Baby Days and Celebrity Ways - Part 2
Gage wouldn’t have minded if they’d gotten a run before B-shift took over for them. The more of a delay he had in delivering his news about the commercial to his wife, the better. But unfortunately for him, shortly after his talk with Roy, their shift was over and he was on his way. The paramedic practiced what he was going to say as he drove home.
“Hi, sweetheart. What’s that? How is my morning going? Well, that depends on. . .”
“Nah,” he shook his head and tried again. “Good mornin’. How’re the two most beautiful girls in the world? Well, I’m about to make things even better. . .”
Again he shook his head because he didn’t quite like it.
“Lorraine, honey, have I got news for you!”
Johnny frowned. Just how was he going to break the news?
He gave it more serious consideration as he neared their apartment complex, where he’d have to face the inevitable.
I sure could use Roy ta give me a coupla ideas *now*. . .
~*~*~
Going up the steps to the apartment, Johnny tried another approach, talking to himself as he went.
“Sweetheart, ya know how it is when you really want somethin’ __ It’s like a dream of a lifetime__ and then the opportunity passes ya by__and you think the chance is never gonna come again. . .
He stopped at the door and finished in his mind, “And then the chance comes back. . .not for you, but for someone ya really want good things for. . .”
Would she buy it? He could only hope.
Johnny took a deep breath and when he was certain he was ready, he opened the door.
“Good mornin’!” He beamed.
“Look, Emily, Daddy’s home!”
Lorraine had been sitting on the couch burping the baby, careful to support her up against her shoulder. She now was on her way over to greet her husband in return, Emily still in her arms. Both were in their pajamas of sorts, Lorraine in a sleeveless gown, their daughter in a diaper and light purple onesie.
“Good morning,” Lorraine said, then gave her husband a kiss on the lips, one he reciprocated.
“We missed you.” She smiled at Emily. “Didn’t we, sweetie?”
Johnny smiled at the slight baby talk tone in his wife’s voice.
“I missed you both, too. So, anything new I should know about?” he asked as he reached out to take the baby. Ask me. . . he thought to himself, hoping she would.
“No, not really. My mother called. . .she wants to know if we want to go out to dinner sometime soon; she’ll baby sit.” Lorraine grinned as she watched Johnny look down at Emily now in his arms. “I think she just wants to spend more time with her granddaughter. She’d send us away to Hawaii for a month, if she could get away with it.”
While she was talking, Johnny noticed the look of concentration suddenly on Emily’s face.
Maybe she *could* go on cue, he thought to himself. She does pretty good *here*.
“Chet Kelly didn’t call by chance, did he?”
Lorraine looked puzzled. She shook her head ‘no’. “Was he supposed to?”
“Nah,” Johnny dismissed, his gaze still on his daughter. “Just a passing thought. Well,” he sighed, “I guess your diapers aren’t gonna change themselves, now, are they?” He looked to Lorraine. “We’ll be right back.”
“Okay. You want some breakfast?”
“Sure. Coffee and cereal?”
“You’ve got it.”
The two each went opposite ways. Johnny would have to talk to her about the commercial later.
At least she’s in a good mood. This could go easier than I expected.
~*~*~
As he approached the baby’s bedroom, he glanced down at her. “So, is your room still arranged the same?” He hesitantly peeked inside, then sighed in relief when he saw it was. “Okay, sweetheart, let’s get that poppy diaper off.”
Johnny laid Emily on the changing table, then let her grab one of his fingers. He wiggled it, eliciting a toothless grin from the baby, which widened his.
Even though it had only been seven weeks since her birth, he found it difficult to recall how it felt to be without her. It was as if she’d always been in his and Lorraine’s lives.
Johnny unsnapped the onsie and opened up the flap to expose the diaper. He then undid the tapes on the sides of the diaper and soon was looking down at the mess with an expression of disgust on his face.
“I can’t wait till you eat solids.”
Once the dirty diaper was off, her bottom cleaned and powdered, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were still alone. Seeing they were, he pulled a clean diaper from the hanging stacker bag and held it up.
“The new and improved diaper for babies. Not only are they extra absorbent and disposable, but they are tailor made for even the tiniest of bottoms.”
He glanced down at Emily, who was watching him.
“How’d I do?” No answer, of course. “I know, I know. You just want it on, dontcha?”
Johnny quickly put the diaper underneath her and brought up the front, securing the sides with the sticky tabs.
He fastened the onsie in place, then picked her up and held her against his chest, well supported by his hands.
“Let’s go tell your mom about the commercial, shall we?”
The two headed for the kitchen, Emily happy in her dad’s hug; Johnny wishing he could let the baby do all the talking.
~*~*~
Lorraine had breakfast on the table when Johnny came in. Though he normally would have laid Emily down in the playpen in the livingroom while he ate, some how he felt ‘safer’ having her with him. He was sure if the guys at the station saw him using a defenseless baby as a security guard, they’d never let him hear the end of it.
