November Rain

Chapter 3

1970

Sandra was on cloud nine. She couldn't believe that there was less than a week left of her pregnancy. She couldn't wait to meet her child. She wished that she could know the gender of the baby, but unfortunately ultrasound machines were not used in the United States yet. Sandra heard on the radio that ultrasound machines were used in the United Kingdom. Regardless of this fact, Sandra's intuition was telling her that she would have a baby girl. Sandra never questioned her intuition; it has never steered her wrong.

Sandra tried to search for employment in accounting offices, but Robert told her that she should relax. She shouldn't work now because she will have a baby to take care of. Sandra felt a bit frustrated because she didn't want Robert to work such long hours while she's at home doing nothing.

Robert worked as an advertising agent for the magazine Life. The pay was great and he felt that he could provide enough for the both of them, correction: now three.

"Robert, how about after the pregnancy I start looking for work again?" Sandra asked.

"Sandra, we have talked about this. I have a great job that pays well and it covers all of our expenses." Robert said.

"I just want to contribute something. I feel like all I do is housework and just lounge around while you're stuck behind a desk for eight hours." Sandra admitted while they were eating dinner.

"Sandy, I'm glad to be working for both of us. You're not a burden. You and our child are not burdens to me. I like knowing that at the end of the day when I come home there is always someone waiting for me." Robert smiled while he admitted this.

"I have an accounting degree and I worked so hard at school to get it." Sandra thought out loud about all her hard work. Robert smirked at her because she would not let this discussion end anytime soon.

"Okay. Let's change the topic." Robert said. He wanted to clear the air between them. He was tired of always talking about work.

"What do you want to talk about?" Sandra asked.

"Let's talk about our baby." Robert smiled when he mentioned this. He couldn't believe how quickly Sandra had gotten pregnant. The celebration they had after his proposal at the Hilton hotel definitely surprised him. Not in a bad way of course. He saw himself having a family with Sandra. She was it for him. She was intelligent, beautiful, and she just had the nicest smile he had ever seen. It might surprise other people, but it was her smile that made him notice her when they were in college. It was genuine. Sure, he noticed other parts about her. He is a guy after all, he doesn't deny it. Still, her smile just made him weak at the knees. She had no idea how much power she had over him back then. He always hoped that she would show up at Greg's parties, but every time he went to Greg's parties she wasn't there. He became so desperate in wanting to meet her that he talked to Susan one afternoon about convincing Sandra to come to the party.

Flashback

"Hey Susan." Robert yelled while Susan was walking on campus. She was about thirty feet in front of him. He was running so fast and it seemed like he could never reach her. That girl sure knew how to powerwalk.

"Robert, how's it going? Why are you yelling and why are you so out of breath? Take it easy man. What are you trying to do, compete in the Olympics?" Susan laughed when she was looking at how tired Robert looked.

"I'm out of breath because I'm trying to catch up to you. How do you walk so fast? Are you running on batteries?" Robert asked while he was still trying to catch his breath. He couldn't stop sweating. Out of all the days he picked to search for Susan, he picked the hottest day of the summer. He was a man on a mission and the summer heat was not going to get in his way.