Chapter 15
Janet must have been sitting in her car for at least fifteen minutes before she finally dried her tears. Sighing, she once again started the engine and head off in the direction of the nearest drugstore to buy a pregnancy test. She had to admit that she was afraid as she walked into the apartment two hours later, shopping bag clutched securely in her hand. True, she and Jack were married and could technically have a baby, but it had only been two weeks. Barely. They hadn't planned on starting a family so soon. "So much for me freaking out all the time," she muttered. Part of her was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of becoming a mom, but the other part of her was scared to death. "What on earth is he going to say about this?" He was great with little Alyssa and Sydney, though. The two girls were Jenny's daughters, aged six and two and a half, respectively. They loved their Uncle Jack, and the three got a long amazingly well. However, being an uncle was a lot different then being a full time dad.
The timer beeped and the test was done. "Janet, you're going to make yourself sick worrying about this," she told herself, looking down at the small strip. She saw one line that would change life as they knew it forever. Irrevocably. A thin pink line stared up at her.
Pink. Pink for positive.
She was pregnant.
She and Jack were going to have a baby.
After running a very special errand, Janet arranged for the nine of them to meet at the bistro that night after hours. Chrissy and Cindy were delighted to get the call and agreed to come right away, not caring what the great news might be. It took some coaxing, but Helen finally convinced Stanley to show up as well. Even Furley; yes, he counted as a friend too. And of course, the dueling duo, Terri and Larry. She took a nervous breath as the eight of them crowded around a large table and looked at her expectantly. "What's up?" Cindy asked curiously.
Chrissy, not well know for her intellect, gasped in horror. "You're dying!"
Stanley stood as if to leave. "Great, we figured it out. Helen, can we go watch 'Name That Tune' now?"
"Stanley!" his wife yelled, exasperated. "You're being rude. Go ahead, honey," she said to Janet.
"Well, I - "
"Get on with it," Larry interjected, bored out of his mind. He wanted this to hurry up and be over with. Sure, he loved Janet and all of his friends dearly, but he canceled a very sexy date just to hear this supposed "great news." It had better be good. "Larry, shut up," Janet retorted. "I've had enough of you, okay! Now this is really hard, so just bear with me, all right?" "Would you for heaven's sake just tell us?" RF remarked, a hint of disparity in his voice. Janet sighed and finally looked her husband in the eyes. His sincere worried and caring look made her feel like crying. So she did. She couldn't help it. She hated, loathed with a passion that crying seemed to be her only option these days, but she was so terrified of how he would respond.
As the others looked on in stunned silence – nobody but Jack had ever seen fiercely independent and tough Janet cry before – Jack pulled her onto his lap and rocked her gently. "Baby, you know you can tell me anything. Wait...Chrissy's not right, is she?"
She gulped and shakily removed herself from his embrace. "No." Her face still streaked with tears, she pulled a folded, yet slightly crumpled envelope out of her purse. "I can't say it, so I'm just going to show you. It's all in there."
Confused, he took the thin rectangle from her hand and opened it. Out tumbled a small black and white photo. It was all blurry with wavy lines and made no sense to him at all. "Honey, you've got to learn to take better pictures."
The statement made Janet laugh, for some strange reason. Taking a pen from her pocket, she leaned down and traced a small circle in the lower right corner. "Do you see that, right there? Inside the lines, the little teeny thing that looks like a peanut, a little bit?"
Jack squinted. "Kind of."
Janet, her heart pounding, took his hand from the picture and calmly placed it on her stomach. "Sweetie, that's...that's our baby."
They all looked at her blankly for a few seconds, Jack included, until he leapt from his chair, picked her up, and twirled her around. She squealed happily as she looked down into his eyes. "I take it this is a good thing. You're happy, right?"
"Happy? Oh, honey...why wouldn't I be?"
"We've been married less than three weeks, Jack. I just...I don't know if you really wanted this so soon."
"Who cares? Sweetheart, we're going to have a baby!" Once again taking her in his arms, he twirled her around a few feet off the floor before kissing her softly. "I love you."
