Romance: Playing With Fire - Contemporary Romance (Chasing Happiness Series, Romance, Contemporary Romance Book 1) (5 page)

Chapter Thirteen

When Tina entered her home, she knew that John had been waiting for her. The kitchen and living room lights were on. He sat on the couch, one leg propped up and the TV tuned into the news channel. By the time she had closed the door, he had the turned off the TV and waited for her at the kitchen island.

“I sent you a text. Did you not get it?” He asked quickly.

Tina avoided his eyes, dropping her purse on the counter top as she headed for the fridge. She didn’t need anything out of it, but she refused to face him. “I think I heard my phone go off at one point. I must have forgotten to check it,” she said carelessly. Opening the refrigerator door, her eyes washed over the contents, seeing nothing in general. 

“Where were you?” John questioned from the island.

“At the park,” Tina reached for the jug of orange juice, feeling her body grow hot. She never hounded him with questions like this when he was out all hours of the night.

“You’ve been gone for nearly six hours.”

“I caught a movie matinee at three,” Tina cut him off.

“You think I’m stupid?” John yelled suddenly, causing Tina to freeze. She didn’t dare face him. Instead, she slowly closed the refrigerator door, proceeding to find a glass from the cabinet next. “So you’re going to ignore me now?” John’s voice was closer.

Clenching her teeth, she rushed to pour the orange juice, hands beginning to shake with anger.

“For weeks you’ve been staying out late. Ignoring my texts,” he had moved so close that she could hear his unsteady breathing behind her. “Why do you just cut your crap out and tell me who he is.”

Tina scoffed at his accusation, slamming down the empty glass after she quickly drank its contents. She faced John then, sticking a finger towards his face. “For months you have ignored me, slept over at your friends and taken whole weekends from me being
wasted
at your friend’s house—wasted!” She yelled back this time, unable to control herself.

“You refused to celebrate the day you proposed to me and you expect me to put up with
this
?” Tina shook her head, stepping away. “You can forget it. You’re not going to talk to me this way.” Pushing past him, she snatched her purse from the island on her way to the living room. She hurried to the bedroom in the back of the house.

Once inside the room, she let out a breath of air, resting momentarily with her back against the door. With a burst of energy she rushed to the connecting bathroom, splashing her face with a handful of cold water from the sink. She hadn’t expected him to confront her like that, let alone yell. He never yelled.

She tossed another handful of water onto her face, then met her eyes in the mirror.
If it’s the truth, why was I so offended just now?

She didn’t have the answer to her own question.

Chapter Thirteen

“Hopefully you have some good news for me,” Tina said eagerly as the door opened. She sat on an examination table in her doctor’s office, eager to leave, but restraining herself. Earlier that morning, she had actually vomited with no other signs of nausea. The issues were getting worse and nothing she had done to help was making them go away or get better.

She was starting to wonder if Beth was right. If her body just wasn’t responding well to her affair, it would definitely be the push she needed to go ahead and file. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready to go down that path just yet.

The entering doctor was an older male in his fifties. He wore thin, large-rimmed glasses with bifocals. He peered over the frames of his glasses which were connected to string hanging around his neck. Removing the glasses, he carefully lowered them until they were suspended by the string.

“We do have some news,” he said with a kind smile.

Tina grinned eagerly. She had only been there for twenty minutes so far. If she was able to leave within the next five, she’d be able to meet Brett for coffee before making her next meeting. “Tell me what it is!”

“You’re completely healthy. Blood pressure great, iron levels great.”

Tina smiled. “Awesome. So what about everything else?”

The doctor paused before looking down at his clipboard. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve had these dizzy spells. Where I feel very unstable sitting down or lying down. With my eyes closed, the room feelings like it’s shaking or spinning.” The doctor listened patiently. “Also, I threw up this morning. No reason. I got out of bed, got a wave of heat and had to run to the bathroom and puke up bile.” She sighed, annoyed at the doctor’s expressionless face. “I know they’re different things, but I think they might all be connected.”

“Well, the nausea and dizziness are probably just symptoms from your pregnancy.”

Tina looked to the doctor, confusion on her face. “Excuse me?”

The doctor tapped the clipboard. “You’re expecting, aren’t you?”

Tina laughed. “No. Don’t think so.”

“Hmm,” the doctor turned to the computer station in the room then. He pulled out an access card attached to his belt and inserted it into the machine. After putting in his password, he began typing into the machine notes from his clipboard. “You gave a urine sample today, right?”

Tina nodded. “Yes.”

Saying nothing more, the doctor continued to type into the computer. “So you’re here today about the nausea, and dizziness spells?”

Nodding again, Tina felt herself growing impatient. “Yes. I told the assistant all this earlier.”

