Ten things to do before I die

Before we knew it, I was six months pregnant. We had found out that we were in fact having a little girl, who we decided to name Madeline Poppy Sykes.

Things at home were okay, but between my hormones being out of control and Tom being overly protective of me I was a raging bitch half the time.

“Em, are you ready to go? We’re going to be late.” Tom shouted from the bottom of the steps.

I sighed from the bathroom again. “Tom, we’re not going to be late. We have an hour.”

“We have twenty minutes baby.”

With a roll of my eyes I finished putting on my make up and walked downstairs.

“Let’s go.” I said as I grabbed the keys off the front table. Tom took them quickly from me.

“I’ll drive.”

“I’m perfectly able to drive Thomas.”

“Emma, I’ll drive. It’s not a big deal. Don’t get worked up about it.”

“Whatever.” I mumbled as we walked out to the car.

We didn’t speak at all the whole way to the hospital, Tom kept sneaking glances at me, but I ignored them at first. After a while it got annoying and I snapped.

“If you have something to say, just say it Tom.”

He laughed a bit. I didn’t think the fact that he was pissing me off was so funny. “You’re just beautiful, love. I can’t look at my wife?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not. At least not right now. I’m huge. I feel like a cow.”

Tom looked over at me and took one of my hands in his. “Emma, you are the most beautiful woman on the planet, pregnant or not.”

A small smile took over my face making Tom smile too. “I’m sorry I’m so moody all the time.”

Tom took one of my hands in his and kissed it. “It’s okay. I know its just hormones. You’re the one who has the hard job here. I think it’s only fair that I get yelled at on occasion.”

At the hospital we took the familiar trip to Dr. Carter’s office. His nurses greeted us and took Tom and I back to a room to get my tests started. I was poked, prodded, and asked every question in the book, like always.

When Dr. Carter came into the room he had an unreadable look on his face. “Okay, well Emma, you’re red blood cell count is a little low. But it is most likely from the pregnancy. So I’m going to give you an iron supplement and see if that gets your cell count up.”

“What if that doesn’t work?” Tom asked.

Dr. Carter sighed. “Then we’ll have Emma come in for a scan and see if there are any masses that could be causing it, but anemia is common in pregnant woman, so I’m sure that’s all it is.”

“Can’t you just do the scan now?”

“I don’t want to run unnecessary tests while Emma is pregnant.”

Tom went to speak again, but I cut him off. “Tom, it’s fine. If this is what Dr. Carter wants to do then it’s fine.”

Tom let out a huff and sat back in his chair. “Okay.”

After scheduling another appointment Tom and I headed home. The whole drive we were silent, but it was an uncomfortable silence.

“What’s wrong?” I finally asked.

“Why aren’t you worried?”

“About what?”

Tom sighed. “The low blood cell count Emma. Why aren’t you worried?”

“Because Tom it’s probably just from being pregnant. Just like Dr. Carter said.”

“What if it’s not just from you being pregnant though?”

“Don’t worry about it right now Tom. If the iron pills don’t put the count back to normal then I’ll have a scan and then we can worry.”

With a roll of his eyes Tom sighed again. “Whatever.”

“Why are you making such a big deal about this?”

“Why aren’t you? This could be serious Emma, and you’re acting like it’s nothing.”

“We don’t know if it’s anything to worry about yet Tom!”

Tom parked the car in our driveway and got out, making sure to slam the door. I sat there a few more minutes before going into the house. Tom was locked in his office and wouldn’t talk to me.

“I’m not dealing with this shit.” I said to myself as I grabbed a bag out of the closet.

Two hours later I was sitting in the airport, a ticket in my hand. What was I doing? There I was pregnant, married, and about to leave England. For what? Just because my husband was worried about me?

I looked down at the ticket in my hand and sighed. “What are you doing Emma?” I asked myself quietly.

Quickly I put the ticket down and pulled my phone out. It rang a few times before the man I wanted to talk to answered. “Emma, where are you?” Oli asked, his voice full of concern.

“The airport.”

“Why are you at the airport?!”

“I don’t know. But I want to come home.” My voice cracked.

“Okay, I’ll come get you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Emma.” Someone said from behind me.

I turned around and was face to face with Tom. “Oli, you don’t need to come get me.”

“What? Why? Emma, you’re not getting on a plane.”

“No. My husband is here.”

Oli let out a sigh. “Thank fuck. Don’t worry me like that love.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll call you later.” I hung up the phone before he could even respond.

“Don’t ever do that to me again Em. Please.”

“I won’t. I’m so sorry Tom.”