Tipping Point

by Maisie Johansson

  “Nonsense. You couldn’t let that girl down if you tried,” Grams said. “Now, lets get you some breakfast and get you back to my Caroline before she gets any more antsy and gives the game away.”

  When Rhetta got back to the large, round table, she found that the empty seats had since been occupied by a host of their teammates. She felt bad that she hadn’t had that much time to spend with each of them the night before, but everyone had wanted a piece of her time and all she’d wanted was to spend time with her wife.

  “Apparently we didn’t pay these whiney babies enough attention last night,” Caroline said brightly as Rhetta sat down.

  Rhetta’s nose crinkled in a smile. “What, you guys don’t see enough of us?”

  “Nope!” Charlie grinned before sticking her tongue out at Caroline. Caroline rolled her eyes at her and the gals at the table laughed.

  “So, you guys finally did it, huh?” Fenton interjected. “You’re officially out.”

  “Way to broach the topic gently,” Denise said with an eyeroll.

  “It’s fine,” Rhetta said with a small smile. “Yes, we’re officially out. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to post everything about our lives online, but – at some point – we won’t be able to choose not to address it anymore.”

  Rodney catches her eye across the table, almost as if she knew. Which she kind of did. She just didn’t know that Rhetta might already be pregnant.

  “Do you want us to still hold off posting stuff about the wedding?” Charlie asked from beside Caroline.

  “No, you can post photos from the wedding if you want. We just don’t want to make a big deal of it going forward. We might post photos every now and then, but we don’t want it to be the only thing people associate with us,” Caroline said carefully, looking over to Rhetta for her to nod her agreement.

  Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Can I post a photo not from the wedding and caption it with something about the wedding?”

  Caroline narrowed her eyes at Charlie. “What photo?”

  Charlie pulled out her phone and searched for a moment before sheepishly holding up a photo of Caroline down on one knee in the sand, Rhetta standing in front of her, her hands over her mouth in shock. It made butterflies stir in Caroline’s stomach and she heard Rhetta make a happy, shocked sound over her shoulder.

  “How does this even exist?” she said after a moment.

  “I – err – might have been coincidentally strolling along the edge of the beach where it was really dark and no one could see me…”

  Caroline gave her a look. “Coincidentally?”

  Charlie bit her lip. “Err – yes?”

  “Charlie!” Janine hissed. “That’s not cool.”

  Charlie blushed. “I just wanted you guys to have a photo of the big moment.”

  “A photo that you kept a secret from us?” Rhetta questioned.

  Charlie’s blush deepened. “Yeah, well it won’t be a secret when you open my wedding present.”

  Caroline smiled softly at her. “No, you can’t post it. And no I’m not mad that you took the photo.”

  Charlie looked relived. “Okay.”

  “Will you send it to me, though?” Rhetta asked.

  Charlie nodded and took back her phone to send the photo to Rhetta. When she was done, she held up another photo for approval. “Is this one okay?”

  This photo was from the night before. Rhetta, Caroline and R were stood side by side, grinning at the camera. Caroline stood in the middle, her arms around them both.

  Rhetta nodded her approval. “Go for it.”

  “Hey, has anyone seen Natalie this morning?” Janine asked casually. “She didn’t come back to the room last night and all her stuff is still there.”

  A smile quirked Rhetta’s lips. “She was too busy getting it on with my supposedly straight, young and conservative cousin.”

  Fenton laughed and Janine just nodded like this was a normal part of rooming with Natalie.

  “Do you think we should be worried about her?” Rodney asked. Ryan sat in her lap as he munched his way through a soldier of toast, humming a song as he went. Caroline pulled a face at him and he giggled, waving around his toast like a flag. “I know that she took the breakup hard and wasn’t expecting it, but she’s been a little… reckless lately.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” Press said, surprising everyone. It was no secret that her relationship with Lavender hadn’t lasted more than a couple of weeks, and though they still like friends, no one was really sure what had happened. Everyone agreed, though, that they had been an odd couple in the first place.

