Two Mothers
Excerpt of a short play.
Produced by the Santa Cruz Actor’s Theatre in their 8 Tens @ 8 10-Minute Play Festival in February 2024, directed by Suzanne Sturn.
HEATHER
The thing is, even with all the treatments, and the uncertainty, and the… the miscarriages, the thing I’m most afraid for is after the baby is born. And my husband keeps telling me I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s get through the pregnancy first, and I know he’s right, but… how did you… how did you know what to do?
(CHANTAL thinks for a moment and smiles to herself.)
CHANTAL
You know, I felt similarly when we started treatment. Funny thing is, I wasn’t even the one carrying.
(HEATHER clears her throat.)
HEATHER
You, um, you used a surrogate?
CHANTAL
My wife carried.
(Long pause. HEATHER stiffens and shifts away from CHANTAL.)
HEATHER
That’s… fascinating, isn’t it? You see, I’m from the south.
CHANTAL (sarcastically)
And gay people don’t live in the south.
HEATHER
See, you understand.
(Chantal rolls her eyes.)
HEATHER
But don’t you worry about your daughter not having a positive male figure in her life? I read somewhere that if a child doesn’t have a positive male figure in their life, then they’re more susceptible to manipulation from men in their adolescence.
CHANTAL
And a father is the only possible positive male figure someone can have?
HEATHER
But won’t she get bullied at school? Kids are cruel.
CHANTAL
Kids repeat what their parents say.
(Pause.)
HEATHER
But what about–
CHANTAL
My wife and I went through everything you’ve been through and more to have our daughter. Sure, my wife carried, but that was only after I miscarried 3 times. We’ve gone through all of this while also having to justify our right to parenthood to every bigot like you that we met, and every close-minded doctor, and every snotty nurse. So don’t you dare sit there and pretend that you know what’s best for my daughter. You don’t know the first thing about her, or about us.
(Silence.)
HEATHER
I have a big family. Probably your stereotypical big southern family. 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Big families are amazing. So full of love. So many different personalities and values and feelings. You storm out of the house in the middle of a screaming fight, but the second the night air hits your face, you miss them already. One of my brothers, his name is Micheal. We called him Mickey. He was the kindest little boy you could imagine. Sweet, and funny… and he had the most adorable gap-toothed smile. As he got older, something changed. He became withdrawn. Quiet. Guarded. My mom got a phone call one night. Mickey was 16. One of the local moms told her that she had caught her son, and Mickey… together. (beat) I didn’t want him to leave. I mean yes, I was… confused and maybe a little upset about his… lifestyle… but I didn’t want him to leave. I never wanted that. I have him on Facebook, so I know he’s okay now. He’s got a–a boyfriend, and a good job, and friends, but none of us speak with him anymore.
CHANTAL
Why?
HEATHER
I… I think we want to hold on to the family we have left.
CHANTAL
So he’s not your family anymore?
(Silence.)
HEATHER
I don’t think he would forgive me. I don’t see why he would even want me back in his life. I chose a side. And it wasn’t his.
CHANTAL
But you haven’t tried, have you?
HEATHER
No, I haven’t.
(Beat.)
CHANTAL
We recently met a couple through my daughter’s daycare. Every time we would see them, they would invite us to their church. And every time, we would say that our schedule is too packed, or we had family in from out of town, or whatever excuse we could come up with. Unsurprisingly, my wife and I have a rocky relationship to organized religion. One day I went to pick her up without my wife, and when they asked me, I guess I panicked, or couldn’t come up with an excuse and said yes. We spent probably 3 hours debating what to wear, and another 3 hours worrying that our daughter was going to get conscripted into Sunday school and never look back. But we showed up–on time–and were greeted with friendly smiles and welcome wishes. And everyone shook our hands and told us they were happy we were there. We listened to a really well-written sermon about forgiveness, and afterward we had lunch with our new friends. (beat) I don’t believe people choose to be bigots.
HEATHER
I’m not a–
CHANTAL
But we choose how we treat each other. And if you have lovely people in your life who you choose to withdraw your love from simply because of their…
(Squinting accusingly at Heather)
“lifestyle”, well I just think that’s really sad.
HEATHER
I can have my views but still love someone who goes against them.
