The Monty’s had so much to be proud of, but nothing compares to bringing the newborn baby that God has blessed them. Carl Monty is a respected member of the religious community. He always wore a suit or at least a dress shirt and slacks. Margret, Carl’s wife, can always be found in a dress. They always invite people in distress with a prayer and tithe to their church. Carl carrier a basket where baby Ray slept.
They lived in a quiet neighborhood where everyone knew each other. Carl always sets up the block parties and welcome to the neighborhood gifting. As they walk up the sidewalk pavement to the front door of the couple’s sunshine yellow home, Carl Monty stops and looks toward a giant wooden fence that barriers them for the neighbor.
“Is everything okay, dear?” Asked Margret Monty. She stood next to him.
“Do you think bringing a child to this world was a good idea?” Asked Carl. “You know, with all the issues in today’s world.
“We cannot control anyone’s life choices; all we can do is try to get them on the right path. Baby Ray is going to be an amazing child. He already has amazing parents to lead him on the right path.” Margret Responds. She grabbed his arm. “Let's go inside.”
“I guess you’re right. I hate to think that this is the world now,“ Carl said as he continued with Margret to the door.
A few days later, on the other side of the fence, the Calputs arrived at their home with a new bundle of joy. Another gorgeous day in the neighborhood. The two men were Jim and Andy. They were in love. They have been together for years before adopting their first child, Julie. They always wanted a family together, and their day has finally come. Jim was an application designer for a big company like Google, but not Google. Andy was a retail manager who just his 10 years on the job.
The two men were walking up to the front door. One of the gentlemen was carrying a baby car seat and ecstatic while the other one looked miserable. He kept looking at the basket that Jim was carrying.
“Are you excited?” Asked Jim. “We are parents of a beautiful baby!” He said with a big simile on his face. He was so thrilled that this day has finally come.
“I specifically asked the adoption agency for a boy,” Andy responded. “I can’t relate to a girl. She’s eventually going to grow up, and you know, start period’ing and probably hate baseball.” Andy replied. He stopped and folded his arms.
“Don’t be silly!” Jim interrupted. “We’re going to be fine. We are going to be great parents, for a boy, girl or otherwise.” Jim grabbed his arm with his free hand. “Come on, let's go inside.” They continued to the front door. “I can’t believe you asked for the return policy like she was a pair of shoes or something. ”
“I was just asking, like incase she was broken or something?” Andy said. “I don’t know the right questions to ask, and I want to make sure we got all the information we needed.”
Andy unlocks the front door of their big beautiful home. The couple enters, and the door closes behind them.
Five years later.
Ray is wearing a suit, sitting in the grass of the Monty family’s front lawn, reading a book. Out of nowhere, a baseball plops on his lap. Confused by this, he hears crying on the other side of the fence. He peaks through a hole in the fence and sees a small girl, wearing a baseball cap and a catcher’s mitt. She was in tears. Ray picks up the ball off the ground and flips it over the fence. The girl picks up the ball and breaks into the biggest smile. Andy opens the front door.
“Julie! Daddy is almost home, time to wash up for dinner!” He shouted.
“Okay, daddy!” She said. Julie runs into the house. Ray lost sight of Julie and walked to the end of the fence. He peeks around the corner at the neighbors yard where the baseball laid in the grass.
Later that night, Ray was at the dinner table with his mom and dad. They had dinner spread on the table. All of them were still dressed up. Ray batted around peas on his plate into his mash potatoes. He put his head in his hand and let out a deep sigh.
“Is everything all right, dear?” Margret Monty asked. She faced him as she waited for an answer. Ray quickly turned his head toward his mother with hope. He was always told not to talk to them. He thought they would be more considerate if they knew that there was a kid who played alone.
“There’s a girl next door. Can I play with her?” Ray asked. “She was all alone and could use someone to play with!”
The mother stopped in shock. “Well, um, honey, I don’t think that is a great idea.” The dad grew angry but helped his composture.
“They are not like us. Anyone like them is going to big trouble when they are standing in front of God.” Carl continued. “You don’t want to be mixed up with that, do you?”
“N-no,” Ray responded. He went back to his plate. “Did you know she doesn’t have a mom? I think she has two dads.”
BAM!
Carl’s face is lit up red slams his hands on the table which shook everything sitting on top of it. Even Margret jumped.
“I can’t do this Margret. I can’t do this.” Carl argued. He put his head in his hand. “I got an idea.”
Carl pulled Ray’s where he was facing him. Carl turned his chair toward ray.
“They are not good people,” Carl stated. He stood firm. “They will be going to hell, and you don’t want to be a part of that. Your mother and I love you too much for that to happen to you.”
“Okay, dad,” Ray responded. He put his head down and slowly continued to eat the mash potatoes on his plate. He did not want to disappoint his parents or argue with their decision.
The next day, Ray is lying on his belly on the front lawn. He had an open book in front of him with Aesops Fable. He laid with his feet in the air, kicking.
“Plop!” The baseball lands in front of him on the book. He can hear a girl’s giggle from the other side of the fence. He noticed an eye peering through the peephole he used before. A smile appeared on Ray’s face.
“Oh, yea?” Ray said. He grabbed the baseball in his hand and quickly raced to the other side of the face. He starts chasing the girl in circles with the baseball extended in one hand as he was trying to tag her out. They run into a small garden that was fenced off with a little white picket fence. Inside the fence were the most beautiful petunias anyone has ever seen. The children ran all over the garden, smashing flowers with every step they took.
Andy opens the door and yelled. “Julie, time for din… Oh, my flowers! My award-winning Petunias!” Andy quickly races down to stop the children and save his prize-winning Petunias.
“Ray?” Margret yelled. She pokes her head from around the fence post. Andy is standing in despair. He is carrying both children under each arm as he tries to tiptoe out of his garden, avoiding stepping on another plant.
“What are you doing with my child?!” Margret growled. She stomped from behind the fence. “Put him down now!”
“What is your child doing in my flower garden is a better question!” Andy growled back. “If you had a better eye on him, he wouldn’t be in here in the first place!”
Margret grabbed Ray out of Andy’s arm and stormed off. She did not say another word about the flowers or Julie.
Later that day, Julie is sitting in a chair with her arms on the armrest. In front of her, both her fathers are sitting. She was nervous and tapped the edge of the armrest.
“Julie, I understand that you may think you have a friend, but honey, they are not nice people.” Andy tried explaining. “Some people are just not happy with the world as it is and… .”
“I think you should stay away from that boy. His parents are mean.” Jim interrupted. “I don’t think they link us and they certainly seem they don’t want you playing with their son.”
Weeks had gone by before the children ever got to see each other. The season went on, but it didn’t stop them from trying to see each other. Then finally that one day, Julie got a new pink bicycle. She was excited and could not wait to show Ray. She tried riding it in front of the next-door neighbor’s house to see if she can see Ray. Ray was staring out the front window when Julie came riding across the front of the house.
Julie noticed him watching, and she wanted to wave. While letting go of the handlebar, she lost control of the bicycle and ran into the wooden fence. The bicycle flipped over. She scraped her knee. Julie started screaming.
“Waahhhhhhh!” Julie wailed.
Ray jumped up and without hesitation. He looked around and did not see his parents insight. He raced to the bathroom for a bandaid before he ran out of the front door. He went to comfort poor little Julie. Julie’s parents overheard the excitement and came running out as well as Ray’s parents.
They were too late. Ray has already saved the day. He placed the bandaid on her scrap and hugged. The adults stand together in awe.
The End.
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