The Friends We Keep

“No.” Tears burned, but she blinked them back. “Rob, don’t. Stay. We can talk about this.”


“Are you still determined to get pregnant and have a baby?”

“Of course.”

He turned back to his packing. “That’s what I thought.”

“You’re going to leave me because I want a child? That’s horrible.”

He spun toward her, his eyes wide and dark. “No. I’m leaving because I won’t watch you kill yourself. Did you hear what the doctor said? You are going to die. You need a hysterectomy, Hayley. If you don’t get one, you’re at risk of bleeding out. Every single day I wonder if this is it. If I’m going to get a call saying you’re gone. That it’s too late. Every day.”

She sank onto the straight-back chair in the corner. “You never said anything.”

“I don’t talk about it. I figure you’re under enough stress. You want a baby. I get that. I know you’ve always felt your parents loved Morgan more than you. That’s not true, but me saying it doesn’t help. So we’ve tried. We’ve tried everything.” His voice softened. “Hayley, you have to stop. You have to accept there are simply some things your body can’t do. We have each other, and we can get a child another way.”

“No. I need my own baby. I need to be part of something. I need the connection.”

“You’re part of us.”

She looked at him. He stared at her for a second before turning back to the suitcase.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “It’s not enough. I know. That’s why I’m leaving. I want children, but I want you more. You can’t say that and because of your obsession, you’re going to die. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t watch it happen.”

Tears spilled onto her cheeks. “Rob, no. I need you.”

He didn’t bother looking at her. “No you don’t. You can get sperm anywhere.” He put in the last shirt, then zipped up the suitcase. “Look at the bright side. If we split up, we’ll sell the house. Maybe your half will be enough to pay for what you want.”

“That’s mean.”

“Maybe, but it’s the truth.” He looked around the room, then back at her. “If you change your mind, give me a call. If you don’t, good luck. I hope I’m wrong. I hope you continue to heal and everything is fine. But I don’t think so. I do love you. So very much. But I can’t be a part of you killing yourself. Not anymore.”

He picked up the suitcase and walked out. Hayley heard the front door close, then the sound of his car engine. Silence followed. Silence broken only by the sharpness of her desperate sobs.

*

Whoever said it took twenty-one days to form a habit, hadn’t been dealing with the complication of a pregnant fifteen-year-old, Gabby thought as she settled into the corner of the sofa in Andrew’s office. She’d been on her diet well over three weeks and still wanted to eat the entire house. Preferably doused in chocolate and whipped cream. The stress wasn’t helping at all.

On the bright side, there was something comforting about knowing that her day was going to end here—with her husband. The two of them discussing what was going on. Which so far had been nothing. Still, connecting seemed to be helping them both.

He held up the bottle of brandy. She shook her head.

“I’m still going to class at Nicole’s studio. I’m not sure I see the sense of working that hard, then drinking the calories later.”

“I’m impressed,” he told her.

“Thanks. I think the class makes me feel as if I’m in control of something.”

He sat next to her and laced his fingers with hers. “What a mess.”

“It is, but we’re getting through it.” It was day three of having learned about Makayla’s pregnancy, so they still had a long way to go, but still. A start. “I appreciate that you canceled your business trip to stay home this week. It helps.”

“It’s the least I can do. Anything to report?”

Gabby thought about her day. “I made an appointment for Makayla with my doctor’s office. The practice is all women, so that will help, but it’s not going to be easy.” There was peeking and probing when one was pregnant. When the mother-to-be was excited about having a baby, the visits were a small price to pay.

“Thanks for doing that,” Andrew said. “Candace texted and asked if she could trade this coming weekend for the next one. I agreed, mostly because it means putting off telling her, at least for a couple of weeks.”

“I would have done the same,” Gabby told him.

She shifted so she could lean against him. He put his arm around her.

“Candace is going to tell her to have an abortion.”

“We don’t know how far along she is.”

“I’m sure she’ll offer to find a doctor who will do it anyway.”