“Deal.”
Before I left, I turned on the bedroom TV and handed him the remote.
When I returned he was dozing, mouth open, eyes closed.
“Sweetheart,” I said softly. “I got your food.”
His eyelids slowly opened. “You're the best, Dale. What would I do without you?”
We queued up a movie we had both been wanting to see. I put his shake and diet Coke on the nightstand next to him. I'd gotten my own drink and set it aside, then opened the bags of food.
“Look at all that. You got too much.” He grabbed a fry and started munching.
“Well, I was hungry, too. It looks like I'm going to join you for our midnight snack.”
I set his wrapped burrito in his lap with some packets of hot sauce. Then I began unwrapping my own food.
“Mmm, you got a burger? That looks so good.”
I held it out to him. “Do you want to bite?”
“Sure.”
I wanted to laugh. Being pregnant had to be the hardest job of all. He was so mercurial with his senses. Sometimes a simple smell would make him sick and other times he wanted to feast on anything I put in front of him. Except the stuff that was good for him like salads. Or fruit.
Aspen chowed down on my burger so fast that half of it was gone before I could ask for it back.
“Does this mean you're going to share your burrito with me?”
“Sorry.” He shrugged and grabbed his burrito as if to keep it away from me.
In retaliation, I grabbed a handful of his fries.
“Hey.” He playfully smacked my hand.
“I got you an extra-large fry. You're not going to eat at all.”
“I might.”
Nights like these were the happiest times. I loved my life. I loved everything about Aspen. And I loved knowing we were about to add a third to our family very soon.
Halfway through the movie, Aspen dozed off again. He’d still not unwrapped his burrito and there were a lot of fries left. He had focused on his shake, but not much else.
I paused the movie and cleaned up the trash. Then I turned off the lights and settled him down in the bed, the comforter and my body surrounding him. My hand on his belly, I fell asleep.
23
Aspen
Feeling queasy, I sat at the table while Dale made me breakfast. When he set the plate in front of me with perfectly scrambled eggs, bacon and toast steaming in my face I had every intention of eating it all.
But one bite and I was full. I couldn’t. Everything seemed off.
Dale sat and began to eat. He looked up. “Is everything all right?”
I nodded. “Just feeling tired. I don’t think I slept well last night.”
“Maybe a morning nap is in order.” His eyes were kind as he spoke.
