Chapter 4: In the Open

Emily sat across the table from Carol. For the most part, Emily had been pretty quiet while Carol had done most of the talking.

"Something wrong?" Carol implored.

Emily sighed. "Has Bob mentioned anything to you about ever having kids?" Her eyes desperately looked to Carol. There was an answer that she was hoping for, but she was pretty sure that she wouldn't get it.

Carol shook her head. "I'm not interested in him like that," Carol answered and then laughed at her own joke. She wasn't aware of the situation at home. Neither Bob nor Emily had told her about Emily's sick spells and midnight snacks.

"I being serious Carol," Emily stated.

"So am I," Carol assured her.

"I think I might be pregnant Carol," Emily bluntly announced. She felt that was the only way to get Carol to take this seriously.

Carol smiled with excitement and started to congratulate Emily, but noticed that she was less than enthused by the idea. "You don't want it?" she questioned. Right was aware that the couple had attempted to have a baby a few years ago. The sudden disinterest took her slightly by surprise.

"I do, but I don't think Bob does," Emily informed her. "Last week we went out to dinner and I asked him if he thought we should start trying again and he told me that he was pretty happy with how things were."

"Maybe he didn't wanna put too much pressure on you," Carol quickly suggested.

Emily slightly laughed. "No, I can tell when Bob says something just to say it. This time, he really meant it," she stated. She remembered the first time that they tried to have a baby. He told her that he was happy with how things were, but there was a certain look in his eyes, something that told her he wanted more. This time, when he said it, that look in his eyes wasn't there.

"Does he know yet?"

Emily shook her head. "I want to be sure when I tell him," she replied. "Because if he doesn't want a baby, I don't want to get him worked up over what could be a false alarm."

"Do you really think he'll get upset over it?" Carol implored with disbelief.

"I don't know," Emily admitted. "I know he won't get mad at me or anything like that. I just don't want him going through the motions and regretting having a son or daughter. I know that he'll love them, but I want him to want our baby."

"Maybe he'll come around once you tell him," Carol offered. She really wanted to believe that he would be happy about this.

"I hope so," Emily flatly responded.

Ooo

Violet sat in the den as she lit the cigarette that she held in her mouth. She sat on the edge of the bed with a glass filled with a small amount of water on the table that she had planned on using as an ash tray. She took the smoke into her lungs and then tilted her head back as she blew out the smoke. She did always like to be a little dramatic.

"Violet," Bob called as he opened the door. He just stopped and looked to her with disbelief.

Violet held the cigarette off to the side, looking to him with mock innocence. "I didn't sneak out this time," she told him.

"Why, why would you do that?" he asked.

"Why, why, why must you stutter?" Violet questioned before taking another puff.

Bob grabbed the water and dumped it over the cigarette.

Violet kept her expressionless eyes on him as she slowly reached over to her bag and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. Her other hand carelessly dropping the cigarette onto her pillow.

"I'm about to tell you two words, and, and I want you to listen very closely to them," Bob explained to her. He watched a second to see if she would let go of the pack, but didn't. "Stop it!" he sternly warned.

A smirk came across Violet's face, her eyes still glued to him as she began to open the lid.

"Don't, don't do that," Bob said and then went ahead and snatched the pack out of her hand. He had finally had it with the girl. She was constantly testing him.

"Well played," Violet replied as she stood up and headed over to the other side of the bed. "Of course, Emily would've taken them a lot sooner," she began as she took the lighter out of her pocket and put it back into the bag. She then looked up to Bob and smiled. "You know, with those maternal instincts starting to kick in."

"Why are you so insistent on, on Emily being pregnant?" Bob inquired.

"Why are you so insistent on her not being pregnant?" Violet implored. She crossed her arms as if she were daring him to lie.

"I, I just think that she would tell me if she even thought that she was pregnant," Bob answered, a little too defensively.

Violet nodded. "Ten bucks she's scheduled a doctor's appointment for this week," she offered.