His wife let out a brief chuckle when the others were seated at the table, Emily securely cradled in his left arm.
“Like that’s going to work. Especially with hot coffee.”
“You know, you’re right.”
She really was right. It wasn’t the best arrangement for Emily.
So much for a ‘buffer zone’.
He turned outward from the table as Lorraine reached for the baby.
“C’mere, honey,” she said, more baby talk to her tone. “Daddy’s gotta eat.” Once she had Emily, Lorraine took a seat at the table across from him.
Johnny looked at the baby. Sure, she was on Lorraine’s lap now, but she was still between them. Did that still make her a ‘buffer’ after all?
At least Lorraine’ll hafta go put her in the playpen and come back before she can throw anything at me.
He took a bite of cereal. With it pushed to the side in his mouth, he began, “Um. . .Sweetheart. . .”
She waited patiently for him to go on.
So far so good. . .
He chewed and swallowed the food, then continued, the spoon still in his hand as he nervously of played with the cereal in the bowl.
“Uh. . .do you. . .would you. . .um. . .ever consider. . .well. . .modeling. . .you know, bein’ a model. . .Emily that is,” he quickly added, as he brought his full attention to his wife.
She sat looking at him like he was from another planet.
“Lorraine?”
“Wha. . .what brought this up?” A couple of seconds of silence followed before, “Don’t tell me you want her sprawled across the hood of a car modeling a bikini some day!”
“No. . .no,” he shook his head, then took a sip of coffee. He set the cup back down. “No, not at all. Not__at__all.”
“Then what started this?”
“Well, there’s been comments. To me,” he added, a hand splayed across his chest. “About what a pretty baby she is. And you’ve been sayin’ the ladies at the grocery store’re in love with the kid already. So I was kinda thinkin’. . .”
“What?”
Boy, his rehearsals had sure gone smoother than this. Maybe he should’ve faced the wall and brought up the idea.
“Um. . .Lorraine. . .”
She nodded once, waiting. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have sworn Emily was just as intense on what was coming next.
Ah, hell. I may as well get it over with.
“When I sent the stuff back to Darlene, I included a more recent picture of Emily with it. A producer saw it and wants to put ‘er in a diaper commercial.”
“When?”
She wasn’t mad yet. He hoped the next answer wouldn’t send her over the edge.
“Next week.”
Lorraine’s eyes widened. She glanced down at Emily, then fixed her still surprised gaze on him.
“How can an eight-week-old do a commercial? She can’t even crawl!”
Okay, now she was a little upset.
“Uh. . .that’s kinda funny,” he snorted in a slightly nervous laugh. “I wondered the exact same thing.”
But Lorraine wasn’t laughing.
Johnny looked at his uneaten cereal and let go of the spoon handle he’d still been holding, letting the utensil rest in the bowl.
“They. . .uh. . .they just wanna film her on the diaper . . .I think. . .somehow.”
“Our daughter’s going to be naked on national TV?”
When she put it that way, it almost sounded wrong to him. But babies were innocent. And nakedness to sell diapers was accepted by almost everyone.
Except Lorraine.
“It’s not like that,” he offered.
“I don’t care.” She got to her feet, Emily in arms, and started for the livingroom. “Our baby is not going to grow up to be half naked on a car and I’ll bet this is where it all starts!”
She left the room and Johnny with his breakfast. He let out a sigh.
“Man, now I gotta get a hold of Darlene and tell her ‘no’. I wonder how she’ll take it.”
Johnny pushed his cereal bowl toward the center of the table and sat back in his chair, a frown on his face.
~*~*~
Just over an hour later, Johnny was drying off after having taken a shower. Lorraine had remained upset about the whole show business thing and once Emily was down for a nap, he couldn’t take the glares from his wife while they were in any room together.
Maybe she’ll be a *little* less angry now. . .I hope.
He opened the bathroom door then peered into the bedroom. There was no sign of his discontent wife.
Johnny stepped out with a bath towel around his waist, the terry cloth covering to his knees.
“I really shoulda called Darlene. I could’ve at least gotten that over with.”
But the thought of giving up the dream —his dream for Emily, kept him from doing so.
Once he was dressed in grey sweatpants and a white cotton t-shirt, he braved what lie ahead and went in search of Lorraine. He found her in their daughter’s room, standing by the crib, staring down into it as she watched Emily sleep.
As Johnny came up behind her, Lorraine spoke.
“She really is a beautiful baby.”
“Well of course. She takes after her momma.”
A little flattery couldn’t hurt. Besides, he was being sincere.
“When would we have to sign the paperwork?”
“The paperwork?”
She kept her gaze on Emily as she answered, “Yes, you know, for the commercial.”
“You mean you . . .you want her to do it?”
“Yes,” she nodded, as she turned to face him. “I want her to have opportunities. And I don’t want to shut the first one that comes along down.”
Johnny just smiled, a little stunned, but happily surprised.
“So? When do we have to do it by?”
