“I’m really happy for you guys,” Morgan said. “Crap, Etta let the puppy out of his crate. We’ll talk soon, okay?”
“Okay.”
She hung up, and I set the phone down on the table in front of me.
Now that we were done calling Alex’s family, it was time for me to break the news to my family, and I had a feeling that the congratulations were over.
“You want me to grab the laptop?” Alex asked. “Is it in your bag?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll just call this time, okay?”
“Whatever you want to do, baby,” he replied, dropping forward so the legs of the chair thumped back onto the floor.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and stared at it for a moment before calling. The minute it began to ring, I felt my heart start to race.
“Hello?” my aunt answered, her voice subdued.
“Hey, Auntie,” I replied. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “How have you been?”
“Good,” she said. She didn’t elaborate or offer any more information.
“Is Uncle Isaac home?” I asked. “I wanted to talk to you both.”
She didn’t reply, but I heard her calling my uncle. A few seconds later, his voice came through the line.
“Sarai,” he said. “Hello.”
“I was calling”—I forged on before I lost my nerve—“because I have some news.” I paused, but they didn’t respond. “I’m going to have a baby. Me and Alex, we’re going to have a baby.”
The silence was deafening.
“I’m due in July,” I rambled on, afraid of the silence. “So I won’t have the baby until after I graduate. The doctor said that everything looks good, but I have to go back next week.”
“Mazel tov,” my aunt replied stiltedly.
“We were just headed out, actually,” my uncle murmured uncomfortably. “Thank you for calling, Sarai.”
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “Of course,” I whispered. I wanted to say something else, anything that would keep them on the line. I wanted to fix what was broken, but I had no idea how. Hanging up, I set my phone down carefully next to Alex’s on the table.
I stared at the two, side by side, marveling at how the phones looked so similar but had caused such opposite feelings when we’d used them tonight.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Alex said tentatively.
My eyes watered when they met his, and I felt so much love for him at that moment that it was almost as if my skin heated from the inside out.
I wiped at my eyes and waved a hand in the air. “It could have been worse,” I said lightly.
“What did they say?” he asked.
“Congratulations,” I replied. “But my uncle said they had plans, so they had to cut the conversation short.”
Alex’s gaze moved over my face, searching. “Still not quite what you were hoping for,” he said in understanding.
I stood up from my spot at the table and moved to him, stepping between his knees so I could wrap my arms around his neck. Without hesitation, his arms circled my hips.
“I’m happy,” I said, the realization coming later than it should have. “So if they aren’t happy for me—” I shook my head and cleared my throat. “I’m married, and I’m having a baby. They can be a part of that if they want, but I won’t force them.”
“You shouldn’t have to force them,” Alex replied. It was the first thing he’d said that was even remotely disparaging of my aunt and uncle. He treated them with respect when they came up in conversation, even when I knew that he didn’t like how they were treating me. I was thankful for that.
“No, I shouldn’t,” I said. “They’re angry now, but they’ll come around eventually.”
“Yeah, they will,” Alex confirmed. “And then you won’t be able to keep them away.”
* * *
“We’re really good at that,” Alex murmured as he rolled to the side, his sweaty skin sliding against mine. “And practice seems to be making us Olympians.”
I laughed as I tried to catch my breath. Somehow, in our rush to touch and taste everything we could, we’d knocked the pillows off the bed, and we were currently lying naked in the cool room, too lazy to pull the blankets up around us. He ran his hand down my side, and I shivered. It seemed like my skin was extra-sensitive lately, which delighted Alex to no end.
“Sexual Olympics,” I replied. “I like it.”
“Olympic coitus,” he said.
“Olympic intercourse.”
“Erotic Olympics.”
“Olympics of intimacy.”
Alex opened his mouth, paused, and then laughed. “I’ve got nothing else. You’ve turned me into an idiot with your feminine wiles.”
“Someone’s been reading,” I teased.
“I can use wiles in a sentence. I say it all the time,” he argued, leaning up on one elbow.
“Try it again,” I replied.
I laughed when he couldn’t come up with another sentence. After dinner I’d gone into the bedroom to study so that Alex could use the television without worrying that he was going to bother me. I’d felt relieved that the announcements were over and I could finally relax, assuming that my focus would improve and I’d start sailing through my assignments the way I used to.