Something
When Louisa came into the school office to collect her mail that morning, Sally Chadwick could tell immediately that something was different. For one thing Louisa had been late for staff meeting, something she never did, and secondly, she looked different in some way; no more like acted differently. She acted flustered and her eyes looked tired, along with a strained and set expression on her face
Granted, Sally thought, she and Dr. Ellingham had been married not even one week, and that would cause anyone to be a little unsettled, especially around the village Doctor. Oh, yes, he was a good doctor, having taken care of her infection and that stupid tiger tattoo she'd gotten on her chest, but lord the man could be so off-putting.
As Lousia gathered her mail, her hobo bag slid off her shoulder and the entire contents flopped out onto the floor. Sally jumped up to help gather papers, folders, plus her lunch bag and a packet of cream crackers. Louisa snatched the last two items before Sally could help.
"Thanks, Sally," Lousia told her, "I'm running a little late this morning, and…" Suddenly Louisa, who was bent over, froze. Her guts were suddenly in an uproar. No! Now is not a good time!
Startled, Sally asked if she was okay.
Louisa nodded, her ponytail bobbing, then stood up and without a word, and walked away very quickly. Sally followed her, concerned about her boss, and saw Louisa turn a fast walk into a trot straight into the staff washroom.
Louisa ran to the nearest toilet stall, slammed the door behind her, and slid the bolt home. Then she dropped to her knees as her breakfast came up. Not just her breakfast but it felt like last night's supper as well!
When Sally heard the sound of retching, she tapped on the stall door. "Lousia, you are sick," she stated. "Get you anything?"
Louisa felt the spewing spasm pass. Damn it, Martin, you got me pregnant and morning sickness is no fun. And now my secretary just heard me tossing my breakfast! Just wonderful; bloody great all around! She used loo paper to wipe her mouth, flushed the toilet then rose unsteadily to her feet. Opening the stall door just a crack, Sally Chadwick's concerned face greeted her. "Just a little…" Louisa started to say then had to retreat when another heave was about to come up. Gulping, she managed to not spew again.
Sally opened the door and handed her a cup of water. "Sip this."
Louisa turned up her nose.
"Just take a teeny swallow to get the acid taste away."
"Alright." Yes, the water did help, but her stomach was not happy at all.
Sally crossed her arms. "What can I do for you? Get you?"
Louisa waved her away. "Must have been a bad egg," Right, like a pregnant one inside me, she knew. Martin said that morning nausea might get worse for a time. She reflexively put a hand on her tummy, below her belly button and mentally apologized to her foetus. Not a bad egg, at all. Not your fault!
Sally's eyebrows rose as one. "Oh."
"I'm okay," Lousia told her. "Really."
"Right," Sally said with a nod. When Louisa was ready to tell her, that will be fine, but Sally was quite a good guesser. She had worked in three elementary schools before moving to Portwenn, and like most schools the teachers were nearly all women – young women. Women of child-bearing age, and although Louisa Ellingham was in her late-ish thirties, she was newly married, and it did not take a genius or rocket scientist for the penny to drop. It was no secret, thanks to Dave the Postman who had merrily spread the news, that Lousia and Martin had started sleeping together a full month before the wedding. No doubt sexual excitement would be still ongoing, hence Lousia complaining of being tired.
Louisa felt hot, so she pushed past Sally to dab her face with a damp paper towel. She caught Sally's reflection in the mirror. "It's nothing."
Sally winced. No nothing; more like something, something that would get bigger and bigger. "If you need… anything…" She had been in similar conversations before in school washrooms such as this one before. A school secretary was often in perfect position to both hear and see what was happening behind the scenes. Personal secrets of course. Who was dating whom, or had broken up, who was looking for a new job, or who was expecting a baby or had suffered a miscarriage. But Louisa? She must be pregnant.
So, Dr. Ellingham was not the sick-in-the-mud he acted in public. And Lousia was a discerning person, lovely, polite, friendly, and now? Preggers, but also married. Well, they got off to a quick start!
Sally sighed inside, thinking of Davey Powers, the one who got away when she was twenty-three. She'd played hard to get – too hard – and he gave up trying. Gosh that was over twenty-five years ago! There had never been any other man who come close to her heart as Davey and now that ship had sailed. Sally swallowed her regret and gave Lousia an encouraging smile. "You'll be fine."
"Hope so," Louisa said, but then she started to sniffle, and hot tears came shortly thereafter. Lousia was glad as Sally steered her into her office, and firmly shut the door. She gave her boss a box of tissues, sat her down behind the desk, moved a bin close, and just let her weep.
Sally didn't say a word as Lousia wept for a good three minutes.
Finally, Louisa wiped her face, blew her nose with a loud honk, and then leaned back in her chair, spent. She took a deep breath. "Sorry, sally, it's just…"
"There, there," Sally told her. "It'll be fine."
"Will it? Here I am one single week into marriage and I'm pregnant. Totally unplanned and it's…"
Just a week? thought Sally. My, they got off to a fast start. "These things happen."
"I know… you see, but… I… uhm… seem to have got pregnant before our wedding…" Louisa hung her head, twisting a damp tissue in her hands. "Just like my mum and dad and that's so…"
Sally knelt down to look into Louisa's eyes. "Don't worry about that."
"So… so, common, Sally and I promised myself I'd never get caught preggers like that – like this, I mean. There were three of my mates who did it the same way, in Uni, you know. Running around you know. Two of them didn't even finish their schooling."
"But you are a grown woman, Lousia, not some college girl."
Louisa stared out the window at the harbor. "Yeah. But I should have known better."
"You are married; so, who will know?"
"I will, Sally. I will."
"Can I ask you how far along you are?"
Lousia held up six fingers. "That many; six weeks. It'll be seven this weekend. Seven whole weeks. Nearly two months gone, and I hadn't any idea at all."
"But, Lousia, you love Martin. This isn't some fling and you did get married," Sally protested.
"Martin figured it out last night. Being tired and being sick," Louisa stated. "And the test was positive. I'm gonna have a baby, Sally."
Sally didn't have to ask which test she meant. The TEST. The test result that could change everything. "Right. I… I thought you have looked rundown." Poor dear.
"I do want kids, with Martin, only…"
"So suddenly you are."
Lousia shook her head. "What did you tell me yesterday? About love and genetics?"
Sally wished she hadn't mentioned it. "Love is just a biochemical process by Nature to ensure that our genes get passed on?"
"Yep. That's it." Louisa chewed her lip for a moment. "So, if Martin and I have combined some genes…"
"A baby," prompted Sally.
Lousia nodded her head. "Will be. Then we must be in love."
"Oh, sweetheart, of course you are!" Sally didn't say what she was; thinking that procreation may or may not involve loving participants.
Lousia binned the tissue she had been torturing. "I suppose it's not hard to get pregnant if you love your husband, right?"
Sally patted her bosses' hand. "Sure."
Lousia took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders. "Right. Now to get on with the day."
"Stay right here," Sally stated, then she retrieved Lousia's handbag and hobo bag. "Here," she said, handing them to Lousia when she got back. "I noticed the packet of cream crackers."
Lousia smiled. "Martin told me eating them would help nausea."
Sally smiled. "My sister did the same thing, for all three of her kids. And just you wait, you'll feel better in a few weeks, or a month."
"Promise?" Lousia asked, seeking encouragement.
"Oh, yes." Sally turned to the door. "If you need me, just call; anything at all."
"Thanks a lot. Oh, and Sally don't…"
Sally turned to face her. "Yes?"
"Don't… don't spread the news just yet."
Sally smiled then twisted an imaginary lock before her lips. "Our secret about this little something."