(DAVID ENTERS anxiously, briefcase in hand. A few
paces behind him strides DS. DS shadows DAVID in a way
that makes it unclear who is the follower.
The higher selves see and have direct contact with
their counterparts. Their mode of expression is physical.
The characters never relate directly to, nor see, their
higher selves.
DAVID sits and works out of his briefcase. He looks
frequently and tensely at his watch. DS is trying to get
him to attend to something more urgent. DAVID closes the
case hurriedly and begins to leave.
ANDREW ENTERS, briefcase in hand, and silently
commands David back to work. They sit upstage left
working out of their briefcases. David follows Andrew's
motions a split second behind him.
DS is furious and pained.
They freeze lost in shadow.
Lights up on center stage revealing ES. ES expresses
the process of birth. More than pain, this is the
concentrated effort of labor. The breath work is
paramount. Finally ES settles onto one of the cubes, her
legs spread.
ELLEN ENTERS, waddling in, her pregnant belly
comically large. She rests between ES's legs, supported
by them.
The motion of ES's breath joins with ELLEN'S breathy
gasps.
LIGHTS up on DAVID. DS physically pushes David up
out of his seat. He forces him to close his briefcase,
manipulating his left hand. DS leads David to EXIT.
Furious, ANDREW EXITS.
DAVID rushes to ELLEN. DS sits cross legged on the
platform, his arms poised in a triangular form to his
sides.
DAVID speaks with the faintest of tightly controlled
stutters.)
DAVID: I didn't miss it, did I? Father wouldn't let me out of
the staff meeting and ...
ELLEN: It's about time.
DAVID: Dad wouldn't ...
(ELLEN gasps. She breathes five deep breaths with a
loud "HA" exhalation. E.S. arches and flexes her hips.
JS emerges from the cube beneath ELLEN. Her moves
express birth. This is an opening, an unfolding.
ES supports ELLEN briefly, then backs off and stands
behind her.
JS moves to ELLEN and wraps ELLEN'S arm around her.
She looks at and extends herself to DAVID. Then she slips
out of sight, raising a bundled form into the curve of
ELLEN'S arm to indicate that Ellen is holding the baby.
Ellen gently touches and gazes at the baby.)
ELLEN: Oh. Oh God. What a sweet sound. Not even a cry.
That's right. Nothing to cry about. What a sweetheart.
Boy or a girl?
DAVID: We'd have known she was a girl months ago, if you got
the test results instead of playing with a ouija board.
ELLEN: I didn't want to know from a test. I wanted to meet
my baby myself. Hello. Oh, hello. Look. Look David,
she's looking at you. She waved her hand. That's a
hello. See. Hello. Hello Mama. She's so beautiful,
Dad.
DAVID: She is beautiful, but I'm not your "Dad." I'm her
Father. Not yours.
ELLEN: Yeah. I know. It's just I'm really ready to be
"Mommy" now. Go ahead, David. Cut the cord.
(He reaches out and makes a cutting motion above the
baby.)
DAVID: Be Mommy to her. You're Ellen to me.
ELLEN: Too incestuous for you? Well, I'm ready. Ma-ma.
Ma-Ma.
DAVID: (to imagined nurse) What kind of medicine? Silver
nitrate for her eyes? To prevent gonorrhea? It's not the
law. It's a Health Department regulation. We have a waiver.
No, I'm not a doctor.
ELLEN: I did a lot of research.
DAVID: (to nurse) You're supposed to use erythromycin. I
don't care what you always do. Check the orders. Now,
please. I hate hospitals. They think they can do whatever
they want to you. Give up control and you're dead.
ELLEN: Look at her eyes. I think she knows more than we do.
DAVID: (to nurse) Good. It was on the chart.
ELLEN: No blurry, itchy eyes for this little one.
DAVID: (to nurse) I know we ordered a lot of special things.
You're right: alternate birthing center, birthing chair,
non-separation bonding, rooming in, and we did change the
consent forms. We want the best. The best start for her.
We also ordered the Laboyer bath, remember?
(ES brings a bassinet and holds it near ELLEN.)
ELLEN: She's a special baby. (to nurse) You're right. She's
no different from the others. They're all special.
DAVID: Be careful you keep the water warm enough. What's her
Apgar score? 9? Almost perfect.
(ELLEN scoops some silver glitter from the basin
over the baby as though scooping water.
JS rises. She expresses the spiritual ascent of
baptism. Glitter swirls off her finger tips.)
ELLEN: Oh David, look at her. She's floating. Just like she
was inside me.
(ELLEN scoops more glitter over the baby.
JS completes the sequence on top of the platform,
sitting in front of DS.)
ELLEN: (CONTINUING) She loves the water. A water baby. Oh.
She's beautiful. (to nurse) Can I nurse her now? She
can't seem to find me. She licked me. It tickled.
DAVID: Ellen!
ELLEN: It's nothing new. How does she even know what she's
doing? Look, she's smiling.
DAVID: It's just gas.
ELLEN: That's ridiculous! Can't you believe we come into the
world smiling? Do you smile when you have gas? Besides,
this isn't beer she's drinking. Although she does have
Dad's beer belly.
DAVID: (to nurse) Ellen's Dad. Not my Father. Not me.
(Slaps his gut.)
(to Ellen) Why do you still talk about your Father as
if he's still ...
(to nurse) No you can't take her.
Non-separation bonding, remember? Recovery room bypass.
I'll take her to the nursery for the tests.
(DAVID takes Jennifer and EXITS. ES brings Ellen
pillows and covers her with a blanket. ELLEN sleeps.
GRANDMA ENTERS with a bouquet of flowers which she
places on a box. She sits down, gets up, adjusts the
cover slightly. Sits. Adjusts the covers again. Sits.
Adjusts the pillows slightly. Sits. Pulls out a pillow
gently, fluffs it and puts it back. Sits. Yanks out a
pillow and pounds it vigorously. ELLEN'S head drops and
she startles.)
GRANDMA: Sweetheart, did I wake you?
ELLEN: Oh Mom, I'm glad you're here.
(They hug warmly.)
GRANDMA: I saw her in the nursery. She's so cute. Just like
you, except for her coloring.
ELLEN: I think she'll have hair like mine.
GRANDMA: No. No. By that peach fuzz, I'm sure my first
granddaughter will be a redhead. ... and her eyes!
ELLEN: They are gorgeous. Little baby blues.
GRANDMA: Not just blue, dear. Violet! Like Elizabeth Taylor.
ELLEN: Maybe she'll be an actress.
GRANDMA: I'm not that much of a fortune teller.
ELLEN: We'll just have to leave that to destiny.
GRANDMA: Destiny! Now that would be a name for her. A
striking name to go with that red hair and eyes. Or
Violet?
ELLEN: I, I'm sorry Mom. David ... We're naming her
Jennifer, after David's Grandmother.
GRANDMA: That settles that. (Fiddles with flowers.) Nellie
Bell, Nellie Belly. I never did like being called Nellie
anyway.
ELLEN: Thank you, Mama. The flowers are lovely.
(They hug.)
GRANDMA: I'm glad you sent her to the nursery. You need
your rest.
ELLEN: Actually, we both sleep better together. It's nice and
snugly. David just took her in for a standard test.
She'll be back soon.
GRANDMA: You're sure she's not better off in the nursery?
ELLEN: Positive. They're having an outbreak of diarrhea right
now. They say it's from formula. But still.
GRANDMA: Aren't you afraid she'll smother in bed with you?
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