“Um. . .I dunno for sure. I’ve gotta call Darlene and ask.”
“Okay.”
As he took a step back she grabbed his right arm to stop him from going any further.
“Just promise me one thing.”
“Man, anything.”
“If she wants to pose like Darlene in the bikini when she gets older, talk her out of it.”
He doubted he could do much if her mind was made up at the time. Most men didn’t stand a chance when a female of any age got their mind set. But he still agreed. That was the best he could do for now.
Johnny looked past Lorraine to the sleeping dark-brown haired baby and his grin widened.
Man, this is great! Who knows where this could lead. . .
He quietly hurried from the room to give Darlene a call.
~*~*~
With every diaper change, Johnny imagined a camera crew in his daughter’s room filming. He’d try various lines that he thought would work for a commercial of that type.
Curious as to why her husband was so enthusiastic to take on each diaper duty when he’d normally be content to get out of most since the ‘newness’ of it had worn off, Lorraine stepped into the room at one point and caught part of a ‘show’. Johnny gave a sheepish grin to his ‘audience’.
“Just gettin’ Emily used to the idea.”
Lorraine just smiled. Johnny was obviously bursting with pride for their baby. She sure didn’t regret agreeing to the plan.
~*~*~
That night the couple sat in bed looking at pictures they’d taken of Emily over the previous seven weeks. Lorraine wore a yellow baby-doll style nighty with ruffled cuffs on the shoulders, her medium length blonde hair still slightly damp from a shower; Johnny was in red boxer shorts.
“Man, ya know, I never realized how many we’ve actually taken! There must be at least two or three hundred here!”
“I don’t know,” Lorraine said as she picked up another stack from a cardboard box. “But if we don’t slow down on the camera use soon, the pictures are going to overtake the apartment before she’s two!”
Johnny held up one of the more recent snap shots. “She sure is photogenic.”
“Just think. Our baby could become the next Kim Richards or Melissa Gilbert.” Lorraine set down the pictures in her hand and got onto her knees. She wrapped her arms around Johnny’s neck and gave him a very affectionate, lingering kiss on the lips.
“I love you,” she said, her voice full of emotion as she pulled back.
Lorraine looked positively radiant to him. And he felt positively. . .ready. . .
He quickly gathered up all the pictures, put them in the box any which way he could get them to fit. In record time, he had everything cleared off the bed.
With a new baby in their lives, romantic moments such as this had become few and far between lately. Johnny wasn’t about to let this chance at incredible love making slip away.
~*~*~
The day after the next, Johnny was back on duty. And although he’d spread the news to a few of his neighbors and telephoned Roy to tell him Lorraine was fine with the commercial, the rest of his shiftmates hadn’t heard. The dark-haired paramedic filled the engine crew in at roll call.
“Well, that’s wonderful news,” Captain Stanley commented.
“Yeah, Johnny,” Marco agreed. “Maybe she’ll get to be in a movie some day, like you want her to.”
“I’ve gotta hand it to ya, Gage,” Chet remarked, with a pat on his co-worker’s back. “I never thought you’d pull it off. I take back everything bad I said.”
At first Johnny frowned, as he wasn’t sure exactly what Chet was referring to. . .what he’d said in front of him or perhaps behind his back. But quickly recovering, the paramedic couldn’t help but give a wide grin. He was so proud of both Emily and himself. . .the latter for convincing Lorraine to go along with the whole idea, though he still wasn’t sure exactly how he’d managed that. It was easy to forget she’d convinced herself.
~*~*~
About an hour later, Squad 51 was sent out on a rescue. It was for a woman who’d gone into labor at a restaurant during breakfast, and no one there with her felt they could get her to a hospital in time.
They were right, too. The eight pound baby boy arrived just minutes after the paramedics got to the scene.
Once they transported mother and baby to Rampart, Johnny and Roy stopped to see Dixie McCall. She was at the desk near the base station.
“Well, how are my two favorite paramedics?”
“Great, Dix, we’re doin’ great,” Johnny answered. He stood directly in front of the desk while Roy was near the open end of it, close by.
“Why don’t you tell her why you are,” Roy suggested.
“You mean besides the fact we just delivered a perfectly healthy baby boy with no complications what-so-ever?”
“Right.”
Dixie looked from Roy to Johnny. The twinkle from a few days before was back in his eyes. “It must be really good news.”
Johnny stood up straight and gave a familiar lopsided grin. “Oh it is. . .it is. Emily’s gonna be on TV.”
“She is?”
“Uh huh. In a commercial.” Before she could get another word out, he put up a hand. “And before you ask, yes, she’s a little young. It’s for disposable baby diapers. Smaller ones for newer babies. Nearly newborns.”
That answered her unasked question. At least twice. She figured he must’ve gotten it a lot already. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Dix.”
She wondered about the earlier advice Johnny didn’t take from Roy that might’ve left Lorraine angry or upset. But it seemed not to be a big deal anymore. She couldn’t ask Roy about that with Johnny present. But as happy as Johnny was, it was hard to imagine he’d be on the outs with his wife.
