The door slammed – the sound reverberating throughout the room with a note of finality.
She'd pushed him too hard, she thought hysterically.
When the shock wore off, the aftermath of the quarrel swept through her in waves. Rocking back and forth, she asked herself with despair, "What did I do?"
She had walked into this marriage with her eyes wide opened, determined not to repeat her parents' mistakes – signing away her single status with cool business-like efficiency that had had the cleric looked at her dumbfoundedly.
"I said 'smile', sweetheart; not grimace," the photographer called out to her. And she smoothed her face into a smile once more.
"You know, Daphne, you should take some time off. Relax. Have a second honeymoon. You deserve it!" the photographer remarked after they had finished shooting.
Daphne gave him a hug. "Thanks, Phil. I've… had a lot on my mind lately so I might do that. I'll arrange it with my agent," she said.
Phil's words stuck with her on her way home and she wondered if he was right. She'd heard that people gained weight by just being stressed and her clothes had seemed rather tight lately. Then, there was the quarrel last night.
She'd blown her top when Fred had asked her – rather gently, if she should cut down on her assignments. Raving about how since he'd changed from a professional photographer to a free-lance photographer, they'd hardly seen each other at all.
Which wasn't true, she conceded honestly. Her own assignments required her to travel and sometimes she would be gone – for months. Perhaps she was losing it. She was also starting to lose focus in her modeling.
Looking up, she saw her husband leaving their apartment and called him, determined to apologise. Running towards him, she didn't see the car coming at her from the right.
The next moment, everything turned black.
When she woke up, her husband was sitting on a chair beside her.
"How do you feel?" he asked, seeing that she was awake.
"Better than I look," she assured him. He nodded grimly.
"The doctor's coming back with the results. You could've been killed!" He exclaimed furiously.
"I'm sorry," she choked, trying to apologise for everything.
"When I thought I'd lost you–," he said, shuddering and gripped her hand tightly. The door opened to admit the doctor.
"Congratulations! You'll be glad to know that the baby wasn't harmed," the doctor announced to the shocked couple.
"Didn't you know?" he asked, his turn to be amazed. They shook their heads.
"Well," he said, clearing his throat, "You've got six months left, so no hurry yet." And he left them to take in this new development.
"A baby," Daphne whispered in wonder. So she'd been pregnant! – and not stressed out as she'd thought.
"We'll be the most wonderful parents to this baby," he answered, understanding the look she gave him. Daphne smiled, at ease now. History wasn't repeating itself.
"I love you."
"I love you, too. Now, kiss me… before the doctor comes in again!"
