Joneses – 10.7 What Did We Do?

1:37 a.m.

“Robert… Robert!” Her voice was drenched in panic and bewilderment.

He was sound asleep–dead to the world. She shook him and called his name once more.

“Huh? Wh-what’s going on?”

She turned on the light. His eyes squinted in reaction to the sudden brightness. She wasn’t sure what to say. “I, uhhh… We need to talk.”

He knew it was serious…whatever it was. “What is it? Are you all right?” He sat up and noticed she was sitting on the edge of her side of the bed.

“No? Not really.”

He got up and joined her. When he sat next to her, he knew.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Because I’m happy.”

“Why are you happy? This is all wrong, Robert! I don’t even know how this happened!”

He gave her a cheeky grin. “You don’t know how it happened?”

“Be serious, Robert! You know what I mean! We haven’t been trying for a baby! We haven’t planned for a baby! There’s nowhere in this house to put a baby! You’re still smiling!”

He was enjoying her performance. “There’s nothing that can be done about it, so…you should smile too.”

She knew he was right, but the news was just too shocking. “But, Robert!” She didn’t know she had on her pouty face; he thought it was cute. “This is all wrong! I just got promoted! I can’t slow down now! This wasn’t part of my plan!”

He gave her a warm smile. “You can’t plan everything, Lizzie.”

She dropped her shoulders and sighed. “We barely know what to do with our one child. What are we supposed to do with two?”

He shrugged. “We’ll think of something.”

She began to laugh. It helped. “You always know what to say, Robert.”

Finally, they sat in silence and processed how their lives were going to change over the course of the next 147 days.

“Do you want a son?” she asked.

He shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter to me.”

“I think you should have a son.”

“That would be nice, I guess,” he said. “What do you think Bre will think?”

Terror washed over her face. “Oh for Watcher’s sake, Robert! One shock per night, please!”

He chuckled. “Ok. Let’s go back to sleep. We’ll deal with her in the morning…together.”

“Thank you, Robert.”

She turned out the light and crawled back under the sheets while Bob made his way back to his side of the bed. He slid next to her body and draped his arm around her torso, his hand resting on the temporary home of his new child.

“I love you, Lizzie.”

Her eyes popped open as wide as they could get. A fire coursed through her body.

“I know we don’t really say that to each other, but… I dunno. Just felt like saying it.”

“Oh Robert!” Tears were streaming down her cheek, and she couldn’t stop them.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing! I… It’s just that…I know and… I never thought I needed the words before.” She wiped some tears from her cheek.

He knew what she meant. They weren’t the type to be verbally intimate. “I’ll say it all the time if you want me to.”

“I think that would be nice.”

After the sweet pillow talk, they finally drifted off to sleep. Bob would have cradled the baby bump in his hand all night long if Eliza didn’t shove him across the bed when she got tired of the snoring in her ear. She was quite hungry in the morning and got up quite early to have some leftovers. When she got downstairs, she panicked for a split second when she found Breanne was already awake and doing homework at the dining room table. She took a few deep breaths and fixed her blouse to cover as much of herself as she could. Bob said they would make their announcement together, and she certainly didn’t intend to handle Breanne on her own. Instead of walking through the dining room, she went around the stairs to get to the kitchen. Luckily Breanne didn’t look up to see who was coming down the stairs. Eliza grabbed her meal and joined her daughter at the table. “Good morning, my dear,” she said nervously.

“Hey.”

She was so self-conscious and kept tugging at her blouse and fixing the shirt underneath.

Breanne was suspicious. “Why are you so quiet? Am I in trouble?”

She cleared her throat. “Of course not, dear. I…I was just thinking about your outfit. It’s quite…unusual.”

“Isn’t it cool? It’s all the rage in Shang Simla!”

“It’s…definitely something!”

She heard rustling around upstairs and breathed a sigh of relief. Within 20 minutes, Bob was in the kitchen whipping up some omelets for them. She went into the kitchen to greet him and run interference.

“Good morning, Robert.”

“Mornin.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t wait. I was so hungry when I woke up!” She patted the baby bump. “Speaking of which…” She came closer to be within whispering range. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this! What if she’s not happy?”

“What are you guys whispering about in there? Are you talking about me? Rude!”

“Lizzie, how many times has she actually been happy in the past few weeks? This isn’t new. It’ll be fine.”

“I sure as cowplant teeth hope so!”

Bob finished his eggs, grabbed a serving, and followed Eliza to their deaths  the dining room table. Eliza sat across from Breanne who was still working on homework.

Now or never, Eliza. Ok… She cleared her throat. “Breanne… We have something we need to share with you…”

She looked at Bob who returned an encouraging nod. She halfway wished he would have blurted it out. “We’re expecting… A baby…”

Breanne sat there staring blankly for a few moments, bouncing her eyes between her parents possibly waiting for a “gotcha.” “There’s going to be another child in this house? Are you serious? Please say you’re not serious.”

Both parents’ smiles faded. Although they expected it, that was not the answer they were looking for.

“You’re serious,” Breanne yelled. “GUH! Why would you do this? Are you trying to ruin my life? This isn’t fair!

“Where is the baby supposed to go anyway? I know you don’t think I’m sharing my room! Only low class families share rooms.”

Eliza was mortified. She anticipated a bad reaction, but not to that level. That was Bob’s cue to swoop in and save the day. “Don’t be so dramatic,” he said. “You know very well that all the Pruetts’ kids share rooms. Look, Bre… I know how you feel. I was an only child for a long time too. When my mom married my step-dad, I got a little brother. I was so mad. But, after some time, I came to like him and we had fun together. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way too. As far as the living arrangements go, we’ll discuss it and do what’s best, but we will expect you to be on board with whatever we decide, ok?”

“Fine,” she said defiantly.

She was finished with her homework and needed to be alone to think. As her parents began discussing potential plans, her mind tried to embrace the idea of a new member of the family. She wasn’t sold, but she would think about it.

“Robert… What are we going to do? We can’t really afford a bigger house right now, and frankly I’m not ready to leave this neighborhood yet. But, if we don’t move, how can we add another bedroom? This house isn’t exactly designed for expansion.”

He took a few bites of his omelet while he thought of potential solutions. It felt odd for him to be the one coming up with the ideas. “First, I think you should see a doctor so we know what to expect. If it’s a girl, maybe we could try the room sharing thing for a while and see how it goes.”

“Oh, Robert. You know exactly how that’s gonna go! She won’t do it!”

“She’ll do whatever we tell her,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, Robert! I love it when your authoritative side comes out!”