CHAPTER 10

February was always so cold and dismal. There seemed to be no end to the snow and wind.

Traffic was always a mess; people were late getting to and from where ever they had to be. Cass had gotten to her photo shoot later than expected, and no one was too happy when she arrived.

“Great. Not only are you late, you look ill.” The photographer snapped at her.

“I’m sorry, but the train was late.” She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She did look rather pale. She quickly sat in the makeup chair. The stylists hired for the job surrounded her and began the transformation they were hired to achieve.

After about two hours of posing and changing positions, her stomach began to churn and she was overcome by nausea. The photographer finally called it a rap knowing that he was not going to get the shot he needed.

Cass got up, rushed to the bathroom and threw up. She sat on the floor till she was sure she was done, then got up and washed her face. All she wanted right now was to be home in her bed, snuggled under the warm covers.

The train seemed to take forever. To add insult to injury the cab she was riding in from the train station was an endless source of bumps and grinds. Even as bad as she was feeling she almost screamed out in joy when her house came into sight. At long last she walked up the stairs to the house. Duffy met her at the door and was delighted to have some company.

“Not now Duffy.” She said dropping her bag and sweater on the chair. She went straight upstairs and crawled into bed. Duffy jumped up and licked her face. Moments later she was sound asleep with the dog curled up at her side.

When Beau came home from work he found Cass still in bed, covers pulled up to her chin.

“What’s wrong, honey?” He said sitting beside her, feeling her forehead for fever.

“I don’t know. One minute I was working and…I just felt sick all of a sudden, so I bailed on the job and came home.”

“Do you want me to call the doctor?”

“No, I think I’ll just stay in bed for a while. It’s probably just the flu.”

“Well, I’ll take Duffy for a walk and if you’re still awake when I get back, I’ll make you a nice bowl of hot soup. That’ll probably make you feel better since you probably didn’t eat anything today.” He bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

After eating a little soup, at Beau’s urging, she did feel slightly better but he made her stay in bed anyway. He sat next to her and rubbed her back until she fell back to sleep.

The next day, she woke just as the sun way rising. She turned to look at Beau. The first rays of the morning sun shone through the window and lay across his face. He was more than likely exhausted from staying up and taking care of her. She gently slid out of bed so as not to disturb him, and went down to the kitchen to make coffee. She made herself a piece of toast, but after a few bites threw the rest in the trash. She poured herself a cup of coffee and took it outside on the porch. Maybe some fresh air would do her good. She grabbed the heavy wool shawl she kept by the back door and wrapped herself up in it before stepping outside. About two minutes after she stepped outside she rushed to the edge of the porch and threw up. This was the final straw. She went back inside and called her doctor’s office and set up an appointment, then went upstairs and showered. When she came back down stairs, Beau was sitting there waiting for her.

“How’s the patient today?” He asked.

“I made an appointment for the doctor’s later. Maybe some antibiotics are in the picture.”

“Do you want me to drive you?” He said concerned.

“No, that’s okay. I’m a big girl. I think I can get myself there and back in one piece.” She smiled and bent down to kiss him.

“Well, if you’re sure, then I guess I’ll go to work and get out of your hair.”

“I’m sure, but thank you.” She gave him a big hug and pushed him towards the door. “Now go make some money and keep me in this lifestyle I’ve grown accustomed to.”

“I’ll try to get back early.” He said as he left.

Like every doctor’s offices, it was very clinical. White walls, uplifting pictures of exotic locals, plastic plants and outdated magazines strewn about on the low tables. The light made her skin look paler than it was and, as she scanned the faces of the other patients in the room, she noticed that they all had that sickly pallor.

“Mrs. Foster. Come in please.” The nurse held the door for her and showed her to an examining room. “Just have a seat up on the table. The doctor should be in, in a moment.” The nurse left and Cas had to take a deep breath to calm her stomach. Must be the smell in the room that was making her feel ill again. There was a light knock on the door, then the doctor came in. He was an older man, graying hair, lines around his eyes, probably from smiling all these years at patients. He walked over to her and leaned on the table beside her. He looked through her chart for a moment then turned to look at her.

“So, what’s been going on?” He asked putting the chart aside and feeling her neck.

“It just sort of came on. I was fine two days ago and I’ve just felt sick, you know, throwing up sick off and on. It doesn’t seem to want to go away.”

“Could be the flu. There’s a lot of it going around these days. I’ll send the nurse back in to take some blood and we’ll do a urine test as well. That’ll tell us a little more about what’s going on. Shouldn’t take too long.” He patted her shoulder and then stepped back out of the room.

A moment later the nurse came back in with a small tray in her hands. She drew some blood and handed Cas a small plastic cup then showed her where the bathroom was.

Fifteen minutes later the doctor came back into the room. He was smiling at her. “When was the last time you had your period?” Cas looked at him a moment and then took a deep breath.

“Oh my God! I’m pregnant?” She held her breath.

“I’d say about six weeks worth.” This was a part of his job that he liked. Telling people news they wanted to hear. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. You've just made me the happiest girl in the world.” She jumped down from the table and gave him a bear hug.

“My pleasure.” The grin on his face went from ear to ear, and his face turned a little red. Little did she know, she had just made his day as well. They discussed pre-natal care and he gave her some literature as well as a prescription for vitamins. She thanked him again and left the office. She was on cloud nine. She left his office about a half-hour later and decided to stop off and get some groceries. She wanted to make something special for dinner this evening. Once home, Cass showered and changed into something comfortable but sexy and began to prepare their dinner.

Beau arrived home around six that night. He was anxious to see how she felt. “Feeling better?” He asked.

“Much.”

“I knew my soup last night would cure you. Speaking of food, what smells so good?”

“Chicken, baked potato, and asparagus…and an apple pie straight from the freezer to the oven.”

She wanted to yell the news at the top of her lungs but held back to wait for the right moment.
They polished off everything with the exeption of half the pie and Cassie poured them both a cup of coffee. The retired to the living room and played with Duffy. Finally, she couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Well Daddy, what do you want to do now?” She watched his face to see if he would react to this subtlety.

“I don’t…did you just call me Daddy?” He sat back and looked into her face.

“Mommy and Daddy. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” She threw her arms around him.

“Are you telling me that we’re going to have a baby?”

“Turns out it's not the flu. Doctor say's I’m about six weeks pregnant.”

That has such a nice sound to it. She wanted to say it over and over again. He wrapped his arms around her. It was a miracle. They would be the All-American family. A house, a dog, and now a baby. What more could life give them?

That night they made love gently and fell asleep with the knowledge that their future was expanding. A whole new world would open itself up to them.