AS YOU HELD ONTO ME / hs

Seven

- Monday, July 15, 2019 -

They should have heard from the office by 3pm.

It was 3:30pm and still no word.

Ava and Harry were sitting on the couch, curled under a blanket. Their house was icy cold in the summer, both of them preferring the AC to be cranked down as a stark contrast to the heat outside. The TV was on and both of them were pretending to watch it. Ava had an eerie feeling as they waited to hear their fate. Did the IUI work?

Harry left work early, arriving home at 2:45pm so that they could be together for the call. It'd been the longest 45 minutes of their lives.

He'd been working so much, booking back-to-back shoots that inevitably made him work late nearly every night. There was a part of Ava that knew he was using it to cope, a way to get away from their current situation and the stress that infertility brought. But there was another part of Ava that felt like he was using it to get away from her.

The rational part of her brain constantly fought with that little voice in the back of her head. Harry would never do that. He loved her. He was in this with her. But was he? Could he ever really understand how she felt and what she was doing to herself, both physically and mentally? Ava wasn't sure. Maybe a part of her resented him for it, that he wasn't at the forefront of it all and then therefore didn't feel as much pain. But then she immediately hated herself for even thinking that. She knew this was causing him pain too.

And what if he couldn't take her mood swings and the distance she put between them and their relationship. Maybe she was driving her husband away. And yet, she couldn't stop.

Ava's heart dropped into her stomach when her phone rang, both her and her husbands eyes going to where it sat on their coffee table. She didn't move for a half a beat, just stared at their doctors office contact scrolling across the screen.

She took a deep breath before picking it up to answer it.

"Hello?" - "This is she." - Ava grabbed Harry's hand, squeezing tightly as she listened to the nurse on the other line. - "Are you serious?" - She squeezed tighter, looking over to him with tears immediately springing to her eyes, not taking her eyes off his as she spoke into the phone. - "Okay," she choked. - "Yes, I understand." - "Okay. Okay. Yes, thank you."

Ava ended the call, dropping the phone to her lap where it immediately slipped to the floor with a thud.

"I'm pregnant," Ava whispered, watching Harry's face as it changed from concern to surprised elation.

He choked in disbelief. "You're pregnant?"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated as she cried.

And then he was grabbing her and hauling her over into his arms and lap. Kissing her face and lips. Crying into her neck and repeating you're pregnant over and over and over. Squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe.

And Ava cried and kissed and squeezed him right back.

*** 

AHHHHHH! I'm so emo for them. I hope you've been enjoying their story. Thank you for reading! 

xo Anna