A few months later, we were down to the wire of having to find a doctor to deliver our child. We had only a couple of months left, and even though I was ready for this baby to come out already, everyone said that those last few months of pregnancy drags on. I cringed at the thought. My back was always achy, my feet were swollen, I was feeling irritated, tired, and crampy all the time.
One particularly bad day for me, Eugene had come home earlier to help me rest. He made dinner and cleaned up afterwards. He even drew up a nice warm bath for me to relax in while he finished up some of his work. When he came to get me afterwards, he started to lead me to our spare room.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked, waddling beside him.
He squeezed my hand lovingly. "I have a surprise for you."
"Couldn't you tell me what it is instead of making me walk?" I complained.
He laughed. He stopped outside the door, and stood behind me. He whispered, "This is going to be worth you seeing in person."
I sighed, feeling tired and achy, but decided to amuse him. I pushed the door open.
Inside the spare room was now our baby's nursery - fully completed. Sitting in the middle of the room was a large circular rug with a footstool and accompanying rocker on top of it. The crib that Eugene had been working hard on these past few months sat along the far wall, with the changing table and dresser next to it. There was a small bookshelf with baby toys and books, and a lamp next to it for those late nights. The room had been repainted to a lovely shade of lavender and white trim. Pictures of animals adorned the walls. Inside the crib that Eugene made sat a trio of little stuffed animals and a yellow blanket.
I entered the room, looking around in awe of all of his hard work. I couldn't believe my eyes that this was even here. It made the reality of our child coming even more real. I turned to him as he leaned against the doorframe. "When did you do all of this?"
He smiled, crossing his arms across his chest. "Since you told me about your pregnancy, I've been in here, making small changes, building the furniture..."
I waddled over to him, embracing him tightly. I felt tears of joy stream down my face as I nuzzled against his neck. "It's beautiful, Eugene! I love it! I love you! Thank you so much!"
He returned the embrace and kissed my cheek. "You're welcome, Jane. And you and our baby are worth it."
"This is my favorite room in the whole house," I admitted. I released him, kissing him firmly on the lips. "It's perfect."
He smiled and asked, "Do you want to try out the rocker?"
I nodded and he helped he sit into the rocking chair that he built. It was comfortable, gliding naturally. I smiled, closing my eyes. "This is nice."
He chuckled. "Let's get you into bed. You look exhausted."
The next morning, Eugene and I sat in the waiting room of a family practice medical center. Eugene held my hand, keeping me calm as I was incredibly anxious about the appointment. When our name was called, we followed the nurse back to meet with the doctor who would be helping us deliver our child.
She took my vitals and headed out of our room, where we would once again, wait. When the doctor finally entered the room, I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding in.
He turned to us and extended a hand, smiling. "I'm Dr. West. Nice to meet you both." He glanced down at my bump and chuckled, "Well, three of you."
I forced an awkward smile. I was uncomfortable. It wasn't really anything to do with West, but there was just something that didn't sit well with me. I also knew that we didn't have much choice in doctors anymore as we were really down to the wire.
After answering practically the same questions that were on our paperwork that we filled out earlier, we were able to leave. I mumbled to Eugene as we headed out, "Seemed like a waste of our time."
He laughed. "Are you hungry? You seem to get grumpy when you're hungry."
I snorted. "Do not."
"Sure," he replied, opening my car door for me. "Let's get something to eat."
He closed my door once I was inside and walked around the front of the car, climbing in his side. He asked, "Do you have a preference?"
I shook my head. "Not really." He nodded and started off away from the clinic. After a few moments of silence, I asked, "What did you think?"
"Of what?" he asked, looking at me quickly before adverting his gaze back to the road.
"West," I said. "What did you think of him."
He shrugged. "Seems nice." He turned back to me briefly and asked, "Why? You don't like him?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. Just seemed off to me."
"Well, luckily for you," Eugene started. "You only have to seem him for a delivery and that's it." I laughed. He made it seem so easy. I hoped it was as easy as he made it sound, but I knew that that wasn't the case. He added, "Besides, if we deliver early or if he is called away on an emergency, we'll have a different doctor."
"Well," I mused. "Let's hope something like that happens."
After lunch out, we headed back home. When we pulled up to our house, Betty was waiting on our steps. I furrowed my brow, turning back to Eugene. "Why is Betty here?"
He cringed at the question. "Shit," he groaned. "I completely forgot she was coming by today." He climbed out of the car, waving to Betty as he came around to help me out. He shouted to her, "Hey Betty! I'm sorry! I completely forgot!"
Betty stood up from her spot on our steps and waved back. "Not a problem, Gene! Hello, Jane!" She waved to me as she watched us waddle slowly towards the house.
I managed a half wave back. "Hello, Betty. I didn't know you were coming."
The two of them helped me climb the few steps in front of the house and Eugene quickly unlocked the front door to allow both of us inside. Betty helped me with my coat and then into the chair.
Eugene ran his hand through his black hair. "I'm so sorry, Betty."
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Go to work. I'll be here until you get back."
I glanced between the two of them, confused. "What's going on?"
Both of them turned to me. Eugene stated, "I have to go to work, but I didn't want to leave you home alone. Betty kindly agreed to stop by to help out. I just completely forgot about it."
