You And Me

Chapter 20

"Love, please stop." Noah says.

"Why? What am I doing?"
"You're pregnant." he says. "You can't be picking things up."

I stand in the front lawn and just stare at him. The neighbor are outside. We're at our new house in Jackson, Wyoming. There's mountains surrounding the town and we have one literally right next to our house, but like, three houses down, and then at the end of the street, there's another one.

"I'm pregnant, Noah, not broken." I frown.
"I know, but still."

"Noah, you can't pick up everything by yourself."

"I'll figure it out." he says.
"Excuse me?" a women asks. She's pregnant, clearly, and she's with a man. "We live three houses down. I heard you say she's pregnant?" she asks.

"Uh...yeah, my wife." he says.

The women nods.

"Uh, I'm Jay." the man says. "This is my wife, Shannon. We call her Shay. We live three houses down."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you guys." Noah says, setting a box down. He shakes their hands.

"I'm Noah. This is my wife, Annabelle."

"Hi." I shake their hands.

"Well, if you need help with anything man, you just let me know. We can make the ladies have a seat and move you guys in."

"Oh, no, you guys don't have to do that. I am more than capable of helping and-"

"That would be great, man. Thanks." Noah says. I look at him, my hand resting on my stomach on reflex. "What?" he says. "You're pregnant and I told you I'm not letting you lift anything."

"I'm not broken." I sigh.

"No, Noah is right." Jay says. "It's not safe."

"How far along are you?" Shay asks.

"Only eight weeks." I sigh.

It's been two weeks since I was hit and I haven't spoken to anyone or answered the phone. Noah and I decided to move here because we both got offered jobs at the high school.

"Yeah, you definitely don't want to be lifting things. I'm six months with a little girl."

I smile. "Why don't I want to be lifting things?"

She frowns. "Before three months, your chance of a miscarriage is very high."

my eyes flood with panic.

"It's okay." Jay says. "You are obviously healthy and well taken care of. You'll be okay." He looks at Noah. "Ready?"

Noah looks at me. "How about you just sit in the car."

"I've been in the car for hours." I sigh.

He sets two kitchen chairs on the lawn, kisses me, and then helps Jay pick up the couch.

I sigh, sitting down.

Ace comes barreling out of the house.

"Oh, wow." Shay says. "He's huge. What kind of dog is he?"

I ruffle Ace's ears.
"A Saint Bernard." I smile. "He's not even a year yet. He's only nine months."

"Wow." she says. "Is he nice?"

"Oh, he's the sweetest. He might suffocate you with kisses." I smile.

Slowly, she reaches out and pats Ace. He licks her hand.

"Oh, he slobbers." I warn.

She laughs.
"Oh, she's so cute." she smiles. "Jay!" she calls. Her husband sticks his head out of me and Noah's house.
"What?" he asks.
"I want this dog."

"We're not getting a dog. We're about to have a baby."

she glares at him.

"I want. This. Fucking. Dog."

"Well, sorry baby. No."

He walks back in the house.
"Wow, yours too?" I shake my head. "I want another one but Noah won't fucking let me. He's being an unreasonable penis."

She laughs. Noah comes outside with Jay.
"I'm not being unreasonable." he says. "We're having a baby. We don't need another dog."

"We don't even need Ace, Noah, it's a want. I want a new dog."

"What about a Chihuahua?" he asks.

"No. I want to get Ace a friend."

"A Chihuahua could be a friend." he says.

"They're too small." I shake my head.

"Fine, what about a Golden Retriever?" he asks.
"Oh, let's get one of those and another Saint."

"No." he kisses my cheek. "Maybe after the baby is older." he says. "But now, the answer is no."

"Why not?" I ask.

"Because." he says.

My phone starts ringing in my lap.

I sigh. "Noah. I want another dog."

"And we'll get one." he says. "But we're not getting one now. I'm sorry, Love. The answer is no."

He runs his fingers through my hair and then walks over to Jay to help him get more furniture.

I look down at my ringing phone.

Dad

I stare at it for a moment, and then I press the volume down button and just let it ring.

<><>

It took them an hour to get everything in the house.

Now it's 5:23 and we're standing in the kitchen.

"So, I feel like I already know everything about you guys." Shay says quietly. "But I have one question."

I shrug.

"Your Dad called you today and you send him to voicemail." shesays. "I would never send my Daddy to voicemail. Why did you?"

I sigh. "I hate sending him to voicemail." I mumble. "But about two weeks ago we had a giant family fight and my Mom hit me, so we left...we left for the baby. So my pregnancy will be healthy."

She nods slowly.

"Anna, with all due respect..." she sighs. "You don't look very happy. You miss your family. Especially your Dad. I can tell."

I sigh, hopping onto the counter.

"I know, but...I'm not stressed. When I'm around them, I stress."

"Why don't you tell him that?"

I look at Noah.
"Love, you can do whatever you want. I'm okay with whatever you decide." he says gently.

I pick up my iPhone and just stare at it.

I shut my eyes and shake my head.

"I can't. I'm scared. Not yet."

"And that's okay." Jay says, nodding. "It's okay."