Brides and Brothers by Anneka R. Walker
Chapter 23
Camille
The next morning came much too quickly for Camille, as did the subsequent mornings. Unfortunately, the day of her doctor’s appointment did not come soon enough. Her class responsibilities felt like chores rather than intellectual stimulation. She barely survived midterms. Her poor brothers-in-law had gone back to their cereal and ramen habits, and they had already resorted to frozen pizza for two different dinners. It wasn’t so much that she was too busy as that she was too exhausted to cook.
Embarrassed by their need for ramen, the guys had hidden packages all over the kitchen. Camille had found several bags in the bottom of the kitchen towel drawer. She may or may not have cut open the plastic wrapping, slid out the MSG-laden seasoning packets, and glued the bags shut again. She wasn’t physically in her prime, but she could still do her part.
On the list of her complaints, the top was reserved for her husband. Their phone time bordered on pathetic. Aiden’s long hours forced him to call her late each night, and her fatigue kept her from keeping up a decent conversation. The distance between them spanned more than miles.
After pulling into a parking space in front of her doctor’s office, Camille happily tossed her empty barf bag into the back seat. She and cars hadn’t agreed much lately, and she was pleased she hadn’t needed the bag today.
After checking in, Camille grabbed a magazine and sat down, venturing a glance at the woman next to her. She wore a gray business suit, her hair had fresh highlights, and her makeup and manicure were equally perfect.
Camille looked down at her sweats. She was acutely aware of the green tint her face had taken on in the last week. She tightened her messy bun to help her cause. Were all sick people as ugly as she felt? What if it wasn’t hormone problems? What if Camille had something worse, like cancer?
When they called the woman next to her back, Camille reached into her purse and put her sunglasses on to hide her face. The office would be closing soon, so hopefully no one else would wander into the waiting room. She sank lower in her seat. Fifteen minutes later, it was Camille’s turn. With reluctance, she shoved her glasses back into her purse. She stood slowly to fight off the onslaught of dizziness.
After an initial meeting with the nurse, the doctor came in, shook Camille’s hand, and rolled on his stool to his computer. “What seems to be the problem?”
Camille hated this part. She never knew how to describe her own body. “Well, I was hoping to get my thyroid tested again. I’ve had flulike symptoms for a few weeks, and it’s getting worse.”
“Could you be pregnant?” her doctor asked.
“No.” Camille blanched. “Well, I’m not sure.”
“Has your cycle been regular?”
Camille shrugged. “It’s never been regular.”
The doctor made a note in his computer before asking, “Any pain or fever?”
“No.”
“Well,” he said, eyeing her, “we can certainly check your thyroid. I’ll order a full blood workup. I’ll add a pregnancy test, just to be sure.”
Camille nodded, unsure what to think. She wasn’t pregnant, was she?
As she drove home, she analyzed her symptoms. Was it her thyroid? Could it be cancer? Could she be pregnant? Camille smiled. Of course, the latter was preferable. She’d heard of honeymoon babies, but she’d also heard it often took months to conceive the first baby—especially while on thyroid medication. Besides, she wasn’t confident having a child right away would be the best thing after her and Aiden’s rocky start and early separation. They needed more time as a two-person family unit—though, with her brothers-in-law in the house, that might never happen.
Camille’s worries melted away as she walked into the house and saw that the grocery list she’d left on the counter was missing, in its place a receipt and empty grocery bags. Someone had done her shopping for her.
She went to her room, plopped onto her bed, and pulled her laptop in front of her to check for emails from her students. She was surprised to see one from Aiden. She clicked on it.
Hey, sweetie!
A week and a half down! I’ve been missing you all morning, and it’s distracting me from my work. I started going through the wedding pictures I saved to my laptop, but it made it worse. I talked to Benson, and he said you haven’t been feeling well. You never said anything. Are you okay? You can call me anytime, even if I’m working. I hope you’re feeling better today. I love you.
Aiden
Camille’s heart felt lighter than it had all week. She missed Aiden. She reached for her phone to call him but paused. If she didn’t call him, then he would have more time to finish his work so he could come home to her. She decided taking a nap would be the best choice of action.
