suggest going through with the operations as we have highly
experienced operationists, myself and other doctor who I will
introduce you to in a minute and nothing has gone wrong with
these sort of operations in a long time” the doctor said trying to put hope in these two gormless faces
“Is he classed as disabled?” Jacky asked
“Yes he is classes as disabled because of his condition at the moment”
“When he has the operation will everything be just fine with him if all goes to plan”
“He may not be able to interact like other children do when he has
had the operation but on the other hand if he stays in the
condition he is now he will have some serious complications like
severe brain damage and epilepsy depending on how bad his
condition develops”.
Staring at the baby, Jacky began to shed a tear but this time it wasn’t a tear of joy but of sorrow and misery instead
“One minute you’re picking names next minute you find out your
kids disabled” Tony said putting his hands on his head
“I know this has all come as a shock to you, I truly am aware of that and I’m sure you have a lot of questions but am going to leave you for a while to discuss and take in what you have just heard” Doctor Cooke said looking at his watch “I’m going to an NHS meeting at the moment and will be back around 4ish so I’ll introduce you to Doctor Biffra and answer any questions”
“Ok Doctor Thanks” Tony mumbled putting his head down
“Yer yer thanks” Jacky whispered as she was totally in another planet
“Don’t mention it”.
Their lives after the first 3 or so weeks weren’t as how they would have planned it with their new baby, they had never handled a a baby with hydrocephalus or any other disability so were weary when handling him but even though Michael was special and not like any other average child, they wanted to give him the nearest to a normal life as they could so they decided to get him baptized as soon as the vicar was next free which was next Thursday, they only had 8 days to prepare and invite all the guests to this celebration.
“Oh isn’t he lovely aye jack” Irene (Jackey’s aunt) said
“yer thanks” Jacky said smiling finally accepting how her baby was.
They didn’t feel they should be accepting gifts at first as it was nothing to celebrate their baby was a retard as some many call him but later they realised that they and everyone else that has a disabled child should celebrate the fact that they had put new life on this earth weather it has one eye, no legs, four arms or was backwards they are still human beings and Tony and Jacky felt guilty for not paying any attention to their baby and feeling ashamed of him as it was not his fault he was born in the condition he was. So as the ceremony continued on and the vicar recited his prewritten lines he put the cross on the babies head and everyone cheered
“Now Tony Smith would like to say a few words” announced the vicar waiting for him to get on the extremely short stage, holding out his arms he passed him the baby but accidentally missed Tony’s cradle like position and dropped Michael into the holy well, everyone gasped in shock
“Oh my god, could things get any worse for my baby. He has been born with a disabled condition, dropped in a well and is now properly the butt of everyone’s jokes” thought Jacky in her head as she ran up checking the baby for any injuries while he was crying in Tony’s arms
“I’m really sorry, I honestly never meant for that to happen, is there anything I can do to fix things?” asked the vicar shaking
“No, its fine! Can I just get on with my speech please?” asked Tony trying to shoo Tracey off the stage back to her seat
“Yes Yes” said the vicar to Tony “Now lets try again Tony Smith would like to say a few words”
He read:
‘’None of us, as babies, can recall our own Christening services
because, obviously, we’re far too young to remember. So I'm
sure, on behalf of Michael James Smith that everybody else
here today will one day tell him what a wonderful occasion it
was.
Hundreds, if not thousands of children are Christened every
single day in this country. But, as far as I am concerned,
Michael frankly, is far more gorgeous and special, funny and
beautiful, adorable and wonderful than all the rest of them put
together. But there's little old me speaking out of turn again.
Let us not forget that this tender young child is embarking upon
a special journey into life. And, as he grows up and passes
through childhood into adulthood, he has so much to look
forward to, to experience and to discover no matter what his
condition is and as that journey gets underway, I hope that I
shall have the opportunity to continue to be supportive and
loving to the best of my ability”
The audience appalled him as he took a bow and a sigh of relief as he only put pen to paper the night before and didn’t think all would go as it had
“What an excellent speech, it brought a tear to my eye” the vicar muttered. Tony gave a wink and headed for his seat at the front, next to his mother and Jacky.
“If you would like to start heading for the church hall, were the party will beginner soon but could I please ask all family and close friends of the mother and fathers choose to stay behind for photographs with the baby” asked the vicar.
Everyone was gathered together in the church hall for the last of the celebration and accounting everything a good day was had by all.