“So, when will we get to see the commercial?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I wouldn’t think it would take long to film and edit it, do you Roy?”
“Well, I’m no expert, but I wouldn’t expect it to either.”
“Is this anything I might be more of an expertise at?” Joe Early asked as he approached the trio. The doctor had just finished with a patient in one of the treatment rooms.
“I don’t know, Doc,” Johnny shrugged. “You know anything about filming?”
“X-rays or something else?”
“Something else.”
“A commercial,” Roy offered.
Dixie quickly jumped in with the proud statement, “Johnny’s daughter is going to be in a baby diaper commercial.”
The doctor looked very surprised. “Isn’t she a little young for that?”
Johnny explained the whole thing to him, and wondered to himself if maybe he shouldn’t start carrying a sign to hold up each time he had to deliver the news to anyone.
Dixie once again smiled at Gage. “You’ll have to let us know when it hits the airwaves so we can watch for it.”
“I sure will. Yep, I suuuure will.”
The proud dad figured this was going to be great. Already other people were taking an interest in his daughter’s endeavor. And some, like Dixie or Joe Early, didn’t even have babies!
~*~*~
Later in the day, a couple of more rescues already handled, Johnny and Roy were at the kitchen sink doing the dishes. It had been Roy’s turn to cook dinner, so Johnny offered to help with the pots, plates and cups after they’d all finished their meal. He stood by with a towel as Roy washed another plate.
Marco, Mike, Chet and the captain had pulled their chairs away from the table and were gathered around facing the television. One of Chet’s favorite movies was on and the others were just trying to tolerate it.
Johnny turned toward the TV and scrunched his face. “What’s the name of this again?”
“Cave Women From Outer Space,” Mike answered after Chet hadn’t made an effort to respond.
“How can cave women be from outer space if humans had barely just discovered the wheel back then?”
“Who cares,” Chet said, sounding a tad annoyed. “With babes like that dressed in skimpy leopard skin bikinis, they can come from where ever they want, if ya ask me.”
“That’s just dumb.”
Roy glanced at his partner, the screen, and to his partner again. For claiming the movie was stupid, he sure was staring at it long enough. The senior paramedic went back to washing and shook his head.
“These chicks are hot!” Chet again commented.
“They sure are better than watching cave men,” Marco agreed.
Chet looked over his right shoulder. “Hey, John. Just think. . . maybe twenty years from now, your kid could star in a movie like this.”
That didn’t sit well with the dad. In fact he found it unsettling. Not just because he thought the movie made no sense, but the thought of a group of men sitting around ogling his daughter on the screen just seemed. . .well. . .wrong.
He thought about the poster of the actress he’d once had on his locker door. Miss October. And then eyed the guys watching the ‘cave women’ parade around, scantly clad in their outfits, on the television screen.
Thoughts of young men similar to he and Chet staring at Emily like that and with posters of her, although grown up, pinned up in their lockers invaded his mind.
Suddenly he didn’t want fame for his daughter. He didn’t want her on TV. . .period.
Man, how’m I gonna tell Lorraine?
As he came out of his thoughts, he noticed Roy staring at him.
“What?”
“That look on your face. It kinda worries me.”
Johnny rolled his eyes and grabbed a plate from Roy’s wet sudsy hands. He started to dry it till Roy commented, “I didn’t rinse that one yet.”
“I know,” he lied. “I know. But look, the suds are gone now.” He held it up for the washer to see.
“But--”
“We’ll just save this one for Chet,” he kidded.
Roy took it back, rinsed it and handed it to Gage to re-dry. Johnny took care of it, but without any thought into what he was doing. He was still too busy thinking about how he was going to tell a now-excited-about-the-idea Lorraine he’d changed his mind. That just maybe she’d been right in the first place.
~*~*~
With the dishes done, Roy pulled a chair over by the other crew members. When Johnny didn’t follow, he glanced back toward the younger man. Gage was leaning with his backside against the counter near the now-clean sink and looked lost in thought. . .again.
“You going to sit down and join us?”
It was actually the captain who’d beat Roy to the question.
“Huh?”
“Are you going to stand there and watch or have a seat like the rest of us?”
“Oh. . .um. . .sit. . .I’ll sit.”
But instead of joining the rest of the men, he took a seat at the table, not far from where he’d been standing. Both Roy and the captain shrugged, then turned their attention to the movie. However, Roy couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder a couple of times. Something was bothering his partner.
~*~*~
Johnny left the room before ‘Cave Women From Outer Space’ was over. As he watched him walk out, Roy heard Captain Stanley’s voice.
“Roy?”
The senior paramedic knew exactly what it was about.
“I’m on it.”
He got up from his chair and followed behind Johnny, who was already out of view.
Marco and Mike looked at one another and shrugged, while Chet was too engrossed in the climax of the movie to notice anything more going on around him.
