Pregnancy Countdown Read online

As she unlocked the front door, she could hear her phone ringing.

  “Damn, damn, damn,” she muttered, jiggling her key as she realized it wasn’t unlocking easily. She practically jumped over a happy Brumby to grab her phone. “Hello? Hello?” She grimaced then saw the tiny red light blinking on the handset indicating someone had left her a voice mail. She pushed the button for voice mail and tapped out her password.

  “Nora, hi, it’s Mark. I called the salon but they said you’d already left and I guess you had your cell phone off. Look, babe, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to beg off dinner tonight. Something’s come up, so I’m going to be out of town for a little while. I’ll call you when I can.”

  Nora could hear he sounded rushed. She also heard something else in the background. Men’s voices and one faint one yelling at Mark to hurry up.

  Her movements were slow and methodical as she pressed the number on her handset that would delete the message.

  She’d been raised not to waste food. Otherwise, she would have thrown out the steaks she’d purchased for dinner instead of putting them in the freezer.

  “I guess it’s just us, sweetie,” she told her dog. All animation left her voice and her body.

  Mark had found something more enjoyable to do than spend the evening with her. Nora swallowed convulsively and felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes.

  She had been right to begin with. She was better off without Mark in her life. For all she knew, he’d grow bored with their baby too.

  Rash decisions are never the right ones.

  “I don’t need a conscience,” she grumbled. She fixed Brumby’s dinner then a salad for herself. She discovered she’d lost her appetite and only ate because she knew she needed to. Not that it stopped her from consuming half a package of chocolate-covered graham crackers that evening.

  She was grateful that she had a full schedule the next day so she wouldn’t have much time to think about Mark who she had dubbed “the rat.”

  She hoped his evening out with the boys had been a total bust. She hoped some sweet young thing he tried to pick up told him he was a nice guy but way too old for her. She hoped, well, everything she hoped was about as bad as it could get. And then she hoped for even worse.

  By the time she waltzed into the salon the day after, she felt her armor was well in place.

  “Can you believe those guys?” Ginna asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

  Nora sniffed appreciatively and sighed. She missed her coffee with sad desperation. Decaf and herb tea just wasn’t the same.

  “Which guys?” she asked absently, settling for inhaling the aromatic fragrance of Ginna’s coffee. Her mouth cried for just one sip.

  “My brothers for one.”

  Nora stiffened. “Not really,” she stated in a tone that indicated she didn’t want to hear any more.

  If Ginna read the signs, she ignored them. “They were packed up and out of here within an hour,” she went on. I guess it’s pretty bad up there, so they wanted to do what they could to help out.”

  Now she was confused. “Help out? Help out what?”

  “The fire,” Ginna explained. “Didn’t you see it on the news?” Nora shook her head. “There’s a wildfire up in the Sierras. I forget exactly where. Jeff, Brian, Mark and some of the other guys at the station took their vacation time so they could go up and help. Their decision was so quick, they barely had time to pack. Wait a minute, Mark must have told you when he called to cancel your date.”

  Nora shook her head.

  “He only said something came up,” she said dully.

  Ginna looked at her closely, noted the faint shadows under her eyes and slight droop to her mouth.

  “And you thought the worst, which is pretty easy to do with Mark,” she guessed.

  Nora sat down because her legs wouldn’t hold her.

  “My dad used to call my mom and tell her something came up and he wouldn’t be home for dinner,” she explained in a low voice. She didn’t feel Ginna’s hand on her shoulder. “He was usually out with another woman.”

  “I can see little brother still needs to work on his communication skills.”

  Nora didn’t miss a news report after that. She knew catching sight of Mark was impossible, but it didn’t stop her from hoping. She worried when she heard about firefighters getting hurt, one even killed in the fire. She told herself paramedics might not be close to the fire, but there was always a chance something could happen, couldn’t it?

  THREE WEEKS LATER, and Mark was still gone. She had one telephone message from him while she had taken Brumby to the dog park.

  Sorry I’ll miss the doctor’s appointment. I hope you’re okay.

