Fitz stood at the edge of the room by the bathroom door, his plain white t-shirt clinging to his still damp body from the shower. Mellie was reclined in the bed, where Fitz had not been sleeping for the past month. She pretended not to notice him as he ran a towel threw his hair and stared at Mellie from across the room. He shook his head and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment. When he returned he made his way over to the door.
"Goodnight," Mellie mumbled noncommittally, not looking up from her book. But Fitz didn't make it to the door. He stopped at his side of the bed and sat down on the edge. This caused Mellie to finally look up.
She edged her reading glasses down to the tip of her nose and furrowed her eyebrows, "What are you doing?"
Fitz cleared his throat and looked away, "Going to sleep," he answered, shrugging.
Mellie scoffed, "In here?"
Fitz met her gaze, his expression unchanging, "Mhm," he nodded, flinging the covers back and settling in.
Mellie rolled her eyes and positioned her legs so that her book was resting on them; she flipped the cover open and pretended to read. Fitz nestled down further in bed and pulled out his cell phone. The couple was silent. Both pretending to be occupied with something they clearly weren't engaged in.
"What," Mellie suddenly barked, "is your girlfriend out of town?"
Fitz set his phone down on his stomach and shifted his body so that he was propped against his pillow, "Is there a problem here?"
Mellie bit her tongue, the fury apparent in her eyes, "No," she finally said curtly. Mellie couldn't figure out what kind of game Fitz was playing, but whatever it was she wasn't going to lose it. It had been a month since he had told her he didn't love her and couldn't support her and so far he had stuck to that. Earlier today though, several magazines had been tossed on her desk by someone – probably Cyrus – each plastered with images of a now clearly pregnancy Mellie in various outings around town. Fitz wasn't pictured on any cover, and the headlines ranged from "Mellie Grant's Baby Bump Diary" to "Mellie's Busy with Baby – But Where's Fitz?" to Mellie's personal favorite "First lady, Last Priority: Grant Has No Time for Pregnant Wife!"
Mellie's plan was clearly working. She had been purposely traveling alone to do all her baby shopping, knowing the paparazzi would take hold of the story. At first, it was just something to do to distract her from thinking about how alone she felt, but each time she was bombarded by those shutterbugs and they'd continued to shout "Where's President Grant, Mellie?" she started to formulate a little plan in her mind. She hadn't known if it would play out the way she hoped, but seeing Cyrus' annoyed face stomp past her in the hall day, the magazines lying on her desk, and now Fitz here, about to sleep in their bed, with her, for the first time in a month, she knew it was working. Her plan to win Fitz back was in full swing.
Mellie put her book down and grabbed her lotion from the bedside table. She pulled open her robe and then began to rub the lotion down her sides where her belly had begun to fill out.
"What is that? It smells horrible," Fitz commented, not even glancing toward his exposed wife.
Mellie shot her husband an annoyed glare, "It's cocoa butter, I don't want stretch marks," she said flatly, and continued to rub it in.
"Did you buy that at one of your baby stores?" He asked sarcastically.
Mellie rolled her eyes, "So that's what this is about?"
"What?" Fitz played dumb.
"The magazines. Cyrus put them on my desk this afternoon," Mellie said matter-of-factly.
Fitz took a deep breath, "Actually, now that you mention it, I did see those. Interesting perspective that all the writers seemed to take, so what…did you pay the tabloids, Mellie?" He demanded. Venom seeped from his words.
Mellie's mouth fell open, "I most certainly did not, Fitzgerald, how dare you even ask me that?"
Fitz laughed, "You expect me to believe that you are just out shopping at all these baby boutiques alone because you're what…so excited about our kid coming? I don't think so."
Mellie's face sunk. This was not how she'd expected this night to go.
She pulled her robe closed and set the lotion back on the nightstand, she exhaled heavily, suddenly exhausted. "I'm just trying to get on without you, Fitz, that's all. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to have a baby in six months and it needs clothes and diapers. Shocker, I know," she rolled over on her side away from her husband, abandoning her plan, and pulled her book out again.
"So you didn't just orchestrate this to make me look bad?" Fitz asked, remorse escaping from his mouth.
Mellie didn't turn, "No, I did not," she confirmed. It was the truth. She hasn't done it to embarrass Fitz; she had done it to make him feel guilty. Which in hindsight, might not have been the best plan, she now realized.
Fitz sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry," he said plainly.
Mellie rolled over then and scooted up in bed until she was eye to eye with Fitz. They searched each other's eyes. Many things were said with silence after 20+ years of marriage.
Mellie looked down at her book and pulled a picture out of the pages that she had been using as a bookmark. She set it down on Fitz' lap. It was a 3D sonogram from her 2nd trimester appointment this morning.
Fitz picked up the picture gingerly with two fingers as if it would burn him. Mellie was about to snatch it back in embarrassment, but then Fitz grinned.
"Is it sucking its thumb?" He laughed, pulling his glasses out from his bedside drawer and adjusting the picture in front of him so he could see.
Mellie smiled uncontrollably and scooted closer to her husband so they could admire the image together.
"Yeah," she answered, "Apparently they do that at 14 weeks."
"I forgot about all those milestones," Fitz remarked, rubbing his thumb over the photo. "I remember that calendar we had when you were pregnant with Jerry and you would check off all the boxes as they happened…you were obsessed with doing that," he joked.
"Um no, they weren't checkmarks. They were stickers, I would put stickers on the boxes whenever he passed a milestone," Mellie corrected, laughing at how silly she sounded.
"Even better!" Fitz responded, clearly amused.
Mellie slapped his arm playfully, "Don't make fun! If I remember correctly, you were just as "obsessed" as I was," she said, using her fingers to make air quotes.
"Not true," Fitz retorted, feigning offense.
"Ohhh, so did you or did you not have The Belly Book in the top drawer of your desk?" Mellie asked, covering her mouth as Fitz' mouth dropped open in shock.
"I didn't know you were aware of that," he said.
Mellie couldn't control her giggles, "I thought it was sweet," she cooed.
Fitz folded his arms over his chest, "I only did it to make sure Jerry was staying on track…developmentally," he defended.
"It's not something to be ashamed of, Fitzgerald. You were the best father I could have hoped for my children, and when I found that book, I just knew…" Mellie's voice tapered off and an uneasy tension rose between the couple.
"Anyway…" Mellie said awkwardly, stuffing the sonogram back between the pages of her book, "Anyway, that was a long time ago."
"It was," Fitz agreed.
The couple was silent once again.
A/N: should I continue? Any readers still out there?