Tessa
We talk more with Trish, until we hear the doorbell.
Hardin: "Our food is here. I'm going to open."
He gets up and he goes to take our order. A few moments later, he comes back with three boxes of pizza and a small box over them, then we walk to the kitchen. We eat the pizza, then he takes out some pancakes from the small box. Oh, my sweet boy. He's always thinking about me. As we finish eating, I feel nausea, I put my hand over my mouth and I run to the bathroom. Ugh, I hate this! I can't wait to feel better because this is killing me.
I throw up in the bathroom and I hear the door opening, then I feel Hardin's hands keeping my hair up. I'm glad he's next to me in these moments. He's so supportive and careful and I'm happy to have him.
"Are you okay?" He asks me a few minutes later.
"Yeah..." I was my face with cold water, then I go to sit on the edge of the bath tub.
"Do you want me to give you something?"
"Some lemon water, please."
"Good. Let me take you in our room and I will come there with your water and your vitamins, it's time to take them."
He lifts me up and I don't object, he takes me to our room, putting me on the bed. He kisses me and he leaves. A few minutes later, he's back with my water and my pills. I take the pills and I drink them.
"Thank you, Hardin."
"You're welcome, baby. Sleep if this helps you."
"What about your mother?"
"I will stay with her. She's fine if you will sleep. She understands you."
"Okay. I will go to sleep, then."
"Good. Sleep well, baby." He kisses my forehead and he leaves.
Hardin
I leave Tessa in our room and I walk back to my mother.
"How is she?"
"She's feeling better now. It hurts to see her in this state."
"She's pregnant and her body reacts to creating a new life. She will be fine in a few weeks."
"I know, but I'm sorry for her. I can't do anything for her."
"I know... But she will be fine soon. That baby will come on this earth soon..."
"Yeah... our little miracle." I smile.
"I still can't believe you're going to have a baby!"
"Me neither..."
"Are you scared?"
"Honestly? Yes. But I can't show this to Tessa. I have no idea how to take care of a baby, I have no idea what I'm going to do. But I'm sure we will learn together."
"When I had you, I didn't know what to do. But everything came normal, Hardin. It will take a few days to get used with the baby, but then you will feel like the baby was always with you. You and Tessa will do a great job as parents."
"Thank you, mum. I love you."
"And I love you." She hugs me. "After the baby will be born, if you and Tessa want, I can come here to help you."
"Let's not talk about this right now, okay?"
"Okay. But I want you to know that you can count on me."
"I know mum."
Later...
Me and my mom are talking when Christian and Kim come in.
Christian: "Trish! What a surprise!"
Trish: "Christian, hello!" She gets up to hug him. Okay, this is awkward.
Christian: "I thought you are kidding when we've talked."
Trish: "I wanted to see with my eyes that my son is having a family."
Christian: "Oh, Trish... This is Kimberly, my fiancée. Darling, she's Trish, Hardin's mother."
Trish: "Nice to meet you, Kimberly."
Kim: "Me too. And you can call me Kim."
Hardin: "If you are hungry, there is some leftover pizza."
Christian: "Perfect! I'm starving."
Kim: "Where is Tessa?"
Hardin: "She was sick, so she's resting in our room."
*
A few weeks later...
Tessa
I wake up in the moment I feel Hardin moving next to me. I slowly open my eyes and I look at him.
"Hardin?"
"Sleep, baby." He kisses my forehead. "It's still early."
"Where are you going?" I whisper with my eyes closed.
"I have a job interview. I will be home before you even know it. Go back to sleep, love. If you need anything, my mother is downstairs. And if you want, you can call me. Okay?"
"Mhm."
"I love you." He kisses me, then I hear him leaving. But I fall asleep again.
When I wake up, I look at the clock and it's almost 10 am. Oh, I slept too much. But I'm surprised that I didn't wake up sick. That's a good sign. I get up from bed, I put on my fluffy robe and I go downstairs where I meet Trish. She's here for two weeks already and I'm feeling so good around her. She cooks for us and she helps me a lot. Since I entered in my second trimester, I'm feeling much better and the nausea is gone.
"Good morning, Trish!"
"Good morning, darling. How are you today?"
"Good. I'm really good. Now, that I'm in my second trimester, everything is better."
"That's really good. When you will see the baby?"
"In two weeks. And maybe we can find out the gender." I smile.
