A Child Is Born

It began at a Christmas party. Rosemary was seventeen and approaching her eighteenth year. She was in her first year at university and, being a highly intelligent girl, was doing extremely well. The biblical words "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more in abundance," were clearly true for Rosemary.

Not only did she have a good brain, but good looks and personality to go with it. She was the sort of person who drives you mad with envy at the many good personal gifts that have been bestowed on them. In addition, her looks were not the pretty passing looks of youth, but the sort that will wear long and well over the coming years.

As I said, it started at a Christmas party. This girl, who had it all before her, got drunk. Normally she did not drink alcohol, but someone had spiked the fruit cup, and this had a devastating effect on Rosemary. The upshot was, Rosemary got pregnant to one of her university lecturers who took her virginity in a back bedroom.

When a few weeks later the fact of pregnancy was definite, her parents were horrified. "You've ruined your life," "We'll be the talk of the neighbourhood, " "He'll have to marry you," "You'll have to have an abortion," "We'll have it adopted out." So went the litany of parental rebuke.

As it happened the father of the child did offer to marry Rosemary. Not that he was a particularly honourable man, or that he cared much about Rosemary beyond a casual fuck, but too many people had seen him disappear into that back bedroom with her.

Rosemary refused this offer of marital bliss. If she had been sober, he was about the last man she would desire to have sex with, or marry. This was just as well, because some three years after the offer he "Found himself," and set up house with a male student called Walter and, so the story went, "lived happily ever after."

Rosemary was equally adamant about abortion and adoption. She told her despairing parents that she intended to have the child and bring it up herself. This produced further parental wails, the content of which I shall leave to your imagination.

You see, from the moment Rosemary was aware that she carried within her new life, she had an overwhelming feeling of joy. Where other girls in her condition, even some married ones, might mourn their lot, for her, it was a blessing and not a curse. It might be useful to point out here that among her many other qualities, Rosemary was a very spiritual person, and often had more insights than the preachers she heard Sunday by Sunday, and certainly more than some of the church people who muttered, "The wages of sin."

Thus, from the first moment of realisation, Rosemary felt there was something very special about the child she bore. There was a deep bonding even before the child saw the light of day. The pregnancy went without a hitch; in fact she had never felt better or looked more beautiful than she did during that period. She positively glowed with health and happiness.

The lecturer father kept at a distance, except that he made a very nice allowance to Rosemary that was to be kept up until the child reached its eighteenth year. In the following years he maintained the distance, showing no interest in the girl who's virginity he had taken or the offspring.

Rosemary even rejoiced at the pain of childbirth, seeing it as the sort of pain that always goes with the privilege of bringing forth a new creation. It was a boy child, and when holding him in her arms for the first time, where others saw a red wrinkled creature, she saw the universe encapsulated in this tiny fragment of life.

The bonding already begun in the womb, now continued, and over the coming years was to take on unusual depths and meaning. She returned to the parental home with the child, whom she had named John because, as Rosemary said, "God has been gracious."

At the end of the first year after John's birth, Rosemary found an apartment she could afford, and they moved in. For the first five years of John's life, Rosemary devoted her time and energy to caring for him. She held the view that there would be no artificial accelerated learning. "When he is ready he will learn if the materials are ready to hand for him."

They played together and bathed together. After bathing they would wrestle around the floor naked or hide from each other waiting to be found. There was to be no false modesty between them, for, as Rosemary said, "The human body is too beautiful to be hidden all the time." I hasten to add that this may be true of Rosemary and John, but it may not be a universal truth unfortunately.

John was not to be a child forever stuck before a television set. He was taken out in the pram across woods and fields, and his bare feet allowed to touch the earth. Like his mother, John had a quick intelligence, and speedily came to appreciate the beauty of his world and the creatures that inhabited it.

When the time came for him to go to school, and once she was sure he had settled in well, Rosemary returned to her studies. She was careful to see that this did not interfere with the time she and John spent together. With a more enlightened view of education holding sway, she could pace herself out appropriately.

Sometimes, in the evening and while she read to him, John would reach up and touch her face and say, "Mummy, you are beautiful. I love you." There is no more sincere compliment than that, coming from a child, and Rosemary would have to wipe her eyes and blow her nose, as she replied, "I love you too, my darling." And it was true. This love between mother and son deepened over the years.

If Sigmund Freud was right, and the son perceives the father as a rival for the mother's affection, then John did not have this problem. Rosemary was not without lovers, but they were never flaunted before John. She took great care in her choice of men. She wanted no long-term relationships, and if she suspected a lover was getting too close, the affair was ended. She also guarded against further pregnancies and disease. Having put herself on the pill, she made doubly sure by always insisting on a condom being used.

One of Rosemary's concerns for John was the masculine aspect of his development. Having no role model immediately available, she made shameless use of her father and two married brothers. Between them John was introduced to those mostly male activities like fishing, fiddling with car engines, doing things "down in the shed," and abusing referees at football matches. Not that these men objected to being used, as John had such a sunny, open and loving disposition, being with him was always a pleasure.