  “The man definitely needs to work on his communication skills,” she muttered. This time, she didn’t delete his message.

  Nora discovered her morning sickness was lessening and she was growing rapidly. She looked at her house and realized she soon would have to shop for furniture for the nursery.

  Halloween night, she tied a pumpkin-orange bandanna around Brumby’s throat and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters.

  “Are you havin’ a baby?” one little boy dressed as Scooby Doo asked.

  “Yes, I am.” She smiled, dropping candy into his bag.

  “I figured. You’re fat like my mom and she’s havin’ a baby too. Thank you!” he shouted as he ran off.

  “Just think, Brumby, in four years, we’ll be escorting a little charmer like that one,” she said wryly, preparing herself for the next onslaught of kids.

  NORA HAD GROWN fascinated with the many changes of her body.

  Her breasts were definitely fuller. None of her clothes fit her. No surprise there, since most of them were designed to be slim-fitting. Ginna offered to go shopping with Nora one afternoon.

  “I look as if I swallowed a soccer ball,” Nora grumbled, turning sideways and looking at her profile in the mirror.

  “At least maternity clothes aren’t ugly the way they used to be,” Ginna commented. “We have some pictures of Mom when she was carrying us.” She shook her head. “I can’t imagine any woman got pregnant back then for the wardrobe.”

  Nora held up a bronze silk top. “Last year I wore that copper sequined top with the skinny straps and that gorgeous black silk skirt.” She sighed. “Now it wouldn’t cover even a fourth of me.”

  “So where is Mark taking you?”

  “Mark isn’t taking me anywhere.”

  “But he got—” Ginna clamped her mouth shut.

  Nora stilled. “So he’s back.”

  For once, the loquacious Ginna was at a loss for words.

  Nora was grateful for her silence. She’d decided her separation from Mark was good for both of them.

  One phone call in a little over three weeks wasn’t enough.

  For the rest of the afternoon she refused to allow Ginna to even say Mark’s name.

  “I’m sure there’s a good reason why he hasn’t called yet,” Ginna said desperately. “They only got home a couple of days ago.”

  “A couple of days ago,” Nora repeated. “Ginna, you’re not making it better. My hormones are out of control, I already feel like a human beach ball and last night I discovered that eating chocolate gives me heartburn. Need I say more?”

  “No, you’ve pretty well covered it all.”

  Nora knew her friend better and feared what would happen next. But Ginna remained silent on the subject of Mark after they got back to her house and she helped Nora put away her new purchases.

  “Everything will be fine,” Ginna assured her, giving her a hug. “See you tomorrow.”

  “We don’t work tomorrow,” Nora reminded her.

  “Oh, right, we don’t.” She smiled brightly.

  Nora told herself she didn’t spend the evening waiting for the phone to ring. She didn’t hope someone would show up at her front door.

  “Artificial insemination,” she said just before she fell asleep. “I was impregnated by artificia
l insemination.”

  THE ALARM CLOCK wouldn’t stop ringing.

  Nora fumbled for the clock and realized that wasn’t the source of the strident sound. Nor was the phone. It took a couple of minutes for her to realize it was the doorbell interrupting her sleep.

  “Go ’way,” she mumbled, pushing her face farther into her pillow in hopes it would deafen the sound. All she accomplished was almost suffocating herself. “Whoever you are, I hate you.” She slowly pushed herself out of bed and pulled on a robe and blindly searched for her slippers.

  Alternately trying to shush an excited Brumby and cursing her uninvited visitor, she made her way to the front door. “What?” she snarled, flinging open the door. Her mood wasn’t improved when she found a perky-looking Ginna standing on the doorstep.

  “You look terrible!” Ginna exclaimed, brushing past her. “Didn’t you sleep good last night? You should have after we walked the entire mall yesterday. I can see we’ve got some work ahead of us and not much time to do it in.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nora followed her back to her bedroom. “Time for what? We didn’t have plans for today.” She paused, searching her memory. She was afraid she’d missed something when Ginna left the night before. “Did we?”

  “Not exactly.” Ginna opened Nora’s closet door and rummaged through the contents. “This is last-minute. We decided you have to come with us.”