The next day Camille’s phone buzzed as she posted her last response on her class discussion board. “Hey, Daisha, what’s up?”
“I thought you should know Derek proposed last night.”
“He didn’t!” Camille gripped her laptop. “But you sound so calm.”
Daisha hemmed. “That’s because I said no.”
Camille gasped. “You did?”
“Well, I said no for now, but I also told him I needed time to think and pray about it. But, of course, that takes a lot of concentration, and I can’t seem to concentrate for the life of me. Every time I get on my knees, my mind wanders, and I think of something I need to do. It’s like I’m scared to know the answer. I love Derek, and I know I’ll love being married. But am I ready for such a huge commitment? I still feel so young—even if I am the oldest in my apartment by two years.”
Camille swallowed. “You’ll make the best decision. Derek is a nice guy, but do you want to be with him forever?”
Daisha groaned. “Hey, I tried to influence you, shouldn’t you give me the same courtesy?”
“I’m trying to, but maybe I’m being too subtle.” Camille laughed and walked into the laundry room. She threw a shirt from the clean laundry on the dryer into her to-be-ironed pile. “I love being married. But I love being married to Aiden. I have no idea how you’d feel being married to Derek.”
Daisha hummed for a moment. “I know he would be financially responsible, caring, sensitive, trustworthy . . .”
“Admirable qualities,” Camille agreed, “and a logical take on the subject—most women our age can’t get past the chemistry side of things—but I’m curious what your heart is feeling. Would you take Derek over any other guy you’ve ever met? I know that in my mind no one comes close to Aiden.”
Daisha fell silent.
“Daisha?”
“I’m here.”
Camille put down the pants she was folding. “You need some time to think about it.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Camille thought she’d better change the subject. Daisha sounded depressed. “So Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Are you going home?”
“Derek invited me to his house.”
“And did you say yes?”
“Not exactly,” Daisha answered. “I was so caught up in the ring he was flashing in my face that I couldn’t make sense of anything.”
Camille’s eyes widened. “He had a ring? And you didn’t know about it?”
“We’ve been dating forever, but I’ve been an expert in changing the subject every time he talks about ring shopping or setting a date. I guess he finally took matters into his own hands. Which, honestly, is how I prefer it anyway. The diamond was way fancier than I would have picked for myself, but Derek has always been a little more ostentatious about clothes, cars, where we eat . . . you know, everything.”
“Does that bother you?” Camille reminded herself of the importance of being supportive, not biased.
“No, he worked for his money and still has savings,” Daisha answered a little too quickly. “Not every college student could say the same.”
Money was not romantic; Camille should know. “You’re lucky.”
“I know.”
Camille’s phone beeped. “Sorry, Daisha, but someone else is calling. I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”
“Thanks. See ya.”
Camille switched over to her other call. “Hello?”
“Hello, this is Jessica Hopkins, the nurse you saw yesterday. We have the results back from your labs.”
“Oh, okay,” Camille said. “And?”
“You have a high HCG count. Congratulations!”
“HCG?” Camille asked, confused.
The nurse chuckled. “That means you’re pregnant. The doctor wants you to come back in a few weeks for an ultrasound to see how far along you are.”
Camille could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Oh, all right.” Camille scheduled her next appointment for after Thanksgiving and hung up the phone.
Her body melted into a crouched position in front of her washing machine. Pregnant? There was a baby inside of her. At. This. Very. Moment. Camille put her hand on her lower abdomen. Tears trickled down her face. She was so happy—as happy as she had been on her wedding day. She couldn’t wait to tell Aiden. Would he be happy?
This wasn’t exactly the kind of news a person delivered over the phone. She would surprise him when he got home. She would buy the cutest little baby shoes and wrap them up. She couldn’t wait to see his face! She ran and grabbed her car keys. The rest of her life could wait. She suddenly felt full of energy and was going to go shopping before her adrenaline faded.
That night when Aiden called her, she was more awake than normal. She pushed up on her bed pillows and sighed. Well, at least, the new normal. She could hardly restrain herself from telling him.
