Relaxed, I lean back into the mountain of pillows I've piled against the headboard and hum in content as I adjust my book which is leaning on my stomach. "Oh, what about Jeremiah or Joseph for a boy?" I smile as I read two names aloud, thinking up possible baby names.
"Those are nice," Christopher nods, contemplating them.
"What about, Koran or Ky?" I tilt my head as I test more names on my tongue. "I don't know, I kind of like them but, I just don't know if they're the one."
"Let me see." Chris finally sits down on the bed next to me, having just changed into night clothes. "How about Elisa or Ericka for a girl? Do you like those?" He asks as he plucks the book from my open hands and reads aloud two random names.
"Pretty." I muse, thoughtfully. "I just don't know what I want." I sigh, shaking my head.
"Come on, let's get some rest." he smiles at me, laughter and happiness filling his warm brown eyes. With ease, he sets the book down on the nightstand on his side of the bed and we remove some of the pillows from behind me so that we can both sleep comfortably.
"Goodnight darling." He kisses my cheek before turning out his lamp and wraps his arms around my stomach, hands resting where our beautiful baby was growing.
When I awake again, I can tell it is only early in the morning with how dark the room still is. Turning my head to see the clock I sigh, seeing it only reading four AM. My stomach rumbles and I turn to force myself up to find something to eat.
I find that something sticky and matted when I move. Slowly I find my feet on the ground and fumble to turn on the bedside lamp, wondering if I'd bled somehow, worried if I had miscarried. It was still relatively early in my pregnancy after all.
The shriek that follows is unhuman, and it takes me a few moments of scrambling backwards to stop. "Christopher!" I cry, His eyes are wide open and his jaw is slack. Blood, dark blood, stains everything in the room. It pools around him on the bed and coats the walls and floor in trails.
My heart pounding I yank the phone up from my bedside table and call 911, blubbering and stuttering my words but I must manage to be coherent because the person on the phone tells me help is on their way.
Dropping the phone I look at myself, and realize I too am covered in his blood and I scream again as I slide down the wall to sit on the floor.
A shadow crosses my vision and I feel death surrounding me. Only, this does not feel like doom, it feels like sympathy and sorrow. It feels comforting in a way that I don't know how to describe.
Distantly I can hear Kit trying to get my attention, softly calling my name. "Sam? Sammy? Hello?" But what brings me back to reality is something dark, a shadow I think, that seems to sit in the chair across from me and those same feelings surround me once more.
"Kit?" I blink, and the shadow is gone. Furrowing my brows, I turn to him, "I'm sorry." I shake my head, forcing myself to hold back tears.
"Hey, hey. It's all right. What happened?" It's his turn to put a comforting hand on my shoulder and I relax, glad to be out of that nightmare.
"Just a memory." I tell him, my voice soft as relief floods my system. "Just my nightmare. A nightmare of a memory."