Mary Goes Into Labor
(May 1977)
(Mary is lying in her bed at the Ryans', sleeping, when she wakes up suddenly with a contraction. She turns on the light, looks at the clock, and writes something on a pad of paper. Maeve, seeing the light on, I guess, opens the door.)MARY: Ma?
MAEVE: Oh, darling, did I wake you?
MARY: No, come on in. (smiles) I think it's starting!
MAEVE: (excited) The baby?
MARY: Well, something was going on earlier, but I thought it was just a backache. This is much more specific.
MAEVE: Should we call Dr. Wolfe?
MARY: No, not yet. Let the poor man get as much sleep as he possibly can!
MAEVE: Is your bag packed?
MARY: (laughs) It's been packed for a week! Can you stay for a while?
MAEVE: Oh, sure. Your father is sound asleep.
(She sits in the bed, next to Mary, and puts her arm around her.)
MAEVE: Are you feeling alright?
MARY: I wish I'd eaten dinner - I'm starving!
MAEVE: Oh no, darling, it's just as well that you didn't. I could get you a cup of tea, though?
MARY: I'd rather be here together.
(Maeve kisses her forehead.)
MAEVE: You scared?
MARY: Not much. More excited.
MAEVE: Mmm...me too. It's a girl, you know!
MARY: I think so too. Frank, of course, says it's a boy.
MAEVE: Frank is wrong!
MARY: Jack's daughter. Oh Ma, I'm so glad you're here!
MAEVE: Oh, I'm sorry he isn't here.
MARY: I can't wait to see who this person is!
MAEVE: I know.
(She smiles and flashes back to another night, in the same room, with Mary when she was a girl. Young Mary is holding a doll.)
MARY: What if you had a baby, and you didn't like it?
MAEVE: Oh my! That would be awkward, now, wouldn't it?
MARY: Could it happen?
MAEVE: Yes, but not around here, though.
MARY: Would you stay with me for a while?
MAEVE: Sure.
(She sits in bed with Mary, with her arm around her.)
MARY: Do you think I'll have a lot of babies?
MAEVE: Well, what do you think?
MARY: Some, I guess. Not a lot. You'll be their grandmother?
MAEVE: That's right.
MARY: (smiles) That's good.
MAEVE: (nods) I like that, too.
MARY: I wonder who my husband will be.
MAEVE: Oh, somebody fine, somebody loving.
MARY: And smart, like Frank.
MAEVE: (laughs) That's right.
MARY: He'd better be rich, too!
MAEVE: Awwww, I don't know, Mary, rich is not so important.
MARY: It isn't?
MAEVE: (shakes her head) I don't think so.
MARY: Da's not rich.
MAEVE: No.
MARY: So if my husband's nice, and I'm good, my babies will be nice people?
MAEVE: (kisses her forehead) Oh, your babies are going to be wonderful people!
MARY: And I'll like having them?
MAEVE: (laughs) Yes.
MARY: Does it hurt?
MAEVE: Well, some, but it's nothing that you can't manage. Besides, look at the rewards you get in the end, huh?
MARY: Julie Rose managed it. She had eight kittens at once!
MAEVE: That's right.
MARY: (nods) I'll just have one baby at a time.
MAEVE: (nods) I think that's very sensible of you.
(Mary smiles and holds her doll, and Maeve returns to the present when Mary has another contraction and makes a noise.)
MAEVE: What, darling?
MARY: Here we go again. Ma, feel this.
MAEVE: Oh, my, yes. Oh! Was the first contraction that strong?
MARY: Nah-ah.
MAEVE: Oh, well, I don't think you're gonna waste much time having this baby!
(They laugh.)
MARY: Maybe you'd better go tell Da and get dressed, hah?
MAEVE: Yes, dear.
MARY: And I'll call the doctor.
MAEVE: Alright. (screaming, on her way out the door) John!
(She closes the door, and Mary, smiling, starts dialing the phone.)