For the Love of Lisa

by Callie Norse

  “Amazing how we think alike. First, I think it would be a good idea if I wash off in the shower,” Greg answered.

  Lisa agreed. She was dressed in only a half-slip, bra, and panties—all light green, a Martha Stewart green, as Greg called it. Greg cupped his hand inside her bra, exposing a breast. He lowered his lips to the nipple and began to suck, as he couldn’t resist the temptation. He loved her breasts and knew this would get her going. It always did.

  “Honey, if you ever want to make it to the Jacuzzi, you’d better quit that, or we will be making love right here on the bed, with you in your dirty clothes.”

  He gave her a peck on the lips, as he tucked her breast back inside her bra, and gave her well-filled bra cup a soft pat. He then disappeared into the new adjoining bath. Lisa arrived as he was stepping out of his sexy black briefs, which never failed to excite her. They fit just snugly enough to show the outline of his arousal, which she took in her hand. She so loved to feel his progression, which now already had a head start. He reached around her; his fingers feeling for her bra hooks. One by one he unfastened them allowing her bra to drop to the floor, exposing her amazing breasts. He slowly slid her half-slip down her legs, leaving only her bikini panties, which he eased off her sexy ass and down her shapely thighs. Her heart began racing as he spread her thighs. His fingers became playful.

  Lisa then worried he would detect the lubricant Dr.Fontell used for the exam. “Greg honey, we need to get the Jacuzzi ready. Why don’t you take your shower while I run the water?” She turned on the gold plated faucet and added a few drops of the gardenia-scented bath salts, which Greg had given her as a surprise the day the Jacuzzi was completed. He lit the floating candles surrounding the tub, turned on soft music, and closed the shutters on the window to block the outside light. The room was now a perfect romantic setting. The tub had finished filling by the time Greg stepped out of the shower. Lisa could see he was quite ready! She handed him some wine from the small refrigerator they had filled with wine and chilled glasses. He popped the cork and poured two glasses while she held them.

  Days earlier, Lisa had replaced their usual wine with non-alcoholic wine, suspecting she might be pregnant. She gave Greg the excuse it would be less tiring while she was still adjusting to the added responsibilities of the new house. He took the filled glasses from her and sat them on the ledge along side the Jacuzzi, then took her hand to help her in, admiring her beauty, as always. The warm bubbling water with the floral scent felt quite relaxing. Greg handed Lisa one of the glasses of wine and took the other for himself. They sipped their wine as they relaxed listening to “Let’s Make Love” by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Greg leaned in and kissed Lisa, immediately causing her to respond. She was now feeling in a much more romantic mood than she had been in for weeks. The kiss went on and on. Lisa orgasmed. Greg could never understand how she did this. He began fondling her delicious breasts. As he sucked on her erect nipples—first one, then the other—her body arched toward him. He reached into the water—feeling, massaging, and exciting her even more. She knelt over top of him, lowering herself onto him. She loved the feeling. His size was more than she could have ever dreamed of. She began to rhythmically ride him, first slowly, then faster as pleasures mounted. Suddenly, she came down hard on him—water splashed and ran out onto the floor. They hardly noticed.

  Greg became more vocal. Lisa was close to being out of control. They loved it when they became this involved. They reached their peak at the same moment. Greg lifted her out of the water and carried her into the bedroom, where they lay cuddling until sleep came.

  Later, as Lisa was preparing chicken and dumplings for supper, Maggie came bouncing into the kitchen, “Oh, goodie, first my favorite show and now one of my favorite suppers! I had the bestest time. Amy and I had a bunch of fun. Her mommy let us pick any treat we wanted. I had gummy worms. Amy had sweet tarts. We sat way down front so we could see good. Wowie, was Shrek ever big!”

  Lisa laughed, knowing even the tiniest of characters would appear large from the front row. All through supper, Maggie continued to tell of her exciting afternoon—an afternoon that was wonderful for all.

  Greg helped Lisa with the dishes, as he knew she was exhausted. The nap had helped—that was—until their romantic frolic. Lisa and Maggie both turned in early. Greg worked in his office until long after they fell asleep. Things were busy at work, and he was finding it necessary to bring work home at times. He was almost ready to quit for the night, when he heard the cries of a baby. This haunted him, as did the unanswered questions with the mysterious, red substance.