She settled herself onto his lap, and his arm went around her waist. Janet's soft, angelic laughter was music to his ears as she graciously accepted everyone's congratulations. In the future now, he saw a happy family of three. Brown eyes and bouncing curls, their little girl would be the spitting image of her mother, from the infectious giggle to the mix of fierce independence and unending loyalty. He loved the image. "You're going to be a mommy," he murmured into her hair.
"I know," she whispered back. "I can't wait. Thank you."
"Love you more." "Hey, do you two know what it's going to be?" Cindy's question interrupted their reverie.
"It's going to be a baby," Chrissy answered matter-of-factly. "Gosh...and people say I'm dumb."
"Not really." Janet's interruption halted the impending argument. "I mean, it'll be at least two or three more months before we can find out."
"You guys fight like you're sisters," Jack remarked.
"And here's Captain Obvious," Terri said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, they're cousins, so they are related, which means they have an excuse."
"It's going to be a boy. I know it. I'm psychic." Larry told the group.
"You mean psycho," Terri muttered, which promptly earned her a napkin in the face and a stuck-out tongue.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted, Uncle Larry's going to be sure and teach him everything he needs to know about being a ladies man." "And whatever he doesn't know, I'm sure I can handle it," Ralph Furley said boldly. Janet shook her head vehemently. "No way. Neither of you are going near my kid until they go to college." Everyone laughed. "Besides," she said shyly. "I've always wanted a little girl."
"Boy or girl, the poor kid has to have a name." Stanley spoke up for the first time in a long while. "Stanley, that's the most productive and intelligent thing you've said all night," Helen replied. "Good for you! So do you have any ideas?"
"Yes, actually," Janet dug through her purse again, finally handing it to Jack as she rummaged through her wallet. His eyes were on her as she triumphantly held up a folded square of paper. "My list. Added and changed it around ever since I was 13."
"You've got to be kidding me." He took it from her hands, smoothing it out to find a jumble of scratch outs and connecting lines. "My God, sweetheart, you'd have to be part of the CIA to decode this. What on earth possessed you?"
"Told you. Highlight of my life."
"You can have more than one," Mrs. Roper defended her friend.
"Okay, so are you going to tell me how to read this, because I can't even begin to guess."
The six women pored over it, nodding ever so often, while the four men simply looked on in amazement. "It's really quite simple." Cindy began telling the process. "It's divided into genders: girls on the left and boys on the right. You have a separate list for first names and middle names."
"The connecting lines were probably her first choices of names to go together and the cross out are ones she won't use now unless a meteor hit," continued Terri.
"And the small letters to the left of the first name are the initial of the middle names she especially likes," Chrissy finished proudly. "Like, for example, take a look at Danielle. The two initials by that one are 'Ju' and underneath that is 'Gr'. That means her first choice is Danielle Julia and her second choice is Danielle Grace."
Jack glanced at Janet, who nodded. "I need a drink," he muttered. "I'm all for preparation and what have you, but can't you make a new list? Top 5 for boys and girls. That's it. It'll be easier, and it won't make me feel so stupid when I don't understand."
"Fine." Janet again reached for her purse, and found a small pad of paper that Terri had given her once.
"Is that a purse or a suitcase?" Larry asked sarcastically. "I bet you have a three course meal hidden away in there and didn't tell us."
"Week old candy bar," she responded, distractedly. "You can have it if you want."
"No thanks." He made a face as Janet concentrated on her writing. Finally, after many minutes of thinking and erasing, she handed Jack her new and improved list.
"Let's see this." Jack placed it on the table where everyone could see.
"Top 5 Girls," Mrs. Roper read. "#1: Nicole Riley. #2: Samantha Taylor. #3: Katelyn Marie. #4: Sierra Brooke. #5: Erin Amber."
Her husband took the list from her and cleared his throat. "Top 5 Boys. #1: Ryan Hunter. #2: Cody Trevor. #3: Joshua Alex. #4: Andrew Ethan. #5: Tyler Nicholas."
"Plan on having ten kids, Janet?" Cindy inquired with a wry grin.
She made a face. "Absolutely not. Three or four, tops."
"What made you cross some of them out?" RF wondered. "Like...Lynne. That's cute."
"My best friend in high school. I beat her out for head cheerleader and she hasn't talked to me since."
