“He’ll be taken down to the morgue soon. Have you made funeral arrangements?”
“Didn’t know he was going to die today.”
“Sorry, I meant sometimes when loved ones are terminally ill or chronically ill, the family makes arrangements ahead of time, just in case.”
“Honey, I can help you with that.”
“No, it’s okay, baby, you have enough to worry about with our baby.”
“You have a baby?” The doctor sounded surprised.
“We’re expecting,” Evan clarified.
Emma thought she was going to pass out.
If only.
***
The following week, Evan tried to regain his composure. The funeral was what his old man had always wanted ever since he’d known growing up. He’d always wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. That was what he dreamed of. He’d been a sailor during his earlier years after the war. He felt close to the water. That was before he became ill over the years. The funeral service was attended by close friends and family and many spoke of fond memories of old man Fletcher, especially his talk of a Fletcher curse which many dismissed as part of his humor when he was alive.
“Are you going to be okay, hon?” Emma said rubbing Evan’s naked back later that night when they were in bed.
Evan turned around. He gently placed his soft hand on Emma’s belly and leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. “Just as long as I have you two, I’m fine. Looks like God sometimes takes away to give us something…or someone else in our life. Thank you.”
“For what?” Emma said quietly.
“For this,” he said rubbing her belly. “For giving me a child. For giving me hope and a family of our own.”
Emma swallowed hard.
He’d just lost his father. No way in hell could she let him feel he’d just lost a child he never really had in the first place.
As the months climbed on, life was getting more complicated. Sure, she’d gained a little weight from eating in secret out of her anxiety over not so much carrying a baby as carrying a big fat lie, but Evan was going to be expecting a baby to kick inside her soon by the time she would be sixteen weeks pregnant. What if there was no kick? What would she tell him then?
13.
A month later while on her day off from the office Lucinda called up Dr. Van Horne, OBGYN. She carefully dialed the number that she memorized when she had glanced on Evan’s desk. He had scribbled a note down about his wife’s obstetrician appointment and that she’d be going alone.
“Dr. Van Horne’s office. Can I help you?” A bright cheery receptionist answered the phone.
“Hi, I’m calling to pick up my sister, Emma Wiggins-Fletcher,” she lied to the lady on the phone.
“Oh, um…we don’t have a Wiggins-Fletcher here. You must have dialed the wrong office.”
“Oh? But I dropped her off their last week. This is 4224A-West Shire Boulevard, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is.”
Lucinda heard the sound of tapping on a computer keyboard. “Sorry,” the voice continued. “We don’t even have a patient by that name. You must have gotten the wrong office.”
“No, actually, I don’t think so. But thank you for your assistance, ma’am!”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help you.”
“Oh, you just did, honey! You just did.” Lucinda’s mouth drew a wicked grin as she curled the corner of her lip in disgust. She really had Emma now.
14.
“Okay, so as I explained before, we’re filming a series of events in Mr. Wiggins life as well as snippets of interviews to add to his Survivor story. I understand that he’s taking his nap right now. But we can interview you all and add it to the footage later. Any questions?” Kyle, the producer of the Real Survivors documentary asked as he looked around the grand living room of the Fletcher home.
The scenery was perfect with the living area as it almost looked like an art gallery with the expensive art on the walls, the wide open space and the tall ceiling to floor windows inviting in ample sunlight. The few tall plants and the fireplace gave it a nice cosy country feel.
“So when will this documentary be aired?” Evan said as he sat on the chair arm rubbing Emma’s shoulder as she sat down on the seat beside him.
“Well, we’ve already filmed tons of footage of your grandfather-in-law going to the park with Lina, his support worker. He did a lot of talking and reflecting on his battle with cancer which was very touching. We filmed him strolling in his wheelchair. We went to the old house and to the hospital where he spent time at the palliative care center and interviewed the nurses and doctor who cared for him. We’re going to pretty much wrap everything up soon. We just need to get a few interviews here. That’s why I’ve asked you all to come at the same time. I mean, there was the wedding that he never thought he’d live to see and Emma seems to be a big part of his life.”
“Yes. In fact,” the assistant director chimed in, “the doctors and nurses at the palliative care center said that the wedding did wonders for his condition and gave him a second wind of hope. They see it happen all the time. A little good news can do wonders. Now with news of the pregnancy he seems to be doing so much better.”
Emma felt her stomach give a lurch.
“You okay, Ems,” Gina called out from the corner of the room. She too was invited to lend support since she’d visited Grandpa Wiggins many times when he was supposedly dying at the hospital.
“Yeah, I’m good thanks. Just a little…” queasy with freaking guilt. “A little tired.” Yeah, sick and tired of keeping up with this ginormous lie I’ve told about being pregnant.
God, when am I going to learn to keep my big gob shut? You’d think I would have learned by now. Why didn’t I wait to do a blood test first before telling Evan and the whole world I was pregnant? A home pregnancy test is not one hundred percent accurate. Sheesh! And then there’s my fake appointments with Dr. Van Horne. God help me if Evan calls his office to check up on me behind my back.
