Blazing Forward

Chapter 2

"Babe? Aria?" I heard sometime later.

"Out by the pool!"

"Hey."

"You're out of the nursery." I said softly.

"Got hungry. You should've told me you were coming out here." he said, rubbing my belly.

"Why?"

"So I could join you?"

"Wouldn't have made a difference if I told you."

"Lalelei, what's wrong?" he asked, pushing my book down.

"Nothing." I replied, lifting it again.

"Arianna . . ."

"Nothing is wrong, you were busy and I didn't want to interrupt."

"What's with the attitude?" he sighed.

"Attitude? You've been in the nursery for two and a half days straight. Yesterday, I went in there so many times and you would say you'd be done in a few minutes. I had breakfast with you on Monday and the rest of my meals since alone, it's Wednesday if you didn't notice. I've gone to sleep alone and I wake up alone, and I can already see that today is gonna be the same. This is the most that you've said to me since you got here Sunday night, amor. That's not an attitude, those are facts." I told him, looking out at the pool.

"Arianna . . . Ari, look at me." he said, sitting by my legs on the lounger.

"Why?"

"Babe, what's wrong with you?"

"Excuse me? Nothing is wrong with me, what's wrong with you?" I asked.

"What makes you think something is going on?" he asked, and I could hear the slight aggravation in his voice.

"Leati, ever since you got home you've been doing things that are meant to keep you busy and . . ."

"Since when is it a crime to keep busy?"

"It isn't, but this is the first time since we found out I was pregnant that you're home for more than a day. You have kept yourself so busy that you have no time for the wife that you haven't seen in three weeks. You're avoiding me, even though you're the one who asked me not to travel so that we could spend some time together. Your head isn't here, it doesn't want to be here and it feels like your heart isn't here either. Being cooped up in here with me obviously isn't what you want, it's bothering you, so maybe we should go to Orlando. You'll be close to your family and have Jojo there too." I offered.

"Arianna, that's not true, none of that is true. I'm not avoiding you." He argued.

"It's not? You're in the nursery from sunup to sundown. I go to sleep alone, I wake up alone, I eat alone, for this, I should have kept working. There are two weeks to Wrestlemania, I know, but being home with your wife for a few days isn't gonna kill you. It's not a punishment and that's what it seems like you're feeling." I said, trying not to cry. Damn pregnancy hormones have me all crazy.

"They shouldn't have sent me home, I'm not sick. We were gonna see each other the week before Wrestlemania anyway." he argued and it felt like he punched me in the gut.

"Wow . . . you don't . . . you prefer to . . . wow. I think you should go to Orlando alone." I said, feeling shocked and hurt.

"Aria . . ."

"Think back to what you said and figure out where it went wrong. Joseph, it's very clear to me that you don't want to be here, so you should go. See your daughter, your parents, and your doctor so that you can get cleared to go back since that's where you want to be so badly."