The Summers After

eighteen

BELLY

Belly was so shocked when she found out she was pregnant with Matt she didn't have any patience to plan something cute for Conrad. As soon as she got home, she hurled herself into his arms and told him she was pregnant. They were going to have a baby. They cried that night.

When she got pregnant with Henry, they were actively trying so it wasn't shocking. All she did then was hand him the pregnancy test. They cried that night too.

Belly spends the next day searching for something perfect to tell him. This will probably be their last baby, so she's determined to tell him in a special way this time.

She walks around Boston in a daze. Another Fisher baby. She can hardly believe it. After their fight before the 4th of July, they started trying more regularly. But it was more fun than anything, she didn't think anything was going to happen. It took them five months to get pregnant with Henry. And it's not like Conrad hated trying, they were having more sex than ever, so it should really be a huge shock. But shock enough.

She walks into a baby store, and for the first time, gravitates towards the girl clothes. She can practically picture a little girl. A little girl with fair skin, brown hair and blue eyes — just like her daddy.

Belly doesn't find anything special enough to give him. But she does have an idea. She races home and bolts up to her closet. She doesn't sleep with it anymore, but she knows right where it is. She digs in the closet, making a mess of things as she does.

"What on earth are you doing?"

She shrieks, "Jesus!"

Steven is standing in the doorway with a smug look on his face, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I knocked but the door was open."

Belly falls to the floor with a sigh, "Oh it's fine. What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

Belly nods. She follows Steven into the kitchen. He helps himself to a water bottle. Belly stays silent, waiting for him to say something.

"I talked to Jere yesterday."

"Oh?" Belly says quietly.

"He's coming back for the Gala. Did you know that?"

Belly shakes her head, he hadn't RSVP'ed. "No I didn't know that."

"He told me what happened with Conrad," Steven smiles sadly, "Are the Fisher boys ever going to stop fighting over you Belly?"

Belly chuckles, "I don't know if it's about me anymore. I think at the root of it, they both hurt each other so many times. I don't think they trust each other anymore."

"That's probably true," Steven sighs, "What does Conrad say about it?"

"We haven't talked about it in a while. He has a lot going on, so I don't want to push it."

"What's going on at work?"

"He's been losing a lot of patients, and I think it's really taking a toll on him."

Steven nods, "I can't even imagine. Seems crazy he ever wanted to do that after watching Susannah die."

"I think that's why he wanted to, he wanted to save everyone else because he couldn't save her," Belly says softly.