Chapter Five
The next morning did not bring the understanding that he was hoping for. But it was a definite improvement on the previous day. When he woke up, the bed was empty which caused alarm until he heard the sound of water running in the bathroom. Climbing out of the bed, JC made his way to the adjoining bathroom, pushing the door open.
“Hon?”
“Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“No no. Take your time. I just… are you okay?”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” she repeated. With a sigh, JC nodded, though she couldn’t see him. He backed out of the bathroom and closed the door. He grabbed a pair of sweat pants and pulled them on before heading down the hallway to check on his daughter. Finding her still asleep, he headed down the stairs and pulled some things out for eggs. He was determined to make a suitable breakfast without poisoning someone.
He was quite pleased to see that the eggs had come out a nice color instead of the ugly brown that he was accustomed to. Just as he was pulling the eggs off the stove, he heard his wife’s voice.
“Please don’t tell me you cook.”
“Hey! I didn’t burn them this time! I was extra careful!”
Coming up behind him to look over his shoulder, she let out a sound of wonder.
“Hmm… they actually don’t look too bad. At least I can tell what they are. That’s an improvement.”
“Woman! Have you no faith?”
“No, not really.”
“Ha. Ha. You’re so funny Jen. Really. I’m laughing on the inside over here.”
Rolling her eyes playfully, Jen headed over to the fridge to pull out the milk and fix the two of them a drink.
“Where’s Julie?”
“Sleeping.”
“Still? Don’t you think you should get her up?”
“Nah. She’ll be fine. I’ll let her sleep a little longer. I wanted to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
With a sigh, JC looked to his wife. He knew what she was doing. She was trying to push the miscarriage out of her mind, to pretend that it had never happened. That was not good.
“Honey… I know… We need to come to a happy medium here. I’m glad that you seem to be… doing better today, but I don’t want you to hold your feelings up inside either. It’s not good for you.”
Slamming the milk carton down on the counter, she spun around quickly, her eyes angry.
“What do you want me to do?” She snarled. “Yesterday you were whining because I was upset! Today you’re whining because I’m FINE! Tell me what you want me to do here!”
He was completely taken aback by her outburst. In all the years he’d known her, she’d never once raised her voice, and certainly not to him. So what was up with the hostility now? He felt his own temper flaring up but managed to keep it in check. All he needed was to tick her off even more and he’d be on the couch for a week!
“Baby…”
“No! Don’t ‘baby’ me! Just tell me what you want me to do!”
“I want you to stop this!”
“Oh… grow up JC! I can’t just STOP!”
“Oh that’s REALLY rich, Jen! You’re telling ME to grow up? Who’s the one who started this petty little fight? Jesus Jen! I’m not out to get you! I’m not the bad guy here! I’m fulfilling my part of the marriage vows to take care of you! I can’t do that when you jump down my throat!”
All the fight had left as soon as it had come. Her eyes filled with tears and her shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered weakly. “I’m so sorry.” Setting the plate that he’d grabbed down, he walked over to his wife and pulled her into his embrace. He held her in his arms, resting his chin atop her head.
“Listen to me good. Okay? It’s perfectly natural for you to feel upset, angry… whatever it is that you’re feeling. I know how happy you were about the baby, Jen. But we’ve got to get past it. I’m not saying that I want you to completely forget it, to suppress your feelings. That won’t help anyone. But we need to move forward with our lives. We still have Julie.”
“No, YOU have Julie,” she cried.
“Don’t you EVER let me hear you say that again,” he told her. She jumped at the anger that she heard in his voice. “You’re just as much of a mother to her as that woman who gave birth to her. You’ve taken care of her, you’ve given her your love, and I know that I couldn’t ask for anyone better to help me raise her.”
“I’m sorry,” she cried.
“You listen to me, and you listen good. I want you to go upstairs and wash your face off. Get yourself composed and then come back down here for breakfast. We’re going to talk this over, get everything out in the open so that we can move on. Got it?”
Looking up at JC, she nodded. She pulled away from his embrace and headed towards the doorway, looking like a chastised child.
“Jen?”
She turned once more to look at him, bringing her hand up to rub her tired eyes.
“I love you.”
Giving him a weak smile, she nodded, but didn’t say anything. Once she was out of the kitchen, he leaned back against the counter with a sigh. He looked over to his eggs and poked them with a fork. Hard as a rock!
“Huh. How’d I manage that one?” He mumbled to himself. “Looks like another McDonalds breakfast for the Chasez family…” Shaking his head, he tossed them into the trash. “The floor. I’ll tell her they fell to the floor. She can’t make fun of me for that, can she?” He mumbled.
Number of reviews: 18
Print:
Chapter or Story