by Gregg Stutts
“It could have been last night. Any strenuous activity?”
“I don’t think so,” he said quietly.
“Well, since she’s eight and a half months pregnant, I’m going to assume she wasn’t horseback riding,” the doctor said.
“Horseback riding? No, she definitely wasn’t riding a horse,” Max said.
Dr. Hadley seemed intent on finding the answer. “Well, sometimes…intercourse can cause polyps to bleed.”
“It can?” Max said as he glanced at Willy and Rose. Rose was avoiding eye contact by staring at the floor. Willy still had his eyes closed, but looked like he was biting his lip.
Dr. Hadley looked at Max, then at Willy and Rose. “Yes, well, sometimes vigorous intercourse this late in a pregnancy can cause a polyp to bleed.”
“Vigorous?” Max could feel his face getting hot. “Well, I don’t know if I would call it vigorous…” His words trailed off while he wished he was anywhere else at the moment.
Dr. Hadley was merciful and didn’t press any further. “She’s going to be fine, Mr. Henry, but you’ll want to meet with your wife’s OB/GYN to discuss options. Polyps aren’t harmful to your wife or the baby. And in most cases, they’ll disappear by themselves after the pregnancy, but we don’t want another episode like today.”
“No, we definitely don’t want any more episodes.” Now it was Max avoiding eye contact. “So when can I see her?”
“In a few minutes. I’ll have a nurse come get you.”
He shook Dr. Hadley’s hand then plopped back in his chair and exhaled loudly.
“She’s going to be okay,” Rose said. “Oh thank you, Lord.”
“And the baby,” Willy added.
Max could see Willy’s lip-biting was unsuccessful and he was now grinning. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Willy said looking away.
“Now, William,” Rose said, “you behave yourself.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Willy protested. But it only took a moment before he looked at Max and said, “Vigorous?”
“William! I said behave yourself.”
“I’m trying” Willy said, “but he’s not making it easy.”
Chapter 3
By mid-afternoon, Max and Michelle were enjoying a quiet Memorial Day on the back deck. A mostly cloudy sky and two large glasses of iced tea made it comfortable enough for Michelle. Other than some soreness, she was feeling better now that the bleeding had stopped. Max closed his eyes and shook his head.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“Oh, nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I was just thinking about Willy.”
“What about him?”
“Well, you know, Dr. Hadley was trying to determine why the polyps started bleeding,” he said.
“So?”
“So…he was asking me about…physical activities you were involved in. In particular, he asked about horseback riding.”
“Horseback riding?” she said, looking puzzled. “Why would he be asking about horseback riding? I wasn’t riding a horse.”
“Yes, I know that. That’s what I told him.”
“So why in the world would he think I was riding a horse just two weeks from my due date?”
“He didn’t.” Max really just wanted the topic to end, but it seemed to be taking on a whole life of its own. “He was just using it as an example. So then he asked about any other physical activities. In particular, he asked about…”
“What?” she said.
“Vigorous sex.”
Michelle laughed. “Vigorous sex? Guilty as charged on that one. What did you tell him?”
“Oh sure, it’s funny to you. You didn’t have to be the one talking about it in front of Willy and Rose,” he said.
“Well? What did you tell him?” she said.
“I didn’t really have to tell him. I guess the look on my face gave it away.”
She laughed again. “Well, despite a pretty big scare and a trip to the hospital, I had fun last night.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” he said. “That may be the last bit of fun we have for a few months.”
She winked at him. “Doesn’t have to be.”
“No way,” he said. “I’m not going through that again.”
“We can get creative.” She took his hand. “Look at me. I’m fine. Really. I promise.” She took a sip of tea. “Changing the subject for a minute…there’s something I’ve been thinking about.”
“Okay…” he said as the butterflies in his stomach took flight.
“I’ve had this sense for a while that we need to be ready,” she said.
A large cloud covered the sun as a gust of wind whipped through the trees.
“You mean the nursery? I just have the border left to put up.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Michelle was staring into the woods that bordered the backyard. “No, it’s not the baby. It’s something else.”
“But you don’t know what?”
“I can’t really describe it. I don’t know if it’s hormones or intuition or the Lord trying to tell me something.”
“But you think we need to be ready? For something. You’re just not sure what.”
She finished the rest of her iced tea and set the glass down. “Yes, exactly. We need to be ready. For something.”