  “Who is we and where do I have to come with you?” Nora dropped back onto the bed then flopped backward. “I’m really tired, Gin. You go on. I’ll catch up.”

  “No excuses. You’re already up. All we have to do is get you dressed. We have to hurry though. Abby’s outside waiting for us and we still have to pick up Gail. Here we are.” She pulled out a sweater the color of cinnamon. She tossed it onto the bed. She looked back at her friend. “Come on, Nora!”

  “For what?” she shouted back, ready to snarl. All she wanted was to crawl back into her nice warm bed. She looked at the clock and groaned. “It’s not even seven o’clock!”

  Ginna found a pair of deep navy leggings and put them down next to the sweater. She studied her friend.

  “You look like you’ve gotten bigger just since last night.”

  “Thank you so much for that glowing compliment in regards to your future niece or nephew. Now go away.” She started to curl back up on the bed.

  Ginna grunted as she pulled Nora to her feet. “Abby has a decaf latte waiting for you. Afterward, we’re all going out to breakfast. But first—” she made a ta da! gesture— “the park and our rah-rah session.”

  “Our what?” Nora asked.

  “Rah-rah session,” Ginna replied. “We head to the park, watch the guys do their jogging in their cute little Tshirts and shorts, and we cheer them on.”

  Nora gave her a look that pretty much said, you’ve got to be kidding. Except she knew Ginna wasn’t joking.

  “No,” she said firmly.

  “Yes.” Ginna explored Nora’s drawers until she found what she was looking for. She tossed underwear on the bed.

  Nora grumbled the entire time Ginna pushed and prodded her into getting dressed, brushing her hair and adding a light touch of makeup.

  “About time,” Abby grumbled as Nora carefully climbed into the front seat of the SUV. Abby nodded toward the steaming cup in one of the cup holders. “It’s not as good as caffeine, but you’ll find it’s a close second. Ginna, you want to let Gail know we’re on our way?”

  Ginna pulled out her cell phone and spoke Gail’s name. “I love these voice-activated phones. Zach gave it to me.” She grinned, brandishing her new toy. “Gail! It’s Gin. We’re on our way and should be by your house in about ten minutes. Don’t worry, we’ve got coffee.”

  “Says you.” Nora stifled a yawn. “We don’t have to have this rah-rah session, do we?”

  “It’s good for you. It’s female bonding,” Abby replied. “We haven’t been able to have one for the past month. We decided it was time to get out and do what we do best. Now that you’re part of the team, so to speak, you have to come with us.”

  “If this is bonding, why can’t we do it over breakfast?” Nora said hopefully as she sipped her hot brew. Her appetite had significantly increased in the past few weeks.

  “This is so much better.” Ginna leaned forward. She held her insulated cup in one hand.

  Nora closed her eyes and inhaled the rich coffee aroma emanating from the back seat. She hoped it would allow her to believe she was drinking the real thing.

  “You’ve really blossomed since the last time I saw you,” Abby commented.

  “I’m hungry all the time,” Nora admitted. “There’re times I think Brumby’s afraid he’ll end up on the dinner menu.”

  “What has your doctor said?”

  “That I need to watch my weight.”

  “And when was the last time Mark saw you?”

  “About thirty pounds ago.”

  Abby chuckled. “It just feels like thirty pounds.”

  Nora tried curling up in the deep bucket seat. While the leather seat was as comfortable as an easy chair, her temporary bulk wouldn’t allow her to perform too many contortions.

  “Feels more like a hundred and thirty,” she muttered.

  “Wait until the ninth month,” Abby advised. “You won’t be able to see your feet, you’ll waddle like a duck, spend three-quarters of the day going to the bathroom and you’ll convince yourself the baby is never coming out of there.”

  “Gee, thanks for that glorious look into my future.” Nora heaved a sigh. “You do know that if men carried the babies, pregnancy would probably last a month, tops.”

  “I’d give them an hour,” Abby said.

  “The two of you are not helping my decision to get pregnant!” Ginna sang out.

  Nora looked at Abby, who grinned back at her.