  “I’ll come with you,” Janine said and both Dillon and Rodney immediately gave her a look. Rhetta noticed, but she had no idea what it meant. The ‘new kids’ were as thick as thieves and sometimes figuring out what silently passed between them was like trying to understand Japanese.

  “Thanks,” Perinnel smiled, a light blush warming her cheeks. “I’d like that.”

  Okay, now Rhetta got it. And from the way that Dillon caught her eye and winked, she could tell that she was right. It set off her protective instincts and she made her mind up to take Press aside and talk to her about it. So much about Perinnel reminded Rhetta of her younger self. She wanted to help her friend in any way that she could.

  The teammates talked and laughed as the rest of the guests came and went from breakfast around them. Sam came and joined them for a while, proving as popular with the gals as ever, and several of Caroline and Rhetta’s friends and family came over to offer them congratulations and say goodbye. The sickness in Rhetta’s stomach gradually melted away as time passed. Until, that is, Rodney cleared her throat and got everyone’s attention.

  “Okay, so I didn’t want to steal Rhetta and Caroline’s thunder yesterday, but I have some news to share,” Rodney began. Ryan stopped his babbling and looked up at his mom as if waiting to hear what she had to say. “I’m pregnant.”

  The table erupted with coos and congratulations, with everyone but Dillon looking surprised at the news.

  “But… the Olympics!” Fenton whined.

  Rodney chuckled. “You guys won’t even notice that I’m gone. And besides, I already have my two Olympic golds.”

  Rhetta was squirming in her seat, hoping that her sudden awkwardness wouldn’t give her away.

  “Just as long as no one else gets pregnant between now and then,” Fenton huffed. “Otherwise the rookies are going to have it all their own way.”

  Laughter bubbled around the table and Rhetta had to take a sip of water to hide her smile and blush.

  …

  Two weeks later Rhetta woke in an unfamiliar bed in the warmth and safety of Caroline’s arms. She turned her head and smiled at Caroline’s serene, sleeping face. She really did look like an angel in these moments; when all of the worries that pressed on her shoulders were shrugged off in sleep. As usual of late, her hand had found its way onto Rhetta’s lower belly during the night, resting there protectively. It was so achingly maternal that it made Rhetta feel on top of the world and absolutely terrified at the same time. She supposed that’s what motherhood was supposed to feel like, but she wasn’t sure that she was entitled to think like that yet.

  The whoosh of a letter being slid under their door made the bottom fall out of Rhetta’s stomach.

  As soon as they had arrived at the hotel the previous morning, Gillian had sent Rhetta off for a physical. Rhetta had thought that it was a little over the top until she found out that Gillian had arranged for their team medic to take a blood sample.

  “She doesn’t want you relying on ‘that damn stupid pee stick’,” the medic had quoted. “Plus, you can do this test a few days earlier and we’ll get it rushed through a lab.”

  So that was what they had done. Rhetta hadn’t told Caroline. She wanted it to be a surprise. She wanted to be the one to tell Caroline that they were having a baby, not some plastic stick or lab result. The process so far had been impersonal and cli
nical but this, this she could make just about the two of them. Even if it meant the possibility of finding out that there was no baby alone and having to break it to Caroline afterwards.

  With that chilling thought in mind, Rhetta slipped from bed to get the results, her whole body clenched in fear. Caroline felt her tense and move, and began to wake.

  “Where you going?” she mumbled, her eyes still closed.

  Rhetta leant down and pressed a kiss to Caroline’s temple. “Have to pee. I’ll be right back, baby.”

  Caroline chuckled, “Right back.” And fell back asleep.

  Rhetta shook her head and smiled at her half-asleep wife’s terrible joke, before making her way to the bathroom, picking up the letter on the way.

  Once she was locked inside, she sat on the side of the bath and turned over the envelope. For what must have been a full minute she stared at the sealed paper, trying to psyche herself into opening it.