Chapter 4
Friday, May 29th
Max loaded his laptop and three legal pads into his briefcase. After the excitement of Memorial Day, he was relieved the last week of school had been uneventful. He spent much of it meeting with his coaching staff and each of his players to prepare for summer workouts. He also talked with each kid about the need to make good choices. Over the years, he’d seen too many kids do something stupid and either get themselves injured or in trouble with the police.
As he was locking the door to his office, he felt his phone buzz. It was a text from Michelle. She was craving a cheeseburger and onion rings from Feltner Brothers and wanted him to stop and pick up dinner. It wasn’t until he read her text that he realized how hungry he was. Back-to-back meetings had prevented a break for lunch.
The ten-minute drive to the restaurant wasn’t quite enough time for the air-conditioner to cool his truck down. As he turned the engine off and got out, he could feel his shirt sticking to his back. The moment he opened the door to the restaurant, a rush of cool air, the sizzle from the grill and the aroma of handmade burgers being grilled to perfection greeted him. It only took a second for his mouth to water.
He ordered two double-cheeseburgers with everything, except without mustard on his, and two large orders of onion rings. He almost added a hot dog, but knew more than likely, Michelle would only eat half of her food and he’d be able to finish it. At almost full-term, she didn’t have much room for food.
He picked up the sports section that someone had left behind and glanced through it while they prepared his order. Basketball and hockey seasons were winding down. Baseball was still early in its season and football was months away. Other than NASCAR, which he had only a mild interest in, there wasn’t much he cared about in the sports world at this time of year.
He tossed the sports section back on the table and picked up the local section. There wasn’t much happening locally either, but the minutes of the Lakeside city council’s most recent meeting caught his eye. With just four citizens in attendance, the council approved the “Freedom Protection Act” by a vote of five to two. He turned the page looking for more information, but there wasn’t any.
“Hey, coach, here’s your order.” The server, a former player, handed him the bag and gave him a pat on the back. “You and Mrs. Henry have a good weekend.”
Max thanked him and was already digging into the onion rings before he made it to his truck. By the time he pulled into his driveway, he was fishing around in the bag for another onion ring, but his were gone. He hoped Michelle was in the mood to share not only her burger, but also her onion rings.
He found her in
the living room watching the local news. She started to get up, which was taking more and more effort with every passing day, but then plopped back onto the couch. He set the bag down on the coffee table and grabbed them each a bottle of water.
“I know I’ve still got a week to go, but I can hardly move.” With some effort, she got to the edge of her seat and opened the bag. “Only one order of onion rings?”
“Two,” he said. “I ate mine on the way home.”
She smiled and slid hers between them to share. “I don’t think I can eat all this food.”
It was rare for them to have the local news on. The national news was even more rare. It was just too depressing. Staying positive about the state of the world was hard enough without a constant barrage of bad news coming into their home every day. What was it they said in the news business? If it bleeds, it leads?
He didn’t need the news reminding him of how bad things were. Between terrorism, the national debt, unemployment numbers and the latest school shooting, it was better to not know. He was about to suggest they change the channel to Seinfeld when the anchor said, “Coming up, the latest on the death of a Lakeside City Council member.”
“A death? Who died?” Max said.
“First I’ve heard of it,” Michelle said. “I wonder what happened.”
“Let’s find out, then how about we watch Seinfeld?” he said.
“It’s okay with me.” She took a bite of her cheeseburger. “Mmmm, so good.”
“How’d you feel today?” he asked.
“Other than not being able to find a comfortable position, I’m good,” she said. “You can stop worrying. Everything is fine.”
He tried to erase the image of his wife lying in a pool of blood four days earlier. But that only reminded him of the embarrassment of answering Dr. Hadley’s questions in front of Willy and Rose.
After the commercial, the news anchor said, “Lakeside councilman, Andy Reynolds, was found dead at his residence early this morning. The apparent cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. The police aren’t releasing any other details pending an investigation.”
The news cut to a reporter standing in front of Reynolds’ home. “Tara, police aren’t saying much, but a neighbor I talked with said he believes Councilman Reynolds was found in his garage this morning with the car running.”
He finished a bite of an onion ring and said, “Where’s today’s paper, Shelle?”
“Check on the kitchen table. Why?”
He found the paper and opened to the story he’d read while waiting at the restaurant. “Here it is,” he said.
“Here what is?”
“The city council passed a new ordinance the other night called the Freedom Protection Act,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Me either, not until I saw it in the paper a little bit ago. The council voted to pass it five to two. Andy Reynolds and Dan Jenkins were the only ‘no’ votes.”
