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The lawyer didn’t say a word to either of them when all was said and done. She packed up her bag and walked out, taking the papers with her.
Frank presumed that they got filed somewhere after this, and then it was done. Divorced. He thought he would feel something; sad, regretful, anxious, but instead he was distracted. He kept looking down at his phone, waiting for a notification.
“You on baby watch?” Abby asked, eyebrows raised. She looked unimpressed with him. Tired.
Frank cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “Yep. Could be any time, now.”
He hadn’t wanted to come to the meeting in person at all, hated to leave Mel’s side for even a second. He was convinced as soon as he left the apartment, she’d go into labor. He could picture her now, sitting on the couch with her pile of blankets and pillows, AC on full-blast, in one of his oversized t-shirts with a tangerine popsicle, waiting for him to come home and take care of her.
Since she’d gone on leave from work that week, she hadn’t wanted to do anything by herself. He even watched her in the bath, sitting on the floor by the tub and reading her Wikipedia articles from his phone: Dancing plague of 1518, 1904 Summer Olympics Marathon, Time Cube, and Melissa (female given name).
“When did you know?” Abby asked with a dry swallow, looking at Frank with her clear, blue eyes. It was suddenly apparent that they were the only ones left in the room, the air thick, the walls closer than before.
“Know what?” He can’t imagine what she’s asking. They’d gone over everything a million times in court. The infidelity, the baby, Mel coming home from work in tears after Abby had subpoenaed her.
Abby’s eyes darted to the floor, then back up to his face again, “When did you know that it was going to be her?”
The question made him stop. He considered lying for a long moment. Lying was second nature, to anyone except Mel. Maybe she was rubbing off on him, making him an honest man.
He decided to tell the truth, “From the second I saw her… there was like… a spark. I can’t explain it.” He grimaced after he said it, “Sorry. I know that’s probably not what you want to hear.”
Abby’s eyelashes stuttered, half a blink, a flash of something undefinable flickered over her face, and then it was gone and she was composed again, “I asked, didn’t I?”
She slid her purse onto her shoulder and turned to walk out, “Good luck to you two. You’re going to need it.”
Frank let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his hair as he watched her walk out of the room.
With a jolt, his phone lit up with three new messages from Mel, all sent in rapid succession:
