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“You’re up,” Jake muttered, rolling over to look at her. “What time is it?”

“Just past two. Did you have a good sleep?”

“I think so. What about you?”

She put down the water bottle and moved toward the bed. There would be no more secrets between them.

“I’m spotting,” she said.

“What does that mean?” he asked, looking over at her, concerned.I’m spotting.It sounded ominous, but it could be nothing, a figure of speech meaning she’s watching for whales.

“I’m bleeding a little bit.”

This got his attention and he sat up, worried. Pointing to her crotch, he started looking for reasons, like such a guy. “Too much sex last night?”

“Oh, maybe. I didn’t even think of that. We were pretty wild.”

“I’ll look it up,” he said, grabbing his iPad off the nightstand. He typed in some words and waited. “It says it’s fairly normal in early pregnancy to bleed after sex.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” she said, throwing her arms around him.

“What’s this?” he asked, holding her tight, such a display of affection rare if unknown. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”

He patted her back and then realized she was crying. “Geri, it’s okay,” he said. “If you’re worried, when we stop in Santa Barbara this afternoon, we can go to the ER so you can see a doctor.”

“No, no, that’s okay. I’ll wait until we get home tomorrow night. I hope it’s what you said. Normal.”

But it wasn’t normal after all. The next morning when Geri awoke, she was lying in a pool of blood. A wave of heat flowed over her body when she discovered it. Jake was sleeping as usual, thankfully, so she got up and in the bathroom saw clots in her underpants. The realization of what it might be devastated her, new emotions of loss, something she’d never experienced before, flooded over her.

A knock at the door interrupted the sad reverie. “Geri, I saw the sheets,” Jake said softly.

The door opened and she flew into his arms, sobbing. “Our baby,” she cried. “I didn’t know, Jake. I didn’t realize how much I loved it already.”

“God, I’m so sad,” he said, holding her. “I’m so sorry. Are you going to be okay until we dock tonight?”

“Yes, I’ll be okay. It’s not gushing out of me.”

“Did you see the baby?” he whispered.

“It’s too small to really see. There’s tissue.”

“Wait here, honey. I’ll look up what you should do.” After he spread a white towel on the closed toilet seat, he sat her down and left to retrieve his iPad. “I wish Candy wasn’t such a bigmouth, I’d ask her.”

“I know. Just ask her anyway, Jake. I have no pride right now.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Let them all know if it makes her feel important.”

He stood next to her in the bathroom and keyed in Candy’s number. She answered on the first ring.

“I’m surprised to hear from you on your cruise! Is it exciting?”

“Yes. But I have a medical question for you, Candy. We’re hesitant to ask because you’re so quick to tell everyone, and this is kind of private.”

Silence flooded over the line. Then, “I swear to you, I never repeat anything unless I’m asked to. Do you mean Ava and Leon?”

“Right, Ava and Leon.” He winked at Geri.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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