"What do you want to have?"
"I would like to have a little girl, but honestly it doesn't matter as the baby is healthy. We will love him or her no matter what."
"Yeah, this is the most important thing. Do you want some pancakes?"
"Of course!"
We go to the kitchen where Trish makes me some breakfast and some orange juice.
"Mmm, it smells so good. Thank you, Trish."
"Enjoy your meal, darling." I start to eat and we hear Hardin's voice. "In the kitchen, son!"
Tessa: "Hi, baby." I smile when I see him.
Hardin: "Hello, love. Hello, mum." He kisses his mother's cheek, then he pecks my lips. "Mm, pancakes."
Trish: "Save your appetite, son. This meal is for your fiancée."
Tessa: "I'm not going to eat everything, it's too much. Do you want some pancaked, love?"
Hardin: "Yeah, sure." He sits next to me and he starts to eat.
After we ate breakfast, we went back to the living room.
Hardin: "How are you today, love?"
Tessa: "I'm good. Tell us how your interview went."
Trish: "Yes, tell us how was there."
Hardin: "Well, it's not that important."
Tessa: "Oh, c'mon! I am proud of you, no matter what."
Trish: "Me too. So?"
Hardin: "Well, I got the job!"
Tessa: "Oh my God! I'm so happy!" I hug him.
Trish: "I'm really proud of you, Hardin."
Hardin: "Thank you."
Tessa: "When you will start?"
Hardin: "On Monday."
Trish: "We should celebrate."
Hardin: "No, it's not a big deal, mom."
Tessa: "Oh, c'mon! You got a job you like: in a publishing."
Hardin: "It's something normal."
Trish: "But it's your first real job after graduation. And we also should celebrate your engagement!"
Hardin: "No, it's fine. We can have dinner at home and that's it."
Tessa: "Oh, c'mon, Hardin! Let's go and have dinner with your family. We need it after everything..."
Hardin: "Tess..."
Tessa: "Please... I'm already bored of staying home."
Hardin: "Okay, fine. We're going out tonight."
Tessa: "Oh, thank you. I love you." I hug him and I kiss him.
Hardin: "But until we leave, you have to rest, okay? We don't want something bad to happened with your or the baby."
Tessa: "Okay."
Hardin: "Mom, we're going upstairs."
Trish: "Good."
Hardin takes my hand and we walk upstairs, in our room.
"I think we will move to an apartment soon."
"Okay... I wanted to ask you something..."
"I'm listening." We lay down on the bed.
"What if we're going to move here for real? Like we should start a new life here, in Chicago. New York it was cursed and Chicago is good."
"You want this?"
"Yes, I want this."
"Then, we will find a good home for us here and we're moving here."
"That's perfect!" He puts his hand on my bump. "It's bigger." He smiles.
"Yes, the baby is growing."
"Do you think we will find the gender at our next appointment?"
"Maybe..."
"I never mentioned it, but I want a little girl."
"Why a girl?"
"Because I'm sure she will be your copy."
"And I would like to have a baby boy, looking like you."
"No, you don't."
"A little Hardin will be really cute!"
"No! A mini Tessa it's perfect."
"Well, I can see that we can't agree on what we want." I laugh and I feel a sharp pain in my back.
"Hey... what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Tess..."
"I'm okay, don't worry." I don't want to make him worry.
"Tessa, you can tell me everything." He lifts up my chin.
"My back hurts a little. But I had this pain before."
"What? And you are telling me just now?"
"It's nothing serious. Back pains are normal in pregnancy. I will be fine if I rest."
"Tess..."
"I'm okay." I rub his cheek.
"We should call the doctor?"
"No, I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. I am. Now, let's watch a movie."
A few hours later...
"I'm going to bathroom and then we can leave."
"Okay." He kisses me and I go to the bathroom.
I sit on the toilet to pee and I see a pale red stain on my panties. No. No. No!
"Hardin!" I yell and he comes running here.
"Baby? What's up?"
"I think... I think I'm having a miscarriage." I burst in tears.
———————————
Tessa's nausea is still there, but in a few weeks everything will be alright.
Hardin has a surprise, going to a job interview. When he's back home, he gives the news to his family: he got the job.
They decided to celebrate the last event in their life, but something is wrong with Tessa.
Is she having a miscarriage? Will she be okay?