Fuck! I really need a drink now!
Heck, I need a miracle!
***
Lucinda had been to Evan’s home before a long time ago when he held the company barbecue in his massive garden. She drove up the stone driveway noticing many cars there. There was a memo Evan left that he would be unavailable today because he would be filming the big documentary about Emma’s grandfather and the little miracle he’d live to see.
Well, enough was enough. Lucinda couldn’t let Emma trick Evan, her grandfather and the whole world now could she?
Evan will thank her later, after his broken heart has been healed. And then he’d realized that he should have been with Lucinda instead of Emma the whole time. At least Lucinda was honest. Well sort of. Maybe too honest to a fault sometimes.
She’d done a bit of snooping around. Thank goodness she got one of her former detective friends to give her some equipment on loan. She’d listened in on a couple of Emma’s phone calls to her friend Gina. She only got snippets of conversation with all that static but she got enough information to know that Emma was faking pregnancy the whole time. She rolled her eyes. Lucinda would never trap a guy with a fake pregnancy. Not even if she were desperate. Well, okay, there was that one time in college but she was still practically a kid at the time. Eighteen. But this was different. Emma was older and should know better now. Emma’s time was officially over as Miss Con Artist of the Year!
***
“Okay, now, Emma, tell us about the day you told your grandfather he was going to be a great-grandpa,” Kyle questioned Emma as the cameraman turned the light on the camera with the microphone hanging from the top. He began filming.
“Um…well….I’ve never seen him so happy. It was as if a light came over him,” Emma’s eyes began to sting with tears. “It means the world to him to be able to see his family tree extend.”
“So you were glad you were able to give that gift to him while he’s still with you. The news that h
e was going to be a great-grandfather. His dream come true.”
“Yes,” Emma’s voice trailed off.
The doorbell had rung and Emma heard June’s footsteps as she quickly ran to open it.
“That is very touching,” Kyle continued.
“You must have had fond memories growing up with-”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Lucinda’s intrusive voice cut Kyle off.
Emma noticed Evan’s face reddened.
“Is this important, Lucinda? We’re filming here,” he said sounding more annoyed and angry than caring what she had to say.
“Well, sort of…I know this may not be the best time but, well, I think documentaries should be based on fact and well…Emma hasn’t been quite factual with everyone and I don’t think it’s right.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Evan stood up, as if propelled by an explosive force.
Emma felt queasy. Her stomach tightened in a knot. Her mind quickly reeled to the day she met stupid Lucinda at the Walmart book section but what was she doing there now? She couldn’t possibly…No, she wouldn’t dare!
“Sorry, Evan, but Emma’s not really pregnant. She never was and I have the proof.”
“What?” Evan’s voice fired off.
Gina stood up and moved over to be by Emma’s side. “You’re crazy, bitch!” Gina shouted to Lucinda.
Emma felt dizzy and could not move. She felt paralyzed.
Eagerly, the cameraman continued to roll the film. “This is fantastic. Keep going.”
Evan turned on the cameraman, fury in his eyes. “What do you think you’re doing? Turn the God damned camera off. This is a documentary! Not an episode of Jersey fucking Shore!”
Caught off by Evan’s fury, the man backed down and turned off the light of the camera and placed it down looking at Kyle the producer with confusion on his face. He shrugged his shoulders and stood aside. Evan seemed like he was ready to explode.
“Emma you don’t have to listen to this.”
“Oh, there you go protecting Emma again, Evan. What is wrong with you? Don’t you see she’s pulling the wool over your eyes? She’s trapping you with a fake pregnancy. Ask her. I went to Doctor Van Horne’s office. She’s not a patient there.”
Evan turned to Emma, the look of fury mixed with confusion as he furrowed his brow. He said nothing.
“Oh, Evan, I’m so sorry,” Emma burst out into a river of tears. “I….I…I’m sorry…I…”
“What?” Evan shoved his hands in his pockets and paced frantically around the room. It was as if he was going stark crazy. “What? What?”
“Evan…” Emma cried out weakly.
“You fucking lied to me about having my baby. Are you crazy? How could you do that, Emma?”
“Evan, listen it’s not what it seems,” Gina tried to come to her defence.
“I don’t wanna hear it!”
Lucinda’s smug smile could not be missed as she folded her arms across her chest watching everything unravel. Probably as she had planned.
“Fuck!” Evan cried out again.
“Evan….I’m sorry. I’m so….so sorry…”
“That’s it! I can’t take any more of your damn lies, Emma. It’s over!”
“What?”
“It’s over, Emma. We’re through!” With those lingering words of fury, Evan marched out of the living room and through the foyer. Emma heard the front door slam so hard she swore the house rattled.
Emma felt her head spinning. She was losing control but it was too late as she tried to stand up, she passed out.
15.
