The Cam Girl

There weren't many rays of light yet when Mackenzie felt herself awake. Just like many times before, her bladder being pushed by the baby had her in desperate need of a wee. Quietly, she made her way to the hall and went about her business in the adjacent bathroom. Just as she was coming out she saw Maurizio heading out of his room, already clothed.

'Mackenzie, hi! Me and Anna didn't wake you by being up, did we?'

'No, no, that wasn't it, don't worry.' She assured him, heading back to Jarno's room when he called her.

'Actually, since you're up, would you mind joining me and Anna in the kitchen? We were hoping to talk to you alone. It'll only take a few seconds...'

Dread took over her. Alone? Mackenzie thought they'd liked her, that the previous night had been a success, fun and cheerful. Were they going to tell her how they really felt about her? How much they disliked their son's choice of girlfriend?

'Okay, sure.' She mumbled to him, and followed him into where she'd first set foot in the house.

Annalisa was there as well. 'Oh, good morning, dear.'

'I thought we could talk to her now, before the others were up...' Maurizio told his wife.

'Okay, let just fetch...' She replied, going to grab a box from inside a spot Mackenzie couldn't see.

Annalisa returned with some kind of black box in her hands and sat down next to her husband in front of Mackenzie, who'd also taken a seat at the table. She steeled herself for what would be coming.

'We have a tradition of only handing out presents in the morning of Christmas Day.' Maurizio said. 'But we were hoping we could give you yours on your own, just so there wasn't any pressure.'

Mackenzie felt almost dizzy with relief. A gift! They weren't going to tell her off. They liked her! The second thought came instantly, almost childishly, and she forced herself to not think about it yet.

'You didn't need to give me anything...' She told them, honestly. Their lack of any hostility had been more than what she'd hoped for.

Maurizio disregarded her phrase with a wave of his hand.

'Anyway, I don't know if Jarno's told you before but we have a history of every new baby born always being a boy.'

'He did. When we found out it was a girl he told me it was probably my side of the family that'd done it.'

'And he's probably right. It's so rare for a Merlo girl to be born in fact that we've developed this tradition around it.' He told her. 'The last female born a Merlo was my grandmother. So, this,' Maurizio pushed the black box into her hands. 'is something that's been waiting to change owner since then.'

The box was velvety to the touch and Mackenzie stared at it, a little overwhelmed by what Maurizio had just said.

'Go ahead, dear. Open it!' Annalisa smiled encouragingly.

She did open it. Inside, neatly placed, was a medallion, just slightly bigger than a two euro coin she'd seen Jarno use on their way from Rome, with a chain. Both the chain and the medallion itself looked to be made of silver, the latter having engraved on it some sort of bird.

'The bird is a blackbird.' Maurizio said, as Mackenzie studied the medallion lightly caressing the engraved image. 'Or, in Italian, a Merlo.' She looked up at him, feeling words weren't quite within her reach. 'It's tradition that when a Merlo girl is born for her mother to use the pendant until one of her descendants has a girl as well. Even though our granddaughter isn't born yet, we would be honoured if you were to wear it.'

Mackenzie opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unsure of what to say. Jarno's parents seemed to take her silence as something else.

'Of course, not all the time.' Maurizio corrected. 'Just a few times, it's an old-fashioned thing, might not go well with some outfits...'

'No!' Mackenzie corrected their misinterpretation quickly. 'It's beautiful. I'll wear it. Everyday.'

They laughed and Mackenzie felt her hands shake as she removed the medallion from its safekeeping place and tried to put it around her neck. She struggled with clipping it into place and Maurizio got up and stood behind her to push her hair out of the way and helped her.

'You know, Mackenzie,' Anna told her, taking the younger girl's hand in her own. 'I've seen the way my son talked about you before I met you and yesterday I got to meet you, and the way he lights up when he is around you. How could I not adore you after that?'

There was a huge lump in Mackenzie's throat. 'I don't know if Jarno's told you, but I'm not going to... He's the one who's going to raise...' She couldn't continue. Her agreement with Jarno suddenly seemed to give her an image of herself through their eyes that she wasn't too fond of.

'We know, honey. We understand that being a mother was never in your plans and you have every right not to be judged for your decision. Please believe us when we say that...'

Mackenzie nodded. She did.

'Maurizio and I would just like you to know that, even if sometime in the future you and Jarno aren't together anymore, you will always be welcome here. Always.'