  *****

  The next morning, as Lisa was tidying up the house, the phone rang. “Lisa, your test results are negative. You are not pregnant. I am so sorry. I know how much you hoped you were.” Dr. Fontell continued to say, “I think you should see Dr. Harris to be on the safe side. I have made an appointment for you, for this Friday at 2:00. He had a cancellation, and I was able to get you in then. Try not to worry.” Lisa thanked her and hung up the phone.

  “Try not to worry. That’s easy for her to say. This isn’t normal for me to be so tired and nauseous. Maybe I’m anemic. Surely, Dr. Fontell checked for anemia.”

  The next two days were long ones. Lisa continued to keep this to herself, as she didn’t want to worry Greg needlessly. Her sister, Lori, had agreed to watch Maggie. Lori assumed it was a regular check up, nothing more. Lisa would tell Greg afterward, as Maggie would be sure to alert him to the fact Mommy had gone somewhere and left her with Lori.

  Lisa got right in to see Dr. Harris. This must be her lucky day, she thought…well, not really, or she wouldn’t be here. Dr. Harris was a young doctor, mid thirties Lisa guessed. “Good afternoon, Lisa. Dr. Fontell tells me you haven’t been yourself. I’m sorry for your disappointment. She also passed that along to me.” Lisa lay there in her paper gown, as he examined her. She wasn’t as comfortable with Dr. Harris as she had been with Dr. Fontell. He poked and prodded and did a thorough exam, asking, “Lisa, how long have you had the tenderness in your abdomen?”

  “It has been there awhile. We moved recently. I may have strained some muscles moving boxes about.”

  “That may very well be, but I also have noticed you are slightly jaundiced. I think we should run some tests. I want you to have lab work done. I feel we should do an ultrasound of your abdomen. They can draw blood at the lab here, before you leave today. Let me have my nurse call the hospital and set up the ultrasound.”

  Lisa’s mind was in a fog as she dressed. The nurse came back into the room, after she finished dressing, to tell her to report to the hospital the following Wednesday at 9:00 AM.

  She agreed, and then went to the lab. “Lisa Carrington…Lisa Carrington.” Lisa knew from the stern tone of the lab tech’s voice that this wasn’t the first time she had called her name. She led her to a cubicle in the back, where she drew many vials of blood. Lisa felt this was a bit excessive.

  As she left the parking lot, she almost pulled out in front of another car. Her mind was on what Dr. Harris had said. “Slightly jaundiced…an ultrasound.” On the way to pick up Maggie, she was deep in thought. “Maybe he thinks I’m pregnant and something is wrong—something that some rest and vitamins will fix. That’s it. I’m pregnant and it was too early to show up in the test Dr. Fontell ran,” Lisa kept trying to convince herself.

  It was going to be difficult to explain all of this to Greg. Before, she had always been open with him. Would he understand her keeping this from him? She would soon find out.

  Supper was over and the dishes were done. Maggie was starting to wind down from her afternoon with Lori. Lori and her husband, Steve, lived on a farm on the outskirts of town. They had many animals, which Maggie adored, her favorite being the baby lambs. She had fed one of them a bottle, as there were too many for the ewe to nurse. The baby kittens were also a highlight of the day. Lisa had joked with her sister saying they should open a petting zoo for all the young children to enjoy, sinc
e they had so many small animals, which children enjoyed. They even had a pig named Charlotte. The baby lamb Maggie bottle-fed was named Mary. Maggie had giggled at the supper table, saying the baby kittens needed some mittens.

  Greg now knew, of course, that Lisa had gone to town and left Maggie with Lori. What he didn’t know was that Lisa had been to the doctor. Lisa would tell him after Maggie was asleep for the night.

  They settled in the parlor for the evening. Maggie curled up in a chair with a book and fell asleep quite early, exhausted from her day at the farm.

  “Greg, honey,” Lisa began. “I went to see Dr. Harris today.”

  “So, that’s why you went into town and left Maggie at the farm.”

  “Yes, honey. Dr. Fontell wanted me to see him.”

  “So, when did you see Dr. Fontell?” Greg inquired.

