When I cut my finger, he had me sit on the counter, and he was still tall enough that he looked down at me. He then washed and bandaged it. I had run my fingers through his hair then, and I don’t know if it was some act of love, or desperation to have an ounce of intimacy, but I gave in.
The cut was superficial and so was that night. The next morning, I realized he had slipped from our bed while I slept. He didn’t come home until later, smelling of the other woman’s rose perfume. The cut never even left a scar. And the relief I had when my next period came was unbelievable. I wept in relief, opposite to the way I wept alone with a positive pregnancy test just a couple years before.
“How about I take Winnie to go get breakfast, I’ll bring you guys something back?” Rhett offers.
Before either of us can respond, Lauren leans for the toilet again and Rhett whisks Winnie away.
Growing up, Mom didn’t handle sickness very well. Stuffy nose, upset stomachs, puking, any of it. So, I usually was the one left to care for Lauren when she got whatever illness was going around at school. Or left to search for my own washcloth and hair tie when I inevitably caught it too. Mom would throw a can of chicken noodle soup into a pot sometimes, but it was usually just Lauren and I figuring it out and we preferred SpaghettiOs anyway.
One time, Lauren had gotten sick at school, and Mom picked us both up so she wouldn’t have to come back and get me later. She then dropped us off at home and went back to work. I didn’t know what to do to make Lauren feel better, but I always liked it when my teacher read books to us. So, I dug through the few books on my bookshelf and found one I knew by heart. One where I wouldn’t crisscross the letters and words on the page.Where The Wild Things Are. At the end of kindergarten, Mrs. Zimmerman must have realized I grew attached to it and gave me her copy of it. Mom had tried to donate it when I was got a little older, but I snagged it back out of the donation box from the back of her car and it’s the same one packed in Winnie’s bag now.
Now, much like then, I get Lauren in the shower, then into the clean clothes that Rhett left out for her and get her on the couch with some saltine crackers and that ginger-ale Rhett’s mom swore by. I start a load of laundry and clean up the kitchen while Lauren manages to get on her computer and get some writing done for an entire thirty minutes before getting sick again.
“Surely I'm having a boy,” she calls from the bathroom. “A girl would never make me this sick.”
“You’d be surprised,” I tell her. “I ended up losing weight in my pregnancy because of how sick I was.”
Lauren’s eyes widen. “That isn’t helping.”
“I'm just saying. A girl could absolutely make you this sick. Being sick is kinda just a part of this.”
“Rhett is convinced it’s a girl. He refers to the baby as her and she, and is talking about painting the spare room pink and making it a girlyWhere The Wild Things Aretheme, whatever that means.”
“I was sure I was having a boy. Ethan had only warmed up to the idea of having a baby because he wanted a boy. So, I think I convinced us both to believe it was a boy to keep him happy.”
“Fuck Ethan.” She cuddles deeper into the couch, pulling the blanket up over her shoulders. “I know he’s Winnie's dad, but like, damn. I hate that guy.”
I wish I hated him. It would make it so much easier. But Lauren’s right. He is Winnie’s dad. How can I fully hate someone who gave me the greatest thing in my life?
Almost two hours later, Rhett and Winnie arrive home with atrunk full of groceries. Winnie struggles carrying the couple of bags she has, and Rhett carries the rest in one trip.
“Win, did you wear your pajamas to breakfastandto the store?”
She smiles and shrugs.
“Well then. How was breakfast?” I wipe the smudge of food off her cheek.
“We saw Tan.” Winnie giggles, almost blushing. “He says hi.”
“Oh, did he?” Lauren asks her with a laugh from her spot on the couch.
Winnie nods and goes over to the bags and shuffles through them until she finds a bottle of water and brings it over. “He said to drink this and be careful to not get a family for speeding.”
“Felony,” Rhett corrects with a guilty grin. “We got you guys carryout from the diner on the way home so it would be hot.”
“What else did you get at the store?” Lauren asks. “I usually don’t let Uncle Rhett go by himself. He always gets into trouble there.”
“Trouble?” Winnie asks. “Like a felony?”
“No. He just brings home too much stuff.”
“Well.” Rhett ruffles Winnie’s hair. “The kid and I were on a mission. We got just what we needed.”
“Like chocolate milk and Oreos.”
Lauren’s eyebrows raise but she smiles anyway.
“How are you feeling babe?” Rhett comes over and kisses her on the head.