~*~*~
Roy caught up to Johnny just as he was about to open his locker, which was across from the sinks in the latrine.
Rather than ask the obvious question, Roy stepped over to his locker near Gage’s. The younger man had his own open now and pulled something out from behind his Smokey the Bear poster taped up on the inside of the door.
“What’s that?” Roy asked, pretending to have been searching for something in the pocket of his civilian pants that were draped over a hanger.
“A picture.”
“Of what?”
“Miss October of 1975. I forgot I still had ‘er picture in here.”
“And you just remembered?”
“Uh huh.” Johnny paused and seemed to be mulling something over. Finally he mumbled, almost to himself, “I just don’t know if a girl havin’ ‘er picture pinned up in some guy’s locker or on the wall is such a good thing.”
Roy cracked a grin. He had an idea what was wrong now.
“Why not? It’s been going on for years. Heck, they even had the title ‘Pin up Girls’ for awhile back in the 40’s.”
“Yeah, but now. . .” he shook his head. “Man, I just dunno.”
“Don’t worry. By the time Emily gets old enough, it’s bound to be a whole different lifestyle for celebrities. That’s if she even has a career beyond the age of . . .well. . .eight weeks.”
Johnny looked at him, almost angry he’d insinuate that it would end that soon. But he quickly realized what Roy was doing. And the point was well made. Anything could happen between now and twenty years in the future. There was certainly no reason to be concerned about it yet.
The dark-haired paramedic gave a crooked appreciative grin. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” DeSoto said as he closed his locker, empty handed. “I’m a dad; I’ve got a daughter, remember? I know exactly how you feel.”
Johnny nodded, still smiling, then frowned when he noticed Roy had given up his search with no results. “Hey, what were you looking for? Maybe I can help you out.”
“Oh. . .um--” But he couldn’t think fast enough.
“Roy. . .”
The older man waited for more after the interruption.
“Man, don’t ever try ta go into spyin’. You’ll never make it to the end of your first assignment.”
Now there was something they could both agree on, no debating what so ever.
~*~*~
Finally the day for Emily’s commercial shoot arrived. It had only been the one week of waiting, but to Johnny and Lorraine it felt like a month.
The proud dad carried his baby daughter, who was wrapped in a pink flannel receiving blanket, against his chest. Underneath the cover, she was in a cotton white dress with tiny roses embroidered along the hemline. They’d all gotten up early for breakfast and to get freshened up for the big day.
Johnny wore jeans with a brown blazer and a tie, while Lorraine was in a very business like green dress. However her purse and the diaper bag she was carrying made her just look like a mom on an errand.
“So we just have to sign the contract when we first get there, and then they should start filming right after that?” Lorraine asked as they headed for their station wagon in the parking lot.
“That’s what Darlene said. I figure we should be at the studio in about forty-five minutes. Once we get hooked up, we just read over the fine print – so say another five minutes for that. And then the shoot at around seven-thirty.”
Emily reached up with her little right hand and touched his chin. He looked down and gave her a very animated smile.
“Well, sweetheart, you’re about to become the newest starlet in Hollywood. How’s it feel?”
“Maybe you should ask her that after they go through about twenty takes.”
Johnny snorted a laugh. “Oh, I’ll bet Em gets it right the first time. I mean, what does she hafta even do besides just lay there.”
“Not cry.”
He shrugged. She was right.
Johnny held Emily securely in one arm and opened the front passenger door. Her car seat was secured on the seat, facing backward; a very recent trend for the safety of infants.
While he was getting the baby situated, Lorraine opened the back door on the driver’s side, then placed her purse and the diaper bag further in on the bench seat.
“Just what’s in the contract? Besides pay. Did Darlene say?”
“Uh huh. She said it’s no big deal. Just standard stuff.”
“And that would be?” She wondered as she got inside next to the bags.
“You know. . .things like how long we’re gonna do this for—Emily’s gonna do this for,” he corrected. “Hours, pay, like ya said. That kinda stuff,” he shrugged.
With Emily set, he closed the door and trotted around to the other side of the car. Lorraine kept a smile on her face to entertain the baby while Johnny got into the driver’s seat.
The off-duty paramedic let out a happy sigh, then looked in the rearview mirror.
“Ya ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“Good deal.” With a glance at their daughter he commented, “Whataya say we get this show on the road.”
And with that, the family of three was on their way to what would be a major change in their lives; Lorraine still hoping for the better but not completely convinced, Johnny sure his daughter would be more successful than any baby in show business before her.
And then it happened. . .
~*~*~
The instant he saw the wreck up ahead, Johnny knew that they were not going to make it to the studio on time. There was no way he wouldn’t stop to help.
The accident looked to be a bad one, and messy at that. A pick-up truck had hit head-on into a telephone pole, its hood was pushed up and in. A damaged sports car was partially up on the sidewalk not far from it.
