Two weeks later.
Her period was late, it was never late. Not now, she begged the universe. She paced her bathroom floor, her mind racing until she heard the ding of the timer. It sounded like a shot gun to her. She stepped towards the sink where five pregnancy tests were waiting for her, all saying positive. She felt like all the air in her body was knocked out of her. She stood motionless trying to absorb her reality. She should be happy. She was going to have a baby. Mellie was never someone who wanted children. She had goals and dreams and being a wife and mother was never really a part of them. Until she met Fitz. She loved Fitz. He wanted a big family. His dreams were becoming her reality. When they first started trying for a baby she slowly began to warm to the idea. Mellie saw how wonderful Fitz was with kids and she wanted that for him, for them. Now more than ever kids had to be apart of the dream. They were going towards the Governors mansion, maybe one day the White House. Every strong political couple had to have children to complete the package. She should be happy. She would have been if she had just gotten her period one more month. One more cycle and she could be sure Jerry had no chance of being the father. She couldn't breathe. Was this real life? Was this literally something she was saying. Like a bad soap opera. She felt sick. Mellie and Fitz had been trying for a baby there was a strong chance the baby was Fitz's. That's what she told herself. She felt sick. What if its not? A sob left her mouth so loud she startled herself. Tears she had been refusing to release all this time began to fall as she covered her mouth with her hands. She slid to the floor as tears lead to more sobbing. How the hell did she get here. She couldn't breathe as her sobs took over her body. She sat shaking on the bathroom floor. What was she going to do?
She was a mess. She stood and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her tears had left mascara running all over her face. Her eyes and nose red. She looked broken. She wasn't use to seeing herself like that. She rarely let herself give into her emotions. It wasn't a good look for her. Southern women keep a stiff upper lip. That's what her momma use to tell her. Her parents. If they only knew what had been going on with her. Mellie had pulled away from them lately too. Avoiding their calls from Asheville, being vague and brief when they did speak. She needed to stay strong. Focused.
"You need to pull it together" She said out loud as she began to wash her face. She looked back up at herself in the mirror. She didn't know when she got to this place. She looked as sad and as broken as she felt inside.
Mellie finished washing her face and stood tall at the sink. She took a deep breath.
Tonight was the party at Big Jerrys house to thank everyone who joined the campaign. It made her sick to her stomach. It would be a few hours before Fitz came home to get ready for the party. "You can do this" she thought. These constant pep talks were becoming as much an annoyance as necessity to her.
After hiding the pregnancy tests Mellie took one last deep breath before leaving the bathroom for the first time in an hour. She buried her feelings down as she stepped outside. Its show time she thought. She had to find the strength to get through tonight, this pregnancy and the rest of her life.