  “The first of the week, when I told you I went to lunch with Marta.”

  “And you didn’t have lunch with Marta? Why did you tell me you did, if you went to see the doctor?” Greg appeared disturbed.

  “I wanted to surprise you. I thought I was going to have good news for you after I saw her. I thought I was pregnant, because I’ve been so tired and nauseated much of the time.”

  “Sweetie, you said you thought you were. You aren’t?”

  “I’m not sure, honey. Dr. Fontell says I’m not. I wonder if Dr. Harris thinks I am. I had a blood test Tuesday for pregnancy. It came back negative. She wanted me to see Dr. Harris for his opinion on my nausea and fatigue.”

  “And… what did he say?”

  “He wants me to have an ultrasound. I have tenderness in my abdomen, and he thinks I look a little jaundiced. He didn’t say so, but I wonder, though, if he may suspect I’m pregnant since he wants to do an ultrasound.”

  “He thinks you’re jaundiced?” Greg asked.

  “That’s what he said.”

  “I knew your coloring looked a little different. I never gave it much thought. Now that you mention it, maybe you are jaundiced.”

  “I think you are both seeing things.” Lisa sounded disgruntled. She was beginning to get a little disgusted with all today’s modern technology—all the messing around for a simple pregnancy.

  Greg could tell she was upset. He tried to comfort her by agreeing with her—even though he didn’t entirely. It didn’t seem to help much, and he couldn’t blame her. He felt Dr. Fontell would never have sent her to Dr. Harris, unless something was terribly wrong. Greg was quite concerned, although he didn’t let on to Lisa. She hadn’t told him when the ultrasound would be. He chose not to upset her anymore by asking. He turned on the stereo, which already had her favorite Faith Hill CD in the player. He drew her close to him and laid her head on his lap, rubbing her arm in an attempt to comfort her. She lay quietly staring off into space. She seemed to be focused on a large picture of she and her mom, which was taken years earlier when Lisa was only a few years old. It was remarkable how much Lisa now looked like her mom did back then. It almost looked as if it was a picture of Lisa and Maggie, as there were strong resemblances of Lisa in Maggie; although there was enough of Greg in Maggie to recognize the child in the picture wasn’t Maggie.

  Greg wished he could help Lisa. She was terribly troubled, with reason. He knew to stay close and hold her. To initiate sex tonight would only upset her more. He himself wasn’t in the mood, as he was concerned about Lisa. He was wondering what the doctors suspected. He hoped the ultrasound was scheduled soon. The not knowing was difficult. With the thought of Lisa having something seriously wrong, he drew her close—extremely close. He gently kissed her. He wished it were winter—the warmth of a fire in the fireplace was always a comfort in cold weather. The music had long since stopped playing. Neither wanted to move to put another CD in. Later, they went up the spiral staircase to bed. Lisa clung to Greg throughout the entire night. She invited him to shower with her that next morning. He washed her back, and she his. There was no personal touching; neither felt the desire. As they stepped out of the shower, Greg handed her a towel.

  She looked at him solemnly as she murmured the words, “Wednesday, 9:00 AM.”

  “Let me go with you, sweetie.”

  “I’d like that, honey.”

  They dressed and went downstairs. Breakfast was very simple today—bagels, juice and coffee. Maggie came bouncing in from the back stairway. She seemed to think the steep stairs were adventuresome in the early mornings. After dark, adventuresome turned to spookiness for her. Little did she know, her daddy felt the same way—especially since the incident with the blood-like substance.

  Greg scooted his chair under the table. “You two ladies be good today. It’s time for me to go earn my paycheck.” He gave Maggie a peck on the cheek and then turned to Lisa, softly kissing her on the lips. As he turned to leave, he whispered, “Don’t worry sweetie. It will be alright, you’ll see.”

  If only Greg could take his own advice. He was terribly concerned, because Lisa was rarely ill.

