Karen rested her forearms on the railing of the pale pink crib, leaning over to get a good look at the baby, who was now sleeping soundly below her. She studied Anna's pouty pink mouth, soft white eyelids, and the wispy blonde waves of hair on the top of her little head. Suddenly, it dawned on Karen why people regarded babies as such miracles. It really was quite miraculous that this little person, who so much resembled an inanimate baby doll, would one day be a full-grown person with a life and a personality all her own. Karen wondered what she would look like when she was 20, and what she would decide to do with her life. Claire was lucky that she would get to be a part of all that, to be able to witness firsthand Anna growing and changing and becoming a woman.
"Karen?" Will called, speaking her name gently as he entered the nursery behind her. As soon as she heard him, Karen frantically wiped away the single tear that had made its way down her cheek to her lips. It tasted salty.
"Everything ok in here?" Will whispered, joining Karen at the crib. "Dinner's been ready for 10 minutes. It's going to get cold."
"Yeah, I-I'm coming," Karen assured him softly, looking up to meet his gaze. She gave him a feeble smile. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"She sure is," Will agreed, wrapping an arm around Karen's shoulders. He could sense her disappointment in the words. "Are you ok?"
Karen looked back down at Anna.
"I really want this Will," she confessed, sighing.
"I know," he told her, pulling her into an embrace. Feeling his strength and comfort suddenly surrounding her, Karen let down her barriers and sobbed into his shoulders. "I know," he repeated, kissing her hair. "You know you have other options though, Kare. You could always adopt or try surrogacy."
Karen sniffled and buried her face into Will's neck as her sobs slowed.
"Yeah, maybe," she croaked out. She knew there were other ways to get a baby, but she couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of wanting her own. She wanted to carry the baby full term, wanted to experience the intimacy of childbirth, wanted to feel like she was looking at herself as her child grew into an adult. She kissed Will's neck and earlobe before pulling away from him and wiping the tears from her face. He handed her a Kleenex off of the changing table next to them.
"Listen, let's not talk about this anymore," Karen instructed. "I think this is a chapter I'd like to close for now."
"Sure," Will agreed. "But just for the record," he added, placing his hand on top of hers that was wrapped around the doorknob, "I think you'd make a great mom."
Karen smiled at him before pulling the door open and leading them back into the kitchen.
Claire stood and smiled brightly at them as Will and Karen took their places at the table.
"Sorry about that," Karen told her, folding her napkin onto her lap, "I just haven't spent a lot of time with newborns…I got a little carried away."
"Oh, that's ok," Claire laughed. Will took a bite of his dinner. "She is pretty mesmerizing."
"She sure is," Karen agreed, taking a sip of her wine.
"So Karen, forgive me if this is awkward, but I've never heard Will talk about you," Claire confessed as they all enjoyed the chicken she had prepared. Will stopped chewing. "How do you two know each other?" His eyes darted back and forth between the two women as he waited for Karen to answer. For some reason, he had some anxiety about what she would say. Maybe it was just his general uneasiness with the fact that they had been sneaking around.
"Oh, well I work for Grace, actually," Karen answered, not missing a beat. Will resumed his chewing.
"Did you come to Paris together?" Claire asked, confused about why Will would be travelling with his best friend's assistant.
"No, no…it was actually just a big coincidence that we were both here," Karen answered, grinning. She looked at Will. "Right?"
"Right," he affirmed, nodding vigorously. "I um…uh, I also have been representing Karen's husband for about a year and a half, so I called him about something and he told me they were here."
"But then my husband, Stan, had to fly to Hong Kong on business," Karen picked up the story, "so Will has been…keeping me company for the past couple of days."
Claire nodded slowly in understanding, but still felt like something weird was going on. She couldn't put her finger on what, but she definitely took notice of the fact that Karen and Will were now locked into a deep gaze across the table from each other. As Karen set down her wine glass on the table in front of Claire, Claire noticed that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring despite the fact that she had just told her she was married. Claire ran through a couple of possible scenarios in her head, but none of them seemed to make sense so she just shrugged it off, and the three of them enjoyed the rest of their dinner making conversation about Will in high school and all of the great spots in Paris for Karen to show Will the next day.