Confined Four Years

Positive

~~~~~Julia~~~~~

“True. Hah…” he sighed as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just a bit more, then, and we will know for sure. What happens after the test?”

            The first and biggest thing for Julia was if she were pregnant, that means she did not have to have s*x with him anymore. She tried to enjoy it as best she could when they did that together, but with no emotions involved, it was hard to. Of course, she did not say that out loud because she knew Marcus would take it the wrong way. He did his best to make sure she enjoyed it, though she knew it was tiring for him, too. Without emotions, without love, she could not find it in herself to want to continue doing it with him. For her, it was just a job, something she had to do.

“Well… I’ll have to call the doctor and schedule an appointment, according to what it says on the instructions page.” She leaned against the leather couch and looked at the floor. “Not to say you’re bad at it, but it still feels weird to have s*x with you.”

“I know just what you mean.” Marcus countered before the timer on my phone went off. “Is that…?”

            Julia nodded and the two both walked into the bathroom to look at the test results. She wanted to make sure she understood the results, so the test she purchased a test that would clearly state ‘Pregnant’ or ‘Not Pregnant’. In the tiny window of the device was the single word ‘Pregnant’ that caused butterflies to enter her stomach. On impulse, she placed her hand against it, feeling excited but a little sad; that these children would grow with their parents who did not love each other. She could not believe that it took little for her to even get pregnant. In her shock, she looked over at Marcus to find a shocked expression on his face as she passed the test over to him.

“You’re pregnant. What a relief. I was feeling a little worried that we would have to do it for years.” He mumbled before a wry smile formed on his lips. “Whew, sorry, I don’t know if I’m happy or sad. Can we teach a kid to love if we don’t even love each other?”

“I had the same thought. Let’s just do the best we can.” She replied while walking out of the bathroom to the kitchen. “For now, let’s call the doctor and man an appointment. We’ll just figure it out as we go, like all parents.”

***

            Seven weeks passed and Marcus and Julia found themselves at the doctor’s office for the first ultrasound. Her mind focused on the magazine, on parenting in front of me, but Marcus paced the waiting room as they waited to be called back. She sighed before glancing at him again. He was more nervous than she was and it was making her antsy. After watching him for a few minutes, she sat her magazine down and sighed before leaning back against the seat, her hand coming to rest on her rather enormous belly. It concerned her she gained weight so fast, but the doctor seemed to think it was normal, so she tried to push the concerns to the back of her mind.

“Mrs. Thomas? We’re ready for you.” Julia pushed out of her seat, carefully, before following the nurse to the ultrasound room. “Your husband seems nervous.”

“I’m fine, but I am worried about the baby.” He seemed to pout as the nurse set up her supplies. “Julia was concerned about how much weight she gained, so I thought something might be wrong.”

“It’s okay. This gel will feel pretty warm.” She stated, rubbing some gel on Julia’s lower stomach. “And if you look at this screen here, you’ll see your baby.”

            Julia turned as the screen clicked on before the nurse put the wand against her stomach. As though the nurse could not believe what she saw, she leaned closer to the screen. Julia felt concern curl through her but waited for the nurse to speak as she stared at the screen. Then Julia looked closer at the screen herself and saw what the nurse focused on. Two small blobs were on the screen, right next to each other. This made Julia suck in a breath, and she shifted nervously as she waited for the nurse to confirm what she thought she saw. She hoped against hope that she was wrong.

            When she leaned back with a bright smile on her face, Julia’s heart pounded hard in her chest as the nurse opened her mouth to speak. For some reason, when Julia felt this brand of unease, she knew things would go wrong. Or in this situation, perhaps it was right? Her unease seemed reflected in Marcus as well since the silence tensed to something awkward. If what she saw was right, then they would need to double every purchase they made for the next eighteen years. This idea made her sigh, and she glanced back at the nurse. The words that came next caused the blood to drain from Marcus’s face.

“Well, there’s the reason for your increased weight gain.” She said with the brightest smile Julia ever saw. “Congratulations, Mister and Mrs. Thomas. You’re pregnant with twins!”

            Julia blinked twice before she sank further onto the bed, the shock overwhelming her. Marcus’s jaw fell open as he stared at the screen of the two little blobs in her stomach. Twins. One baby seemed easy, but now they have two. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she turned to look up at him, body tense. Marcus and Julia only expected one, so what are his thoughts on this? She refocused on the screen and a warmth spread through her chest as the tiny blobs moved a little. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she stared at them before the nurse printed out copies of pictures for them.

