Sparrow asked, "What?"
"Not exactly egregious like the real Jack Sparrow, are you kid?" Eddie snatched his identification back, cleared the contents from the wagon and strode off with it.
The trick-or-treaters stood awestruck, watching the rude FBI agent, a couple of witches and a hippie load a very fat, bloodied, zombie-cheerleader into the wagon and then disappear into the dark.
When they pulled Cameron through the Emergency entrance of the hospital fifteen minutes later, the enigmatic agent Dana Scully was in mothering mode.
"Eddie," she started. "Where have you been, we all left the house twenty minutes ago? Why is Cameron in a wagon?"
"We blew a tire Jody," Eddie answered. "I confiscated this wagon from trick-or-treaters so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way here."
"Well why didn’t you call me?" she asked.
"None of us brought our phone."
"Nobody thought to bring their phone?" she then asked more irritably.
The witches, Jacin and George, and Leticia, the hippie, shook their heads.
"I hate to be a bother," Cameron interrupted as she struggled to pull herself out of the wagon. "But if you all don’t mind, I need to get my legs up in stirrups and pop this kid out."
Shortly before midnight, the doctor entered the waiting room. Eddie, Jody, Jacin and George were playing canasta. Leticia was reading A Million Little Pieces, an Oprah’s Book Club selection, which she would soon regret taking the time to read. Josh slept upright in a chair, drooling on his Joe Dirt wig that had slipped askew.
"Excuse me everyone," the doctor interrupted.
Leticia elbowed Josh awake.
"She had a healthy baby boy," informed the handsome doctor. "They’re both doing very well."
"Yes! I won," stated Joe Dirt excitedly, throwing his arms up in victory.
The next afternoon, Jacin, George, Josh and Eddie returned to the hospital to visit mother and son. They first stopped in at the hospital gift shop and after much consideration bought the baby a purple plush monkey and the mother, a bouquet of pink roses.
They stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor, signed in at the desk and were directed to Cameron’s room. Jacin slowly pushed the door open and they quietly walked into the room. Cameron, looking pale and tired, was in the bed holding her sleeping child.
"Hi," Cameron whispered.
Her friends congregated around the bed and turned all gooey over the baby.
"Have you thought of a name?" asked Eddie as he peered at the pimply-faced baby.
"Leonard Jefferson Berner."
They all exchanged a look of bewilderment. Then Josh said, "Well, at least I won the other three."
"Won what?" Cameron asked.
"Oh, well we took bets on the date and time of the birth and the sex and name of the baby," admitted Josh. "And I got all of them right but the name."
"You bet on my baby?" Cameron asked exasperated.
"Yeah we did," George said, handing an envelope to her. "Earlier today we opened a savings account for Leo’s education with the money. This is the account information, which is under your name."
"Leonard," Cameron corrected, taking the envelope. "But that’s so sweet of you guys," she continued with a smile.
"So does the father know you had the baby?" asked George.
"My mom called him last night," she replied, then hesitated. "Listen. There’s something I need to tell all of you. I’ve decided to move to Idaho Falls so Leonard can be near his father."
"What … no way!" exclaimed George.
"I know you don’t approve of Heath, but Leonard needs his father and I don’t want to raise him alone." Cameron stated.
George huffed and stormed out of the room.
To be continued …