Getting up, Mackenzie put an arm around each of them and held them tightly against her in a hug that would hopefully make her feelings clearer than any words. Their arms enveloped her as well, which confirmed it had.

She eventually disentangled herself from them.

'Uh, I should, uh... get back to bed.' Mackenzie told them lamely.

Annalisa gave her a gentle squeeze on the cheek. 'Of course, dear.'

When she closed the door to the room behind her, Mackenzie self-consciously touched the medallion around her neck. Her fingers traced the detailed blackbird that was engraved, and her eyes took in the sleeping Jarno. She stayed like that for a while.

Not exactly sure of how long she'd done it for, Mackenzie watched Jarno begin to stir.

'Hey...' He mumbled at her after he was awake enough to be aware of his bearings. 'What are you doing up?'

'The parasite keeps deciding my bladder is a nice kicking spot.' Mackenzie replied, taking a seat at the bottom of the bed, no longer fiddling with the pendant. 'What was your great grandmother's name?'

'What?' He looked at her perplexed.

'Your great grandmother's name.'

'Uh, which one?'

'On your father's side, the one who was actually born a Merlo, not the one who married into the family.'

'That was... specific. She died when I was really young. Her name started with an "E"... Emma! It was Emma.'

'Emma.' Mackenzie said, testing it and running a hand over her stomach as if asking for approval.

'But why...' He began and immediately saw her hand. 'Emma?' He asked her.

'I like it. What do you think?'

They'd never discussed a name since she'd become pregnant.

'I think Emma is no longer known as "the parasite".' Jarno smiled at her and put an arm around her.

'Guess not...'

'But why did you...?'

Once more, Jarno began a sentence he never finished. His eyes suddenly noticed the new piece of jewellery around his girlfriend's neck and his hand traced it lightly.

'When?' Came his only reaction.

'Just now, your parents saw me and asked for a word.'

'Wow, I... I didn't know they were going to do that... That's awesome of them. I didn't even remember the tradition when I found out she was a girl...' He stammered out, almost to himself, looking happy.

He hugged her tightly against him, and Mackenzie felt at home in more ways than one. The memory of her own parents was like a distant nightmare, no longer upsetting her, but merely a reminder that she was far too grown up to ever fear them again. The feeling of belonging to this new family feeling almost too happy for it to be believable.

'Thanks for convincing me to come here. I needed that.'

'Anytime. I figured I could get a little less emotion than usual on Christmas if they had split it between two of us...' Jarno joked.

They got dressed and went on a walk around the village, with Jarno guiding Mackenzie along, pointing out spots he'd play as a kid. Some childhood friends of his crossed their path and he introduced her.

'What about the spots where you'd "play"?' She emphasized.

'What are you talking about?'

'Come on... You mentioned a teenage sweetheart and your mom's mentioned a friend's daughter you dated. Small village, you two were bound to have had "hiding spots".' Mackenzie teased him.

'I guess.'

Mackenzie furrowed her brow. 'I thought you said it was nice to be in that relationship...'

'I said most of the time it was.'

'What happened?'

'The breakup wasn't particularly pleasant...' Jarno simply replied.

His desire to elaborate wasn't too big, but Mackenzie's curiosity was pushing her.

'What do you mean?' She asked. When he didn't reply she grabbed his arm with hers. 'You've seen my parents; do you really think any past history of yours will scare me off?' She smirked.

For a long time, he was silent until it got to the point where Mackenzie thought he wasn't going to share anything. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, he began.

'My mother and Daniela's have been best friends since they were kids and we used to hang out together all the time. I don't really know when we went from friends to dating, exactly, but we shared a lot of our... developments. All I know is by the time we were thirteen we went for it and slept together.'

Holy crap! Mackenzie thought. Jarno lost his virginity before I did. Somehow that was funny to her.

'We were together for ages, pretty much doing what every teenager dreams of doing, until I was fifteen. I got the call to join an English team in one of the junior formulas and I chased after it. Daniela and I promised to not let distance come between us. And don't get me wrong,' Jarno said, looking at her. 'it wasn't the distance that did it. It was realising that, as we grew older, our personalities had developed us into two people that didn't really have that much to do with each other anymore.'

He sighed.

'The more I thought this, it seemed like the more Daniela was unwilling to see it. She said we belonged together and that these doubts were just a few hiccups that couples went through... Looking back I think she liked the idea of me more than me, you know? The fairy-tale story of our moms being best friends and their children marrying and having kids. She loved that.'