Bob looked to her with suspicion. "You're on," he responded.

Ooo

The three sat together at the table for dinner. It was, different to say the least. Emily was thinking about the baby that she could possibly be carrying and wondering whether or not Bob would be happy about it. Bob was trying to think back on the past week, trying to go through all the signs that he could have missed to see whether or not Violet could be right. Violet was just waiting to see who was going to speak first.

Violet soon got tired of the quietness though. "So, where's funny man's sidekick?" she implored.

"He's not my sidekick," Bob corrected her.

Emily slightly laughed. "He's on a flight tonight," she explained.

"I see," Violet replied with a nod. After the room fell silent again, she looked between the two. "It's probably a lot more exciting where he's at isn't it?"

Violet again, did not get much response. "Alright," she sighed. "I think it's time we got this all out in the open here," she announced.

"There is nothing to get out in the open," Bob stated. He knew that she would be the one to tell Emily that he was scared and he didn't want that.

"What's going on?" Emily questioned, slightly concerned now.

"N-nothing Emily. Don't, don't worry about it. It's just something with one of my patients," he lied.

Violet smirked, looking to Bob out of the corners of her eyes. "No it's not," she argued and then looked to Emily. "I told him I thought you might be pregnant and he freaked out," she informed her.

Emily stared to her for a minute. "How did you know?" she asked. She was more worried about Bob's reaction, but she wanted to work her way there.

"You woke up in the middle of the night to eat crackers and then threw up the next morning. I thought it was pretty obvious," Violet replied.

Emily then cautiously turned her attention over to Bob. "How bad did you freak out?" she questioned.

Bob sighed. "It just, it took me by surprise," he explained. Emily wanted a baby, and he knew that. He wasn't big on the idea though. It meant that they couldn't have the life that they had gotten used to anymore. He couldn't go out to all the games anymore, they couldn't go out to dinner or anywhere just whenever they felt like it. He was happy with what they had, and that to him meant that it didn't have to change yet.

Emily nodded. That wasn't it, she knew that it wasn't. Everything that they had talked about, everything that he had said, there was no way that he could just be surprised. He didn't want a baby, she knew that. She might have missed the point sometimes, but she did know her husband and she knew that he was trying not to hurt her. "It took me by surprise too," she replied. "I'll know for sure though tomorrow. I already have an appointment set up. I go tomorrow morning."

"Well, I uh, I want you to know that uh, what ever the outcome, I'm there for you. If it's positive, I'll uh, I'll celebrate with you and if it's negative, I'm here," Bob assured her. Again, he really didn't want a baby, and he was a little scared now, but he would have to adjust anyways. Besides, this was Emily and this was something that she wanted.

"Aww," Violet said, looking to him with admiration. "That's so sweet."

Emily glanced to Violet and softly laughed before looking to Bob. It struck her as odd that Violet would think anything sweet, or even react to it like that. "Thank you," she replied, recognizing his effort.

"I hope you are pregnant, I love babies," Violet stated.

"Why? You can't sacrifice this one," Bob remarked.

"Oh I know," Violet casually began. "My cult's only allowed to sacrifice stolen gypsy babies."

Bob slowly looked up and over to Violet as she smirked to him.

"And Bob, while you're feeling supportive over there, you mind doing me a favor?" Emily implored, ignoring the last few lines between the two.

"What's that?"

"Take Violet to work with you tomorrow? I feel we have to constantly watch her and I don't want to leave her here while I go to the doctor's," Emily informed him.

"Hello? I'm right here," Violet announced. "I can hear."

"I know, but you judged me for trusting you, remember?" Emily responded.

Bob sighed. "I guess," he reluctantly answered. It wasn't like he was about to argue with her. He didn't trust leaving her alone in the apartment either. "Maybe bringing her in will show Mr. Carlin that he isn't all that bad."

Emily started laughing. "Bob!"

Violet looked between the two. "I don't get it," she flatly admitted.

"You'll see him tomorrow," Bob told her.