I nodded slowly, unsure if I believed him. This wasn't something he would normally forget, but I let it go.
He kissed the top of my head and waved to me as he rushed out the door.
I turned my attention back to Betty and asked, "So, what's really going on?"
She smiled wide. "One of the reasons I love you, Jane, is because you always know when something is up." She laughed. "I can't pull one over on you."
I narrowed my eyes at her, still waiting for an answer. "What are you planning?"
She smiled again. "Oh, you have guests." I tried to sit up and turn to see, but she waved at me to stay. "Don't move. I'll get it."
I watched as she opened the front door and welcomed all the wives of Eugene's friends, Susan and her posse. They filed into the living room, carrying wrapped gifts, drinks, and food. My eyes grew wide.
Susan smiled at me warmly as she stepped into the house. I wasn't sure that this was what I wanted to deal with today. I had thought it would be a quiet afternoon with Betty, but apparently, everyone - Eugene included - had different plans in mind.
Susan approached me. "How are you feeling, dear?" Without letting me answer, she looked at my belly. "My! You've gotten quite big! Must be a boy!"
I held back a sarcastic remark, forced a smile, and said, "Nice of you to come, Susan."
Susan had become a different person since the day she was shot, but in front of all of these other women, she seemed to have reverted back to her old ways. Maybe this was just her trying to be polite regarding the pregnancy, especially after her own loss. It was hard to say. I just hoped that she wasn't reverting back into the Susan before being shot because I loathed her then.
Susan walked into the kitchen, carrying whatever food and drink she brought with her and started to set up the kitchen to hold all the refreshments. As the women poured in, they passed off their food items for Susan to arrange esthetically.
Once all the women had come and found a place to sit, Susan entered the living room once again. "Drinks and food are in the kitchen!" she announced. "Help yourself!"
Some women got up to help themselves, while others remained seated, sharing in gossip and small talk with their friends. It wasn't long before Susan and Betty stood in front of me.
I raised an eyebrow at them. "Who are all of these women? I don't know all of them."
"They're friends of Gene's," Susan exclaimed. I wanted to roll my eyes and tell her that these women weren't personally friends with my husband, but I graciously let it go.
Betty noticed my agitation. "Would you like something to eat or drink?" I shook my head. She said, "Maybe opening some presents would help."
Susan nodded and began to gather all the women from the kitchen into the living room. Once all the women were properly seated in places deemed acceptable to Susan, the gift opening began.
There were several little outfits, blankets, and loads of diaper cloths. When we took a break from opening gifts so that I could use the restroom, Betty helped me into the bathroom. I asked, "Why are all these women even here? They don't know me - we're not friends."
Betty held back a laugh. "You know Susan. She wants to make sure everyone knows how generous she is."
"So, nothing's changed with her, then?" I asked.
Betty shrugged. "I think it did, but she doesn't want everyone to think that she has. Who knows. It's Susan."
When I was finished, we headed back into the living room. When I sat back down, I heard someone ask, "Do you think the baby will have her unfortunate eyes?"
The person the woman was talking to replied, "Better pray that baby looks more like Gene than her."
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my mouth shut. For all the trouble that Susan and Betty both put into this party, I didn't want to ruin it for them. It was obvious by the way the women were behaving and staring at me, that they were all thinking the same thing. It reminded me of Sobel and his reaction to seeing my mismatched eyes. Memories of Roe and me in the aide station together as he ran his vision tests came back to me and I smiled.
A few hours later, the women began to leave. I waved my thanks to them as they shuffled out the door, leaving me alone with Betty, Susan, and a wrecked house.
Betty began cleaning up the living room, while Susan busied herself in the kitchen. Every time I tried to get up to help, they would order me back into the chair.
When they finished cleaning up the house, the sat down on the sofa across the room from me, making idle small talk. I smiled and listened but rarely joined in.
Betty asked, "Are you all right?"
I shrugged. "I think I'm just tired."
"Are you sure it's not because of what those women were saying?" Susan asked, raising her tea cup to her lips. She took a sip, lowering the cup back down. "I heard the remarks they made about you and your eyes."
Betty turned to Susan before looking back over at me, almost afraid that I'd lash out at Susan.
I shook my head. "What do they know, anyways?"
Betty and Susan laughed.
The front door opened and Eugene stood in the doorway. He looked around, seeing that it was just the three of us. "Is it safe to come home?"
Betty laughed, standing up from the sofa. "Of course, it is."
Susan stood up as well, still holding onto her tea cup. "I'll just put this away. We should be going now."
Betty waited by the door for Susan and then they left together. Eugene closed the door behind them and turned to address me. "Were you surprised?"
"You knew about this?" I asked.
He smiled. "Of course. It was hard to keep it a secret. But I still feel badly that I made you late to your own shower."
"I wasn't late..." I muttered.
He knelt down before me. "You must be exhausted. Let's get you into bed." I took his hands and pushed myself out of the chair with his help in pulling me. We walked, hand in hand, up the stairs and into bed.
As I laid there, my eyes getting heavy with sleep, I realized that my life was perfect. The voice in my head was gone - as I hadn't heard from it in quite a while - I had everything that I could ever have dreamed about.
