IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE

t was the most difficult choice of both their lives. Being the rational one, he had tried to convince her that the choice wouldn’t have been there to make ten years ago. They both knew that this was irrelevant, due to it being available in the present. It didn’t make things any easier.

A mutual friend had introduced Brett and Lisa. Until recently, they were both eternally grateful towards her. Things changed drastically when they went to Brett’s family reunion three weeks previous. On the way there they still excitedly discussed the approaching change to their young lives. Lisa was seven weeks pregnant with their first child.

Although the pregnancy was unplanned, it was definitely not unwanted. They had been arranging their wedding, and had tentatively agreed that they would wait at least three years after the fact before starting a family. Brett was busy with a master’s degree, and wanted to complete it and settle into the promotion he’d been promised. All things being equal, he should have made partner within the next two years.

One evening of candlelight and too much wine changed it all. When the landlady, as they affectionately referred to it, failed to arrive – Lisa bought one of those home pregnancy tests. Both strips in the packet showed the same result. She went for a blood test and it was confirmed.

Brett wouldn’t have lied if he said that he wasn’t exactly overjoyed. Although he didn’t regret it, he would have preferred to establish a firmer financial base for his new offspring before conceiving it. Lisa’s enthusiasm was addictive though, and pretty soon they were both very excited. Until the reunion.

They had been planning to make the big announcement at the dinner table. Brett knew his mother would be ecstatic. Since his older brother failed to add a grandson to the family after three tries and a vasectomy, she had been pressuring Brett to fulfill the role. If he didn’t, the Howson family tree would branch no further. Announcing the news at the family reunion would make it extra special.

Lisa was eager to attend the reunion. Having grown up in an orphanage, she was keen on any form of family ties. Brett’s immediate family had welcomed her with open arms from the first moment, and she was sure that the rest of his family would be equally accommodating. It still sometimes hurt to think that her father gave up on her when she was only eleven.

Her mom had died at her birth, leaving him to raise an only child alone. To her infant mind, it had all been going very well until they returned from Canada. His contract was terminated and due to him not having any relatives there, he was forced to return to South Africa. Although she was sad to leave her school friends behind, she looked forward to the prospect of getting to know her father’s home country and family.

Nothing could have prepared her for what happened as soon as they arrived. The lady who met them at the airport was wearing what appeared to be a nurse’s uniform. When Lisa asked her father whether it was her aunt, he smiled sadly and knelt down to kiss her on the cheek. The lady took her hand and gently led her away. Her hand slowly slipped out of her father’s and she will never forget his miserable eyes as he waved weakly before they lost sight of each other. She never saw him again. The lady was one of the matrons at the orphanage and took very good care of her. She could never offer an explanation of why Lisa’s father gave her up, except to say that he couldn’t care for her anymore.

When they arrived on the farm of Brett’s uncle where the reunion was being held, there were cars everywhere. They were a day late due to driving all the way from Johannesburg. Brett had told her that Uncle Jack was a bit of a recluse and had lived on the farm alone since he met him the first time. As they walked into the lapa where everyone was gathered in the warm winter sun, a sea of faces met them. Lisa scanned them quickly and nearly fainted when she saw him.

Brett must have noticed how her knees almost buckled and immediately supported her while asking her what was wrong. She couldn’t reply, and when she looked at the man again, she knew. There was more than a flicker of recognition in his sad eyes. This time she did faint. When she came to, he was crouching over her with Brett. “Lisa,” was all he said. She replied with a single syllable, “Dad…”

The shocking revelation forced them to take two decisions. The one was made for them. One of the first things Brett said to her after he had caught up with her and she had stopped running, was that cousins couldn’t get married. He was so overcome by it all, that he didn’t even realise how insensitive he was being until her brow furrowed and her eyes exploded with tears. The second decision was much harder that the first. At least they would never get to choose about the first. They would have to make a decision about the second very soon, and it seemed like the choice had been made for them. The possibility of being the single parent of a retarded child was more than she could bear to consider. Lisa suddenly thought of how ironic it was that the Americans referred to it as pro-choice. How could anyone be for the choice to terminate an innocent human’s life?

© Chris Smal – 11 May 2006