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1154 Words
He lowered both eyebrows. "Are you saying that I'm causing you extra stress?"
"By not talking to me? By snapping at me instead of saying what's actually bothering you? By pushing me away? Yes. I'm already worried about losing my son, I don't want to have to worry about losing you too."
He pulled my face back into his chest. "We're not going to lose this baby. And you're not going to lose me. And Scarlett does need you. She's just going through a phase."
I knew he was sorry. I could feel it in the way he was holding me. "I know, I'm sorry. And the baby and I are both fine," I said into his shirt. "We just had a checkup. We're both healthy." I said the words for myself as much as I did for him.
"Your heart is leaking." James' voice sounded strained.
"My very healthy heart is leaking." I could feel him shaking his head above me.
"How about we cancel our plans tonight," he said. "We can get my dad to take Scarlett for the rest of the day. Then we can spend some time relaxing, just us."
"Scarlett will crash after hanging out with her friends all evening anyway. Then we can have some much needed alone time."
"If we can get everyone out of here. Why does it seem like whenever we have company they never leave?"
"Because we're so much fun to hang out with," I said.
He laughed and pulled back so he could look down at me. "How about you spend the day in bed until our company comes? It'll make me feel a lot better."
"I swear, James. I'll go crazy sitting in bed alone all day."
"Who said anything about being alone? Maybe you and Scarlett can draw or something while I read your manuscript?"
My stomach felt like it flipped over, and for once it wasn't because my son was being poorly behaved. I had forgotten I told James he could read my novel. Now that he was actually going to, I was incredibly nervous. "You want to read it today?"
"I want to at least start reading it today."
"Maybe we should all draw together? You know how much Scarlett loves your stick figures."
James laughed. "No, I know how much you love making fun of them."
"That's because you're so good at everything except for drawing. Your stick figure proportions are completely ridiculous. I can't not make fun of you."
"You're trying to change the subject."
"No, I'm not. But I am going to casually walk away and go wake Scarlett." I smiled at him and turned to leave the kitchen.
"And Penny?"
I glanced at him over my shoulder.
"I'm sorry I told my friends about your heart murmur. I just needed to vent because I was going crazy. It won't happen again. I'll talk to you next time instead of being compelled to talk about you. I'm really sorry." He looked so sincere. It made any other resentment I was holding on to completely evaporate.
"It's okay. I understand. Let's just not start telling everyone else we know, okay?"
"My lips are sealed."
I smiled, remembering once when Rob had promised that exact same thing. He had pretended to lock his mouth closed and throw away the key. But he had immediately started talking again.
"What?" James said. Apparently my smile was contagious because he was smiling now too.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how similar you and your brother are."
James made a face. "Rob and I are nothing alike."
"Oh really? How about the fact that you both care so much but are awful at expressing it? Or the fact that you're both still kids at heart? Or that neither of you can stop getting your wives pregnant?"
James shook his head and laughed. "Go wake up Scarlett and tell her we get to eat breakfast in bed." He opened up the fridge and started rummaging through the options for what would probably end up being Eggo waffles. Ellen really did spoil us during the week. But I never minded Eggo waffles in bed. Actually, it sounded kind of perfect. I can't believe I was upset with him last night. He was the absolute sweetest. I wandered into the family room and knelt down in front of Scarlett.
"Hey, Scar." I ran my hands down her arm. "Guess what we get to do today?"
She yawned, but didn't open her eyes. "Zoo?" She immediately sat up, perfectly alert now, and started clapping her hands. "Zoo!"
I laughed. "We get to eat breakfast in bed!" Saying no was never the best plan of action around Scarlett. She'd do that thing where her lower lip trembled and tears welled in her eyes. Then we'd have to say yes to whatever ridiculous thing she came up with. James was an even worse pushover than me. If he had been in here, he probably would have just said okay and we'd be spending the day walking around in the God forsaken heat.
She blinked as she stared up at me. "In bed? But I want to eat with you and Daddy. Mommy, please. Why do I have to eat alone?"
"Not alone. You get to eat with us in our bed. And we can spend the day drawing zoo animals. Lots and lots of panda bears."
Her eyes seemed to grow with each thing I added to our list of activities. "I'll get the paper and crayons."
I smiled as she ran off. One day she'd stop pronouncing crayons as "crowns." I thought my heart might break into a million pieces when that happened. Scarlett might not realize it, but she'd always be my baby girl.
This time as I walked up the stairs, I was happy knowing that my family was coming up right behind me. I needed to count my lucky stars more often. I settled onto our bed.
Scarlett ran into the room a minute later. She came to the edge of the bed and tossed her box of crayons and the biggest stack of paper up onto it. Then she reached out her little hands and made the grabbing motion that meant she needed help getting up. I leaned down and lifted her onto the bed.
She crawled into the middle and plopped down right next to me. "Mommy, we have to draw four pandas. A mommy, a daddy, a little girl, and then a baby girl." She shoved a stack of paper on my lap.
"You know, this could be a little boy." I pointed to my stomach.
"Nuh-uh, Daddy said I'm going to get a baby sister." She grabbed a green crayon from the box and started drawing something that sort of resembled a bear. The green color really made me need to use my imagination.
James laughed from the door.
- Writer
