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Barbara has a twisted ankle and a sprained wrist and a bruise on the side of her head when she finds out she's pregnant.
She'd been slow the night before, slow for a week or more, her normally obedient limbs feeling like they were moving through molasses, and she'd have been in real trouble if it hadn't been for John at her back. The shame of it kept her from thinking clearly, the pain obscuring her awareness until the next day, when she checked her phone and her tracking app helpfully informed her that she should have been on day five of her cycle.
Now she's staring at a stupid pink-and-white plastic doodad with a little window informing her that yes, she is pregnant, and Barbara is pretty sure she's going to throw up for reasons that have nothing to do with morning sickness.
She caps the test and limps back out to the living room, curling up on the couch and watching the light slowly move across the wall until John finally comes back. The whistle dies on his lips when he sees her, and he drops the bag of takeout on the table and comes over to sit beside her feet.
"Hey. You okay? Need some ice?" He reaches for her and she shrinks back and he pulls away, and Barbara gestures vaguely at the coffee table. She can practically see his train of thought as he sees what she's pointing at, registers what it is, sees the little positive symbol in the tiny window, and puts it all together and turns back to her and stares.
"I'm pregnant," she says, and saying the words out loud makes it real, makes her stomach turn again.
He swallows, reaching for her hand this time, and she lets him take it. "Wow. Okay." A long pause. "What do you want to do?"
Barbara shakes her head a little. "I don't know. I don't… I don't know yet."
"Okay." John is slow and careful and gentle as he tugs her close, as he wraps his arms around her and she rests her head on his shoulder. "Just… you know I'm here for you, right? Whatever you want. I'm okay with it."
Barbara sighs against his shirt. She lets herself imagine, just for a moment, what it would be like. John holding their baby, a tiny person with his eyes and her ears, his face alight with joy and the exhilaration of the unknown. The two of them starting a family of their own, something he lost far too early. A life lived not only in the darkness. Turning away from fear, and into hope.
She doesn't know if that's something they can do, as her strained muscles ache and his hands rest heavy on her back. But it's tempting. Enough to make her believe they can do the impossible.
And isn't that what their life together is all about? They've defied the odds so far. Maybe their luck will hold out one more time.