  Twenty minutes later, after picking up Gail, Abby pulled into the parking lot at one of the city’s largest parks. She opened the back of her vehicle and hauled lawn chairs out, handing one to each woman. They set off to a spot everyone but Nora was aware of. When they reached the edge of the park, they found several other women there.

  “Hey there!” Marge, one of the firemen’s wives, called out. “We were afraid you’d be late.” The women exchanged hugs.

  “Sleepyhead didn’t want to get up,” Ginna explained then made introductions to any of the women Nora hadn’t already met.

  “There’s nothing like an early-morning rah-rah session to start a day right,” Patti, another wife, declared with a smile.

  Nora tugged at Ginna’s sweatshirt. “You do know that I will punish you for dragging me out to this,” she said in a low voice.

  Ginna ignored her as she looked down at her watch. Realizing verbal battering wasn’t getting her anywhere, Nora settled in her chair to sulk.

  She told herself this was not the way she wanted to see Mark again.

  “Hormones,” Abby pronounced, looking at her face. She dropped into the chair on her other side.

  “My hormones are perfectly fine, thank you,” Nora stated with great dignity.

  “They’re coming,” Gail announced with a hint of excitement.

  Curious, Nora leaned forward to see what was going on then quickly leaned back hoping she looked disinterested.

  A moment later, about fifteen men wearing gray Tshirts and navy shorts were running in staggered lines on the path created along the park’s edge for serious joggers. Nora easily recognized Jeff, Brian, Eric and Rick. One man wearing a bright red shirt stood out among the others. Mark.

  As the men approached, the women jumped out of their chairs, leaping up and down and cheering loudly. Several of them clapped. A few seconds before Mark ran past her, Nora stood up. Jeff rolled his eyes at his wife while Brian raised his arms in victory. Mark turned his head at the same moment Nora stood up. He appeared startled at seeing her then his gaze settled on her burgeoning belly. He stumbled so badly his arms mimicked a windmill to
keep himself upright.

  “Been running long, baby brother?” Ginna hooted.

  Mark spared a quick glare for his sister before turning back to Nora. He slowed his pace.

  “No rest stops here, Walker,” one of the men called out. Mark immediately picked up his pace and continued running.

  Nora resisted the urge to look after him.

  Damn him, he looked good. That only made her feel cranky.

  “And our reason for coming here was because…?” she asked Ginna.

  “There’s nothing like a little eye candy to start the morning,” Abby said. “And how thoughtful of them to come out here today so we’d have a nice place to watch and ogle. Did you all see Mark’s face when he saw Nora? I thought he was going fall on his face,” she chuckled.

  “Please tell me we’re going to breakfast now,” Nora pleaded. “I’m starving!”

  “We’ll see them on the next lap then we’ll go,” Ginna told her.

  Gail put her hand on Nora’s arm. “Are you all right?”

  Nora smiled weakly. “Physically, I’m fine. Just hungry, but that seems to be constant with me.”

  “Along with what’s been going on,” Gail said knowingly. “I know the feeling. Brian and I had our ups and downs during my pregnancy. I guess I didn’t make it very easy for him.”

  “Do you regret it? Oh, not Jennifer, just the way it happened?”

  Gail smiled. “At first I couldn’t believe that I’d had sex with a virtual stranger. Believe me, it wasn’t my plan at all. And Brian is the total opposite of any other man I’d dated before. It still isn’t easy for me to relax, but he’s showing me it can be fun. Maybe our courtship wasn’t traditional and Jennifer’s conception was unusual. But it all turned out great and now when I look back, I know I wouldn’t have it any other way. Don’t be mad at Ginna for her bulldozer ways. She worries about you.”

  Nora rested her hands on top of her belly. “I’ll just wait until she’s pregnant. Then I can torture her even more than she’s trying to torture me.”

  “Abby would heartily approve.” Gail laughed.

  “Gail?” Nora hesitated. “Would you be able to take on a new patient in about four months?”

  “Your baby? Of course I will!” She hugged her. “As for everything else, don’t worry. It will all work out.”