Where the Grass is Greener

Chapter Thirteen

Warrick was holding Sara's hand as the doctor put the indicator to her abdomen for the first ultrasound.

"Okay," the doctor said. "Everything looks good. Your baby's got a healthy heartbeat, and mom's doing fine as well. Would you like a picture of the baby?"

"Yeah," Sara said with the widest grin.

Warrick leaned down and gave her a kiss. Hearing his baby's heartbeat for the first time made him aware that Sara was carrying a life within her. That it was real. It wasn't just a dream that he would instantly wake up from. In eight and a half months' time, he would be a father. The thought made him both anxious and happy. He didn't know how he would fare with an infant. He could deal with kids, but babies were another issue.

"Hey," Sara's voice brought him back to the present. "What are you thinking about?"

"How much I love you," he said.

He stepped aside and let the doctor clean off Sara's belly before leaving the room. Sara pulled her now too tight shirt over her belly and fixed her pants. Warrick noticed that it was about time to buy her bigger clothes.

The day Sara told him tearfully that she was pregnant, he was struck dumb. She got upset when he didn't say anything for a long time, and all he could do was sweep her off her feet and tell her how thrilled he was about the baby. She had been very emotional that day, and she kept to herself. According to Catherine and his aunt, Sara had torn the fabric in her wedding dress and she cried and cried. It was not like Sara to be overemotional and no one knew that better than Catherine.

"God," Sara hissed in frustration. "It's a wonder I didn't figure I was pregnant myself," she said. Warrick could hear the venom in her voice. "I can hardly fit into these," she said, struggling with pulling her jeans together enough to button them. Finally, she gave up, beginning to cry.

"Sara, please don't cry," he said, hugging her. "We'll go get you some bigger clothes."

She suddenly pulled away and glared at him. "I don't want bigger clothes," she growled. "I want to get into my jeans long enough to go home in."

Warrick raised his hands in surrender so as to show that he wasn't saying anymore on the matter.

She finally just pushed them down on her waist and then she buttoned them. He could see the swell in her belly clearly. It wasn't a big one, but it was growing. Sara had been concerned over the fact that she had gained so much weight and had gotten the swell so early. The doctor explained that it was mostly fluid.

On the way home, Warrick had to make a pit stop for Sara because she wanted Chicken MacNuggets and a MacFlurry. Her request was reasonable enough, but when she got what she wanted, she dipped the nuggets into the shake. She smiled in delight. Warrick thought it was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen. As long as she was happy…

He had no idea what to expect with Sara's pregnancy. Cravings was one thing he knew about. She was currently consuming one. But everything else, he was unsure of.

Sara was tired and she wanted to take a nap. Warrick decided that he wanted to join her.

Warrick observed her as she changed into some more comfortable clothing. He studied her belly. He knew that she would look beautiful as she went further into her pregnancy. From behind, he really couldn't tell she was pregnant, but from the front and side, it was pretty obvious. She complained of her breasts aching. Those had grown too, and her bras looked much too tight on her, giving her cleavage that he never knew she could possess.

"Stop looking at me," she whined. "I'm disgusting."

"No you're not," Warrick said. "You look beautiful."

She gave him a doubtful glare and then pulled on a nightshirt. She scratched her belly as she climbed into bed and snuggled close to him. Warrick put his hands on her tummy and caressed it. He pulled the shirt up to her breasts then he leaned down and kissed her belly.

***

Sara discovered that she had morning sickness in reverse. She would start throwing up in the evenings. So, she had evening sickness. She couldn't keep anything down. During the day, she would eat whatever her heart desired and be prepared to vomit as soon as the sun went down. Warrick was concerned, and he called her doctor. The doctor said that morning sickness doesn't have to occur in just the morning hours.

Warrick was up with her every night, holding her hair back, rubbing her back, wiping her face. Sara loved him even more for being there for her. Warrick was probably the most patient man Sara ever knew. She'd only seen him lose his temper once, and he knew how to calm down quickly. He would be a good father; he would love and counsel his child.

When she was done vomiting, she went back to bed. Two weeks until their wedding, and now she was pregnant. She happy, but it was a little too soon. Could they handle a baby while still being newlyweds? Could they even afford a baby? Make time for one?

"Are you feeling better?" Warrick asked as he gave her a glass of water.

"Yeah," Sara sighed. She put her hand on her belly. "This kid is causing me grief already."

Warrick grinned and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for taking such good care of me and now, the baby."

"I just want to see you happy," he said, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"You don't know how happy you've made me," Sara said, taking his hand in hers. "Never have I been so excited about my life before. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you."

"I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you," Warrick said, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss it. "You're beautiful."

Sara turned away, blushing like a fool. "Stop making me blush."

She felt like a teenager all over again. Never had she loved a man so fiercely before. It was the kind of love that left you in physical pain if you were without that person, that made you think about that person night and day, that made you want to smile every time you saw that person. That was the love Sara was feeling; and it was such a good, relaxing, refreshing feeling that she relished in everyday.

***

Warrick found himself becoming more nervous as the wedding approached. Soon, Sara would be his wife, and that was a big deal. And, they would also be expecting a new member of the family. Warrick could not wait to see his baby. The best part of that was Sara was going to be the baby's mother. She was giving him a child, and he would forever love and cherish her for that.

Sara was progressing well, and she started working on the little things for their wedding. The menu didn't have to accommodate her vegetarian tastes since she was pregnant and any kind of food was tempting. Warrick thought that it was funny to see her eating every waking minute of the day. She ate anything she could get her hands on…one weird thing that she started eating was cream cheese. She had to have it all the time. Warrick made sure to stock up on a few containers to meet her demands. She ate it like it was ice cream.

