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She wasn’t seemingly upset over any specific thing, and our relationship was going splendidly. She just seemed a bit irritable. I tended to chalk it up to the new prosthetic, her second, and the physical training that it took to get used to it. At first, having it at all was a huge life-changer for her, but she had suffered some setbacks off and on and was frustrated by them. Over the last few weeks, it seemed that frustration had begun to bubble over, though it was never directly aimed at me.
As I parked the car at the restaurant, she seemed delighted, and we walked in just in time for our reservation. The waitress sat us in the corner booth I asked for and brought us our drinks. I had a whiskey on the rocks, but Malia chose ginger ale, even though she had turned twenty-one. Apparently, her birthday, which was months ago, was the only time she drank. She just didn’t care for it.
We had gone out to Nashville to celebrate, staying in the same hotel we had the first time and renting a room for her sister as well. It was a blast being out there and celebrating with her, even if the day after had been spent nursing her hangover. I figured it might take a few years to get over that experience. Good thing I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.
“Ugh,” she said, holding the menu across from me. “Most of this is fish.”
“I thought you liked fish,” I said.
“I do. Or did. I don’t even know anymore. I just don’t want it now.”
“Oh. We can go somewhere else if you want.”
“No,” she said, putting her head in one hand and clenching her eyes for a moment. “It’s not the restaurant. It’s me. I’m just being fussy.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “You’ve dealt with a lot of change the last couple months. I just want to make you happy.”
“I have dealt with a lot of change recently,” she said, taking a deep breath and seeming to center herself. “But it’s not as much as we are both about to go through.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Panic started to rise at the base of my neck. The lump inside the pocket of my slacks was noticeable to me, but I hoped she hadn’t caught wind of it. Because if she had, the way she was acting, she knew what it was and wasn’t pleased about it.
“So, you remember our last trip to Nashville for my birthday?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said.
“And how we spent a lot of time in the tub, especially after I got over my hangover?”
“Yes,” I said, turning my head to the side. I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“Well, you also know how after our first trip up there, we switched to condoms because my medication was messing with my birth control?”
The room started swirling. I felt like I couldn’t catch my breath all the way. I mumbled something that might have been a yes. She seemed to think it was because she kept talking.
“Well, when we were in Nashville again, in the tub, we didn’t use a condom,” she said, lowering her voice so as to not be overheard.
“Uh-huh,” I heard myself say.
“Gerry, I’m pregnant.”
There it was. The words I had been thinking were coming. They hit like a hammer in the center of my mind.
“But we were so careful,” I said.
“Not in the tub,” she said with a smirk.
Only a moment more of the swirliness in my head continued before I blinked hard. Suddenly, everything was clear. There was nothing to be afraid of.
“We’re going to have a baby?” I asked, the smile spreading across my face. As she watched, the smile spread across hers too.
“Yes,” she said.
I hopped up from where I was and went over to her on her side of the booth, wrapping her in my arms and pressing a deep kiss to her lips.
“You’re okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “You?”
“I’m great!”
We clutched each other, tears welling up in the corners of our eyes for a moment before the waiter returned. I cleared my throat and returned to my seat but held out my hand over the table. She took it, and we ordered our food before returning to gazing at each other.
“So, I am completely terrified,” she said. “But in a good way.”
“So am I,” I said. “How long have you known?”
“A week. I didn’t want to say anything until after tonight. I wanted tonight to be special for us. But I’ve had such a hard time controlling my emotions, and I just didn’t want to lie about it keep it in anymore.”
“I am so glad you told me. I am going to be a father.”
“Yes,” she said, the tears welling up again. “I know it’s early in our relationship, but I feel like this is right. I can have a baby now and then go back to school after. Together, we can raise our baby, and I can keep pursuing my passions. If I decide I want to do that at all anymore. The streaming channel is going to explode when I give them the news.”
