“I think you owe me money.”
“No.”
“Yes. I didn’t live in our apartment last month or the month before, but I paid the rent.”
“That’s because at the beginning of the month before you did live there. I paid for two months. You should really have to pay for the rest of the lease. It’s only because I helped the landlord find another tenant that you don’t have to pay until June!”
“You owe me for your half of the last two months,” he insisted.
“No.”
He seized her right arm. Almost simultaneously, she kicked him where it counts, catching him completely off guard, and paralyzing his breathing. He buckled over and crumpled to the floor as she pushed by him, opened the door, slipped in, and closed the door. He heard the knob turn, the dead bold click, and the chain slide into place.
For a few seconds there was nothing he could do. Clambering just to take a breath, a wave of nausea washed over his head leaving prickly moisture in his hairline. Breathing for a few minutes, in which he analyzed the event, he stood like an arthritic old man, mustered strength, and pounded three times on the door. “Open the flipping door, Faith!” The deep throbbing pain continued.
“No. I’m not opening the door. I’m not paying you any money. You signed papers stating that you would have no subsequent claims. Remember? Forget about it.”
He beat the door harder this time.
“No, Brian. You’re not coming in, and you’re not getting money. If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police.”
“You don’t have the guts for that.” He beat on the door again, ignoring the threat he knew was idle. He heard the start of a conversation with nine-one-one, stating her name, her problem, her address, and then answering yes to several questions. Had Josh taught her this, too?
“Did you call the police? You weasel!” How could she do that?
“Yes.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said, then took a breath. “Why don’t you open the door and talk to me civil-like about this?”
“Because something might start hurting you really bad again. Do you want that twice in one night?”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Where had this come from? Was Josh brainwashing her, putting ideas in her mind, alienating her from him?
“Why don’t you stay out there for five more minutes? Then you can tell someone in blue why you are pounding on my door and why you got kicked in the nuts.”
“Forget it!” Defeated and miserable, he limped down the stairs, pushed through the atrium door, and vomited in a shrub. He had to sit in his car for several minutes to calm his nerves, let his pain subside, and push away the nausea. It was a bad dream. What had happened? This wasn’t Faith.
Chapter 22
Josh, come here,” Faith called from the bathroom. “Look at this.” She was holding something in her hand.
“What’s up?” he asked, then choked up. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes. I’m pregnant.” She looked at him mournfully.
He looked at the test strip. “Wow. That’s wonderful!”
“What?” she gasped.
He didn’t repeat.
“Did you say wonderful?”
“I did.”
“How can you think that? This really isn’t a good time for me to have a baby! I’ll be a second-year resident. How’s that going to work?”
“When would be a good time for you to have a baby? Both Peggy and Marla say we’ll never get less busy or less encumbered. This is as good a time as any.” He tried to hug her, but she pushed him away.
“Are you being real?” She looked at the strip again. “This is the second test I’ve run. I did one yesterday.” She wiped her eye.
“But you have told me you eventually wanted to have children. I can’t think of anyone I would want to have children with more than you.”
“I can’t believe you are excited about this,” she said.
He decided to speak his mind. “I’m excited about this. I’ve always wanted to have children. I didn’t want to make that happen right here and right now, but now that it’s happened, I’m elated. I hope you can be, too.” He paused. “I know that all this has been super-fast for you, but I’ve had all summer, fall and winter to think about you. I spent that time admiring the person you are, your intense drive, and the soft, sweet passion inside you. I now feel so lucky to have you that there is almost no way you could disappoint me. So, you can’t blame me for thinking about the future a little.”
“Here I was thinking about an abortion, and if you would insist that I have one. Brian would’ve.”
“I wouldn’t stop you, but I don’t want you to.” Then sternly, “I’m not Brian.”
She got a naughty grin on her face, “How do you know the baby is yours?”
“I trust you. Besides, you’re a horrible liar.”
They stood side by side looking in the bathroom mirror. He enjoyed the smell of her shiny, silky black hair, the faint freckles on her nose, and her square, tall forehead.
“I have to think,” she said. “I’ve never been pregnant before nor even thought about it much. I’m still trying to make it real.”
“You are,” he slowly pronounced, “a primigravida.”
“Oh. My. Gosh. Did you really say that?”
“Yes. I just wanted to see you smile and it worked.”
“How do you know I’m not a multigravida?”
“You told me just now you’ve never been pregnant before, so you’re pregnant for the first time. Primigravida. I think you would have recognized the signs of pregnancy quicker if this wasn’t your first pregnancy. I know I will next time.”
“Next time?” she asked. “Are we talking about another baby already?”
“No, I’m just saying that I didn’t know the signs well enough before, and that if it happens again, I’ll pick up on them quicker.”
The change-of-subject face appeared in the mirror. “Are we going to have a baby?”
“I vote yes. But you have two votes. After all, you hold the temporary residence of the creature.”
“I wasn’t ready for this.” She was misty. “I do want to have a family, but not now. Help me.”
“I support you either way. I still don’t think there is a better time in our lives. We aren’t going to be less busy at any other time in our careers, according to those around us.”
She nuzzled into him. “You said ‘our’ lives. I haven’t thought of this as ‘our’ yet.”
“OK. I think I pushed you into our relationship, and I pushed you into moving in with me. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I pushed you into a pregnancy. I’m trying not to push you again, push you too much, make you afraid, or chase you away. But I want to push you like crazy. I’m just nuts over you, and I can’t get over it.”
She looked at his face again. “It’s scary.”
“Me being nuts over you is scary?”
“No.”
“Is having a baby scary?” he asked.
“You bet!”
“Is having an abortion scary?”
“Yes!”
“Which is scarier?”
“I don’t know.”
“Take your time and decide.”
“Well,” she said, “now I know where you are. The hardest part is not knowing or thinking wrong.”
He kissed her forehead.
“I don’t want an abortion,” she said, surprising him. “But I don’t know if I want a baby.”
“There is another option, but I don’t like it.”
“What?”
“Adopt away. That would be my least favorite.”
“I hadn’t considered that, and I don’t want that one either.”
“That’s progress.”
“What?”
“There are only three options,” he said. “Abortion, adoption, parenthood. If I heard you correctly, you ruled two of them out.”