What Are We Doing?
"And this is my, uh, this is Eddie." Jamie said, as he introduced her to someone.
Jamie and Eddie had gone to Jamie's 15 year Harvard reunion.
"Nice to meet you, Eddie." Said one of Jamie's old Harvard buddies, Carter.
They mingled for awhile, until they decided to go home because Jamie had an afternoon shift the next, and it would take awhile to get back to New York. While in the car ride, Jamie noticed something was wrong with Eddie.
"Is something wrong?" Jamie asked.
Eddie had her elbow on the door, and her head in her hand, and she was staring out the window.
"Nope." She said, emphasizing the 'p' sound.
"Really, cause I think something's wrong." Jamie pressed.
"Jamie, if I say nothing's wrong, then nothing is wrong. I'm just tired." Eddie was clearly not in the mood to talk.
"Ok."
The rest of the car ride back to New York was spent in silence. Eddie didn't want to talk, and Jamie didn't want to make her more mad than she already seemed to be.
Once they got home, Jamie tried questioning her again.
"Now will you tell me what's wrong?" Jamie asked, as he sat down on their bed.
Eddie sighed. She stood in front of him and decided to answer the question.
"At the reunion, when you introduced me to people, you never once called me your wife. With Carter you were about to, but then you hesitated and just said my name. We've been married for over a year, you should be used to calling me your wife. What you did really hurt. I jump at every opportunity I get to call you my husband."
"Oh. Right."
Eddie rolled her eyes at his answer, and walked into the bathroom.
Jamie waited for her to come back out to talk further.
"I'm sorry, ok? I know I should've introduced you as my wife, but I didn't. Isn't it my choice? It's your choice to call me your husband, and it's my choice to call you my wife."
Eddie didn't say anything to his response. She just grabbed her pillow and phone and started out to the living room.
"Where are you going?" Jamie asked, confused as to what Eddie was doing.
"Sleeping on the couch." She gave, shortly
Jamie didn't say anything in response. He just let her go.
The next morning, things were tense. They didn't talk at all. They went about their business, getting ready, passing like two ships. They didn't even share glances at each other. Eddie was still mad, and Jamie was annoyed at her anger. He didn't understand why she was mad about it. So what he didn't introduce her as his wife? Who cares?
"I don't understand why you're mad at me." Jamie finally said, as they sat down for breakfast.
"Really, Jamie? Mr. Harvard Law School can't put two and two together? I'm mad at you because you didn't call me your wife at all last night. Your unwillingness to call me your wife shows clearly there's something deeper that's wrong with our marriage."
"What? That's ridiculous."
"Do you want to be married? Do you enjoy it?"
"Of course I enjoy it."
"Do you, though? It seems like all we do is fight. You never talk to me anymore. I ask myself what we're doing at least twice a day. I'm gonna ask you this again. Do you want to be married? I'm giving you an out right now. You can walk away, and never look back."
Jamie took in deep breath. Was she telling him she wanted a divorce?
"Eddie, I love you. I love what we have together."
"But?"
"'But' nothing."
"Then why didn't you call me your wife?"
"Eddie, with those people, it's different. Most of them are lawyers, a few have even made judge. Introducing you as my wife the cop isn't the best move."
"So you're embarrassed that you married a cop? Isn't that just a little hypocritical? You got dumped by your ex-fiancée because she didn't want to introduce you as her husband the cop. Well, news flash, you're a cop too!" Eddie was fuming.
"No, that's not it. I'm not embarrassed by you. I just wanted to protect you. Those people, they judge, a lot. I didn't want them to judge you, or us, because of the jobs we chose."
"Jamie, that's sound like a load of bull."
"Well, it's not. That's the truth."
Eddie gathered her plate and utensils wordlessly and placed them in the sink. She then walked into the bathroom. She came back out a few moments later, with something in her hand. She placed the object down on the table in front of Jamie and began talking again.
"I'm giving you an out, right now. Walk over, go marry a big time lawyer, have beautiful babies. Be rich and live in the Hamptons. I'm giving you this one chance, right now. Because in about 8 months time, it'll be too late. So, are you in or out?"
Eddie took her hand off the object. It was a positive pregnancy test.
"I'm in. Of course I'm in. I love you. I love you so much. And I'm not embarrassed of you. I love being a cop, and I love living in a family of cops, and I love my wife the cop. And now I love our baby, the future cop." At that last part, he place his hand over Eddie's stomach.
For the first time that day, Eddie lips broke out into a smile. Her eyes stared tearing up.
"I love you too. Congratulations, papa." Eddie said, placing her hand over Jamie's hand.