The back gate of the truck was open and four one-gallon cans of yellow and white paint had apparently shot out from the bed of it, the lids having popped off on impact. Paint was splattered every where in the street within several feet of the truck and car. Johnny knew the accident had to have just happened within a short period of time, as there was no police or fire department on scene, and people from a couple of other vehicles were checking on the victims still inside.
Lorraine reacted before Johnny even had a chance to bring the station wagon to a stop.
“I’ll get the blanket!”
She undid her seatbelt and kneeled on the backseat as she reached for the blanket they always kept handy.
Johnny pulled over near another parked car and grabbed the first aid kit from underneath the front seat on the passenger side. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.
Both parents were out of the car in seconds. Lorraine handed the blanket to him, then went around to the passenger side to get Emily out. Johnny quickly headed over to the wrecked truck when one of the witnesses gave him a nod when asked if the victims in the car were doing okay. ‘Just shaken up for the most part’ had been the reply. They’d also informed him that someone had driven on to find a public phone to call authorities after he’d inquired about that as well. The local businesses nearby were still closed at the early hour.
Eager to press on, he didn’t notice the puzzled expressions on a couple of faces immediately after the exchange. He was unaware the people were curious as to why he was taking over.
Johnny rushed toward the truck and slipped in one puddle of paint, nearly losing his footing. But he was able to regain his balance despite his full hands, and hurried to where a man was leaning in the open door on the driver’s side.
“How is he?” Johnny asked.
“I don’t know. . .he hasn’t said anything. Got a bump on his forehead though. Must’ve hit it pretty hard.”
“Lemme in ta take a look.”
The man hesitantly complied, obviously not sure what more the new arrival could do that he wasn’t.
“I’m a paramedic,” Gage explained, sensing the doubt. He’d leave it at that unless the man asked for more. He handed the first aid kit and blanket to him. “Here, hold these.”
“Sir?” Johnny questioned, his attention fully on the victim now. “Sir? Can you hear me?”
The reply was a groan.
“Are you hurt anywhere besides your head?” Johnny asked as he quickly ran a trained gaze and hands over the driver.
Maybe it was the sudden movement – or the look of confusion on the injured man’s face. But whatever the case, the off-duty paramedic had a flash of dejavu’, back to a rescue he’d gotten punched in the nose at, when the man’s right arm shot across, his right fist connecting hard with Gage’s left eye. The force was unexpectedly strong and he staggered back a couple of steps. The blow left the caregiver quite stunned for a few seconds.
The other man dropped the first aid kit and blanket in surprise.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Johnny immediately gently palpated around his eye to feel for any damage. Luckily the socket didn’t seem to be fractured, but he was sure going to be sore. And he’d certainly be sporting one hell of a bruise before long. He swiped lightly at his watery eye with the back of his left hand as he shook his head to clear it. He needed his wits about him to tend to the victim with what little he could. If the man would just let him.
“I’m fine,” Gage said as he glanced at the driver in the truck with his clear eye.
He was looking at his hand as if he didn’t quite understand what he’d just done.
Johnny was just relieved to hear the sounds of sirens approaching; it was going to take more than one paramedic to handle this guy.
“I thought you knew what you were doing,” the witness said, his doubt having returned.
“Yeah? So did I. . .” Johnny gently rubbed at his eye again. “So did I.”
Lorraine had been busy with Emily and was unaware of the incident. She caught a brief glimpse of her husband rubbing at his eye as he stood where the truck cab was joined with the bed of it. But it wasn’t enough to alarm her.
~*~*~
When the other paramedics arrived, Johnny briefed them on what he knew.
“He’s disoriented, has a contusion on the forehead. And a pretty mean right hook.” He pointed to his injury, which hadn’t been overlooked by the new arrivals anyway. The tissue around his eye was already discolored and swelling.
While his partner went on to the patient, paramedic Joe Parker asked, although he already knew the answer, “He did that to you?”
Gage lightly touched it again and winced. “I don’t think he wanted an off-duty fireman butting in,” he supplied with a grin, hoping the whole thing would be blown off. But his witness had other ideas.
“That guy punched him in the face! About knocked him right to the ground!”
“Why don’t you hang around and we’ll take a look at it after we get everyone else covered.”
Johnny shook his head, then bent down to pick up his first aid kit. At least he’d managed to partially cover the victim with a blanket when he started to tremble.
As Gage straightened up he said, “I’ll stop by Rampart later if I need to. We’ve got an appointment we’re already--” he glanced down at his watch and his good eye widened. It was already well past the time they were supposed to be at the studio. “Really late for!”
He took two steps forward when a voice stopped him.
“Hey!”
Johnny turned and caught an ‘instant ice pack’ that was tossed his way. It landed directly in his free hand. He nodded and grinned in appreciation, then trotted off toward the station wagon, this time going around the painted ground.
With the engine crew on scene taking care of the other victims, his help was no longer needed. They could do what they needed with the blanket.
~*~*~
Lorraine gasped, and if she hadn’t had a baby in her arms, would’ve been immediately tending to her husband’s now obvious injury.
