Perfectly Unexpected - Finished

Chapter Fifteen - The Wife

I sat nervously in my chair. I was shaking, and I wasn't sure if it was the nerves or the slight breeze the blew my hair away from my face. It was October, and even with a thick sweater on, felt a little too cold to be sitting outside. At 29 weeks pregnant I was seemingly always overheated, but with the cool Seattle weather, I was just a little chilly.

I sipped my water when I saw Shannon approach. She was wearing a jacket and a hat, apparently better prepared than I was. I silently wondered if she was as nervous as I was.

I had overheard her fight with Sam, and when she discovered I had kept the baby, I was sure she felt confused and lost.

She smiled – a small, nervous smile – as she sat down. She set her purse on the table. “Thank you for meeting me, did you order already?” She asked.

“Not yet, still undecided.” I said. I was intimidated by her. She was older, and a wealthy real estate agent who spent a lot of time at home raising their daughter.

We browsed the menus in silence and tripped over each other as we tried to order. She was keeping it light with a salad, I could never. I ordered chicken breast and mashed potatoes.

“Look, Kassie, I don't want things to be awkward between us. I've never had any problem with you and I'm so sorry you got mixed up in all of this. You're pregnant with Ellie's sister. I want us to have a good relationship, we'll be coming to their birthday parties until they're old enough to drive themselves.” She said with a small chuckle. I smiled back. “Tell me everything that happened.”

“In a short version,” I began, “Sam asked me out, said you were away on a date. I agreed, he gave me ample proof he wasn't just cheating on you. We met, we had s*x, you know the dating history for those two months. I found out I was pregnant, I told him immediately. He loves Ellie so much... I thought he would be surprised, but at least happy. He told me to get an abortion and that he couldn't stay with me because you two had an agreement not to have children with anyone else. I was going to, I went to the clinic, and had to walk out. I couldn't do it. When I told Sam, he told me not to talk to him again. I pretty much haven't. It was hard, at first, I missed him, but it got easier.”

“We did have an agreement. I'll explain, but I just want you to know, I would never have wanted him to push you to get an abortion. I would have wanted him to support whatever decision you made, and I'm really disappointed that he has let you do this alone. I'm so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“I have been in long-term relationships since I was just a kid. I started dating this boy in my neighborhood when I was 12, we dated all through middle and high school. I married him when I was 17, and we were married for 5 years. We divorced and I met Sam, we married within six months of my divorce. I was in love, we were in love. I've been married to him for nine years. Basically, in 20 years, I've only been with two men. I wanted to explore, I resented that I never took time to date and have that college-girl 'slut phase'. I was going to just leave, get the baby on the weekends for a while. I was depressed. He and I talked about and decided to open up our marriage. I've been really happy, I was having fun. I was happy when he found you and we had things to talk about together.” Shannon said.

“You guys talked about me?”

“Of course. Anyway, we set boundaries. No one around Ellie. Be considerate of the other person's time. Share everything. And don't have kids with someone else. When I met Greg, I got irresponsible. I felt like I was sixteen and had my first crush again. We didn't use condoms. I was, well, naive. I found out I was pregnant, I knew there was an off chance that I was four months along and it was Sam's baby. I had my ultrasound a few days ago, I'm only six weeks. It's Greg's baby.”

“How did Sam take that?” I asked.

“Not well. He brought up abortion again. I told him it wasn't happening. He told me he had ruined things with you to keep our agreement and didn't understand why I couldn't make a sacrifice for us. I told him he had never spoken to me about the situation with you and if he did, we would have worked it out.”

“What about Greg?” I asked. 

“I didn't tell him until I was sure it was his. I figured if it wasn't, I could cut things off with some other excuse. I saw him after the ultrasound and told him. He has four kids from a previous marriage and said he had no idea how he could have another one. He asked me if I was sure I was keeping it, I said yes. He said he'd support me in any decision.” She said.

“That was nice. What are you going to do, then?”

“Sam and I cooled off and talked about it at length. I told him I was sorry he didn't feel he could talk to me about your pregnancy. I told him I was disappointed that he thought leaving you to do it alone. He told me he only wanted us to have Ellie. I told him things have changed. We decided I should go stay with my mother for a while. She lives in California, I'll take Ellie with me.”

We continued chatting over our meals. We agreed to make sure our girls knew each other, we agreed to keep in touch. I told her about Daniel and how the baby would have a good father is Sam wasn't involved.

I was happy we connected. I hoped this would be a good start.