  Eventually she took it in her shaking hands and ripped it open so forcibly that the letter inside spilled out onto the floor. She froze, hoping that the noise hadn’t woken Caroline. When she heard no signs of movement from the room outside, she picked up the letter and unfolded it.

  She scanned the short paragraph inside, her eyes flicking over the words as her pulse thundered in her ears.

  After a moment, she saw it.

  Positive.

  She dropped the letter and clapped a hand over her mouth. She was shaking even worse than before and tears were running down her cheeks so thick and fast that she didn’t know how she would be able to stop before Caroline came looking for her. She read the letter in full, just to make sure. It was all there in black and white. She was pregnant.

  Time passed quickly through her fingers, running away from her like grains of sand as she imagined Caroline’s head pillowed on her swollen belly and the two of them lying in bed with a giggling, wriggling baby between them. She could see that little one as clear as day – eyes bright and dark, little hands curled into fists, one chubby cheek dimpled and pink. The image made her smile through her tears and she managed to compose herself enough to make her way over to lean on the hand basin, her whole body shaking. She turned on the tap and splashed the icy water on her tear-streaked cheeks. The shock of it sent a thrill down her spine and she looked up into the mirror and saw a whole new person smiling back at her.

  Fear and nervous excitement started to build inside her again as she stood there, and suddenly she had to get out of the bathroom and tell Caroline before she burst.

  She snatched up the discarded letter on her way out and tiptoed over to her suitcase – ferreting about in its depths until her hand closed on something silky and soft. She pulled it out of the mess of her clothes and smiled down at it. Ever since their first appointment, when she had been waiting outside whilst Caroline was taken in for a confidential medical background, this was how she had dreamed of this moment.

  When she slipped back into bed, Caroline was too lost in sleep to stir. It gave Rhetta that extra moment to set everything up before reaching over to run her hand over Caroline’s exposed hip.

  “Baby, it’s time to wake up,” She said softly.

  “Nuh uh,” Caroline protested. “Day off. Sleep. You love sleep.”

  Rhetta chuckled. “I have a surprise for you. Open your eyes, baby.”

  Caroline’s eyes fluttered obediently open and Rhetta watched with baited breath as Caroline’s sleep-drunk brain tried to make sense of what was in front of her.

  And then she got it.

  “Is... is that?” She breathed, her scratchy voice laced with fear.

  Rhetta nodded encouragingly. “Have a look at what it’s got in its paws.”

  Caroline slowly sat up and took the piece of folded paper from the between the chubby paws of the bear clearly fashioned from hers and Rhetta’s wedding outfits. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she unfolded the letter and began to read.

  Rhetta knew the exact moment that Caroline – who had of course been more patient and read the whole thing straight off – got to that word that turned their whole world upside down in the best way possible. Her breath caught and she looked up at Rhetta, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Yeah?” she asked in a trembling voice.

  Rhetta nodded, her own tears returning. “Yeah. We’re going to be moms, Caroline.”

  Those were the words that broke the damn. Caroline’s whole body began to shake and she cried harder than Rhetta had ever seen her cry.

  “I really hope that this is the good kind of crying,” Rhetta said, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.

  Caroline bit her lip and nodded, and Rhetta couldn’t wait another moment to have the mother of her child in her arms. She held Caroline close as she cried against her chest, her tears soaking clear through Rhetta’s oversized top. No words needed to be spoken. She knew exactly how Caroline was feeling. It was like every good and terrifying feeling she had ever felt was all coming at once, filling up her body until she couldn’t keep them inside anymore.

  Eventually, Caroline’s tears lessened and her breathing started to slow back to her normal rhythm – the rhythm that soothed Rhetta to sleep at night. The rhythm she would soon hear anew when she held their tiny baby in her arms, listening to small, steady breaths.

  When Caroline finally looked back up into Rhetta’s waiting eyes, her face was pink and splotchy, her eyes red from crying.

