Susan clutched her jacket closer about herself and shaded her eyes in the bright evening sun. The game was just starting. Good. She hadn't missed anything. She found her way to the bleachers by the field and looked for Cosmo. She smiled when she saw him sitting with Chuck and Heather. Chuck stood up and waved. Susan made her way to their seat and sat down.
"What did I miss?" she asked. "Where's Susie?" Chuck nodded toward the goal net where Susie stood scuffing her cleats in the grassy dirt. She had a goal tender shirt over her uniform, huge gloves on her hands and shin guards under her purple team knee socks.
"Well...she looks good," Susan said worriedly. Chuck laughed and offered her some popcorn from the bag in his hand. She smiled as Cosmo climbed into her lap. Susan wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.
"Can you see Susie?" she asked him. Cosmo nodded his head.
"Yay, Susie!" he yelled. Susan laughed.
They lost the game. The rest of the season didn't go much better but it was more fun than Susie had anticipated. The best thing about being a goalie was that she didn't have to run too far...and she was good at zoning in on the ball. She actually stopped more goals than she let in. Best of all was the comraderie of her team mates.
Spring waned and summer loomed. There were birthdays to be celebrated... Susie's 13th and Cosmo's 4th...the end of the school year...and summer vacation. Susie and Heather were both cast in the summer production of 'Hans Christian Andersen' and chattered away about their script and rehearsal schedules the entire 4 hour trip to camp. Susan and Beth listened to them from the front seat of the car and shook their heads. They were both bossy and opinionated and the very best of friends. Leaving them at camp had been difficult but it was a pleasant drive back to Iowa. They even made a quick stop in Chicago to see Susan's dad and Abby and Luka.
The house seemed so empty without Susie. Susan hadn't really anticipated that. They were all counting the days until the two weeks would be up. Susie had made a calender for Cosmo and every night before he went to bed he would cross off another day until her return. Susan was exhausted and seemed to be fighting the flu. Then she had another nagging thought...one that really caught her by surprise. She brought home a test kit from the hospital and tried it out.
She sat on the side of her bed and tapped her finger on the small plastic stick she held in her hand. Her mind was reeling. How could this have happened? Now of all times? She didn't move when Chuck came in the room and rummaged through a dresser drawer for a clean shirt.
"Hey, Sus," he said. 'I need to run to the hardware store. I'm going to take the Cosman with me. Gotta acclimate him to the guy things in life." He turned to look at her and frowned.
"What's up?" he asked. Wordlessly she handed the little stick to him.
"What's this?" His eyes widened a bit as he recognized the pregnancy test stick. He sat on the bed next to her when he read the blue lines.
"We're having a baby?"
"Apparently so." Susan sighed heavily. Chuck turned to her and smiled a little.
"We're having a baby..." Susan looked at him and rolled her eyes.
"How could this have happened?" Chuck smirked and then shrugged.
"Well...I seem to recall some good times and a few interesting posit...ow!" He groaned playfully as she punched him in the chest.
"We're not teenagers, Chuck," she said. "We're both in the medical profession, for cripes sake. A surprise pregnancy?" He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Susan," he said. "We are a happily married couple that enjoy each other... alot." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck. She stiffened.
"We can't afford this right now. And where are we going to put a baby? This is a three bedroom house." Chuck sighed. He sat straighter.
"We've always talked about finishing the basement sooner or later. We'll put a bedroom down there for Susie. She'll love having the privacy...and the rest of the basement for entertaining her friends. In fact," he grinned and nuzzled Susan's neck again, "we'll put her in charge of the project so you know it will be done right...and cheaply." She began to relax and he drew her back on the bed beside him and kissed her.
"So do we know how far along you might be? Do I get the benefits of that really horny first trimester for very long?" Susan's laugh was cut short as Chuck kissed her and slipped his hands to her waist under her tee shirt. Neither of them noticed Cosmo until he was standing on their bed looking down at them.
"Hey!" he said as he bent down and rubbed Susan's head. "Daddy is buying me a hammer. My very own!" Chuck groaned and rolled over.
"We gotta work on his timing..." he said. Susan laughed and sat up as she straightened her tee shirt. Chuck stood up and pulled her up from the bed.
"Let's go get that hammer," she sighed. Chuck frowned.
"What? I like hardware stores," she said. He grinned and nuzzled her neck again as they crowded through the bedroom door together following Cosmo. Susan yelped and grabbed his hand as he pinched her behind.