Lust and found

The Big News

Of course I can’t be sure if we conceived that night, or during the week prior or after, but in my head I tell myself that it was that night. We had made love so passionately I’m not sure how it couldn’t have made a baby. It was three weeks later before I took a test. My period was two days late, something that was unusual for me, and my breasts were so incredibly achy. I never expected us to get pregnant this quickly, so I wasn’t expecting the test to come back positive. But it did. Because it was unexpected, I had taken the test alone on a Tuesday morning after Luke had already left for work. I regretted it instantly when I saw the result as my husband wasn’t here to share in my excitement.

At work, it was the longest day of my life. I wanted to tell Luke the news in person, so I kept it to myself all day. On my way home after school I swung by our local children’s store and picked up a baby onesie. It had a bundle of fries on it and underneath it said “small fry.” When I got home I laid it out on our bed with the positive pregnancy test and waited for Luke to arrive home. I was cooking dinner when I heard the garage door begin to open. With my heart racing I sprinted upstairs and hid in the closet. I heard Luke downstairs yell “Jess?” To which I replied “I’m up here! Can you come help me with something?” He came upstairs and into our bedroom, my heart felt like it was going to explode as his eyes fell upon the itty bitty baby onesie sprawled on our bed. I burst out in happy tears. Luke froze for a good thirty seconds, his face looked terrified. He turned to me and said “is this for real?!” I assured him it was true and he hugged me tightly. He kept telling me how excited he was, but we both knew that he was equally as scared.

Over dinner my darling husband’s brain was racing at a hundred miles per minute. He started listing off all the things that needed to be done around the house before we could welcome a baby. That then turned to him listing off the items he thought we needed for the baby. As I finished my food I grabbed his hand and just gently said “it will all be okay.” For some reason this instantly calmed him. He reassured me that I was right and hugged me again, reassuring me that he couldn’t wait to welcome this baby into our family.

Five weeks later I went for my first ultrasound. Unfortunately it was scheduled for the same day that Luke had an important business pitch, so he couldn’t join me. The clinic was in the city, so I began my commute, carefully driving along the busy interstate until I reached my exit. During this drive I came up with the idea to visit Luke at work after my appointment, as it was only a few blocks away, so I could share the ultrasound results with him while they were still fresh.

My appointment went great, the baby was measuring right on track for 8 weeks and everything looked normal. The ultrasound technician printed out some photos of the scan for me and I headed off towards Luke’s office building. After arriving there a short time later, I stood in the lobby staring at the metal board on the wall that listed all the names of the businesses that occupied the building. I had only ever been to his office once before for a Christmas party more than two years prior. I must have looked perplexed while I stood there trying to figure out the floor and unit number for Luke’s business, as a stranger soon appeared behind me. “Can I help direct you somewhere?” I heard a deep voice say. I turned to find a large burley man standing just a foot away from me. He was tall, like REALLY tall with an extremely deep voice and a thick brown beard. “I’m trying to find Detweiler builders” I replied. The man glared at the wall behind me, then directed me to the 12th floor, explaining that I needed to use elevator B as elevator A only went up to floor ten. He walked me over to the elevator, making small talk along the way. He told me his name was James and he worked in the County Forestry department on the first floor, just off the lobby. I laughed with him about the forestry department being in a sky rise in the middle of the city, which seemed kind of ironic given there was no forest for miles. When we arrived at the elevator he shook my hand and asked my name. I had completely forgotten to introduce myself. “I’m Jessie!” “Nice to meet you Jessie” he replied as he shook my hand. I climbed into the elevator, not thinking anymore about the interaction with James. I was just so excited to go tell Luke about my ultrasound.

After navigating the long hallway to his office, I was greeted by a lovely receptionist who asked how she could help me. When I explained that I was Mrs. Roche she seemed to pause for a moment before briskly disappearing behind some glass doors. She returned a few moments later and ushered me to follow her. We walked along the many cubicles until we reached Luke’s tiny office along the back wall. When I saw him sitting behind his desk I sprinted towards him. “Jessie?!” He yelled out. Before saying anything I pulled out the collection of pictures of the ultrasound. “Look!” He grabbed the pictures from my hand and started gushing over our baby. “He looks like me” he said. “We don’t know if it’s a boy yet” I replied. He assured me that he was positive it was a boy. I laughed him off and proceeded to explain every detail of the ultrasound to him. While I was finishing my lengthy story, a pretty blonde in a skin tight dress popped her head into the office. You could tell she was startled to see me. “Luke, our client is waiting in conference room two” she didn’t even acknowledge me. He told her he’d be right there and as she left the room Luke must have noticed my glare. “She’s a new partner here. Her name is Shawna.” “She’s really pretty” I replied. He stood up, wrapped me in his arms and of course told me that she’s not as pretty as me. He went on about how excited he was to hear more about my appointment after work. We kissed and he disappeared amongst the cubicles. I left his office, went back down the elevator and headed for the front door. From the corner of my eye I saw James standing speaking to a gentleman in the far corner of the lobby. We waved to each other as I headed outside.