  “There’s my beautiful wife,” Rhetta cooed soothingly.

  A little laugh escaped Caroline’s lips and she pulled herself up and away from Rhetta, blushing as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled.

  Rhetta smiled at her adoringly. “Why on earth would you be sorry, huh? You’ve given me the best gift I could ever hope for.”

  Caroline shrugged and Rhetta leant over to kiss her. It started off soft and soothing but it soon became deeper and before Rhetta knew what was happening, Caroline was pressing her carefully but insistently down onto her back. Knees settled either side of Rhetta’s hips and she whimpered when Caroline’s big, strong hands ran gently up her sides, pulling off her thin, soaked pyjama top as they went. As soon as it hit the floor, Caroline’s lips trailed down from her mouth. They trailed kisses down her neck, between her heaving breasts and down to her lower belly. There she stopped with one last reverent kiss, before she lowered her forehead to rest on the soft skin there, her eyes closed and her hands spread open over Rhetta’s hips like a supplicant knelt in worship before her altar.

  Rhetta’s breathing came slow and steady, even though her head was swimming. Her eyes looked unfocused up at the ceiling and her right hand reached down to touch the back of Caroline’s head as she let it all sink in.

  “I love you both so much,” Caroline breathed. “So, so much.”

  “And we love you,” Rhetta answered softly. “We’re just not exactly sure why I had to be naked for you to tell me that.”

  Caroline lifted up her head and chuckled, before dipping it again to press a kiss to Rhetta’s flat belly. “That way I can watch you change as our little one grows.”

  Rhetta smirked and lifted her eyebrows. “I’m not going topless for the next nine months, as much as you would like that.”

  Caroline sat up and discarded her own shirt, before crawling up the bed to kiss Rhetta’s swollen lips. They snuggled close on their sides, pressed chest to chest, as they kissed lazily in the early morning sun. Caroline’s hands slipped down to Rhetta’s ass, pulling her tight to her so that she could feel the full length of her wife’s body against hers – to be as close to her as she could.

  “You’re not going to able to hold me like this soon,” Rhetta whispered. “I’m going to miss being this close to you, baby.”

  “You’ll just have to get used to me cuddling you from behind every chance I get,” Caroline chuckled. “I have a feeling that I might be a wee bit handsy for the next new months.”

  The knowledge that Rhetta wa
s pregnant was already the most arousing and love-inducing thing that Caroline had ever experienced, and Rhetta wasn’t even showing yet. But just knowing that the woman she loved more than anything was carrying her baby… that was the most incredible thing.

  “Well that’s good, because apparently pregnant me is very clingy to you, my love,” Rhetta said softly, using that term of endearment she used only when she was feeling her most sentimental. “Ever since we left the clinic all I’ve wanted is to be close to you. When that feeling didn’t go away, it made me wonder if it meant that I really was pregnant. Turns out I was right. So I’m going to snuggle you for the next 9 months, ‘kay?”

  “This coming from the woman who doesn’t like to hug,” Caroline quipped.

  “Shush. You were the one that got me knocked up. You can’t tease me for wanting to be close to you,” Rhetta pouted.

  “You’ll hear no complaints from me,” Caroline said sweetly. “I’m going to enjoy snuggly Rhetta. I usually only get her when you’re drunk or sleepy. Though I have a feeling you might not be as sweet on me when you have your head in the toilet or have crippling back pain.”

  “Will too,” Rhetta said quietly.

  Caroline smiled and kissed her nose. “I’ll hold you to that, cutie. And as lovely as lying here with you like this is, we need to tell our folks before the gals get wind before training tomorrow.”

  Rhetta bit her lip. “Okay.”

  “You nervous?”

  Rhetta nodded. “A little. Can we wait a little while longer? I just want it to be you and me. You, me and our little love.”

  Caroline smiled and kissed her sweetly. “Whatever you want, my Queen.”