Warrick's only goal was to keep her happy. He hated to see her cry. She was emotional enough as it was, and the wedding was making her brain and her hormones go haywire, so he decided to go along with her every word and request, no matter how odd it was.

He was working on trying to fix their Tivo after it went off in a sudden power surge that swept the city. Sara had insisted on it, since she was missing her favorite show, "Sex and the City". She recorded every episode every Sunday night, and he only had about three hours before it came on.

"Warrick," Sara called from the kitchen. "Do we have any peanut butter?"

"No, we both hate the stuff," he said while trying to work the menu.

She had what looked like a pout on her face. "But I like it now," she almost whined.

Warrick looked at her then he grabbed a piece of paper from the "shopping list" tablet and a pen.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"Mm…no…well maybe," she paused to think about it. "Um, let's see…get some black olives, some of those doughnut holes, the chocolate kind, some hot cheetoes, and pick up the invitations from the calligrapher."

Warrick nodded. "Got it," he said. "I'll be back in about an hour or so."

"Okay," Sara said as she opened a fresh bag of potato chips.

The grocery store was rather crowded. He was trying to get in and get out as fast as he could so that he could go pick up their wedding invitations. Sara's dad paid for the printing of the invitations. Warrick never knew it would cost so much just get their names printed on a piece of paper. Sara was thrilled at what the final result would be and she decided on the printing. The guest list was now at eighty-five. Catherine was having a field day. She suggested that they get security guards put around the perimeter of their reception area for protection. Warrick thought she was nuts, but Sara said it was a good idea.

"Anything could happen honey," Sara insisted.

"That's right," Catherine said, feeding in to Sara's hormonal pregnancy-induced paranoia tendency. "No one is allowed in or out of the wedding without an invitation."

Warrick went along with it.

He went to the aisle where the olives would be. Once there, he found himself in a conundrum: there were plenty of green olives, but there were no black olives. In his mind, an olive was an olive, but in Sara's mind, it wasn't an olive unless in was black. But she wanted olives…he decided to take his chances. It was better than no olives at all.

Everything else on the list was easy to get.

He took a look at the invitations. So far, everything looked normal:

You're Invited to the Wedding of:

Warrick Brown

&

Sara Sidle

The ceremony will take place at Holy Grace Christian Fellowship,

12567 Tamberlin Street, Plaza #1 @ 6:30 pm

The reception will take place at the Stratosphere Tower @ 7:15 pm

Your presence at the ceremony and reception will be greatly appreciated!

Groom's Immediate Relatives:

Philip & Regina Brown

Bride's Parents:

Victor & Diana Saddle

Saddle?

"What the hell is this?" Warrick asked.

"What?" The calligrapher asked.

"My fiancee's last maiden name is Sidle," Warrick explained. "How did you mess that up?'

"Where sir?" He asked. He picked up one of the invitations. "Oh dear, oh boy."

"You're right oh boy," Warrick repeated angrily. "We paid nine hundred dollars for this and you can't even spell her parents' last name right? You got it right up here, but what happened when you got to her parents?"

"I-I don't know sir," he said nervously. "How about your money back and a free printing the next time you get married?"

Warrick was in no mood for jokes.

"Or a free printing in eighteen years when your son or daughter gets married?" He laughed.

"Sara's going to kill me," Warrick muttered to himself. "Is there any way that you can fix this?"

"Unfortunately no," the calligrapher said. "We have other deadlines to meet, and we don't have time to reprint and still do the others on time."

Warrick knew he was in the worst kind of trouble.

***

Warrick came in through the door looking crestfallen.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sara asked as she came over to him. "Did you get everything?"

Warrick looked hesitant to answer her. He just kind of stared at her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Hello," she sang as she waved a hand in front of his face. "Am I talking to myself here?"

"Honey," he started nervously. "I'm so sorry…"

Sara was truly concerned for him. "Sweetie, what happened?"

He sighed. "Please don't be upset when I tell you this," he begged. "You are not going to believe this. First I went to the store and I found the olives, but they only had green olives," he explained.

Sara crossed her arms. "That's not what's bothering you. There's more, isn't there?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," he said. "I went to go pick up the invitations, and I looked at them," he paused.

"And?" Sara asked with an edge to her voice.

"Babe," he said. "Your parents' new last name is Saddle."

Sara raised an eyebrow in anger. Warrick looked scared to death.

"And what did you say to the calligrapher?" She asked, inching menacingly closer to him. Warrick was too scared to even wince.

"I asked him if they could fix the press and reprint them," he began.

"And the calligrapher said…?" She egged on, her anger boiling inside of her, ready to blow like Old Faithful.

"He said no," Warrick said warily.

Sara blew her stack.

***

"I don't care how you do it, Brown! Just get those fucking invitations fixed!" Sara yelled through the phone at him then she hung up.

Nick was in the background laughing. Warrick had been kicked out of the apartment due to an ultimatum served by Sara. His choice was to not even come to the doorstep until the invitations were fixed, or come back without the fixed invitations suggesting that they should deal and not have a wedding at all.

Warrick had to stay at Nick's house to avoid the hell that was Sara at the moment.

"Man, you are in serious trouble," he chuckled. "You know it's a bad sign when she refers to you as Brown."

"Pregnancy has really screwed her up," Warrick said. "She's all weird now."

"Well," Nick said, patting his back. "She wasn't the only one in the bed that special night."

Warrick glared at his best friend. "You're funny," he said sarcastically. "I can't wait 'til you're about to get married and expect a baby," Warrick warned. "I'm gonna laugh my ass off when your wife starts threatening you."

"Well, until that day comes, you're still the one who's at the altar, so," Nick said, handing him a beer. "Until that day comes, I'm laughing my ass off."

Warrick wanted to choke him.