Jack studied her for a moment. "Funny...you don't look like the pom-pom type to me."
"You'd be surprised at the things I do." Janet's witty response evidently caught Larry by surprise. He had just swallowed a sip of his drink, and the words made him choke and a few drops flew out his nose.
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to practice taking care of babies. Just watch Larry here." Terri took immense pleasure in whacking him on the back. "Honestly...grow up. Do you have to twist everything everyone says and make it into something sexual?"
"That's it. You are definitely not coming anywhere near our kid."
"Sorry."
"Well, what's wrong with Emma?" Chrissy asked.
"Popular girl. Made my life a living hell." "Jacob?"
"Old boyfriend. Dumped me the night of the junior prom. I cried for days."
"Log -"
"Do you sense a pattern here?" Cindy asked. "I'll save you some time. She crossed of all the names that have some sort of bad memory. Like ex- boyfriends, catty girls, stuff like that."
Janet nodded. "Right."
They talked for hours about anything and everything, but somehow their conversation always went back to the baby. After light banter and discussion, they were all set for names. Mrs. Roper noticed the cute scene first. "Jack, honey, look."
Jack looked down and had to smile. Janet was curled up in his lap, fast asleep. "This is our cue to go," he said softly. Careful not to wake her, he handed Terri her purse and stood, Janet still in his arms. She yawned and mumbled incoherently, only to snuggle into him deeper and wrap her arms around his neck. Outside, he gently laid her in the backseat of the car. She still didn't move.
"Missiles could be firing on either side of her and she'd never know it." Cindy was amazed that her friend was such a heavy sleeper. "I wish I could do that."
"Let's just go." And so they did. For a few moments, it was like a military procession as they all got into their cars and drove off. Jack and Janet, of course, were first. Directly behind them were the Ropers. Chrissy and Cindy were third, and last was Terri, Larry, and RF. Within the three-mile radius, Larry made it perfectly clear at least eleven times that he could have had a date that night.
"If you say that one more time, Dallas, I'm going to take this pencil, stick it up your ass, and twist!" Terri's exasperated yell could be heard from all three cars, and all seven people laughed quietly.
"Janet, come on!" Jack called, getting more impatient by the minute. He was beginning to think that Terri, Cindy, and Chrissy – although he loved them to death – were becoming bad influences. The three were turning his wife into the ultimate girl. Going anywhere was an event that required the utmost attention. Frankly, it drove him nuts.
"Almost ready!" she called. "You should be! How long does it take to get dressed? Just pick a shirt and let's go." Unfortunately, Jack hated shopping, and waiting for his now- beauty crazed wife wasn't improving his mood any.
"Jack..." Janet whined, appearing in the doorway to their bedroom, clad in striped light blue sweatpants and a white halter style shirt. "I hate this."
"You're cute, hon."
"No, I'm not. This is just the only thing that fits me anymore."
"Do you expect to be four and a half months pregnant and still look perfect?" he teased. The moment the words left his mouth, he knew that was the wrong thing to say. It had somehow slipped his mind that she had been subject to some pretty intense mood swings. Sure enough, her lower lip began to quiver, and she started to cry. "I knew it. You think I'm fat." "Baby, no," he tried to assure her, putting his hand on her slightly bulging stomach. "I don't think you're fat. You're beautiful." His attempts at flattery were ill conceived, however, as Janet angrily pushed his hand away. "None of my old jeans will fit, and I'm going to buy clothes that are four to five sizes bigger than this. Don't you stand there and tell me I'm not fat." "There's more to this, isn't there?"
"Why? Why does there have to be more? Why can't I just be irrational and bitchy and cranky for the hell of it?"
"Please...what's wrong? Janet breathed a deep sigh, and her words were barely audible, but they still had the power to make his heart break. Tears welled in her eyes. "You don't want me. You don't love me anymore." "Oh, sweetheart." A tiny river of tears spilled down her cheeks as Jack took her in his arms. "Don't you ever say that. I love you so much, honey. So much. And Janet Elizabeth Tripper, I am always, always, always going to want you."
That earned him a tiny smile, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. " All right. Let's get this over with."