“I booked tickets home today.”
Camille shrieked. “You did? What date?”
“Right before Thanksgiving.”
Camille’s smile left as fast as it came. That was over three weeks away.
“Sweetie?” he asked.
“Aiden, that feels like forever. It’s more than a month altogether. I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m annoyed with myself. The fine print in the contract I signed said I would be here from four to six weeks for training, and the CEO is going to hold me to it. I don’t want to fight it since I was the overtired idiot who signed the stupid agreement.”
“Stupid agreement? Are you regretting the sale?” She was glad she was in her bed and could be direct on the phone without alerting the others to her concerns.
“No, but all this red tape makes a guy question. You have every right to be frustrated. I’m sorry. We’ll both have to be patient a little longer. I can’t tell you how much I’m craving your cooking, and I miss your warm feet next to mine when I fall asleep. But I know it’ll be worth it in the end.” Aiden sighed, and Camille could imagine him rubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was tired or stressed.
“I’ve been working overtime trying to cut back my time here, and then they pulled this on me. It’s as if they’ve been planning all along to assimilate me with the software. Like they think we’re a package deal.”
Camille felt a little panicky. “But you’re not, right?”
“Yes and no,” Aiden answered. “I still get a percentage of the sales, but that should be the end of it. I’m starting to wish I would’ve had a lawyer go through the contract with me instead of a banker.”
Camille picked at the lint on her bedspread. “You’re stressing me out.”
Aiden heaved another sigh. “That wasn’t my intention. I’m sorry. By the way, how are you feeling?”
“I saw the doctor, and he said it’s one of those things that just has to run its course. I’ll be feeling better in no time. In fact, today I had quite a bit of energy.” She didn’t want to outright lie to him, but he had enough on his plate and didn’t need to worry about her too.
“Great. I wanted to visit this weekend to check on you, but if you’re feeling better, I’ll keep working overtime to hopefully shorten my time here.”
Camille was unable to hide her own sigh. “I would probably be a distraction if I came there, then.” A weight settled over her shoulders. Marriage hadn’t simplified her life. In many ways, it was more complicated than ever.
“I hate this too,” Aiden said, reading her mind. “Let’s talk about Thanksgiving. How about a party to celebrate us finally being together when I get home?”
Camille despondently curled a strand of hair around her finger. “I’ll make a turkey.”
Aiden laughed lightly through the phone. “You don’t even have to lift a finger if you don’t want to. We could get the meal catered.”
“No, I like the idea of making Thanksgiving dinner—it feels like the start of many traditions to come.”
“You’re pretty amazing.” His voice was low and smooth. “Do you want to spend Thanksgiving weekend at the cabin?”
“I would love to get away.” Camille looked across the room at the small package she’d wrapped earlier. She would surprise him there, at the same place they’d had their honeymoon. It would be romantic and private.
“Great. I’ll text my brothers and have them make the arrangements.”
“Oh, you mean all of us?” Camille asked, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice.
“I would love it to be just us, but it feels selfish to not invite the others. Unless you’re tired of them, they might appreciate having some turkey as well.”
“You’re right. They deserve a fun weekend break.” She wanted to be happy about a family party, but she was still upset about Aiden being gone for so long. Alone time was a high priority for her.
“I have a surprise for you,” Aiden said.
Camille brightened. “Oh, I have something too.”
She could hear the smile in Aiden’s voice. “We’ll see whose surprise is better.”
They said goodbye, and Camille let her phone fall to her lap. She didn’t notice the tears until she tasted them. She buried her face in her pillow and took a deep breath. This was by far the best and worst month of her life. Not having her health was killing her. At her next appointment she was going to request antinausea medication. Then, when Aiden got back, she was going to punish him for leaving her by putting him on dish duty for their child’s whole first year.
Camille got up, shut her light off, and plugged in her phone to charge. She stared at the black screen for a moment. She was beginning to resent Aiden for leaving her. She needed to feel like she was still married. Before long they were going to be apart in their marriage longer than they’d been together. She already had a mother who’d checked out, and she certainly didn’t need another significant person in her life to do the same.