Emma woke up some time later on an unfamiliar bed with rails. When she pried her eyes open she realized she was in a private room at the hospital. The pine disinfectant smell of the floor cleaner wafted past her nostrils, the sound of overhead paging outside was evident as was the beeping sound of the monitor that she was attached to. When she looked up she could see numbers on the screen and a squiggly line going up and down. Well thank God, she was alive and she had woken up in a hospital instead of hell!
“You okay, hon?” Gina’s soothing voice distracted her observation. Her friend got up from her chair and placed her Kindle down and reached over and kissed Emma on the forehead.
“What…what happened?” Emma said, weakness in her voice. She could barely hold her head up. She just realized that she was hooked up to an intravenous drip, too. It appeared that Normal Saline was infusing in her veins. But why?
Emma’s memory came back about the documentary and Evan storming out of the house and that witch Lucinda! She burst into tears.
“Evan’s g-g-gone, isn’t he?”
“It’s okay, sweetie. I told him everything. I told him that you didn’t know about the result. That you really thought it was positive at first but when you went to tell him that he was already emotional and that you didn’t want to burst his bubble. It’s gonna be okay, hon.”
“Thanks, G-Gina,” Emma stuttered. “But I lied to him and he’s gone. It’s over-”
“It ain’t over till I say it’s over,” Evan came into the room with three cups of Starbuck’s drinks. She knew two of them must be coffee. She guessed the other was her favorite, hot chocolate with real whipped cream on top.
“Evan,” Emma said weakly, too tied up to move with all the wires attached to her from the ECG.
“Thanks, Evan,” Gina said as she took her coffee. “Ems, I’m just going downstairs for a while. See you later, okay?” She winked to her friend then gathered her handbag and Kindle and walked out the room closing the door behind her.
Evan drew in a deep breath and placed Emma’s drink on the table beside her.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“It’s okay.”
There was a long awkward silence that filled the air between them until Evan finally broke it. “I’m sorry.”
“What? Honey, I’m sorry. I’m the one who lied to you.”
“And for a good reason, I guess. I mean, the way Gina explained it…”
“Yes, hon. I was so stupid. The test strip was positive, I thought. I mean they all give different results. I got so excited I didn’t know that I had confused it with another test strip. I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“But you should have just opened up and tell me the truth, hon. You know how I feel about lies.”
“When was I supposed to do that? When you told me I made you feel like a real man or….when your…father passed.”
Evan swallowed hard. Emma could see his Adam’s apple bob in his throat. He drew in another deep breath. “Okay, you’ve made your point.”
“Well, will you ever forgive me? I mean, I was hoping that we could try and get pregnant.”
“No.”
Emma felt her heart smash against her chest. “No?”
“No, baby.” He handed her a hospital printout of blood results. “The ER doc ran some tests on you after you passed out and that included an hCG pregnancy test since Gina told them about some pregnancy. And well…it turns out that we’re really going to have a baby!” Evan’s smile grew wider.
“What?” Emma’s heart leaped in her chest. She tried to lean up but couldn’t.
“Don’t try to get up, baby, just rest.”
“That’s wonderful….but….the pregnancy test.”
“Yeah, I explained that to the doc and he said that the test strip was probably faulty in the first place or you didn’t give a good enough urine sample. It happens a lot, he said. Anyway, they also did an ultrasound on your while you were sleeping just to date the pregnancy and give an accurate due date!”
Emma could not believe it. “We’re going to have a baby.”
“Nope. I’m sorry,” the doctor said, walking into the room.
“No?” Both Emma and Evan called out in unison. The look of confusion plastered on their faces.
“No. You are not going to have a baby,” he said as he paused, peering out at them over his spectacles. “Accordin
g to this ultrasound result,” he said, showing them a grey photo, “you're going to have three babies. You’re pregnant with triplets! Congratulations!” The doctor’s smile appeared.
“What?” Evan was beside himself. He stood up pacing in excitement. “We’re having three babies? That’s…that’s fantastic! Unbelievably fantastic!”
Emma was dazed. Here she went from one baby to no baby to three. The events of the day was almost too much excitement for her to handle.
She took the picture and looked at the image of her uterus. A miracle. Three little miracles!
“Oh, baby, this is so amazing. I love you so much,” Evan said hugging her shoulders and brushing his lips against hers.
“Baby, I love you, too. Just think we’re going to be parents to triplets!”
“Yes, and your due date is June the first!”
Emma could not believe what the doctor had just told her. So, she was spot on. So to speak. Talk about coincidence.
“From this day forward, we promise to love and honor each other and keep no more secrets from each other. Agree?”
“Agree, baby! One hundred percent.”
They embraced in a passionate kiss as the doctor left the room to answer a page.
“To a new beginning.” Evan raised his cup to Emma.
He placed her cup of hot chocolate in her hand and they both toasted.
“To a new beginning and three little miracles!”
EPILOGUE
June 1st
Evan and Emma with three sleeping babies in their arms posed as Gina took the snapshot on her BlackBerry. They were cuddled together on the hospital bed. The babies wrapped in matching white blankets with blue stripes on the edges.
An Unexpected Baby Page 6