“The Andy Reynolds they just found in his garage?”
“Same guy.”
“That’s weird,” she said.
He set the paper down, picked up the remote and changed the channel to Seinfeld. “Oh, this is the Soup Nazi,” he said. “I love this one.”
“You love all of them.”
He finished the last of his cheeseburger and washed it down with the rest of the water, as the Soup Nazi said, “No soup for you!”
“I wonder why they voted against the Freedom Protection Act,” Michelle said. “It sounds like a good thing. I mean who wouldn’t want their freedom protected?”
“Yeah, I wonder,” he said.
Chapter 5
Saturday, May 30th
The phone rang at exactly 7:00 on Saturday morning. Normally, Max would have been awake, but he hadn’t slept well and probably could have slept another hour.
“Who’s calling?” Michelle said, still half asleep. She hadn’t slept well either and was already rolling over, with great difficulty, and pulling the covers over her head.
He reached for his phone. “It’s Willy.”
“Tell him I said ‘hello’ and to stop calling so early on a Saturday.”
“Hi, Willy,” he said as he made his way to the kitchen to start the coffee. “What’s up?”
“How’s our girl doing?”
“She’s doing great.”
“And how are you doing?”
“Honest answer? A little tired and a little stressed.”
“Why don’t you come over for some breakfast? I’ve got the coffee going and I think I can persuade Rose to make us some biscuits and gravy.”
“I better ask. Hold on.” The bedroom was still dark and Michelle showed no interest in getting up. “Hey, Shelle,” he whispered. “Do you mind if I go over to Willy’s for breakfast.”
“Just start the coffee.” As he was leaving, she added, “And tell Willy he’s in my doghouse for waking me up. This might be the last Saturday I get to sleep in for…five years.”
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”
Thirty minutes later, Willy was handing him a mug of coffee. “Whatever you’re cooking smells delicious, Rose,” he said.
“Biscuits and gravy and cinnamon rolls,” Willy said with a wink. “I told ya.”
“Good to know you’ve never given in to the low-carb or gluten-free diet pressure, Willy.”
“You boys go relax on the deck. I’ll bring everything out when it’s ready,” Rose said.
Willy sat down in his favorite chair while Max leaned on the railing and looked out over the lake. The shade from the large oak tree overhanging the deck and a light breeze made it comfortable.
“Feels like just yesterday we did this for the first time,” Max said.
“Nine months ago,” Willy said. “So, tell me how you’re doing.” He took a sip of coffee. “And I want the truth.”
Max sipped some of his coffee and watched a sailboat in the distance. Willy got up and joined him at the rail. “I never get tired of this view.”
“So, the truth, huh?”
“I can handle the truth,” Willy said, trying to do an impersonation of Jack Nicholson, which wasn’t very good.
Max smiled and said, “That was pretty bad.” He blew on his coffee and took a sip. “I guess the truth is that I’m up and down. I’m fine and then I’m not. I’ve forgiven Michelle for the affair, but then I get angry.”
“Uh, huh. Why do you think that is?”
“Why do I feel like you already know the answer, Willy?”
Willy squeezed Max’s shoulder. “I don’t know that I do, but I want to know what you think.”
“Have you ever been doing fine one minute, but then the next minute you feel anxious or worried?”
“I think we can all relate to that,” Willy said.
“Really? So that still happens to you?”
Willy laughed. “We’re all in process, Max. See this tree?” He nodded to the oak tree providing the shade. “When we moved into this house forty years ago, this tree was a tiny little thing. Now look at it. If you come back a week from now, it’s going to look just the way it does now. But if you come back in ten years, you’re going to see how much it’s grown.”
“So you’re saying growth just takes time, huh?” Max set his mug on the railing and turned to Willy. “I just wish I had the time to process all this. For most people, the end of the school year signals the start of summer. For me, it means the start of pre-season football. We’ve got 7 on 7 tournaments, conditioning workouts, weightlifting…and preparing for the start of fall practice. There’s a lot to do.”
“Uh, huh.” Willy sipped his coffee. “But you like all that stuff, right?”
“Yeah, I do, but there’s very little down time. And the baby is due any day now and that will mean less sleep and Michelle will be exhausted and…” Max rubbed his face and ran his fingers through his hair.
“And?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” He dr
opped his head, then looked at Willy. “And…is the baby even mine?”
“Do you and Michelle talk about that?”
“Never. She doesn’t bring it up and I told her I’d raise the baby to be mine either way.”
“And that’s changed?” Willy said.