His jaw clenched for a bit, but his voice continued perfectly calm.

'About a year before you and I met, I decided that it was time and I told her I wanted to breakup.'

'How did that go?' Mackenzie asked in a small voice.

'She told me she was pregnant.'

She felt her mouth hanging open, as a bitter smile adorned Jarno's lips.

'You see,' He pressed on. 'Daniela told me I couldn't leave her alone with a baby. I told her she was right; I would be there for the baby but that it was still over for us. She asked what kind of example in responsibility I'd be giving if I didn't marry her. I told her that I'd telling my future son or daughter that the only reason they should marry someone was if they were in love with them. That's when Daniela panicked.' They had both stopped and he looked at her. 'See, there was no baby. She'd just been hoping I would stay if she told me so. So she came clean and went quite hysterical. That was the last time I spoke to her.'

'Jarno...' Mackenzie whispered, gently taking his hand and squeezing it.

'My parents don't know why things ended with her.' Jarno murmured, looking at their feet. 'Daniela's mom isn't guilty of anything her daughter did and I figured my mom and her could remain friends without what happened hanging over them.'

'It's not just that...' She told him, his eyes finding hers. It made her sad for him, and there was also something she'd realised. 'When I told you about Emma, you didn't... you didn't doubt me. You believed, even though you'd heard...'

It was his turn to squeeze her fingers between his.

'There's a very big difference, Mac. First of all, and unlike with her, I'm in love with you. And more important than that, I trusted you then and I trust you now.'

Mackenzie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with every ounce of strength she had.

'I love you, Jarno Merlo.'

'I love you too.' He sighed, smiling his sweet genuine smile again. 'Now, come on, let's get back so my aunt and uncle can get mushy about you wearing that necklace for about half an hour.'

///////////////

Hailey was pacing back and forth on the hallway, desperately trying to reach Jarno. His phone rang for a minute but he wouldn't pick up. Shit! She returned to the room where Mackenzie was experiencing another contraction and silently promised herself that if she ever wanted kids in the future she'd adopt.

'Looks like you're almost there.' The nurse that busied herself around Mackenzie said calmly.

'No! She can't come out yet, her dad isn't here yet!'

'I'm sure you'll be able to reason with her about it.'

'I'm sorry, what part of your training told you sassing the angry pregnant woman in pain was a good idea?' Mackenzie hissed at the nurse. 'Hailey, where is he?' She asked, not waiting for a reply to her previous question.

'I'm trying to contact him, but he's not picking up, I don't know if he's still on the flight.' Hailey told her, running her fingers over her phone and attempting another call. 'I left voice mails. I mean, it's lucky he's even on his way at all, the due date was only in four days...'

'Hailey, come here.'

The blonde girl felt a large impulse to take a few paces back when she saw the look her friend gave her as she said it, but got next to her all the same. Mackenzie's face was covered in sweat and making a grimace.

'Do I look like I care about facts and log-'

'No, you don't.'

'-ic? Get him here!'

'Sweet fucking Jesus...' Hailey muttered to herself as she went to the hospital entrance, desperately trying to reach Jarno. 'Definitely adopting. Or making sure to stay away from Mackenzie if she ever gets knocked up again!'

The phone call wasn't picked up yet again. She was just about to head back when a loud noise caught her attention. Around the entrance to the hospital grounds a yellow cab sped through the gate, tyres squealing. The car took the roundabout to the hospital at great speed and came to a screeching halt with a small cloud of tyre smoke. The driver's door opened and Jarno stepped out from it. The passenger door opened and a shaking cabbie stepped out, wiping sweat from his forehead.

'Never again.' The cab driver mumbled to no one in particular. 'Fuckin' crazy! No matter how much money, never let a customer drive. Never let a customer drive again...'

'Where is she?!' Jarno spotted her and asked, wide-eyed and flustered.

'In there, contractions started.'

He made to go inside and looked back at her, her eyes still on the man who steadied himself on his own taxi.

'Hailey!' He shouted. 'I don't know the room, lead me there!'

'Oh, I, uh, yeah... Follow.'

Cursing the shouting that pregnancies apparently provoked on the future parents, Hailey ran in front of him until they reached the room.

'Where the hell have you been?' Mackenzie demanded as soon as they arrived.

