September 13, 1947: Cincinnati, OH:
"I feel like I'm playing hooky," Charley McCullough said.
Deuce Barrell shrugged and replied, "Well, what about me? I have less excuse than you." He smiled and added, "And you have a good excuse."
Now it was Charley's turn to shrug. Sure, he had a valid reason. But the way Ad Doria had simply said, "Sure, go ahead," as if it didn't matter whether Charley were at the ballpark for the Cannons game against the Stars? That stung a little. He had hoped the old man would have shown at least a bit more concern about his absence.
The excuse - and the reason that Deuce was there too - was that Gloria Barrell McCullough was in labor. Deuce had just pitched a few days earlier, beating the Cougars 9-2 in a complete game victory with six strikeouts. He was due to pitch again in a couple of days (against the Kings). Doria's reaction to his request to accompany his brother-in-law had been, "Sure, it'll be good to get you out of my hair for a day."
"How long's this going to take?" Deuce asked Charley.
"Why? You got somewhere to be?" Charley shot back. He was excited and nervous, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was a bout of Deuce's selfishness.
"No, of course not," Deuce replied defensively. "I'm just wondering, is all."
"How in the world would I even know the answer to that, Deuce?" Charley asked, exasperation heating his voice.
Deuce sighed and sat down. He began leafing through a copy of "Life" magazine - his uncle Bobby was on the cover under a headline that read "Barrell Blasts His Way Towards History." Deuce smirked and showed it to Charley. His friend muttered, "I'm just glad that guy's in the Fed," to which Deuce responded, "You can say that again."
Deuce started reading the article about Bobby. Charley went back to chewing his fingernails. A few moments later, a woman in white appeared in the doorway of the waiting room. Deuce shot to his feet and exclaimed, "Debbie!"
The nurse looked at Deuce, frowning. Then she smiled and said, "You're so cute that I can't stay mad at you, even though you haven't called in months."
Deuce shrugged and said, "Well... you went on that date with Charlie Griffith. I figured we were through."
Charley stood up. "Any news on Gloria?" he asked. Debbie looked at him and replied, "I don't know. I'm not in that department."
Charley groaned and asked, "Then why are you here?"
Debbie gave him the disdainful look that seemingly all women used when a man asked a stupid question and replied, "I saw Deuce sitting there and wanted to say hi."
Charley groaned again and sat down. Debbie looked back at Deuce. "Were you ever going to call me again?"
Now Deuce shrugged. Truth was, he had his eye on a woman who had recently moved into his apartment building. He thought she had a boyfriend, but he wasn't quite sure, and even if she did...
"You going to answer me?" he heard Debbie say, snapping him out of his reverie.
"Uh... yeah, sure," he replied.
Another nurse, an older woman, wearing a severe expression on her face, appeared in the doorway. "Nurse Scanlon? Why are you here? I believe you work on the fifth floor...."
"Yes, Nurse Magruder," Debbie replied. She shot a quick glance at Deuce, then bustled out of the room in a hurry.
"Mr. McCullough?" Nurse Magruder asked. Charley looked up.
"Congratulations. It's a girl," the nurse said in a matter-of-fact tone. Deuce thought that he was glad she hadn't been his nurse when he'd been recovering from his surgery. No bedside manner at all. Now Debbie on the other hand...
Charley jumped up. "A girl! That's fantastic!" he exclaimed.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out cigars. He practically threw one at Deuce and then, with a dopey grin on his face (at least in Deuce's opinion), he actually offered one to the nurse. She gave him a small smile and shook her head, saying, "No thank you, Mr. McCullough."
"I'll be back in a few minutes to bring you to the viewing window so you can see your new daughter," she said and left with a slightly amused look on her face.
Charley looked at Deuce. "Can you believe it?" he asked.
Deuce was smiling too and replied, "Sure, I can believe it. It's not like we didn't know this was going to happen, Charley." He laughed.
Charley lit his cigar, and then Deuce's, and they puffed a couple of times, Deuce trying not to cough (he mostly succeeded).
After a few moments Deuce asked, "How about that Debbie?" Charley glanced over at him, frowning around his cigar. "I think I will give her a call," Deuce added.
Charley wanted to tell his friend that Debbie had a bit of a reputation as someone who'd dated half the team. Instead he angrily scooped up the magazine and threw it at his friend.
"Hey!" Deuce protested.
Charley said, "I think I like Linda." He looked at Deuce, "What do you think?"
"What? Who's Linda?" Deuce asked.
"My daughter, you knucklehead." After a beat he added, "Assuming Gloria's ok with that name, of course."
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Gloria McCullough and daughter Linda, 1947
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