"I just talked to Gwen," Dobie said as he sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee the following morning. "She said they may be here as early as next week."

"What?" Zelda asked eagerly. She put a plate of toast and fruit in front of her husband and then sat down in front of her own plate. "Why did they change their plans? Is something wrong? Why didn't she call me?"

"Nothing's wrong," Dobie assured her. "She just said they'd like to get settled and it didn't take as long to tie up loose ends at the law firm as she thought it would."

"Well why didn't she call me?" Zelda asked again as she sipped her coffee.

"I don't know," Dobie answered, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Can't she call her father once in a while?"

"Of course she can," Zelda sighed. "It's just…you've been chatting with her on facebook, and now she calls you instead of me…I always thought Gwen and I were really close, but it seems like she's avoiding me."

"She called the house phone," Dobie replied gently. "She didn't know who would answer."

"But she didn't ask to talk to me," Zelda said sadly. "She always asks to talk to me. Something is wrong…"

"Nothing is wrong," Dobie insisted. "Honey…maybe you're just being a little overbearing…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zelda asked irritably. "I am not overbearing."

"You are excited about the wedding…you're excited about the baby…" Dobie reminded her.

"I'm excited…not overbearing," Zelda said seriously.

"She said you emailed her a bunch of statistics on things that can go wrong with pregnancy in women over forty," Dobie cringed. "Why the hell would you do that? It scared her to death."

"I didn't mean to scare her," Zelda insisted. "But I'm worried about her. I want to make sure she's taking care of herself."

"She also said you emailed her last night…to tell her she's showing and they need to set a wedding date soon," Dobie laughed. "When did you even find time to do that?"

"After you fell asleep," Zelda answered quickly. "I just got on for a second. I think she needs to get started on this wedding."

"Honey…she doesn't have to rush into a wedding," Dobie tried to convince her. "No one cares that she's pregnant and unmarried. I know I freaked out a little at first, but that's just what dads are supposed to do. No one else is going to care. That kind of thing isn't a big deal anymore."

"Well it's a big deal to me," Zelda felt a few tears stinging her eyes and tried to hold them back.

Dobie shook his head and sighed, "That's kind of hypocritical…don't you think?"

"No…it's not," Zelda argued. "I want what's best for Gwendolyn. You don't know what it's like…what I went through back then…"

"Zelda, I know you always thought people were judging you because you were pregnant when we got married, but even back then, no one really cared," Dobie tried to convince her. "Our folks were mad…yours especially. I know that hurt you. But other than that…no one ever said anything to our faces. Maybe there were a few whispers here and there…"

Zelda shook her head, "You have no idea…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dobie asked with frustration. "I was there you know."

"Dobie…" Zelda wiped away a stray tear that was sliding down her cheek. "You weren't there. Not all the time. Not in the beginning. Not when I had to go into the doctor's office by myself for a pregnancy test when every person in this town knew I wasn't married."

"Honey…that was more than forty years ago," Dobie sighed.

"That doesn't matter," Zelda closed her eyes to try to hold back her tears. She knew it would seem ridiculous that she was still so upset by this, especially when her daughter had been one of the biggest blessings of her life, but just thinking about it brought back all the emotions from so long ago and it broke her heart.

"Besides, Dr. Peterson was so nice and she never acted like we'd done anything wrong," Dobie reminded her. "Heck…half the town hated her for being a woman and the other half thought she was a nutcase with her Lamaze and her belief that fathers should be in the delivery room. Even I thought she was crazy for a while," he laughed. "So you're not going to convince me that she was mean to you when you went in for a pregnancy test, wedding band or not. She wouldn't have cared. If you thought she did, it was all in your head."

Zelda rolled her eyes, "Dr. Peterson was great," she agreed. "I loved her. She delivered both of our kids, but she was not the doctor I went to at first. She didn't even start her practice here in town until I was about four months pregnant with Gwen."