“Johnny! Oh my God! What happened?”
“Let’s just say I’m glad it’s Em that’s gonna be filmed today.”
“But wha--?”
“The guy in the truck,” he said as he once again gently swiped at his watery eye. “Was a bit disoriented from a head injury. I shoulda been a little more cautious.”
“Are you okay? Are they going to take you in?”
“Huh uh. I’ll be all right.” That was more than he could say for his shoes. He looked down at his partially painted footwear with a frown. And to think that wasn’t even his biggest problem at the moment. He looked back to Lorraine. “Right now, we’ve got an important date ta keep that we’re already late for.”
She glanced down at Emily, who was sleeping. “That can wait. She won’t ever know the difference.”
“No, but I will. Man. there’s no way I’m blowin’this, Lorraine. If we don’t go today, they’ll find another baby an’ she may never get the chance again.”
She gave a wan smile and sighed. “Okay. But I’m driving.”
“Deal.”
As she got the baby back in her car seat, he talked to an officer who had come over to discuss what had happened. After Johnny declined to press any charges against the truck driver, he and Lorraine were free to go.
“I just hope they have a ‘two hours late is okay’ policy,” Johnny said from the back seat.
“Two? We’re not even an hour now.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but you’re drivin’.”
If he didn’t already have a black eye, she’d have been tempted to give him one.
~*~*~
The Gages pulled up to the main entrance of the studio lot and Lorraine rolled down her window to talk to the gate guard. The man was in a small square steel-framed structure about five feet wide, with glass all the way around above waist level. He came out of the already open doorway and approached the visitors.
“May I help you, Ma’am?”
Johnny had rolled down his window as well. “I sure hope so,” he shot back with a grin before his wife could answer. When he didn’t get anything in return, he let the smile fade away. “Uh. . .we’re here to meet with Paul Higgins. He’s producing a commercial our daughter is gonna be in.” His smile returned with that due to pride, but the guard didn’t seem impressed in the least. Maybe it was the ice pack covering one eye.
“What’s the name, Sir?”
“My name?”
“That would be what I need.” He was starting to sound annoyed.
“Right.” His expression again serious, Johnny supplied, “Gage, John Gage. Our daughter is Emily, this is my wife in the front, Lorraine.”
Lorraine waved with a slight grin, but the guard obviously was all business. He simply went back inside the shack to make a call. In a few minutes, he emerged and signaled for them to press on.
“Can you tell us how ta get to ‘Studio B’?” Johnny wondered.
He demonstrated with his hands as he pointed out toward the lot, “Go straight past that first building, hang a left, you’ll see a building with a big ‘A’ on it. ‘B” is just behind it. If you come to a building with a ‘C’ on it, you’ve gone too far.”
“Right.”
Lorraine stepped on the gas pedal and slowly drove away. “I don’t know if I liked that guy,” she commented over her right shoulder. “I hope the other people here are more friendly.”
Thinking back to his own experiences with a few celebrities he’d come across over time, Johnny answered, “I think they will be. It just takes ‘em awhile to warm up to regular folks like us.”
All Lorraine knew was that she’d love to still be home at the moment, rearranging the livingroom or vacuuming the apartment from front to back. At least then she’d feel less anxious. And her husband wouldn’t look like he just stepped out of the ring with Mohammad Ali.
~*~*~
As they drove past Studio A, Johnny and Lorraine spotted a couple of actors they’d seen on television walking toward the building after apparently getting out of a fancy black sports car. Both Johnny and Lorraine were once again glad to be at the production lot, their excitement building.
Johnny waved to the actors out his still open window. He smiled wide when he got two friendly waves back. It gave him a false sense of being a part of the celebrity community, not just ordinary ‘John Gage’. . .soon he’d be known as ‘Emily’s dad’, which if it meant getting the royal treatment and automatically waved in at the gate, would be far-out to him.
~*~*~
Johnny flipped through the six pages of the contract, all in very small print. He and Lorraine had met a staff member at the studio and were waiting to speak to the producer of the commercial. They’d been escorted to a large office to read over the paperwork, which indicated the tardiness hadn’t mattered.
“Looks like your still gonna get your big break, Em,” Johnny said just before he gave his baby girl a kiss on the forehead. She was on Lorraine’s lap, nursing from a bottle. He then looked at the papers again with his one good eye while another cold pack supplied by the studio covered the other. The first ice pack had expired and been disposed of. “I guess there’s more ta doin’ a commercial shoot than I thought.”
Lorraine let out a sigh. “It must not be as basic as Darlene made it sound.”
“Or ‘routine stuff’ entails a lot of things in show biz.”
Johnny began reading page one out loud when suddenly he was interrupted by a, “Mr. and Mrs. Gage?”
Both parents looked up to see a man in blue jeans and a grey t-shirt standing in the doorway. He stepped forward and extended his right arm, offering his hand.
“Paul Higgins.”
Johnny stood and reached out, accepting the gesture.
