“Baby, I’m okay. Don’t cry.” She held up her arms to invite a hug. “I’m just worn out. But I feel better already.”
“You don’t have an ulcer, do you?”
“No, I don’t have an ulcer.” She looked at Steven.
“I’m already dialing her number.” He held up his hand. “Just a minute. Hey... Hi, Charlie. Yes, I’m calling about your mom. Yes she’s okay, but she’s in the hospital. Wait... I’m putting you on speaker. Your mom wants to talk to both of you. Yes, Emily’s here. Okay, there. Speaker’s on. Can you hear?”
“Yes,” said Charlie, sniffing already. “Mom? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… Well, nothing bad. I mean it’s mostly good. We have to do the right thing and be careful.”
“What, Mom?” Emily asked in a quaking voice. “Do you have cancer?”
“Cancer? No, of course not. No, I’m not going to die. I only feel like I’m going to die.” She chuckled.
“Mom,” said Charlie. “It’s not funny. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m... uh... I’m...” Her cheeks burned and her eyes darted to Steven. “You say it.”
He smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. “We’re pregnant!” He lips split into a broad smile, and his dimples poked in a mile on each side.
After a few moments of silence, Charlie’s voice rang out over the speakerphone. “Did you say pregnant?”
“That’s right,” said Steven.
Emily’s eyebrows furrowed skeptically. “And that’s why you’ve lost so much weight you look like a scarecrow?”
“She’s got something called hyperemesis gravidarum. Essentially, she throws up everything. So she gets dehydrated, and her meds weren’t working because they didn’t stay in her long enough to do anything. The doctor thinks she’ll be fine if we keep her on an IV. Sometimes it’s better after the first trimester.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Mom’s pregnant? We’re going to have a baby brother or sister?” Charlie’s voice went up an octave.
Emily’s nostrils flared. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why did you lie? I was so worried.”
She felt the tears starting. “Because there’s a pretty good chance I’ll lose the baby, and I didn’t want everyone to know. I didn’t want the press to find out. And I didn’t want you to have to lie.”
Now Emily was crying again and hugging her, and Charlie could be heard sobbing on the phone.
“I don’t want her upset. She’s supposed to stay calm.” Steven ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair.
“Will you have to stay in the hospital until you have the baby?” asked Charlie.
“I hope not—I want to go home now.”
Steven shook his head. “You need to be on an IV for now. Hopefully that will be enough. If it gets really bad, they have something called TPN where you don’t eat anything and they give you all the nutrients in a central line.”
“Can’t I just come every day and get an IV?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. You got pretty bad today, and it had only been twenty four hours since your last IV.”
“Maybe Spencer’s mom would take care of you at the apartment. She’s an RN, but she hasn’t gotten a job yet.” Emily pulled her bottom lip in to chew on it.
“Really?” Her suggestion seemed heaven-sent.
“We’ll see what the doctor says tomorrow morning. It’d be better if you weren’t stuck in a bed all day. But we can’t take any chances here. I could have lost you today.” For the first time, Steven’s strong demeanor cracked, and he blinked at the tears.
Suddenly Emily got a strange look on her face. “Ohmygosh! You’re pregnant. My mom’s going to have a baby. Who can I tell?”
“Your mom wants to keep this whole thing out of the press for as long as possible. So we really need to keep a lid on it. I’ll tell Gram and Gus. But we’re not telling anyone at Gherring Inc.”