  *****

  The next five days went by slowly. As they drove to the hospital for the ultrasound, they exchanged very few words. Lisa’s mind flashed back to the time she had an ultrasound when she was pregnant with Maggie. It was such a happy, exciting time, knowing she was pregnant with their first child. She and Greg had chosen not to learn the baby’s sex, as it would add to the excitement. Lisa was clinging to the hope this ultrasound would confirm a pregnancy. She knew, in all reality, that she might be seriously ill. It was best to think positive thoughts until faced with the negative. Her mind jumped to the room she would make into a nursery and how she could decorate it. Maybe this time it would be more practical to learn the baby’s sex, in order to decorate the room in a more appropriate theme. A boy would be nice this time; although she was sure Maggie would rather have a little sister. There would be seven years difference in their ages—too much age difference for them to have much in common. A boy would serve Maggie’s needs just as well. She would love helping take care of him, as she loves caring for her dolls.

  Greg’s mind was on the possibility of Lisa being quite ill. Since Lisa mentioned Dr. Harris’ concern that she was slightly jaundiced, Greg was noticing the jaundice was getting worse.

  As they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Greg leaned over and kissed Lisa. “Sweetie, whatever it is, we will deal with it. At least now we will know.” Greg meant well. His words were less than reassuring.

  Lisa checked in. “Down the hall and to the left,” directed a lady at the front desk.

  They were led to a room in the X-ray department, where a technician was waiting to perform the procedure. The gel the tech spread on Lisa’s abdomen was cool, just like she remembered it from before. The screen was turned so Lisa couldn’t see it while the tech ran the instrument over her abdomen. Greg watched both the screen and the tech’s eyes. Lisa watched the tech’s eyes and the expression on Greg’s face. No one spoke. Greg saw concern in the tech’s eyes, which was immediately portrayed to Lisa through Greg. The screen hadn’t really told Greg much, except that it didn’t look like the ultrasound did when she was carrying Maggie. All he had to go by was how the tech looked, and her actions.

  She turned the machine off and wiped the gel from Lisa’s abdomen. “Your doctor will have the report in the next couple of days. Call his office in three days and he should be able to give you the results by then.”

  Lisa dressed and they were on their way. Now, what were they supposed to think? Lisa’s hopes of a baby were diminishing. Negative thoughts began to creep in. No, she wouldn’t let them! “Greg, honey, do you have time to go to the new furniture store with me?”

  “I have all day if you’d like. Sure, sweetie, we can go to the furniture store. I’ve wanted to see what it’s like. I’ve heard good things about it from my colleagues. I hear the prices are good, too. Let me call the office.” As he sent the number on his cell phone, he knew he couldn’t concentrate on work anyway. Lisa needed him. He needed her. When he finished talking
to the office he called Lori’s number. “Lori, hi, could you watch Maggie awhile longer? We have some shopping to do.”

  “Sure, Greg. Maggie is too wrapped up in the new baby lambs to leave for awhile, anyway. Do I dare ask how the ultrasound went?”

  “It’s another waiting game…a few days anyway.” Greg ended the conversation since he didn’t want to draw Lisa’s attention back to the ultrasound. She was doing so well.

  Lisa failed to comment on him calling Lori. “We need to find a bedroom suite for the guest room. I think it’s time to finish the upstairs. Now that we have the Jacuzzi room finished and your office is complete, we can begin on the guest room. Soon, we can decorate the room next to Maggie’s too. I need to think a little on that room. Maybe we should remove the old wallpaper and paint it a pastel color for now.”

  “If you like, we can go to the wallpaper store. We can take a few books home for you to decide on the paper for the guest room. I’m glad we went ahead and removed the paper in that room. It shouldn’t take long to decorate it. The woodwork is in good shape,” Greg said.

  “For that bed, I want to use one of the quilts Mom made. I have one in mind to use. I will need to match the wallpaper to it.”

  They pulled into the furniture store, which wasn’t far from the hospital. Not a word was spoken about the ultrasound.

  The store impressed them both and they quickly found two bedroom suites they liked. They decided on one, which was well constructed and moderately priced, and also had a matching armoire and chair. Since the furniture had to be ordered, they should be able to finish decorating the room by the time it arrived.

  As they were leaving the store, Lisa caught a glimpse of the baby furniture. This brought her back to the realities of the day. They drove on to the paint and wallpaper store. Lisa browsed through many books before she decided on several to take home. Greg kept busy returning books to their proper cubbyholes in the wall. He was leaving the choice up to Lisa, as she knew what would look best. His job would be to hang it—and of course to nod with approval over her choice.