Chapter 7: Bubble Baths, Morning Sickness, and Burnt Pancakes

Justin sits up in bed with a heavy grunt and squints over to the alarm clock on the right bedside table. It’s 5:00 in the morning and he hasn’t slept a wink nearly all night. He’s never been one to go to bed angry and that is just what he was after his fight with Andrea. He was more frustrated then anything though; frustrated with himself, with Andrea, with their entire situation and the conversation they had, and most of all with not being able to come up with a way to fix their marriage.  

He felt like he admitted defeat last night…. 

(FLASHBACK) 

“I don’t know what else to say to you.” Andrea says, her tone defeated and shoulders slumped. “I don’t know how to get past this Justin. Tell me how to forget and I will, just tell me how.”  

Her previously defeated sounding voice changed over to one full of tears and pleading. Justin looks to her with tears forming in his eyes, but no words are able to form on his tongue. He shrugs his suddenly lifeless shoulders and lowers his head so that his chin is nearly resting on his chest.  

“I don’t know….” 

(END OF FLASHBACK) 

He’s so lost right now. The only thing he knows for sure right now is that he loves his wife and daughter with his entire being and would give anything in this world to make things right again. He knows that Tessa loves him, but if he’s being completely honest with himself, he’s not too sure Andrea does anymore.  

He rubs his palms over his tired eyes before tossing the covers off his legs and getting out of bed. Quietly he pulls open the door and tiptoes down the hall. He first checks to make sure Tessa is still sleeping and she is—quite soundly actually. He smiles at the sight of her before continuing down the hall. He stops out side his and Andrea’s bedroom and just stares longingly at the door. Justin knows she’s not in there so he decides to go inside. The bed is just how they left it, half made.  

He pulls the comforter up on Andrea’s side of the bed and while doing so notices light coming from under the bathroom door. Slowly, he inches the door open and just barely peeks inside. Andrea is resting comfortably in a tub filled to the rim with bubbles and by the looks of the rug some of the bubbles have sloshed out over the side. She looks relaxed and peaceful, a welcomed change in Justin’s eyes. He’s tired of her always looking so pained and heartbroken. It’s nice to see her without red rimmed eyes from crying over his mistake. He thinks to himself that he could stand here all morning just watching her and feel completely content. He was focusing so intently on her glowing face that he failed to notice the phone receiver pressed to her left ear.  

“I’m trying to relax,” She states firmly, suddenly not looking quite so serene. “Can we not talk about Justin?”  

And suddenly reality comes crashing down.  

“Mom! You really think a vacation is going to fix this?” The sudden motion of her sitting up sends water sloshing out of the tub to soak into the already wet rug. She clutches at the side of the tub with her one free hand and the phone in the other. Her eyes quench together in her frustration before they pop back open and instantly connect with Justin’s. Her eyes then widen for a moment before returning to a nearly relaxed state.  

“Mom, I gotta go.” She says calmly, still not breaking contact, and then wordlessly hangs up the phone.  

Hesitantly, Justin enters the large tiled bathroom and makes his way over to his wife. He first plucks the phone from her fingers and then sits down on the top of the four steps that lead up to the tub.  

“You look tired.”  

“So do you.” Justin echoes in a whisper that matches her own quiet tone. “Your mom probably hates me huh?” 

Andrea shakes her head. “She doesn’t hate you and before you ask neither does my dad.”  

“I bet they gave you the ‘I told you so’ speech.” 

“Yeah, I guess they were right about us.”  

Hearing Andrea say that nearly tares Justin’s already broken heart into shards. She’s given up on their marriage, that’s obvious with that statement.  

“You’re just gonna write us off?” He asks in a pained voice that barely comes out through the tears rising in this throat. “Just like that?” 

“I’m just finishing what you started.”  

“No! No, you’re giving up on us. I’m trying here Rea, but you’ve got to meet me at least half way.”  

“Can we not do this please? I’m so tired of fighting with you.”  

“Then don’t fight.” He pleads. “Just talk to me.”  

“Talk to you? You mean like when you talked to me about the first time you cheated on me?” She asks rhetorically in a seething tone. “Oh, that’s right I had to find out from Trace.”  

“What?”  

