“Get your ass back here right now!”
My vision swam, and I felt my sweat soak through my shirt.
Without wasting any more time, I bolted downstairs, snatched up my car keys, and slammed the door behind me.
I tried calling again on the drive, but nothing got through.
‘She really has blocked me everywhere!‘}
The car sped down the highway, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.
‘Premature birth? Almost died?‘”
I had thought I could make up with her tomorrow.
But I never imagined that what happened earlier that day would lead to this.
‘Now she won’t even acknowledge me. She’s locked every door I could knock on!‘”
“How did it come to this…” I muttered.
A few quiet moments later, my mind drifted back.”
Back to when she used to follow me around like a little sunbeam–bright, reckless, unrelenting.”
The night I broke things off with Millicent, completely wrecked, drunk on my doorstep–Virginia was the one who showed up with an umbrella.
When I woke from my hangover, she was curled on the couch, stirring congee, smiling like an idiot.
“Don’t be sad, Slade,” she had said.§
I remembered that smile. It made my heart ache.
In a moment of impulsiveness, I had asked, “Should we give it a try?”
I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth, but she had said yes without hesitation.
So I figured, ‘Why not? Millicent’s out of the picture. Anyone will do. Might as well settle down, get married, have kids…‘)
And for the past three years, Virginia had done everything a wife would do.
She cooked for me, dealt with my parents‘ nagging about marriage, stood quietly behind me in public, never asking for anything in return.
When I was tired of parties, she stayed up late to make warm light food. When I returned from business trips, she was always the first to meet me at the airport.
When my IBS flared up, she stayed by my side for three whole days and nights, feeding me spoonfuls of risotto and medicine.}
And me?
I slammed the brakes. The screech of tires pierced the air.
My forehead was dripping.”
I remembered the day I found out she was pregnant. Deep down, I had been happy.
Sure, I was mad at her for not being careful–but later that night, I smiled at the ultrasound photo alone in the bathroom.
I had imagined our baby giggling like her, calling me “Daddy” with a voice like melted candy.§
My proposal was real. I meant it. I had wanted to spend forever with her.”
But I hadn’t expected Millicent to come back.
She was my obsession, my unreachable dream.
Three years had dulled those feelings, but seeing her again–watching her throw herself into my arms–I couldn’t help but fall.
I never planned to marry Millicent. I didn’t even want to imagine her as my wife.”
In my mind, Virginia was almost my
wife.
I thought, ‘She’ll never leave–just like she didn’t in all those years.”}
By the time my car pulled into my parents‘ estate, night had fallen. The porch light was on, glowing like some silent judgment.S
Dad sat stone–faced on the couch while Mom looked furious, clutching a phone in her hand.§
On the coffee table sat a long black box.
It looked like a coffin.
“You still have the nerve to come back?” All of a sudden, Mom slapped me across the face.
“Mom, what-“}
Before I could react, she shoved me to my knees. “Kneel!“&
I stared at her in bewilderment. “What’s going on?!”
Hands trembling, she opened the box.
At that moment, the world drained of all color. Inside the box was an ultrasound photo… and a small insulated pouch.
Inside the pouch… was the bloodstained, undeveloped body of a baby.&
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11:30 AM
Inside the pouch… was the bloodstained, undeveloped body of a baby.
Curled up.
Still.