“Twins?” His voice seemed hoarse before he finally looked down at her stomach. “As in two?”

“Yes, Sir. Twins as in two.” The nurse replied, flashing another bright smile over her shoulder at him. “Congratulations!”

***

            Twenty weeks into her pregnancy, the pair just left the doctor’s office with the s*x of the babies confirmed. Julia complained often of her back hurting, her feet swelling, and her head bothering her. Marcus carried her purse and his free hand rested on the small of her back as he tried to help her walk. The plan today was to take the results to their parents, who planned a baby shower to celebrate. She looked down at the image in her hands showing a boy and a girl. This made her think back to when they first got pregnant and she remembered Marcus saying he wanted to name the boy Mason. As the two entered the limo, she turned to ask if that was still the name he wants.

“So, you wanted to name the boy Mason, right?” She asked as the vehicle pulled out of the parking lot. “Is that still something you want, or have you changed your mind?”

“I don’t want to change my mind. It seems we already have our names picked out.” Marcus replied, his eyes falling to look at her stomach. “Madison and Mason.”

            As he said it, his hand rose to lie on my stomach. A single kick caused his eyes to widen before he laughed. Usually, he wore his expensive cologne, but he stopped because the smell made her sick. Now, he just smelled a little sweaty, probably because he spent the entire time pacing in the waiting room again. Marcus seemed to study about helping her with the pain and child raising as well, so she was a little impressed at his thoughtfulness. Especially since the pain was often so bad it made her cry. He never knew what to do when she cried, after all.

“Are your feet hurting again?” His voice startled her before he stood to move to the seat opposite of her. “At least the swelling is going down. I read frequent massages can reduce it even more and help prevent future swelling and pain.”

“Why are you helping me so much with this?” She questioned, a little annoyed.

“Well, I helped get you pregnant, so it’s partially my fault you’re suffering,” Marcus replied as he took her shoe off and started massaging her foot. “Plus, the kids would hate me if I did nothing for you.”

“I see. I don’t want them to go through what we have.” I nodded, trying to shift to a more comfortable seated position. “Being forced to marry someone they don’t love because their parents want to retire. I’m worried our parents may try to pull the same thing on them.”

“I won’t let them. It’s one thing to push together, but to do that to our kids?” His face twisted in anger. “I won’t let Madison and Mason get hurt like that.”

“I won’t either.” She replied, and they nodded in unison. “They will be safe if we do our jobs to keep our parents happy.”

            Marcus and Julia finally pulled up to the building their parents selected for the venue for the baby shower. Marcus helped her out of the vehicle carefully before they made their way into the lobby. As soon as they entered, party poppers went off, startling her when she realized most of the party’s participants were not even family members or friends. Julia bit her lip to prevent herself from saying anything before sending a glare at her parents. This was to be a gathering of friends and family, not company directors and the press, she thought, glancing at Marcus, who wore the same frustrated expression.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Thomas, on the twins. You are glowing!” One director said, reaching out to touch her belly. “So, what are their sexes?”

            Before his hand could make contact, Marcus grabbed his open palm in a shake while doing his best to force a smile. Though they were not friends, he still wanted to make sure she felt comfortable, and she did not like people touching her belly. Especially people she barely knew. Grateful for his interference, she smiled politely and nodded before leaving to speak with her parents. To say she was angry was a gross understatement of the fire of rage spread through her body. The parents in question told her it would be only family and friends, not the entire company and outsiders, was coming to celebrate. As soon as she came to a stop in front of their table, she lowered her voice and opened her mouth.

“This was supposed to be just family, ‘Mother’.” The voice that left her throat was a harsh whisper as she tried to avoid causing a scene. “Why are all the directors here?”

“One of their wives recently had a baby. We thought we could get a head start on a future arrangement?” Marcus’s mother whispered back with a sly smile on her unnaturally pretty face. “What’s the s*x? This is the news we’ve been waiting for!”

“No.” Marcus walked up behind me and planted a firm hand on the small of her back as Julia wavered slightly. “You won’t be doing to our kids what you did to us. WE decide that when they grow up. Not you. Julia, let’s go home. We’ve already accomplished our goal here, so there’s no reason to stay.”

“Oh, but what about your gifts?” Her father asked as he pointed over to a table piled high with gifts. “Many in attendance wanted to see you open them.”

“Just send them to our hose. Julia is feeling sick, Sir.” Marcus countered, turning her around to walk away. “I’ll remember this, ‘Oh Loving Parents of Mine’. And when it comes back to you, I hope you’ll be ready then.”