This was one shopping spree that Jack didn't mind going on, and he didn't even care that he was buying a bunch of extremely overpriced things that would take him forever and a day to pay off. He didn't care. Because, as they entered the last store of clothing, Janet seemed more like her usual chipper self. She was excited about this baby again, and he just wanted everything to work out so she would be happy. After all, she was his everything, his wife, the woman that was carrying his child. But appearances could be deceiving. She seemed happy, but he knew that pretending everything was okay when it really wasn't was one of her better skills. Sighing, he came of from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You okay?" "Sure! Now which one do you like better?" she asked. The two small jumpsuits were adorable, but at that moment, his only concern was her. He knew that was a fake smile and cheeriness about her persona. "Sweetie, you were so happy when you found out. What's changed?" Janet loved her husband with every little piece of her heart, but she hated that he knew her so well. She couldn't even try with the secrets or lies, because he saw through them all. So she did the only thing that popped into her brain.
She ran. When Jack finally caught up with her in the parking lot, she was leaning against the edge of the car, sobbing. He pulled her to her feet and opened the back door. "Get in."
She nodded, and crawled in the backseat beside him. He looked sort of frustrated, so she couldn't help but hesitate as she snuggled up against him. Janet relaxed, though, as he hugged her close. "Janet Elizabeth, I mean everything I say, you know that. I love you, sweetheart. I love you. I loved you ever since we first met. I loved you the day we officially became a couple. I loved you those months we were dating. I loved you those nights we made love. I loved you when you thought you were pregnant. I loved you the day I proposed. I loved you the day we got married. I loved you the day you told me we were going to have a baby, and I've loved you every day since then. No matter what. I'll always, always, always love you, and I'm always, always, always going to want you."
Janet opened her mouth to respond by saying that that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard, but she was interrupted by a small flutter in her abdomen. "Oh!"
"Honey? What? What's wrong, sweetie?"
Janet smiled through her soft tears that were already again falling. She took his hand and touched it to her stomach so that he could feel the soft kick. "That's our baby."
"Yeah..." he repeated in awe. "There's our baby."
Janet must have been sitting in her car for at least fifteen minutes before she finally dried her tears. Sighing, she once again started the engine and head off in the direction of the nearest drugstore to buy a pregnancy test. She had to admit that she was afraid as she walked into the apartment two hours later, shopping bag clutched securely in her hand. True, she and Jack were married and could technically have a baby, but it had only been two weeks. Barely. They hadn't planned on starting a family so soon. "So much for me freaking out all the time," she muttered. Part of her was absolutely thrilled at the prospect of becoming a mom, but the other part of her was scared to death. "What on earth is he going to say about this?" He was great with little Alyssa and Sydney, though. The two girls were Jenny's daughters, aged six and two and a half, respectively. They loved their Uncle Jack, and the three got a long amazingly well. However, being an uncle was a lot different then being a full time dad.
The timer beeped and the test was done. "Janet, you're going to make yourself sick worrying about this," she told herself, looking down at the small strip. She saw one line that would change life as they knew it forever. Irrevocably. A thin pink line stared up at her.
Pink. Pink for positive.
She was pregnant.
She and Jack were going to have a baby.
After running a very special errand, Janet arranged for the nine of them to meet at the bistro that night after hours. Chrissy and Cindy were delighted to get the call and agreed to come right away, not caring what the great news might be. It took some coaxing, but Helen finally convinced Stanley to show up as well. Even Furley; yes, he counted as a friend too. And of course, the dueling duo, Terri and Larry. She took a nervous breath as the eight of them crowded around a large table and looked at her expectantly. "What's up?" Cindy asked curiously.
Chrissy, not well know for her intellect, gasped in horror. "You're dying!"
Stanley stood as if to leave. "Great, we figured it out. Helen, can we go watch 'Name That Tune' now?"
"Stanley!" his wife yelled, exasperated. "You're being rude. Go ahead, honey," she said to Janet.
