The Crying Bridge

The Crying Bridge--Chapter 27

 After they had gotten home from the pizza place last night, Del had done some research regarding her pregnancy at Evan's insistence. They had started up her laptop and sat on the sofa eating their cake and drinking glasses of soy milk while Del looked up the things Evan was concerned with and a few things she was curious about, as well. Her first pregnancy had been terminated so early that she didn't have much frame of reference. She had experienced severe morning sickness with it, and those memories had been what started her believing she was pregnant again.

Evan was concerned with her exercise program and wanted to make sure it was safe for her to continue jogging every morning. He also was worried about having sex so often. He didn't want to give it up but would do whatever was needed to keep from endangering Del or the baby.

Once Del had looked those items up and Evan was satisfied that both activities were completely safe and healthy, he relaxed.

Del was worried that she had taken birth control pills for nearly three weeks after conceiving since she hadn't known she was pregnant. She thought she had heard somewhere that the hormones could harm the fetus. The information she found was contradictory and left her frustrated. One site said that taking birth control pills during early pregnancy was very dangerous for the baby, others said it was unlikely anything bad would happen as long as a pregnant woman stopped taking it as soon as she knew she was pregnant.

After running and stretching this morning, Del had showered and eaten some dry toast with some orange juice. She knew she needed some protein but wanted to wait until she was sure the toast and juice was going to stay down. She'd already spent about twenty minutes dry heaving when she'd first gotten up. When her stomach seemed as though it was going to tolerate food, she ate a spoonful of organic peanut butter for the protein. When the peanut butter not only settled on her stomach peacefully but made her feel better, she took another spoonful and filled a large insulated bottle with ice, water and lemon slices. Just smelling the fresh lemon helped chase away any lingering nausea.

Del had several small things she wanted to do today in preparation for the trip at the end of next week. She would need to notify the post office that they should hold her and Evan's mail until they returned and she wanted to start going through her wardrobe to see what she might still need to buy. She and Evan had a running list going held to the fridge with a huge apple-shaped magnet. They planned to go shopping on Thursday after Evan got home from work, so she really needed to get that list completed. She also wanted to make sure the house was spotlessly clean and all the laundry was done when they left. She hated coming home to a mess.

She went into the bedroom and opened the closet and started pulling out dresses, but she was suddenly overcome by two things. The first was an intense feeling of exhaustion and the second was a craving for watermelon that she had no intention of denying. She left the clothes on the bed and returned to the kitchen. She filled a small bowl with chunks of fresh watermelon from the refrigerator and took it along with her water bottle to the porch. She had promised Evan that she would rest when she felt tired and try to eat healthfully today.

She sat down on the swing and dug into the cold fruit, which tasted better than anything she'd ever had before. She laughed at the weirdness of pregnancy. When she was finished, she set the bowl on the side table and sipped her water. She was going to just sit here and enjoy this pleasant summer morning, resting while she thought of the rapidly dividing bundle of cells buried in her uterus: her baby, hers and Evan's. It brought a smile to her lips and she covered her abdomen lovingly with her hand.

She looked up when she heard a car approaching. It wasn't one she recognized and she nearly peed her pants when she saw who got out of the car. It was Lana Sinclair.