Between Us -Volume One

TOMORROW

2:17 A.M. Fatima Wilson had been staring at two pink lines for so long that her left foot had gone numb. She noticed that before she noticed she was crying. One tear slid down her cheek, warm and slow, and disappeared somewhere beneath her jaw. She didn't wipe it away. Didn't move at all, really. She just sat there. On the bathroom floor. At two- seventeen in the damn morning.

Pregnant. 

"Shit."

The word barely made it past her lips. Fatima looked at the test again. Positive.She turned it slightly beneath the bathroom light as if changing the angle might change the answer.

It didn't. Two lines. Clear as day.

Clearer than she wanted them to be. She looked at the other test lying on the bath mat beside her. Then the third one on the counter. Because apparently one positive pregnancy test hadn't been enough for her.Neither had two.

She'd taken three like the first two might've gotten together and decided to lie. All three said the same thing.

Pregnant.

Fatima lowered her head against the cabinet behind her and closed her eyes.

"Okay."

Her voice trembled.She opened her eyes again. "Okay."

It didn't sound any better the second time. The house was quiet around her.Not silent. Quiet.

There was a difference. The air conditioner hummed somewhere beyond the bathroom door. A car passed outside, tires whispering over the street before fading into the distance. Something in the house settled with a faint creak. And down the hall...Zac was sleeping.

Fatima looked toward the closed bathroom door. For one crazy second, she could see herself doing it.

Getting up.

Walking back into the bedroom. Turning on the lamp. "Zac." He'd grunt.Probably pull the covers over his head. She'd say his name again. "Zac." "What, Fatima?"And then she'd hold up the test. She could almost see his face. That was the problem. Fatima didn't know what his face would do.

Would he smile? Would he panic?

Would he stare at her? Would he start pacing? Would he immediately start talking about cribs and college funds and whether the baby could hear him yet even though it was probably the size of a damn sesame seed? A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. She covered her mouth.Because Zac absolutely would ask something stupid like that. Can it hear me? She could hear herself telling him no. Then she could hear him talking to her stomach anyway.Her smile disappeared. Fatima looked down.

Her free hand moved slowly across her stomach. Nothing felt different. That seemed impossible.She'd gotten dressed this morning without knowing. Gone to work without knowing.Answered emails. Sat in traffic.

Argued with Zac about where they were ordering dinner from because he claimed he didn't care and then rejected every suggestion she made.