"Well, I - "
"Get on with it," Larry interjected, bored out of his mind. He wanted this to hurry up and be over with. Sure, he loved Janet and all of his friends dearly, but he canceled a very sexy date just to hear this supposed "great news." It had better be good. "Larry, shut up," Janet retorted. "I've had enough of you, okay! Now this is really hard, so just bear with me, all right?" "Would you for heaven's sake just tell us?" RF remarked, a hint of disparity in his voice. Janet sighed and finally looked her husband in the eyes. His sincere worried and caring look made her feel like crying. So she did. She couldn't help it. She hated, loathed with a passion that crying seemed to be her only option these days, but she was so terrified of how he would respond.
As the others looked on in stunned silence – nobody but Jack had ever seen fiercely independent and tough Janet cry before – Jack pulled her onto his lap and rocked her gently. "Baby, you know you can tell me anything. Wait...Chrissy's not right, is she?"
She gulped and shakily removed herself from his embrace. "No." Her face still streaked with tears, she pulled a folded, yet slightly crumpled envelope out of her purse. "I can't say it, so I'm just going to show you. It's all in there."
Confused, he took the thin rectangle from her hand and opened it. Out tumbled a small black and white photo. It was all blurry with wavy lines and made no sense to him at all. "Honey, you've got to learn to take better pictures."
The statement made Janet laugh, for some strange reason. Taking a pen from her pocket, she leaned down and traced a small circle in the lower right corner. "Do you see that, right there? Inside the lines, the little teeny thing that looks like a peanut, a little bit?"
Jack squinted. "Kind of."
Janet, her heart pounding, took his hand from the picture and calmly placed it on her stomach. "Sweetie, that's...that's our baby."
They all looked at her blankly for a few seconds, Jack included, until he leapt from his chair, picked her up, and twirled her around. She squealed happily as she looked down into his eyes. "I take it this is a good thing. You're happy, right?"
"Happy? Oh, honey...why wouldn't I be?"
"We've been married less than three weeks, Jack. I just...I don't know if you really wanted this so soon."
"Who cares? Sweetheart, we're going to have a baby!" Once again taking her in his arms, he twirled her around a few feet off the floor before kissing her softly. "I love you."
She settled herself onto his lap, and his arm went around her waist. Janet's soft, angelic laughter was music to his ears as she graciously accepted everyone's congratulations. In the future now, he saw a happy family of three. Brown eyes and bouncing curls, their little girl would be the spitting image of her mother, from the infectious giggle to the mix of fierce independence and unending loyalty. He loved the image. "You're going to be a mommy," he murmured into her hair.
"I know," she whispered back. "I can't wait. Thank you."
"Love you more." "Hey, do you two know what it's going to be?" Cindy's question interrupted their reverie.
"It's going to be a baby," Chrissy answered matter-of-factly. "Gosh...and people say I'm dumb."
"Not really." Janet's interruption halted the impending argument. "I mean, it'll be at least two or three more months before we can find out."
"You guys fight like you're sisters," Jack remarked.
"And here's Captain Obvious," Terri said, rolling her eyes. "Besides, they're cousins, so they are related, which means they have an excuse."
"It's going to be a boy. I know it. I'm psychic." Larry told the group.
"You mean psycho," Terri muttered, which promptly earned her a napkin in the face and a stuck-out tongue.
"As I was saying before I was interrupted, Uncle Larry's going to be sure and teach him everything he needs to know about being a ladies man." "And whatever he doesn't know, I'm sure I can handle it," Ralph Furley said boldly. Janet shook her head vehemently. "No way. Neither of you are going near my kid until they go to college." Everyone laughed. "Besides," she said shyly. "I've always wanted a little girl."
"Boy or girl, the poor kid has to have a name." Stanley spoke up for the first time in a long while. "Stanley, that's the most productive and intelligent thing you've said all night," Helen replied. "Good for you! So do you have any ideas?"
"Yes, actually," Janet dug through her purse again, finally handing it to Jack as she rummaged through her wallet. His eyes were on her as she triumphantly held up a folded square of paper. "My list. Added and changed it around ever since I was 13."
"You've got to be kidding me." He took it from her hands, smoothing it out to find a jumble of scratch outs and connecting lines. "My God, sweetheart, you'd have to be part of the CIA to decode this. What on earth possessed you?"
"Told you. Highlight of my life."
"You can have more than one," Mrs. Roper defended her friend.