Andrea mentally curses herself for her slip. Justin wasn’t supposed to find out that Trace had been the one to tell her about his little escapades with Ms. Diaz. Trace is going to kill her; that is if Justin doesn’t kill Trace first.  

“Don’t you dare get angry at him for telling me.” She threatens. “You have no right. You had no right to ask him to keep that secret for you and we both know that you had no intention of telling me. If Trace hadn’t told I may never had found out, unless you had slipped up and…I don’t know….got her pregnant too.”  

Justin is too floored by the information she just bestowed upon him to respond her hurtful comment. He just sits there, dumbfounded, as Andrea angrily stands in the tub. Bubbles still cover most of her body as she steps around Justin and reaches for towel to wrap around herself. She tosses, to what Justin looks like, a hateful glare over her shoulder before stomping out of the room, slamming the door hard behind her.  

Once behind the closed door Andrea takes a few claming breaths and wills herself not to cry. As she drops her towel and puts on her pink terrycloth rob, she can’t help but think that she’s now incapable of carrying on a conversation with Justin without a fight resulting.  

“Mommy?”  

“Hey Munchkin,” Andrea forces a smile. Tessa lifts her arms up towards her mom and Andrea hoists her up so that Tessa’s arms and legs are wrapped around her. “What are you doing up so early?” 

“I heard yelling.” She answers with a pout that looks all too much like Justin’s. “Were you and Daddy fighting again?”  

“Oh, no, we weren’t fighting,” Andrea lies as she begins moving towards the steps. “We were discussing what to make you for breakfast. See your Daddy wanted to have ice cream,” Tessa’s eyes light up with hope, “but I said that you wouldn’t want that because you know that you can’t have sweets for breakfast.”  

“But I like ice cream.”  

“I was thinking we would have pancakes.”  

“I want ice cream.”  

“How about we put chocolate chips in your pancakes!” Andrea poses enthusiastically and Tessa gasps in pleasure and squeezes her arms tight around Andrea’s neck. “I thought you’d like that.”  

“Yay chocolate!”  

Andrea drops Tessa to sit at a stool pulled up the island and then moves to gather the ingredients she needs to make the highly anticipated chocolate chip pancakes. She brings back the pancake mix and grabs a large bowl and spoon before combining the mix and water.  

“You stir this for me hun?”  

Tessa nods and greedily grabs the wooden spoon from her mom’s hands and with great concentration, evident from the bit of tongue peaking out from between her lips, stirs the mix and water together. Andrea then opens the bag of chocolate chips and adds some the mixture.  

“More!” Tessa giggles. 

“More what?” Justin voices from the entryway of the kitchen. Andrea looks away from Tessa for a moment and makes eye contact for a brief moment before quickly looking away again.  

“Chocolate!” Tessa answers, looking over her shoulder as Justin makes his way closer to her until he’s standing right at her side. “We’re making chocolate pancakes!”  

“Chocolate pancakes huh?” Justin chuckles, then looks over at Andrea. “I didn’t think mom let you have candy for breakfast.”  

“She said it better than ice cream.”  

“The griddle is hot are you done stirring?”  Andrea inquires and Tessa shrugs her shoulders.  

“Looks good.” Justin answers for her. Andrea nods silently and takes the bowl to sit closer to her. She scoops four pancakes onto the griddle and they wait…..they wait in more silence.  

“They take long time.” 

“Be patient.” Justin smiles. His smile drops however when he over to see his wife suddenly bend at the waist and let out a pained moan. “Andrea!” 

She stands back with her right hand over her mouth and then runs past them. Justin quickly follows after her, yelling for Tessa not to touch anything. He follows Andrea into the bathroom, reaching her just in time to watch her empty her stomach into the porcelain toilet—morning sickness. He crouches down next to her and reaches out to brush her hair to the side. It isn’t until he begins to rub his hand over her back that she recoils away from him, muttering for him not to touch her. Justin falls back off the balls of his toes to land on his butt. She won’t let him touch her.  

“Daddy!” Tessa’s panic filled voice stops Justin’s mind from progressing into self-loathing mode. Before she can even finish her cry he’s on his feet and sprinting towards the kitchen. “The pancakes are burning!”  

TBC...