"Judith Merril - That Only A Mother UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Merril Judith)

I finally got to Сsee her? ItТs all true, what they say about new babies and the face that only a mother could loveЧbut ItТs all there, darling, eyes, ears, and nosesЧ no, only oneiЧall in the right places. WeТre so lucky, Hank..
Fm afraid IТve been a rambunctious patient. I kept telling that hatchet-faced female with the mutation mania that I wanted to see the baby. Finally the doctor came in to УexplainФ everything to me, and talked a lot of nonsense, most of which Fm sure no one could have understood, any more than I did. The only thing I got out of it was that she didnТt actually have to stay in the incubator; they just thought it was Уwiser.Ф
I think I got a little hysterical at that point. Guess I was more worried than I was willing to admit, but I threw a small fit about it. The whole business wound up with one of those hushed medical conferences outside the door, and finally the Woman in White said:
УWell, we might as well. Maybe itТll work out better that
way.Ф -
IТd heard about the way doctors and nurses in these places develop a God complex, and believe me, it is as true figuratively as it is literally that a mother hasnТt
a leg to stand on around here. -
I am awfully weak, still. IТll write again Сsoon. Love,
Maggie.
March 8.
Dearest Hank,
Well the nurse was wrong if she told you that. SheТs an idiot anyhow. ItТs a girl. ItТs easier to tell with babies than with cats, and 1 know. How about Henrietta?
IТm home again, and busier than a betatroё. They got everything mixed up at the hospital, and I had. to teach myself how to bathe her and do just about everything else. SheТs getting prettier, too. When can you get a leave, a real leave?
Love,
Maggie.
May 26.
Hank dear,
You should see her nowЧand you shall. Fm sending along a reel of color movie. My mother sent her those nighties with drawstrings all over. I put one on, and right now she looks like a snow-white potato sack with that beautiful, beautiful flower-face blooming on top. Is that me talking? Am I a doting mother? But wait till you see her!

July 10.
Believe it or not, as you like, but your daughter can talk, and I donТt mean baby talk. Alice discovered ItЧ sheТs a dental assistant in the WACs, you knowЧand when she heard the baby giving out what I thought was a string of gibberish, she said the kid knew words and sentei~ces, but couldnТt say them clearly because she has no teeth yet. IТm taking her to a speech specialist.

September 13.
We have a prodigy for real! Now that all her ftunt teeth are in, her speech is perfectly clear andЧa new talent now-abe can sing! I mean really carry a tune! At seven months! Darling my world would be perfect if you could only get home.

November 19.
at last. The little goon was so busy being clever, it took her all this time to learn to crawl. The doctor says development in these cases is always erratic.,.

SPECIAL SERVICE TELEGRAM
Х December 1, 1953
08:47 LKS9F
From: Tech. Lieut. H. Marvell X47-016 GCNY
To: Mrs. H. Marvel!
Apt. СK-l7
504 E. 19 St.
N;Y. N.Y.
WEEKТS LEAVE STARTS TOMORROW STOP WILL
ARRIVE AIRPORT TEN OH FIVE STOP DONТT
MEET ME STOP LOVE LOVE LOVE HANK
Margaret let the water run out of the bathinette until only a few inches were left, and then loosed her hold on the wriggling baby.
УI think it was better when you were retarded, young woman,Ф she informed her daughter happily. УYou canТt crawl in a bathinette, you know.Ф
УThen why canТt I go in the bathtub?Ф Margaret was used to her childТs volubility by now, but every now and then it caught her unawares. She swooped the resistant mass of pink flesh into a towel, and began to rub.
УBecause youТre too little, and your head is very soft, and bathtubs are very hard.Ф
СУOh. Then when can I go in the bathtub?Ф
УWhen the outside of your head is as hard aa the inside, brainchild.Ф She reached toward a pile of fresh clothing. УI cannot understand,Ф she added, pinning a square of cloth through the nightgown, Уwhy a child of your intelligence canТt 1~arn to keep a diaper on the way other babies do. TheyТve been used for centuries, you know, with perfectly satisfactory results.Ф
The child disdained to reply; she had heard it too often.
She waited -patiently until she had been tticked, clean and sweet-smelling, into a white-painted crib. Then she favored her mother with a smile that inevitably made Margaret think of theФ first golden edge of the sun bursting into a rosy pre-dawn. She remembered HankТs reaction to the color pictures ofТ his beautiful daughter, and with the thought, realized how late it was.
УGo to sleep, puss. When you wake up, Сyou know, your Daddy will be here.Ф
УWhy?Ф asked the Сfour-year-old mind, waging a losing battle to keep the ten-month-old body awake.
Margaret went into the kitchenette and set the timer for the roast. She examined the table, and Сgot her clothes from the closet, new dress, Сnew shoes, new slip, new everything, bought weeks before and saved for the day HankТs telegram came. She stopped to pull a paper from the facsimile, and, with clothes and news, went into the bathroom, and lowered herself gingerly into the steaming luxury of a scented tub.