"Okay, so are you going to tell me how to read this, because I can't even begin to guess."
The six women pored over it, nodding ever so often, while the four men simply looked on in amazement. "It's really quite simple." Cindy began telling the process. "It's divided into genders: girls on the left and boys on the right. You have a separate list for first names and middle names."
"The connecting lines were probably her first choices of names to go together and the cross out are ones she won't use now unless a meteor hit," continued Terri.
"And the small letters to the left of the first name are the initial of the middle names she especially likes," Chrissy finished proudly. "Like, for example, take a look at Danielle. The two initials by that one are 'Ju' and underneath that is 'Gr'. That means her first choice is Danielle Julia and her second choice is Danielle Grace."
Jack glanced at Janet, who nodded. "I need a drink," he muttered. "I'm all for preparation and what have you, but can't you make a new list? Top 5 for boys and girls. That's it. It'll be easier, and it won't make me feel so stupid when I don't understand."
"Fine." Janet again reached for her purse, and found a small pad of paper that Terri had given her once.
"Is that a purse or a suitcase?" Larry asked sarcastically. "I bet you have a three course meal hidden away in there and didn't tell us."
"Week old candy bar," she responded, distractedly. "You can have it if you want."
"No thanks." He made a face as Janet concentrated on her writing. Finally, after many minutes of thinking and erasing, she handed Jack her new and improved list.
"Let's see this." Jack placed it on the table where everyone could see.
"Top 5 Girls," Mrs. Roper read. "#1: Nicole Riley. #2: Samantha Taylor. #3: Katelyn Marie. #4: Sierra Brooke. #5: Erin Amber."
Her husband took the list from her and cleared his throat. "Top 5 Boys. #1: Ryan Hunter. #2: Cody Trevor. #3: Joshua Alex. #4: Andrew Ethan. #5: Tyler Nicholas."
"Plan on having ten kids, Janet?" Cindy inquired with a wry grin.
She made a face. "Absolutely not. Three or four, tops."
"What made you cross some of them out?" RF wondered. "Like...Lynne. That's cute."
"My best friend in high school. I beat her out for head cheerleader and she hasn't talked to me since."
Jack studied her for a moment. "Funny...you don't look like the pom-pom type to me."
"You'd be surprised at the things I do." Janet's witty response evidently caught Larry by surprise. He had just swallowed a sip of his drink, and the words made him choke and a few drops flew out his nose.
"Well, you'll have plenty of time to practice taking care of babies. Just watch Larry here." Terri took immense pleasure in whacking him on the back. "Honestly...grow up. Do you have to twist everything everyone says and make it into something sexual?"
"That's it. You are definitely not coming anywhere near our kid."
"Sorry."
"Well, what's wrong with Emma?" Chrissy asked.
"Popular girl. Made my life a living hell." "Jacob?"
"Old boyfriend. Dumped me the night of the junior prom. I cried for days."
"Log -"
"Do you sense a pattern here?" Cindy asked. "I'll save you some time. She crossed of all the names that have some sort of bad memory. Like ex- boyfriends, catty girls, stuff like that."
Janet nodded. "Right."
They talked for hours about anything and everything, but somehow their conversation always went back to the baby. After light banter and discussion, they were all set for names. Mrs. Roper noticed the cute scene first. "Jack, honey, look."
Jack looked down and had to smile. Janet was curled up in his lap, fast asleep. "This is our cue to go," he said softly. Careful not to wake her, he handed Terri her purse and stood, Janet still in his arms. She yawned and mumbled incoherently, only to snuggle into him deeper and wrap her arms around his neck. Outside, he gently laid her in the backseat of the car. She still didn't move.
"Missiles could be firing on either side of her and she'd never know it." Cindy was amazed that her friend was such a heavy sleeper. "I wish I could do that."
"Let's just go." And so they did. For a few moments, it was like a military procession as they all got into their cars and drove off. Jack and Janet, of course, were first. Directly behind them were the Ropers. Chrissy and Cindy were third, and last was Terri, Larry, and RF. Within the three-mile radius, Larry made it perfectly clear at least eleven times that he could have had a date that night.
