Complications

The words of the doctor lingered in the space between the booths, dusting the air around them and settling amongst the cooling coffee mug and bread plate in Phil’s Diner. Johnny Cash sang through the jukebox in the far corner. The lexis of Ring of Fire played out of tune with the doctor’s. “Your uterus is expanding and causing your cramps. There is no reason to worry. The baby is fine.” No reason to worry, no reason to worry. Annie repeated the lines in her head, letting them spin in rhythm with the straw she was twirling in her milkshake.

 “Did you hear me?” Matthew asked, interrupting her distracted thoughts.

She flinched as if she were startled. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Your milkshake,” he motioned toward the fountain glass of melted ice cream across from him. In an effort to pull away from their heavy thoughts, he kept the conversation light. “How is it?”

“Oh,” Annie forced a smile. “It’s great. I’ve been craving sweets.”

“I’ve noticed.” Matthew matched her forced smile and watched her play with the straw. Her wedding ring caught the afternoon light through the large glass windows of the diner. He speculated how long it would be until her fingers swelled to the point she couldn’t wear it anymore.

Annie sipped her milkshake and realized it wasn’t as sweet as she hoped it would be. “Remember the tiramisu we had in Italy? I wish we had some right now.”

He reflected on their honeymoon, of how they drank wine by candlelight in Rome and swam in Barcelona waters. He remembered how fearless she was running into the ocean and calling him a chicken when he took his time getting used to its coldness. “What about the truffles from Paris?”

“Oh I forgot about the Paris truffles. Too bad we won’t be going back for a while.” She patted her nearly flat stomach. Soon enough she would have a rounded bump against her thin frame.

“Aren’t you glad we went before the little peanut came along? I mean, wasn’t that the point?” He searched her eyes as if she to ask for reassurance. He didn’t have the courage to ask if she thought the baby a mistake, as he did in secret.

“Yeah, I guess. Can you imagine a 14 hour flight with a baby? Backpacking through Europe with a diaper bag and stroller?” They both laughed at the wild assumption in their unspoken agreement; traveling the world was no longer an option with a child on the way.

Matthew looked to his half empty coffee mug. He watched as a new stain made a perfect ring around the old one and wondered how many layers of coffee it would take to dye the cup from white to brown. “Our parents will be relieved. Remember how worried my folks were when we told them we were going overseas? Then again, it was nothing compared to announcing our engagement after only 6 months of dating.”

“They certainly got over it soon. They’re getting a grandchild less than a year later.” Annie tried to smile at the notion of their parents doting over their first grandbaby but she only saw the plans she was losing. It didn’t seem like an even trade.

Matthew looked up from his mug and cleared his throat of its tightening discomfort. “About that, we probably shouldn’t tell them about this little…hiccup.”

“A hiccup?” Annie raised her brow with surprise. “Is that what you call almost having a miscarriage?”

Her husband let out a defeated sigh. “We didn’t almost miscarry. The doctor said your pain was normal, so it was just a false alarm.”

“False alarm sounds a little more accurate than a hiccup.”

“The wording isn’t exactly relevant.” He rolled his eyes out of habit the way he always did when she turned trivial matters into the faintest beginnings of a fight. It came so naturally, he didn’t even realize he was doing it. The sight of him started a small fire in her which she quickly tried to douse with the iciness of her milkshake. “They would be devastated if they thought we were having complications.”

Annie paused before looking up from her flattening drink. “With the pregnancy you mean?”

Matthew cocked his head to the side with an accusatory scowl. She imagined their child giving her the same grimace with his bitter blue eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing.” She shook her head to brush away the almost-fight they were about to have just as their gray haired waitress brought out their lunch. Annie read her name tag; Charlotte. She felt sorry for Charlotte to still be waitressing at her age and wondered what path she took in life to land her here when she should be reading novels by a pool in a retirement community.

“Cheeseburger, extra pickles for you,” she laid the hot plate in front of Annie. Her cheerful demeanor sharply contrasted the newlyweds and made a rigid cut through the tension. “And a BLT minus the T for you, sir.”

“Thank you,” their voices, the only thing in unison.

Annie watched as Charlotte moved slower than the younger waitresses to tend to costumers. “What do you think of Charlotte for a girl?”

“You want to name the baby after our waitress?” Matthew answered with a sneer that ignited the fire again.

“No.” she scoffed. “Forget it.”

Matthew took a bite of his sandwich. “I just think it’s a little too soon to be talking about baby names.”

Annie scoffed again and eyed the door, wishing she could run from this day. “You’re right, Matt. We can wait until I’m in labor to start planning everything.”

“That’s not what I said. God, what is wrong with you today?”

Annie started to laugh. It was nearly uncontrollable and made the couple seated at the oak table beside them eye her with judgment. “What’s wrong with me? Are you serious?” she stared at him. “I woke up this morning thinking I was having a miscarriage so maybe what’s wrong with me is that I’m under a little stress.”

“You’re not the only one, okay?” He shoved his plate from him, too overstuffed with aggravation and dissatisfaction to be hungry for anything else. “I can’t wait for all this baby stuff will be over with so I can get my wife back.”

Annie stared into him with the knowledge that this was as close as he would come to revealing his true thoughts. “So you don’t want the baby? You want it to be over with?”

Matthew sighed and slouched under the weight of his mistaken disclosure. “That’s not what I meant.”

Annie twirled her straw in the puddle of melted milkshake. “I know exactly what you meant.”