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Thailand was breathtaking.
The mangrove trees, the Hot Spring water, the Emerald Pool were all stunning. But what caught her attention was the Tiger Cave Temple. It had been so hot, so beautiful, and felt almost welcoming as they’d toured the area.
They stopped to have lunch at a roadside stand, and Daphne nearly disgraced herself at how fast she ate her lunch. The Khao Soi, or coconut curry noodle soup, was the thing of dreams, and she wanted it again for dinner. Max had laughed and indulged her, walking back to get her curry from the shop so they could eat it together on the beach.
But while he was gone, she, too, had a mission.
She walked across the street from the building to a small pharmacy to get some antacid and bought a pregnancy test on a whim when she realized it had been months since she had her period. She hid the test, waiting to take it until this morning.
Letting the curtain drop, she walked back to the bathroom to check it and covered her mouth with a trembling hand as she stared at the pink lines before her. Getting out her phone, she quickly checked the calendar and hesitated.
It had been four months since her last period?
How had time slipped by so fast?
They had literally been here for a month, living among the locals, after visiting Jakarta for a few weeks. Max loved the weather and the environment, and they bounced from location to location over the last few months. Manila, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and had talked about moving toward India next.
The crazy man wanted to ride an elephant, she chuckled, staring at the pregnancy test. They were going to need to get moving if he was going to indulge in that wild idea before she got too ungainly and then head home. She wanted their child to be born in the United States – and if she had a miscarriage again, then she wanted to be closer to home to rest.
Pouring him a cup of coffee, she walked out the sliding glass door to the building and padded silently in the sand, marveling at the sunrise over the ocean in the distance. It was warm out already and would be miserably hot later on and she saw Max turn, looking over his shoulder, flipping his sketchbook closed.
“Hey… Did I wake you?”
“Nope,” she smiled, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. “I thought I’d bring you some coffee while you sketched.”
“Can we talk?” he began after a moment, taking a sip of his coffee and looking at her.
“Is this code for something, or are we having an actual conversation,” she teased and saw his distracted smile… causing her own to fade. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I want to go home,” Max whispered, looking at her and fidgeting. He was nervous, and his brow was furrowed with concern. Something was bothering him a lot.
“Okay… I don’t mind.”
“You aren’t mad?”
“Not at all,” she began. “I wanted to talk to you about that, too. What’s prompting you to want to return?”
“Well, believe it or not, but I’ve been planning a few things, and you are going to think I’m silly…”
“No, I won’t – but Iamcurious.”
“I think I want to go back to school,” he whispered in a hushed voice that was full of doubt and fear. “I’ve never really been focused on much except wanting to see the world and going wherever the Army sent me, but traveling kind of opened my eyes.”
“To what?”
“Me… and my new life,” he hesitated and looked at her nervously. “I’m not exactly the smartest guy, but I think I can do this. I just… Daphne, I’m seeing things differently, and I want to give back. Like yesterday, when I went to get your food – there was a kid using a crutch to walk, and he had a club foot. He was using his crutch wrong, putting his weight on his bad foot, and I knew it had to be hurting him because when I’ve worn my prosthetic too long – I get sore.”
He drew in a ragged breath and looked at her.
“I think I want to look at getting a degree in physical therapy so I can help others like they have helped me,” he admitted. “Those first few steps on this were so hard, and I wanted to tell you, but a bigger part of me wanted to surprise you. It was such an ego boost to walk across the room for the first time without…”
“Max?” she interrupted, taking his hand in hers. “I think you would be amazing at being a therapist.”
“Really?” he asked, his voice full of doubt and concern. “I don’t want to decide for us without involving you. I mean, we are talking about staying in one place then. I would have classes; I’d get a 9-5 job and all of that can cramp our adventures.”
“So can being pregnant,” she smiled tenderly, handing him the pregnancy test. “I want to go home, too.”
His eyes met hers, and she saw the worry in them. They had both been devastated by the miscarriage so early in the pregnancy, but this time just felt different. Last time, she had cramped and felt nauseous, but this time, there were no symptoms other than fatigue and she thought that was due to the heat. It could have been the baby instead.