"If you say that one more time, Dallas, I'm going to take this pencil, stick it up your ass, and twist!" Terri's exasperated yell could be heard from all three cars, and all seven people laughed quietly.
"Janet, come on!" Jack called, getting more impatient by the minute. He was beginning to think that Terri, Cindy, and Chrissy – although he loved them to death – were becoming bad influences. The three were turning his wife into the ultimate girl. Going anywhere was an event that required the utmost attention. Frankly, it drove him nuts.
"Almost ready!" she called. "You should be! How long does it take to get dressed? Just pick a shirt and let's go." Unfortunately, Jack hated shopping, and waiting for his now- beauty crazed wife wasn't improving his mood any.
"Jack..." Janet whined, appearing in the doorway to their bedroom, clad in striped light blue sweatpants and a white halter style shirt. "I hate this."
"You're cute, hon."
"No, I'm not. This is just the only thing that fits me anymore."
"Do you expect to be four and a half months pregnant and still look perfect?" he teased. The moment the words left his mouth, he knew that was the wrong thing to say. It had somehow slipped his mind that she had been subject to some pretty intense mood swings. Sure enough, her lower lip began to quiver, and she started to cry. "I knew it. You think I'm fat." "Baby, no," he tried to assure her, putting his hand on her slightly bulging stomach. "I don't think you're fat. You're beautiful." His attempts at flattery were ill conceived, however, as Janet angrily pushed his hand away. "None of my old jeans will fit, and I'm going to buy clothes that are four to five sizes bigger than this. Don't you stand there and tell me I'm not fat." "There's more to this, isn't there?"
"Why? Why does there have to be more? Why can't I just be irrational and bitchy and cranky for the hell of it?"
"Please...what's wrong? Janet breathed a deep sigh, and her words were barely audible, but they still had the power to make his heart break. Tears welled in her eyes. "You don't want me. You don't love me anymore." "Oh, sweetheart." A tiny river of tears spilled down her cheeks as Jack took her in his arms. "Don't you ever say that. I love you so much, honey. So much. And Janet Elizabeth Tripper, I am always, always, always going to want you."
That earned him a tiny smile, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. " All right. Let's get this over with."
This was one shopping spree that Jack didn't mind going on, and he didn't even care that he was buying a bunch of extremely overpriced things that would take him forever and a day to pay off. He didn't care. Because, as they entered the last store of clothing, Janet seemed more like her usual chipper self. She was excited about this baby again, and he just wanted everything to work out so she would be happy. After all, she was his everything, his wife, the woman that was carrying his child. But appearances could be deceiving. She seemed happy, but he knew that pretending everything was okay when it really wasn't was one of her better skills. Sighing, he came of from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You okay?" "Sure! Now which one do you like better?" she asked. The two small jumpsuits were adorable, but at that moment, his only concern was her. He knew that was a fake smile and cheeriness about her persona. "Sweetie, you were so happy when you found out. What's changed?" Janet loved her husband with every little piece of her heart, but she hated that he knew her so well. She couldn't even try with the secrets or lies, because he saw through them all. So she did the only thing that popped into her brain.
She ran. When Jack finally caught up with her in the parking lot, she was leaning against the edge of the car, sobbing. He pulled her to her feet and opened the back door. "Get in."
She nodded, and crawled in the backseat beside him. He looked sort of frustrated, so she couldn't help but hesitate as she snuggled up against him. Janet relaxed, though, as he hugged her close. "Janet Elizabeth, I mean everything I say, you know that. I love you, sweetheart. I love you. I loved you ever since we first met. I loved you the day we officially became a couple. I loved you those months we were dating. I loved you those nights we made love. I loved you when you thought you were pregnant. I loved you the day I proposed. I loved you the day we got married. I loved you the day you told me we were going to have a baby, and I've loved you every day since then. No matter what. I'll always, always, always love you, and I'm always, always, always going to want you."
Janet opened her mouth to respond by saying that that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard, but she was interrupted by a small flutter in her abdomen. "Oh!"
"Honey? What? What's wrong, sweetie?"
Janet smiled through her soft tears that were already again falling. She took his hand and touched it to her stomach so that he could feel the soft kick. "That's our baby."
"Yeah..." he repeated in awe. "There's our baby."