“I know, ma’am, this is just standard procedure,” the old man offered her a smile before he returned to the keyboard on the computer station. After more typing and a few clicks with the mouse, he picked up his clipboard and began flipping through the pages.

“When was your last menstrual cycle?”

With a hard sigh, Tina shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve always been irregular. My last one must have ended nearly two months ago.” She paused. “And it’s been longer than that since I’ve had sex so I know I’m not pregnant.”

The doctor looked at her as he lifted his glasses back to his eyes. “Can you wait another twenty minutes for us? I’d like to get you an ultrasound today.”

Scoffing, Tina didn’t bother to hide her irritation. “What do I need an ultrasound for if I’m not pregnant?” The doctor looked as if he was going to say something, but then only smiled. Shaking her head, she threw her hands up in frustration. “Sure. I’ll wait another twenty minutes,” she said in defeat.

“Thank you. A nurse will help you change your room when you’re ready.” He left her then, closing the door behind himself gently.

Popping off the table, Tina fished for her phone, quickly. Brett had already sent her a text.

[What did you find out at the doctor’s?]

She stared at the message, unsure of how to respond. She paced the floor for five minutes before pulling her phone out:

[I don’t know. Still waiting for doctor.]

It wasn’t a lie. Perhaps not the whole truth, but it wasn’t a lie. If they couldn’t give her a clear answer, she would seriously look at serving John the dissolution notice. Until then, she was just going to wait.

More than twenty minutes passed before a young woman in nurse scrubs came to escort her to a room down an empty hallway. There was a small bed-like table with an old ultrasound machine positioned nearby. On the table was a folded sheet. She was left with the instructions to wait for the technician on the table with her shirt lifted and pants undone.

She did as she was told and shortly thereafter, an even younger woman soon entered the room. She smiled warmly at Tina and pointed to her exposed stomach. “We’re going to see if there’s a baby in there or not!” Her voice was too cheery to return the same enthusiasm. Instead, Tina only frowned, leaning back to make herself comfortable.

Waiting patiently for the technician, Tina said nothing. She didn’t even flinch as the tech switched the machine on and dropped a small puddle of cold, clear gel-like fluid onto her midsection, squishing it with the ultrasound wand. She moved the stick horizontally across her abdomen, then began to work her way down towards the top of Tina’s unfastened pants.

Tina’s eyes were glued to the black screen. She tried to make out the gray shapes moving in and out of focus on the screen. None of it made any sense, until something began to come into view. It seemed like a small bean, but the object moved too fast for Tina to make sense of it. With a frown, she sat back with a sigh. The technician worked the wand with one hand, using the other to tap and type into the machine.

After a while, she stopped and pointed to the screen. Tina could clearly make out a circular object complete with a line coming out at one point to curve down.

“What is that?”

The technician turned to her with a grin. “That’s your baby.” She turned back to the screen, manipulating the still image on the screen. “And,” she continued tapping, staring at the screen as she drew a line from the top of the circle to the bottom of the protruding line, “by these measurements, looks like you’re about thirteen weeks already.”

Staring at the image on display, Tina sat in silence. She looked down at her belly. There was no way there was a baby in her stomach. Wouldn’t she have felt it?

“Did you hear me?” The technician turned to her, smiling widely. “You’re already close to the second trimester.”

Tina shook her head. “What does that even mean?”

“You’re three months pregnant. Congratulations!”

Chasing Future

Christina has finally warmed to the idea of serving her husband a divorce petition when she gets the news of her life: she’s expecting their first child! To make matters worse, she’s already three months pregnant. What will she do now? Will Brett, the new incredible love she’s fallen head over heels for, be as understanding as he was when he found out she was married? Will he stay or excuse himself from the drama? How will John respond when Tina tells him the news?  Find out the answers to these questions and the next part of the story with book two in the series:
Chasing Future

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Playing With Fire

I offer ALL my books for the low price of only $0.99. I believe in affordability, and don't like to charge more than I need too. In fact, if I didn't have to pay rent, I'd give my books away for free! Until that happens however, I still need to charge
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I am just your typical girl. I love Starbucks, sunsets, and yoga. I dream of meeting my prince charming, and having him sweep me off my feet. I dream of one day having children, and raising them to be all that they can be (and more!). I love people, and I love life! I hope that through my writing I can spread just a little bit of that love into the lives of those I may never meet. My work isn't perfect, but it is sincere. It is heartfelt, and it is deep. I express how I feel, what I feel, and what I want to feel through my writing, and I don't know what I would do without it. The mere fact that I am able to share that with the rest of the world is simply a bonus, and I truly hope that my writing makes you happy.
Sincerely,
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