As to herself, Rosemary could never quite understand her reticence to accept an ongoing relationship with a man. Clearly, the problem was not sexual because she had lovers for her gratification. Nor did she lack offers of marriage. Staff and students at the university went after her like a prize which none of them won. Single men in the church she attended tried for her hand, including one Reverent Gentlemen, but all failed.

She told herself and those who enquired, "I'm waiting for the right man to come along," but this did not convince her. Her real reason was partially hidden from her, but it was allowed to surface as, "I don't want anyone coming between John and I." For the time being, she left it at that.

As the years went on Rosemary gained her degree and this in turn led to her becoming a Pharmacist working for a local Chemist on a part time basis. This gave her the extra income that enabled them to move from the apartment to a house.

John did well at school, and apart from the odd moments of woe, enjoyed his life. He and Rosemary continued to be naked in each other's presence, taking showers together and still wrestling around. The house they had acquired included a swimming pool, and one day when John was about thirteen, and he and Rosemary were swimming naked, she noticed the first signs of pubic hair in his groin and an apparent enlargement of his penis. She smiled as she recalled the times she had washed his little sexual organ when he was a baby, and felt a sense of exultation at the thought that he was now moving towards manhood.

She drew no attention to this development, but waited for him to comment if he wished. He did so one evening when they were having their after shower wrestle. "Look, mum, see what's happening to me?" She showed interest, but because she made no big thing about it, John did not go into that shy stage that seems to afflict many young people. As with most of his life up to that point, and thanks to Rosemary's careful nurturing, this most dramatic of physical changes was taken in his stride. He later mentioned that he was producing sperm.

Thanks to the enlightened school John attended and Rosemary's own instruction, John learned about matters sexual, the potential dangers and pleasures. When he started serious dating, Rosemary always made sure there was a supply of condoms placed in the draw of his dressing table. She knew he made use of them because she was the re-supplier, but again, she never made any comment. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.

It was when he was about fifteen that she noticed for the first time, that he was looking at her intently during their after swim laze by he pool. She also noted an erection. She said nothing, but looking at him, she felt the faint throbbing in her clitoris. Her mind went back to the often asked question, "Why no ongoing relationship?" She thought she knew now.

Their after shower wrestling had now ceased, as his six feet one inch to her five feet six inches, proved a bit overbearing. Instead they would do a few push ups and other exercises, and then lay around on the rug for a while. At least once a week they went out together, perhaps to a restaurant or theatre. At weekends, they would often hike for a few hours over the nearby hills, and always they were happy in each other's company.

Even Rosemary's mother noticed the close bond between them, and commented, "I wish I'd had some of that from your father or your brothers." Interesting comment from one whom had wanted to terminate John's life before it had even begun.

As to their sex lives, neither flaunted their activities before the other. Both knew that there were sexual activities going on, and these were not really kept secret, especially as Rosemary was the condom re-supplier, and one day John had come across his mother's contraceptive pills.

One unavoidable matter now constantly presented itself to Rosemary. She sexually aroused John, and in turn, he aroused her. She also knew that John was aware of their mutual desire. Even if she did not see John's erections in her presence, their close bonding would have communicated his feelings to her and hers to him. In short, both knew the truth, but at that time, the truth could not set them free.

When John was seventeen and a half, Rosemary dismissed her latest lover and threw away her contraceptive pills. Within a couple of weeks as she went to replenish John's condoms, she saw that none had been used since her last visit to the draw. Two weeks later she looked again and still none had been used. The signal was clear and she knew the time was drawing close.

Now came a period of frustration for both of them. John had to masturbate frequently and Rosemary bought herself a vibrator. They would lie in their beds at night with only a wall between them, trying to relieve themselves of the tensions they felt. It was not very satisfactory.

John's eighteenth birthday arrived and a party was held. It went on until the early hours of the morning with all the usual noise and clatter of these occasions. Rosemary and John slept late, then got up to a mountainous mess. It took them a few hours to get things straight, and when finished they stripped off and plunged into the swimming pool.

Finishing the swim, they sat down on air mattresses beside the pool. After a few minutes, they looked into each other's eyes. Rosemary parted her legs, reached out her hand to John and said, "Yes, darling." He moved over to her and entered.

That poolside entry was the earnest of things to come. That night John went to his mother's bed. Holding her close to him he kissed her, pouring into her all his longing and desire. She, set on fire by him, stroked and kissed his penis, sucking in his precum like a starving woman. His hands and lips found her breasts, the source of his first nourishment, and poured his love over them. Moving to her vagina his tongue entered the sweet place he had entered this world from.

Rosemary had thrown away her contraceptive pills, and as he tried to put on a condom, she stopped him. "No, my love, I shall always take you as you are, and rejoice in what we are given." He poured himself into her.

It is now seven years since that first time of their coming together as lovers. I see them and their three beautiful children frequently. So far, they have one boy and twin girls. Rosemary and John have braved the sneers and accusations of some, and the envy of those who long for a love like theirs. Rosemary looks forward to more children. May God bless them richly.