GINA FORRESTER THEW up in the kitchen first, feeling weak and clammy as the wave of nausea washed over her. The second time she made it to the bathroom at least. Wetting a towel, she dabbed it against her skin as she leaned her head against the cool of the expensive Italian marble, in the vain hope that she would feel somehow better.
Bob hovered anxiously, trying not to invade her privacy but wanting to help. She reckoned she must have picked up one of those twenty-four-hour stomach bugs and decided it was better to go back to bed and take it easy for the rest of the day. She’d get Bob to phone and cancel their lunch reservations at the golf club. The thought of even reading a menu let alone ordering made her feel worse.
Four days later the possibility of it being a simple stomach flu seemed more remote and Gina had to admit to also feeling absolutely exhausted. Bob wanted her to see their physician, have tests. Nervous, she told him of her suspicions.
‘Then all the more reason to see the doctor,’ he argued.
Gina shook her head. She could not face the possibility of sitting in one more doctor’s office having yet another test done.
Grabbing her coat, she persuaded Bob to drive to the local drugstore, the two of them giggling like a pair of teenagers as they went up and down searching the aisles. Eventually they found the home pregnancy testing kit. So nervous her hands were shaking, Gina followed the instructions exactly the next day, sitting watching Good Morning on the corner of the bed as Bob went in the bathroom and checked the results.
‘Yes!’ he hollered.
Gina jumped up to run in and check, and recheck, the positive results clearly indicated by the line of blue in the test tube.
They were going to have a baby!
They were going to have a baby!
Overcome with emotion she began to cry.
Martha was thrilled to hear Gina Forrester’s good news but was reluctant to claim any credit.
‘I know this would never have happened but for you, Martha. I had all but given up hope of any chance of motherhood. You know Bob and I will always be so grateful for what you’ve done for us.’
‘Gina! This is your baby, yours and Bob’s, it has nothing to do with me.’
‘You helped,’ insisted Gina stubbornly. ‘I know that!’
‘Your body healed itself,’ she suggested gently. ‘That’s all.’
That night when she told Mike about the Forresters’ impending parenthood she could see a wary look fill her husband’s eyes; he seemed unsure of how to react in front of her.
‘Good for Bob, if that’s what he wants. Another kid – even if he’s almost old enough to be its grandfather.’
‘Mike! They both want this baby very much.’
‘They’re just both a bit long in the tooth, that’s all I’m saying.’ He shrugged, hitting on the TV remote control.
Martha, although she had said little about her own involvement with Gina, was hurt by his kneejerk retort and his insensitivity to the others’ feelings. She wondered as she tried to get to sleep how two people could live in the same house, raise a family, share the same bed and yet be such poles apart. She herself couldn’t begin to fathom it.