“Now? Seems to me being careful should have been something prominent at least seven months ago,” he said, and left my bedroom.
It was as if he had taken all of the air out with him.
Cassie, on the other hand, wore a big, happy smile. “See?” she said. “It will all work out just as I planned.”
She came to the bed and put her hand gently on my stomach.
“I want to feel him move,” she said, and exploded with happiness when she did. “He’s coming, our Asa is coming. I’ll go down and prepare a dinner platter for you. Just rest,” she said. “You’re not to do any work anymore, either, Semantha. You’re not going to be like Mother and lose this baby.”
“He is so angry at me, Cassie. He’s so upset.”
“He’s going to get over it, Semantha. You’ll see. He’s on his way to forgiving you. I wouldn’t stand for any other conclusion. Trust me.”
She smiled, then turned and left me.
Trust her?
How could I ever trust her again?
But then, what choice did I have now?
When she returned nearly a half-hour later with my dinner tray, she was even happier.
“We talked some more, and I persuaded him not to go to Dr. Moffet. I told him I had located a very experienced midwife and already had contracted with her.”
“Have you?”
“Yes.”
“How could you be so sure he would agree to that?”
“Do I know him better than anyone could, better than even Mother knew him?”
She fixed my pillows and brought over the bed table I hadn’t used since I was eight and had a terrible ear infection.
“Her name is Mrs. Chapman, and she’ll be here to see you soon. Don’t worry about eating too much anymore,” she added, nodding at the big piece of chocolate fudge cake. “We’re not hiding anything from Daddy any longer.
“I want you to be happy,” she added, “as happy as I am.”
She spent the rest of the night working on the baby clothes Daddy and Mother had bought for the Asa they had thought was coming. In the morning, she wanted to bring my breakfast up to me as well, but I insisted on going downstairs.
“Well, you do need to exercise,” she said. “But I want you to be extra careful on the stairway. In fact, always call me before you go up or down, okay?”
Suddenly, now that my pregnancy was out in the open, she was going to be a real mother hen. It should have made me feel better to know she cared so much, but I knew what she was really worrying about was the baby, not me.
“Look, Semantha, I’m not going to be looking over your shoulder every minute of the day, but there are many things you should avoid and should not do. Don’t dare sneak any of Daddy’s alcohol or drink any wine with dinner anymore.”
“I wish I never had,” I said.
“Before you take anything for anything, check with me. No aspirin. Aspirin can cause bleeding and you remember how Mother hemorrhaged. I don’t want you drinking coffee until after Asa’s born. Caffeine might cause a child to contract diabetes. Be careful when and if you go outside. Avoid insect bites.”
“I would even if I weren’t pregnant, Cassie.”
“More so now,” she emphasized. “Don’t go scavenging for food. You’ll eat the wrong things. Just eat what I give you. If you’re still hungry, tell me. Stay away from the microwave. You probably didn’t notice, but I took away your electric blanket. You wouldn’t use it now, anyway, but you have on cold, rainy days. I don’t want you near the cleaning products anymore, and no more long, hot baths.”
“All this came out of the books you read?”
“Yes, and they’re all written by experts.”