Can You Believe In Me?

It seemed like I was forever a familiar stranger. Trace and I figured by the small bump forming that I was maybe three months along. Which would mean when Mason got back next month I would be four months, jeez. How will I tell him? At least he wants a baby, I could be worse off. I visualized it; Mason walks into the door. He drops his bags at the door and throws his arms around me and presses his lips to mine.
‘I’ve missed you so much!’ He would say and when he let go he would look me over. ‘There’s something different about you.’
‘Surprise!’ I would follow. He would give me a look. ‘I have a present for you.’
‘Really?’ I take his hands in mine.
‘Do you remember when you wrote that letter for me and it said and I quote “I plan on reproducing with you. You know that right? They’ll be midgets. They will be short like me and puny like you and have huge Italian noses and dark wavy hair. They’ll be so pretty, the boys will be made fun of and I’ll have to go beat some kids up. And the girls could all be supermodels.” And you said when you get home we would discuss the first one.’ He smiled demonically and picked me up in his arms. He started to carry me to the bedroom.
‘Let’s put it in now.’ He would have me on the bed before I could say.
‘You already did.’ He would get a surprised face on then look at my tummy. He would notice the bump. He would touch it and grin.
‘A baby?’ He would ask.
‘No a hippopotamus, what do you think it is?’ I would follow laughing.

“Jessica, wake up. Amy’s here to see you?” A voice interrupted me.
“Mason I wasn’t sleeping and your back and we were talking about the baby.” I replied.
“Honey, Mason isn’t back yet.” It was Trace.
“He needs to be, I want him back. The deaf person place can go fuck themselves.” A fresh batch of tears started down my cheeks. “Mason needs to be here.” Trace put his hand on my shoulder.
“Amy come in here, please. I’m sorry now for the hormone problems she’s having. Maybe you being here will help a bit.” Amy walked into the room. She looked tired and her dark hair was covering half of her face. There were bags under her eyes and she was walking mopily towards me. I smiled and she seemed to lighten up considerably.
“Are you hung over?” I asked quietly.
“Ugh… no… Kyle was up all night and Kate hasn’t gotten any sleep so I took care of him,” she said wiping her face with her overly-long Henley sleeve.
“Who’s Kyle?” Trace asked.
“Kyle is Amy’s baby brother. He’s adorable!” I told Trace suddenly a little happier. I had just realized soon enough I have one of my own.
“Her baby brother?” He asked me then he turned to her. “Aren’t you, like, 23?”
“Yeah, my parents only wanted one kid but then they went on a third honeymoon and tada! There’s a Kyle sleeping in my old bedroom. I love him and all but he’s so annoying and he can’t sleep through the night,” she said tiredly. She looked back over at me and smiled. “So how have you been?”
“Well, I haven’t been well lately.” I shifted in bed and yawned. She gasped and sat on the bed by me.
“Please, tell me your not what I think you are?” She stared wide eyes and me. She grabbed my shoulders. “Please.”
“Do you want the truth or what you want to hear?” I tried for in the middle.
“And does Mason know about this?” She pushed farther into the subject.
“I haven’t been able to get a hold of him and I want to tell him in person.”
“Does he even want kids?”
“And I quote Mason himself; I plan on reproducing with you. You know that right? They’ll be midgets. They will be short like me and puny like you and have huge Italian noses and dark wavy hair. They’ll be so pretty, the boys will be made fun of and I’ll have to go beat some kids up. And the girls could all be supermodels. And when I get home, we will discuss when the first one will be put in the oven. I will rape you if necessary but I hope you’re willing when it comes to us having kids.” Trace explained. Then preceded explaining why he knew that Mason said that. “Jessica reads that letter a lot. Mason left it with the soup.” I sniffled and hung my head. Amy pulled her arms around me.
“It’s okay, Jessabug.” I broke down at the nickname that Mason made up for me that caught on with all of his family. I can only think of one thing that could make me happy again.