No "thanks for finding him" or any indication of the complaint only being addressed to Jarno. Just before Hailey could protest, Jarno spoke.

'Sorry, I'm here, I'm here.'

That seemed to somewhat appease Mackenzie, and Hailey couldn't help but admire his better understanding of how to handle the angry pregnant woman. The doctor also appeared and decreed it was time for the baby to come out. Hailey would never forget for the rest of her days how it was to watch her friend pushing, gritting her teeth, growling with the effort and squishing Jarno's hand.

And then suddenly, a loud cry filled the room. Emma was born, discontent with having been pulled from the warm, comfortable inside of her mother's belly. She was placed for a few seconds next to her parents, both staring dumb-struck and with tears in their eyes at their new-born.

When she was taken to be cleaned, Mackenzie only had eyes for her daughter.

'Go with her, I need to be closed up anyway. The two of you go check on her.'

They both went and, once a different nurse than before had cleaned and dressed Emma in the clothes her parents had brought for her, Jarno was given a still-crying Emma into his arms.

'Hey, Emma...' Jarno told her, his voice catching in his throat. As if a switch had been pulled, the baby girl stopped her wailing and stared with very open eyes up at him. 'Hey, honey, I don't know if you know this yet, but as of a few minutes ago you've just become the most important person in my life. Yes, you have.' Jarno smiled at her. 'Oh, and this is Hailey...'

He tried pointing her in Hailey's direction but Emma's gaze didn't steer away one inch away from her father, as if hypnotized by the sound of his voice.

'I think she's recognizing you talking from the bedtime stories.' Hailey told him, surprised. The only point where she took her eyes off him was when it was Mackenzie's turn to hold and speak to her.

///////////////

Two days later Mackenzie was sitting at the now-furnished apartment Jarno had purchased, on the fluffy large black sofa, Hailey next to her and Emma suckling on her nipple.

Jarno had gone out to do some shopping so that their guests could have some food and drinks when they arrived. The Merlo's were arriving by plane sometime during the afternoon to get a chance to meet their granddaughter for the first time. With them also came a deadline Mackenzie feared and knew she couldn't postpone any further.

'Just so you know, I sucked on those titties first, kid...' Hailey told Emma in fake-envy.

'If her first words are "titties" I will actually kill you.' Mackenzie told her, scowling.

'As long as I get to go clubbing with her when she's in her teens.'

'You mean sneaking her through security before she's twenty-one?'

'Yes, because you and I never did that...' The blonde girl rolled her eyes. 'It's at this point, whilst she's at that size, that you should remember she's got your genes, Mac.'

Emma tried to pull herself away from Mackenzie's breast, now full, spitting her nipple out.

'You really don't know what you're missing out on.' Hailey told the little girl as she took her in her arms, so that Mackenzie could recompose her clothes. Emma stared up at her attentively, gently sucking on her right hand.

Mackenzie leaned against the back of the couch and watched Hailey making faces at Emma who had eyes for no one else.

'Biological clock ticking?' She asked her friend, just to annoy her.

'I get to have fun whilst you have the actual trouble of parenting her. Trust me, I'm good.'

'Technically Jarno should have the actual trouble of parenting her, since I'm not sure how often she's going to be in the States-'

'Oh, cut the bullshit, Mac!' Hailey told her, with a smug half-smile.

'What?' Mackenzie looked up, surprised.

'Keep lying to yourself all you want, but are you really going to look me straight in the eye and tell me you want to walk away from her?'

'Emma deserves a mom who knows what she's doing.' The purple haired girl mumbled.

'Right, like your mother?' Hailey raised an eyebrow critically. 'She was the prototype of a prepared mother; look how well she did...'

'So that automatically qualifies me?'

'No, it means that if an idiot like her managed it, do you think you, with actual brains, who'll actually love Emma unconditionally, won't do a much better job?'

The deadline for her decision was no longer possible to postpone.

'Do you think I'll be disappointed?' Hailey asked her, gently. 'That I'll think you're betraying what we stand for or something?' She laughed.

'Something like that, I...' Mackenzie swallowed dry. 'It's not even Emma being my daughter, it's... for the first time I'm in love with someone and the fact that she's this person with fifty per cent of my genes and fifty per cent of his... It's just too powerful for me to ignore.' She stroked Emma's cheek. 'And so now I want to be a mom for the first time in my life and I feel guilty.'