Sarah
Clinton worked harder and harder in the days leading up to the adoption. Sarah appreciated his effort to provide for their growing family, but worried that he was working too hard. His real estate business was growing, and he was suddenly the go to agent when anyone in the Alexandria area was ready to move. Sarah couldn’t help but hope that he would slow down once their time to be parents arrived.
“Any word from the agency lately?” Clinton climbed into bed beside his wife and wrapped his arms around her. Tired from a long day.
“Not lately.” She was groggy. She tried waiting up for him, but dozed off while reading The Very Best Baby Name Book in the Whole World.
“Well, we will soon I’m sure.” Clinton eyed the list of names that was hanging out of Sarah’s book. She had stars and smiley faces by the ones she liked the most. “You’ve got your heart set on a girl, don’t you?”
“Not necessarily. I guess all women dream of having a baby girl because we grew up with girl dolls. I never had a boy baby doll...” Sarah slid the list out and smiled. “Want to hear some? I want you to help with this once your work load slows down.”
“Sure, let’s hear it.” Clinton felt bad for working his worries away, but it was literally the only way that he could keep himself from drowning in all of the baby talk.
“Jennifer Ashley Malone, Jessica Nicole Malone, Crystal Michelle Malone, Christina Tiffany Malone-- She would have your initials if we use that one!” Sarah was so excited.
“What if it’s a boy, Sarah?” Clinton swiped the list and saw that she only had one name in the column listed boy.
“Myers, I like that. That is in your book?”
“No, the top names in the book were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua…” her voice trailed off.
“Where did you get Myers then? A kid could be famous with this name!” Clinton was feeling more excited about the prospect of naming their baby.
“You’ll think it’s stupid.”
“No I won’t!” Clinton promised.
“Our first kiss. We were parked behind Myers’ Real Estate.” Sarah blushed.
“See! Even better! Our son could follow my footsteps in real estate with a name like that.” Clinton kissed his wife on the head and slid the book and list onto the night stand. “Myers Malone…”
Sarah smiled and sank into his arms. This was the most Clinton had discussed babies in weeks. Before long, he would be on board completely.
“I’m going to be a Daddy.” he whispered, trying the word Daddy on for size. He was going to be a Dad.
***
Clinton pulled in, he was home early. “Sarah!” he called, hiding the stuffed rabbit behind his back. He couldn’t help but catch baby fever with Sarah’s nonstop talk about babies.
Sarah came out of the bathroom, her face drained of all color. Her usual porcelain skin lost any hint of flesh tones that it possessed. “You’re home early.”
“I am. I thought I’d surprise you with a night out on the town. I have reservations in Old Town for us...” Clinton knew his wife well enough to know that something was wrong. He dropped the bunny, not knowing what to expect.
“Old Town sounds great.” she forced a smile and rescued the bunny from under his feet. “Cute. Thanks, Clinton.”
“Are you okay?” Clinton had never seen his wife like this before. “Are you sick?”
“Yes, a little sick this afternoon, that’s all.” Sarah lied. She wasn’t sick, she just didn’t know how to put words to the gravity of the situation at hand. “I’ll get dressed.”
“Reservations at six…” Clinton studied his wife, wondering what was going on in the beautiful head of hers’. He didn’t know, but tried to believe that she was just a little under the weather.
“Delia’s?”
“Of course.” Clinton smiled and headed down the hall to get changed.
At dinner, Sarah barely ate anything. Clinton knew it was her favorite restaurant, and decided that she must be mad at him. He could tell that something was up, but had absolutely no idea what. She wasn’t talking about babies, wasn’t rushing to get home to the phone, and wasn’t studying the crying infant across the room. All of these things were indicators that something was wrong.
“Sarah, what is going on? You’re not acting like yourself. Have I done something?” Clinton felt his way through the dangerous territory cautiously.
“No, nothing. I told you at home that I wasn’t feeling all that well. I think I have a bug.” Sarah sipped her water and assured him that nothing was wrong.
“I’ll try to schedule all of my house viewings early this week to get home earlier…”
“I’m not mad about the long hours, Clinton! I promise. You’re bringing home the bacon for us and our future child, how could I be mad about that?” Sarah reached across the table and put her hand over his.
She mentioned their future child! Clinton had nothing to worry about after all. Maybe she was just feeling under the weather. He didn’t know, but the mention of their future child gave him the go ahead to enjoy his meal. “This salad is amazing!”
“Mine is too.” Sarah smiled warmly. “I love you, Clinton.”
“I love you too, Sarah.” Clinton really did love her. He would do anything for her! Maybe it was the stress of waiting on the agency's call that was taking a toll on his beautiful wife. He would have to call and check in on the progress tomorrow. Sarah would never be complete until she had a baby in her arms.