“John Gage. That’s my wife Lorraine and our daughter Emily.” He’d forgotten all about the ice pack and what it was covering. When he saw the look of puzzlement and alarm on Paul’s face, he quickly put the pack back in place, explaining, “We had to stop at the scene of an accident. . .and well, this,” he said as he pointed to his eye after they released from the handshake. “It’s just one of those things. . .”
When he didn’t see the man’s expression change, Johnny elaborated further. “I’m a paramedic so I thought I could be of some help. Unfortunately the driver of a truck didn’t appear to agree.” He laughed lightly to show he was okay.
“I see,” came a hesitant response.
Johnny wasn’t sure if he did see. But at least he hadn’t seen his stocking feet. Gage’d had to take off his shoes in the car to avoid leaving a trail of yellow footprints.
“We. . .uh. . .we had to wait there awhile…till the fire department and cops showed up. That’s why we’re late.”
This time the producer’s expression was unreadable.
“It’s. . .it’s not gonna be a problem__is it?”
“No, not a problem at all. That’s perfectly understandable.”
Both proud parents smiled and sighed in relief.
“However, we’ve had a slight change in plans, with the extra time allotted to consider our approach.”
The relief was gone and the two waited for more, expressions of uncertainly on their faces.
~*~*~
“You’re kidding me,” Roy said after his partner told him what happened at the commercial shoot. The two paramedics were back on duty and had just gotten changed into uniform. They were about to join the others for roll call in the apparatus bay of Station 51.
Johnny’s left eye was very black and blue and still swollen enough to be noticeable. But he didn’t feel that it would interfere with his job performance.
“Man, I wish I was, Roy. I wish I was.”
“Well, why’d they let you go over the contract if they were going to change things that much?”
“I don’ know,” he shrugged. “Maybe ta give us somethin’ to read while we waited. Or the person who escorted us in didn’t know about the change in plans.”
"How's Lorraine taking it?"
"Well, the carpet oughta be worn down soon from the vacuum going over it. An' I'm willing ta bet Emily's room is gonna be changed around again by tomorrow."
The medics walked out of the locker room and into the bay area, where the engine crew was already lined up behind the squad. Captain Stanley stood ready with his clipboard. He did a double take when he saw the youngest member of his crew.
“Good lord! What happened to you?”
The others turned to see what he was talking about and lower jaws dropped in shock.
Uncomfortable with the stares, Johnny figured he’d give a quick explanation and hope they’d just carry on as normal. Though he had a hunch, knowing the guys, it might not work that way.
“I guess you could say some help I offered wasn’t quite appreciated.”
Chet shook his head. “I knew it! You turned into one of those stage dads, started telling the director what to do and he hauled off and hit ya.”
“No,” Johnny groaned.
“Lorraine turned into a stage mom and you tried to come to her rescue as they were tossing her out the door and someone clobbered you,” came a second guess.
“Chet!”
The others rolled their eyes at his guesses. But they still didn’t have a clear answer.
“So what happened? Exactly,” Hank pressed.
“Exactly?”
The captain nodded.
“Well, ya see—“
“I know,” Chet interrupted. “Emily got tired of doing the same thing over and over, knew you’re the one who got her into it and she socked ya with her baby bottle!”
Johnny let out an exasperated sigh. “Would ya lay off? There was no commercial shoot. There was no stage, no camera filming, no shoot at all. Got it?”
Though he hadn’t planned it, his words certainly got everyone’s attention off the black eye now.
“What happened to that?” Marco wondered.
“Exactly,” Mike quickly put in. When the others looked at him, he shrugged. “I just figured I’d save one step.”
Hank was waiting for an explanation as well. Roy was waiting to see their reactions to what he already knew.
Johnny’s shoulders sagged and he looked solemnly at the floor. “While we were at the scene of an accident, tryin’ to help till the fire department got there, the producer had more time to mull it all over.” He brought his gaze up. “He decided to replace Emily with a doll.”
“A doll?” Captain Stanley questioned, his eyebrows arched.
Johnny eyed Roy, then the engine crew. “A doll,” he nodded. “A life-sized newborn, soft- vinyled baby doll. He decided the public probly wasn't ready for a real young baby ta be plastered all over the TV screen sportin' less than a diaper at times. 'Sides that, a doll is easier on the budget.”
Recalling how Johnny had met with the same fate after a chance for fame, Chet couldn’t resist. “I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in your family.”
Johnny just groaned, while Roy gave him a pat on the back along with, “I guess that’s showbiz.”
“At least when it involves a Gage,” Chet added.
The third time let-down paramedic couldn’t hide the pained look on his face, and it wasn’t due to the black eye. All that chance at fame and fortune for Emily lost to, A doll. . . man, a *doll*.
Not to mention he still had yellow footprints on the back floor of the car.
Somehow it seemed it would have been a lot easier. . .and safer; probably less expensive, too. . . just to have kept the little purple bikini and picture from Darlene after all.
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