Journey: Jenna & Julien

Little Family

Julien:
   As soon as Jenna flips the pregnancy test around, my heart falls to my stomach.
"Not pregnant" the test reads. I really can't believe my eyes. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. But I did, and now it feels like all of the life has been sucked out of me.

Jenna:
   Julien looks up at me with red eyes.
   "Wow." He mutters.
   I exhale and rub my eyes in reply. I'm not pregnant. I can't believe it. I hold back my tears. I need to be strong for Julien. He's obviously very upset. I feel tears peek out of my eyes and decide to let them flow. They trickle down my face as I stand up and pull my pants on. Julien stands up, too, crying just as much as I am. I bury my face in his chest and let him pull me into a bear hug. We stand there for far too long, as I silently lecture myself for getting my hopes up.
   The gloomy trance is broken by the sound of dogs scratching at the door.
   I run my finger under each eye, as I stop the tears. I give Julien a defeated smile and sigh deeply.
   Julien's composing himself, too, but suddenly more tears leak out of his eyes.
   "Aw, Otter, it's ok." I tell him, "It's alright, babe." I stroke his cheek and wipe his tears with my thumb.
   "I know it is." He softly says, "But, it just doesn't feel ok." With that comes more tears.
   "Hey, hey, hey. There's always next month." I assure him. I hadn't thought of that until the words fell out of my mouth. We have other chances. Lots of other chances.
   "We have more chances, Ot." I tell him, "We'll be pregnant soon."
   "You're right." He nods, "It's not the end of the world."
   "That's right." I reply.
   "I love you, Otter." Julien tells me.
   "I love you, too." I whisper, then I press my lips against his. We're interrupted by more scratching from the iggys.
   I open the door and we walk out of the bathroom. The iggys jump all of us, and I pick up Kermit.
   "It's ok, bud." I coon, "Everything's ok." I'm saying it to Kermit, but I'm really saying it for myself.
   It's ok. Everything's ok. There's always next month. It's all ok.
   I carry Kermit all the way downstairs, where Julien and I sit on the couch with the dogs. Peach climbs in my shirt and Marbles lays on Julien, while Kermit walks all around, trying to decide who to sit with.
   I'm not pregnant, but Julien and I still have a wonderful little family.