Chapter Twenty


[November]

Now that she was pregnant and living a long way from her mother and sister and best friend Angie, Tami was thinking that a moral support system might not be a bad idea. Her neighbor invited her to a Bible study for new and expectant moms, and she enjoyed the first meeting, so she decided to try out the church that hosted it. She asked Eric to go with her.

"Did you like it?" Tami asked when they drove home from the service.

"It's…different," he said.

It was a nondenominational church. It wasn't that different from the Methodist church she'd grown up in, except that it was less fundamentalist and more contemporary, but it was a far cry from the Catholicism with which Eric was familiar.

"I liked it," she said. "I want to go."

"Uh…okay. I guess we could do that."

They ordered pizza for lunch and watched football for a while. Eric was pretty engrossed in the game when the phone rang, so Tami went to answer it.

When she came back to the couch, she told him, "That was one of my students back in Houston. She's in high school now. I gave her my number before I left, in case she ever needed to talk."

Eric was staring at the TV. "Go! Go! Go!" He shouted as he stood up. "Yes!" Then he sat back down. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"A girl, from the old school in Houston. She was having some issues with her father. He was an alcoholic. So, you know, I could relate."

"Uh-huh."

She sighed, picked up the remote control, and clicked off the television.

"Hey!" He picked up the remote and turned the TV back on.

"Do you remember what the pastor said, sugar?" she asked loudly. "Back when we were getting premarital counseling? About how it's important not to zero in on some narrow interest of your own so that I don't feel neglected?"

He turned sideways and extended an arm across the back of the couch to face her. "You need to talk about this."

"Yes."

"And you need me to listen."

"Yes."

"I'm listening."

"Turn off the game," she insisted.

"I can listen with the game on."

"Do you have any hope of getting laid this afternoon?"

While still looking in her eyes, he lifted the remote and clicked the television off.

[December]

Tami stood in the center of the room and surveyed her handiwork. Eric, who had just gotten home from work, was still scolding her. "You should have asked me to do it. The fumes aren't good for the baby."

He'd read two chapters of one of her six pregnancy books last weekend, and now he was an expert.

"The baby will be fine. I kept all the windows open." It was a moderate December day, what many non-Texans might consider early fall weather. "And I didn't use oil-based paint."

Tami had gotten a huge burst of energy in her second trimester. She was bored staying at home all day with no projects. Last week, she'd started helping Eric grade papers. It gave him more time to watch game tape.

She'd chosen a neutral, unobtrusive yellow for the walls, so it didn't matter if the baby was a boy or a girl. The ceiling she'd done a sky blue. "We still need a theme," she said. "I was thinking Noah's Ark."

"God no," he said. "That's morbid. Bunch of wicked people running around the earth, so wicked God drowns them all to death."

She turned and looked at him. "Cute animals going two by two into a big boat. And rainbows."

"Is that your take away from that story?"

"It's everybody's take away, Eric."

He shook his head. "Nope. Not doing it."

"How about clowns?" she said. "That's unisex."

"And incredibly creepy. Didn't you see Poltergeist in high school?"

She had. She'd gone with her then boyfriend (who'd dumped her when she wouldn't put out), with Mo and his girlfriend, and with some other guy she couldn't remember. That was before she and Mo were dating, but Mo kept "accidentally" brushing her hand in the popcorn bucket.

She sighed. "We'll do a Where the Wild Things Are theme then. I love that book."

"Damn, Tami, that's even creepier than clowns. There's something wrong with that book. That book's even worse than The Giving Tree."

She'd bought about fifteen children's books already – all of her own favorites as a child. "The Giving Tree is a story of unconditional love, Eric."

"It's a story of abuse is what it is. Of a guy just using and using and using until there's nothing left to use. Stupid tree."

"Fine. What do you think we should do?"

"Well…what's wrong with a football theme?"

She snorted.

"No, really." He waved his hand toward the far wall. "We could paint some grass right there, draw in a field goal, put up a bunch of those football stick-up thingamabobs." He turned to the other wall. "Maybe a Cowboys helmet right there."

"What if it's a girl?"

"She can still play Powder Puff," he said. "But I have a feeling it's going to be a boy."

"You know, we can find out at my next appointment."

He turned back to her. "What? How?"

Clearly he hadn't read too much of that pregnancy book. "Ultrasounds, Eric. They don't just use them for high risk pregnancies anymore. Do you want to find out?"

He looked around the nursery. "I guess we better."

She draped her arms around his neck and they kissed as the cool December breeze ruffled the lace curtains on the window. She pulled away and caressed the hair at the back of his head. "I don't know what's going on with these second trimester pregnancy hormones, sugar, but I'm horny as hell." She nodded to the sturdy, luxury glider that had been delivered yesterday. The return label had born the name of the new husband, Antonio Meretti, but Tami assumed her mother picked it out.

"Umm…" muttered Eric, following her eyes, "you're going to be rocking our baby to sleep in that chair. That just seems wrong."

"Then take me to bed. Now."

He did. Afterward, he lay with his hand resting on her bare stomach, his lips pressed against her shoulder. The warmth of his mouth vanished suddenly from her flesh. "Did you feel that?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, smiling.

"Is that…is that the baby?"

She took his hand and moved it slightly.

His smile grew. "Wow. He can really kick." He slid his hand over her stomach, following the movements. "Special teams. It's not glorious, but it's important."

[January]

Tami scheduled her ultrasound appointment during Eric's free period and lunch break so he wouldn't have to miss any school. He'd gotten a substitute for his next class, just in case the appointment ran late. He was sitting beside her and holding her hand now as the ultrasound appeared on the screen.

Smiling broadly, he pointed with his free hand. "It's a boy! Yep! See! I told you!"

The doctor laughed. "That would be quite impressive indeed. That's an arm, Mr. Taylor."

"Oh."

"It's Coach Taylor," Tami said.

The doctor glanced at her and then glanced back at the machine. "Everything looks good," he said. "You have a very healthy little girl, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor."

Tami turned her head back to look at Eric. He was chewing on his bottom lip and staring at the screen.

The doctor stood up. "I'll see you in February, unless there are any issues, okay, Mrs. Taylor?"

Tami nodded. Eric let go of her hand when the door closed.

"Are you disappointed?" she asked.

"Nah." He bent his head down and whispered. "That's my girl. That's my little princess. Daddy can't wait to meet you." He kissed Tami's stomach. "Ewww!" he said, jerking his head up and wiping his lips. "What the hell?"

Tami laughed. "That's the gel they put on so they can do the ultrasound. I haven't wiped it off yet."

"Ugh."

"Hand me that box of tissues, sugar."

[April]

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Tami was limping around the bedroom again.

Eric rolled over and glanced at the clock. 2:30 AM.

"Charley horse!" she screamed.

How long was this going to go on? Last night it had been 3 AM with heart burn. And the night before, 1:30 AM with another charley horse. And on top of that, she was up twice a night to pee.

"C'mere," he muttered. "I'll massage it for you."

"No! I have to walk it out! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

He rolled on his left side, grabbed her pillow, and put it over his right ear. Spring training started at 6:30 AM sharp tomorrow morning. He needed his beauty sleep.