"Really?" Dobie asked. He hadn't remembered that, but then again he had never gone with her to the doctor. It just wasn't something men did back then. He'd been uncomfortable enough with the Lamaze classes Dr. Peterson held in the back of her small office on Friday nights. "Who did you see then?"

"Well…when I first thought I was pregnant, I didn't know what to do," Zelda told him. "I didn't want to go to my own doctor. I was afraid he would tell my parents. I know I was an adult, but he was their friend and I think he would have told them. So, I looked in the phone book and I found someone who I'd never heard of, and I went to see him."

"Okay…so maybe he wasn't as nice as Dr. Peterson," Dobie said softly.

"He was a jerk," Zelda cried. "He told me God hated me. He said our baby was a punishment. And he tried to convince me to give her up."

"What?" Dobie hadn't heard any of this before and he was in shock.

"He said that keeping her would be selfish and that she deserved parents who would love her and want her, not ones who saw her as a mistake," Zelda dabbed at her tears. "He gave me a bunch of brochures about adoption and told me I could go away to a home for unwed mothers and no one would even have to know. When I told him I wanted to keep the baby…he said I was going to be a bad mother. He said she'd always be ashamed of herself…being conceived out of wedlock…that she'd hate me."

Dobie shook his head in disbelief, "Why didn't you tell me all this?"

"At the time," Zelda admitted. "I thought maybe he was right. That I was going to be an awful mother. That our child would be ashamed because we weren't married."

"He wasn't right," Dobie squeezed her hand. "You know that."

"I know," Zelda sniffled. "God, I can't believe I'm sitting here crying over this now. It's been forty-four years." She wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"You should have told me…back then," Dobie sighed. "I would've kicked his ass. Is he still alive…I'll do it now."

Zelda laughed a little, "He was probably sixty back then," she sighed, "So he's either dead or you'd be beating up a man in his hundreds. I don't think you want to do that."

"He shouldn't have made you feel like that," Dobie said sadly. "I just wish you would've told me."

"I know," Zelda looked at him seriously and admitted a secret she had kept inside for decades. "I was afraid to tell you what he said. I was afraid if I did…you might have thought he was right. That maybe you would have wanted to give our baby away."

"How could you think that?" Dobie asked in disbelief. "Why would you think that?"

"I don't know," Zelda could tell she had hurt him. "I was scared. I know how much you love Gwen…but back then, I just didn't know what to expect."

"I have always loved our daughter," Dobie insisted. "From the first moment you told me you were pregnant." He thought back to that night, after he had proposed at their Valentine's Day dinner and Zelda had burst into tears, finally admitting to him that they were going to be parents. He had tried from the beginning to be understanding and supportive, but he did remember being scared and telling her they weren't ready to have a baby. It wasn't until she had practically begged him to love the baby that he came to his senses and realized he sounded like a jerk. Of course he loved their child. "I'm sorry if you didn't know how much I loved her…and how much I loved you."

"No…I knew," Zelda insisted. "I was just scared. Dobie, I'm sorry…for bringing all this up now…"

Dobie shook his head, "I'm glad I know now," he said truthfully. In the back of his mind he wondered if she was right. Would he have thought giving the baby up was a good idea? He had been scared to death of becoming a father, wasn't sure what to expect or how to take care of his wife and child. Maybe fear would have won out and he would have ended up agreeing with the doctor that they should give their child up. Zelda never would have agreed though, he knew that. And he wanted to believe he never would have either…no matter how frightened he was back then. Right now, he was glad Zelda hadn't told him what that doctor had said back then.

"I'm sorry I've been so tough on Gwen," Zelda admitted. "I'm going to call her and apologize. I don't care when she gets married…or if she gets married. And I won't send her anymore scary pregnancy articles."

Dobie leaned across the table and kissed her softly on the lips, "I love you," he said. "More than anything."

"I know," Zelda said honestly and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I love you too."