Mrs. Wiggins

Pregnant without having sex with a man. Don't be cute, you didn't have to come up with an example that extreme. Well, you know your Bible, so you know it's true. Yeah, I know, praise the Lord, but making a baby is something we can do on our own. Hubert gasped, that means we would have to have sex. The last word shot out of his mouth like a bullet. I know what it means, it would be for a good reason though, and there wouldn't be nary a bit of pleasure involved. Shoot, I don't like sex any more than you do, but I'm willing to do it just enough times to make a baby. I'd love to have six or seven kids, but I know I couldn't stand to have that much sex. So I'll settle for just one. Hubert gazed at me like I'd suddenly sprouted a beard. Maggie, I ain't never said nothing about not liking sex. Making love is a wonderful activity and I enjoy it. I let out another loud breath. All right then, let me put it another way. I don't like sex, period. You don't like sex with women. Exactly, you know for sure that's the direction you wanna go in from now on, right? I'd give up sex before I did it with a woman. I reared back and looked at him with my mouth hanging open. Well, that don't make me feel too good about being a woman. You hurt my feelings. Stop pouting, he snapped, waving his hand. Don't get too upset. You know I didn't mean no harm. I could have said it a better way though. Okay then, we'll find a man to get me pregnant. I sniffed and sat up. When do you wanna start hunting for one? I had just turned 17 a week ago and Hubert was 20. We'd always been smarter and more mature than some of the other young folks our ages who lived in the same small country town of Lexington, Alabama. Even so, I couldn't believe we'd decided to go through with the fake marriage and the far-fetched scheme of me having another man's baby and pretending it was Hubert's. I thought it was a boneheaded notion when he first brought it up a week before our wedding. We'll start whenever you want to. Let's wait at least a couple of weeks, maybe even longer. I thought you had an itching to get this over with. I still got an itching to get it over with. But after thinking about it a little more, I'd like to get used to being a married woman first. That's fine by me, so long as we stick to the plan. Hubert sucked in his breath, stood up, and walked around to my side of the bed and stood in front of me with a serious expression on his face. It'll have to be a man that lives out of town. Some joker looking for just a good time, not for a woman to get attached to. I'm sure we can find a good one in a town like Hartville. Hartville is only one town over, that's too close. A lot of folks here in Lexington got relatives there, I pointed out. What about Birmingham or Huntsville? No, them places is too far away. That'd be too much wear and tear on that old auto of mine, not to mention a heap of money on gas. We might have to make a whole lot of trips. A whole lot of trips meant a whole lot of sex. My skin crawled again, and there was a nasty taste in my mouth. Setting up strangers for me to go to bed with, just so I can get pregnant, is starting to make me nervous. Why? Once the deed is done, you won't never have to see none of them strangers no more, shoo. Seeing them at all would be bad enough. Hubert was looking so impatient and frustrated now, I felt guilty. I was starting to feel impatient and frustrated myself. Listen to me, Maggie. If you want a child as much as I do, you'll get them thoughts out of your mind and keep them out. We need help to get what we want. It'll be easier than you think. I know every one of them jokers we find would love to get their hands on a sweet young thing like you. Do me a favor and stop saying things like that. This is gonna be hard enough on me. Okay, so what about us starting in Mobile? Uh-uh, I'd rather start at a bar in a small town like Toxie. All right then, that's where we'll go on the first night. What if I can't keep one on the hook long enough to get me pregnant? Then what? If I have to be with a different man every week?