Page 50 of Grounds for Love

“No. Have you?”

“Joy knows. I don’t want to tell anyone until…after. Okay?”

He kisses the top of my head and I close my eyes and soak his comfort in. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

I smile to myself hearing him call me that.

Two weeks later, we are back in Doctor Ellison’s office. This time it’s for the results of the test we had the previous week. Once we made the decision to have the test, Dr. Ellison was able to work us in quickly.

I have Rod’s hand gripped tightly in mine. These two weeks have been different. It’s been like living in limbo. We’ve gone through the motions, but we haven’t really been present in the moment although Rod did everything he could to ease my stress.

“Good morning, Mrs. Marsh, Mr. Murphy.”

I almost jump out of the chair when the doctor bursts into her office. She’s carrying a folder in her hands and I try to judge by her facial expression what she’s getting ready to say. She would make a great poker player.

“Hi, Doctor Ellison.” I let Rod get the pleasantries out of the way. I just need to know what’s inside that folder.

The doctor takes a seat behind her desk, drops the folder on top, and opens it. “I know how anxious you both are to get these results so let me just cut to the chase. Your baby is perfectly fine. There are no traceable abnormalities.”

I hear what she says, but I’m still afraid to believe it means what I think. Rod must be having the same problem because he asks, “Can you spell that out, Doctor? What exactly does that mean?”

With a wide smile on her face, she tells us the happy news. “That means that I don’t see any reason why you can’t deliver a healthy baby. We’ll keep a closer watch on your progress than we normally would, and we’ll run a few tests throughout to make sure mom and baby are doing well, but yeah, congratulations, you’re going to be parents.”

A wailing sound comes from my mouth and Rod immediately pulls me up from the chair and wraps his arms around me. He rubs my back and soothes me with his words. I look up into his eyes and smile through the happy tears. “We’re going to have a baby.”

He grins. We’re going to be okay. “We sure are.”

The doctor isn’t finished. “If you’d like to know the sex of the baby, I can tell you that now.”

A glance passes between us and we both say at the same time, “No, we want to be surprised.”

We leave the doctor’s office with our hands full of pamphlets about pregnancy and the stages of the baby’s growth, prescriptions for vitamins, and information about birthing classes for later in the year.

And who do you think we run into on the sidewalk? Rod’s oldest nephew. Adan’s smile falters and he eyes me, then Rod, and then his gaze moves down to the materials in our hands which clearly shout pregnancy and baby. His focus shoots back to Rod. “What are you guys doing here?”

Rod looks at me for permission to let the cat out of the bag and I nod with what may be a permanent grin on my face. What else can we do? It’s pretty obvious.

Rod slaps Adan on the back. “You are the first to know. You’re going to have a new cousin. We’re expecting.”

Adan stiffens, his eyes grow big, and he croaks, “You’re what?”

“We’re pregnant. I mean Jenni is pregnant.”

Adan’s chin drops and the first thing out of his mouth is, “Are you keeping it? Is it yours?”

I’m stunned, not expecting a member of Rod’s family to react that way. Rod puts his arm around my waist and pulls me into his side while glowering at his nephew. I look away and swallow the painful realization that this is probably going to be everyone’s reaction. Is anyone going to be happy about this baby?

Rod tenses at his nephew’s insulting question. “I know this news is shocking and that’s why I’m not laying you out on the cement. I’ll give you one chance to make it right. Jennifer didn’t deserve that comment and neither does our child.”

Adan drops his head. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Jen. I’m happy for you both. I’ve always thought you’d be a great dad, Uncle Rod. So I guess this means there will be another wedding in the family.”

Rod says yes at the same time I reply no. Our heads turn and I can’t read what’s in Rod’s eyes. “We haven’t worked out all the particulars yet. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything until we can tell everyone.”

Adan chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. “Sure. No problem. They probably wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

Rod’s jaw tightens. “Will we see you Friday night at the summer’s end cookout?”

This is the first I’ve heard about the cookout. I shouldn’t let it hurt my feelings that I wasn’t invited. There’s really no reason why I should be invited to a family event.

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