“Now for the next five to seven days, I’d like you to stick to bed rest as closely as you can. Get up to use the bathroom, and if you’re feeling significantly better after the first few days, you could be up a little more, maybe even sit outside if the weather’s good, but take it slow.” He turned to me. “Your job will be to make sure she doesn’t push too hard and overdo it too soon. And given the fact that she passed out yesterday, I’m going to suggest that you don’t leave her alone for the first two or three days at least.”
I nodded. This doctor might not be Alison’s favorite, but he was unwittingly laying the groundwork for what I was about to propose.
“But—” Alison began to object.
“I understand,” I interrupted. “We’ll make sure we follow your orders to the letter.”
He smiled at me, and I thought I saw a hint of relief in his eyes. That pissed me off; if this dude thought that he was getting through to me because I was a man, too, someone who understood better than the pregnant woman in question might, he was wrong.
“The nurse will be in with your discharge papers. I’ll write you a prescription for the anti-viral—you’ll only need that for another day—and you can continue to take acetaminophen as needed.” He took a step backward. “Good luck, Dr. Wakely.”
The door had no sooner closed behind Dr. Pickler when Alison rounded on me. “What was that all about?”
I cocked my head. “What exactly do you mean?”
“‘We’ll make sure we follow your orders to the letter,’”she mimicked me. “What am I supposed to do? Hire someone to live with me for the next few days?” Her forehead drew together. “I guess I could go stay with Emma and Deacon, but they’re not home that much . . . Anna and Jimmy would probably let me stay with them, but I don’t think I’d be comfortable there. I really just want to be home.”
“Which is where you’re going.” I went to the closet to pull out the plastic bag that held Alison’s clothes from the day before. “I’m taking you home, and I’m staying with you.”
“Noah, you don’t have to do that,” she protested. “It’s sweet of you, but—”
“It’s not sweet,” I cut her off. “It’s what I want to do.” I decided I might as well go for broke here; otherwise, I’d be arguing this same case again in a few weeks. “Alison, I’ve been mulling this over, and actually, I think we should live together until the baby’s born.”
“Oh, no. No way.” Alison shook her head adamantly. I might have been hurt by her knee-jerk reaction to the idea if I hadn’t completely expected it. “That isn’t a good idea. It’s the polar opposite of a good idea. It’s a bad idea.”
I swallowed a sigh of exasperation. “Is it possible . . . " I spoke as gently as I could. "Is itmaybepossible that you're not seeing this clearly, Alison?"
"I think I'm the only one who is seeing it clearly," she countered. "Noah, you know you're just suggesting this because you feel guilty and because you feel sorry for me. I don't have anyone else to stay at my house, so you want to swoop in and do the heroic thing. While that's nice and very sweet of you, I don't need you to be my hero. I don’t need anyone.”
"Well, you couldn't be more wrong." I crossed my arms over my chest and regarded her with what I hoped was a patient expression. "I don't feel guilty, Alison. I'm actually coming at this from what I think is a pragmatic point of view. You've been sick, and you need somebody to stay with you. That should be me. That's my baby you're carrying, and I care about both of you."
Alison’s bottom lip jutted out. "That's a good argument for why you should stay with me until I get better, but it doesn't mean you need to do what you just suggested. You don’t have to stay at the house with me for the rest of my pregnancy."
"Maybe you can’t see it, but the idea makes sense to me." I paused. "There are a couple of good reasons why. First of all, what if something like this happens again? And what if you’re at home alone this time instead of at your office where there were people to help you? That's dangerous." I shuddered at the thought of Alison lying on the floor at home, alone.
"The likelihood of something like that happening again –" Alison began, but I cut her off.
"The odds might not be high, but the possibility is there. And anyway, that was only one good reason. The second reason is that you work hard all day. I have a feeling that you're going to continue doing that right up until the baby is born, aren't you?"
She didn't answer, but the expression on her face said it all.
"Exactly what I thought." I nodded. "So wouldn't it be nice to come home each night and know that you don't have to cook dinner or do any of the other little things around the house that need your attention? Just look at me as your live-in companion and housekeeper."
"Oh, so now you cook?" Alison rolled her eyes. "This is something I have to see."
"Oh, sweetheart, I can cook. I might not have a lot of variety in my repertoire yet, but I'll have plenty of time to work on it. And there's one thing you might not know about me, Alison: when I put my mind to something, I can learn anything."
She blew out a long breath and closed her eyes. "All right, fine. Let's put a pin in the cooking thing. If that's what you're determined to do, why can’t you just come over and cook me dinner every night? I mean, if that's what it's going to take to make you feel better about yourself."
"This has nothing to do with me feeling better about myself," I insisted. "It's all about you. All about the baby. And that brings up my other reason for wanting to be there. This one's more selfish, but I still think it's important. I want to be there for all the milestones of your pregnancy. When you feel the baby move. When you pick out the stuff for the baby’s room and put it together. When you have cravings at midnight, and you need someone to bring you pickles and ice cream."
Alison wrinkled her nose and turned slightly green. "Yuck. I think that's one of those old wives’ tales. I've never met anyone who really wanted pickles and ice cream."
“You know what I mean," I retorted. "You said something the other day when we were talking, that this might be your only chance to be a mother. That made me think that this is probably my one shot to be a dad. If it is, I don't want to miss even a second of it." I shrugged one shoulder. "And when I sat back and thought about everything, I realized that this is the perfect opportunity. I'm basically unemployed, but I'm not hurting for funds. I can afford to take the entire year—hell, I can probably afford to take off an entire decade—without any appreciable change in my way of life. So why shouldn't I do this now?"
Alison remained silent for a long time. Her eyes were still closed, and for a second, I thought that she'd actually fallen asleep. But then she turned her head to look at me, and I realized that she'd only been thinking deeply.
"Noah, did you go see the priest you were telling me about? You know, when I asked you to see a therapist or counselor?"
