Anthony heard a door swing up and hit the wall violently. He opened his eyes quickly and began to sit up in his bed. He watched several children of the same ages run in and jump in the bed.
"Daddy!" they screamed.
"Hey." Anthony said excited to see them. The children hugged on him and it was hard for him to keep himself from falling back as the children latched onto him and sat in his lap. There was 2 boys and 1 girl. They appeared to be triplets.
"Mommy's making pancakes with strawberries!" the girl screamed in excitement.
"You have to come eat." one of the boys said pulling on his arm.
"Okay, I'm coming." he laughed as he got up.
Anthony and the children came downstairs. Rayna was putting food at the big dining room table. She looked at Anthony with big eyes and a smile. As the children took their seats, Rayna came to him and gave him a kiss.
"Good morning, honey." Rayna said. "It's time wake up."
"What?" Anthony said.
"It's time to get up." Rayna said.
Anthony snapped awake and looked at Rayna standing over him.
"Breakfast is ready."
Anthony had a dream of a big beautiful family and was aching for the dream to come true. He loved kids and would think about him and Rayna being parents one day. To be able to come home to a beautiful wife and an abundance of kids was what he's always wanted.
Anthony brought Rayna along for a visit to Seattle Children's Hospital. He watched as Rayna smile and hug the sick or injured kids. She treated them as if they were of her own blood. Reading stories, singing to them, and taking pictures. The kids were more open to Rayna than Anthony. He was amazed by how they gravitated to her. A blind person could see she was meant to be a mother.
After getting something to eat, Anthony drove them home. They made small talk about their hospital visit. Anthony watched Rayna light up when she spoke about the children. They got home and just relax before Anthony had to take a conference call.
He laid in bed with her, holding her close and playing in her hair. All of a sudden, he had an urge to use the restroom.
"Babe, let me up. I got to use the restroom." he said patting her back. Rayna sat up and slid off of him. Anthony used the restroom and came out to wash his hands. He noticed he was out of paper towels on his side so he went to Rayna's side.
While reaching for it, he ended up knocking over Rayna's medicine bag. He was stopped cold to see a box of birth control. That's when it clicked. They have had sex everyday since they wedded. She should've been pregnant by now.
He picked up the box and pulled out the pills to see it was evident that Rayna had been taking them. He walked out of the bathroom and held up the pills. Rayna looked in his direction and immediately wanted to disappear. Teenie, who was laying at the end of bed, got up and walked out.
"What is this?" he said.
"Well, that appears to be my birth control." she said.
"How long have you been taking it?" Anthony asked stalking over to the bed.
"I started a week after we got back." Rayna answered.
Anthony sighed and sat on the edge of bed. Rayna crawled over and sat next to him with her legs in his lap. "Before you get all up in arms, understand that this is my body. I have complete control over what happens to it. I'm not trying to be selfish but, I mean..."
"Do you want to have a baby?" Anthony asked.
"Anthony, I'll be more than happy to give you children." she said.
"Then what is this?" Anthony said in a raising attitude. "I mean I thought we can trust each other. I thought every decision you or I make we can talk about it. We talk to each other, we make decisions together. That's what people do in a marriage."
"I'm sorry. I made the assumption that you would want to wait at least a year before having kids." Rayna said trying not to sound sarcastic or adding even a pinch of attitude.
"Rayna, we are married. We don't have time to make assumptions!" Anthony said pushing her legs off and standing up. "We shouldn't leave each other just thinking and assuming the other wants something! I should've known about this!"
"Anthony, baby. Relax. I'm sorry, alright. I should've told you I was going on the pill. However, at the same time you could've told me you wanted to have a kid." Rayna said.
"Me making love to you everyday and night wasn't hint enough?" Anthony said angrily.
"First of all, bring it down. Things don't go well when we argue. Secondly, a lot of married couples like to enjoy their first few years and get comfortable before they spring into parenthood. I thought you wanted that." Rayna said.
"Well, you thinking without talking to me hasn't necessarily helped us in this situation." Anthony said tossing her the box and leaning against the wall.
Rayna felt a stab at her ego. She felt like Anthony was calling her stupid. She had no idea where this was coming from and this was way out of character for Anthony. She had no idea how to defuse this situation without her catching an attitude herself. She put the pills on the nightstand and left the room.
Anthony realized that he had rattled Rayna's cage when she left the room. He realized what he said and knew instantly he overreacted to the situation. Rayna had every right to do what she wanted with her body and yes, he could've told her he wanted children.
"Rayna!" Anthony called. He walked around the house looking for her. That was one of the disadvantages of having a big house, someone could hide anywhere. He found Rayna in the laundry room. Her face was like stone and knew that he messed up.
"If you have clothes that need to be done, best bring them now." she said dumping clothes into the washing machine.
"Rayna, I'm sorry." he said.
"Mmm-hmm. Sounds good." she said.
"Come on" he said grabbing her by her waist. He turned her around, lifted her up and sat her on the dryer. "I'm sorry. You do have a right to her body. I understand, I do. I just...I want a family, baby. It's one of the things I've always, always wanted."
"I get it. It's just the way you came at me. I didn't think I did anything wrong." Rayna said.
"And you didn't. By all means, you didn't. It's me that's all." he said. Rayna hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"I want kids, too. Look, I'll get off the pill. We'll hump like bunnies until we have a hole football team of kids, sounds good?" Rayna said.
Anthony laughed and kissed her hands. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too." she said. "What are we going to name them?"
"I've always liked the name Sawyer, for a boy." Anthony said.
"Aww, I want an Anthony junior." Rayna whined.
"Then, that's more incentive for us to have more." Anthony said kissing her.
"Hmm. What about a girl?" Rayna said. "I've always had a thing for the name Ivy."
"Ivy? Who are you Beyonce?" he laughed. Rayna hit him in his chest as they both laughed.
"It takes 24 hours to wear off so tomorrow we will official begin to start our family." Rayna said cupping his face.
"While, then...In the meantime..." Anthony started. He pushed up Rayna's maxi dress up to expose her panties and scooted her back on the dryer. Rayna giggled and moaned as Anthony slipped his hand inside her panties.
Rayna and Anthony stood in the middle of the bathroom looking at the pregnancy test. This had to be the longest 5 minutes of their lives. Finally, the test beeped and the results came up. Anthony smacked his lips at the negative sign on the small screen.
Anthony handed her a bottle of water. "Again." he said.
"Anthony, this is the third one I've taken this week. We've tried and it's just not..." Rayna said putting the bottle back.
"We've tried and tried and tried. I don't understand." Anthony said.
"Maybe, it's just not the right time." she said throwing away the plastic strip.
"I'm not going to settle for that." he said. "Something has to be wrong. Maybe that birth control messed you up."
"It takes two to make a baby. Something could be wrong on your end too." Rayna said.
"Well, let's go to a fertility clinic." Anthony suggested. "We'll both get check out and see what's going on?"
"Fine by me. I'll make the appointment." Rayna said going to her office.
Anthony was determined to have his family. As soon as they figured out what was going on, he was going to go to all lengths to make him and Rayna parents.