The Green Light at The End of The Storm

The sound of rain pattered against the hood of Claire's beat up old Honda. She sat listening to the sound as she wondered how her husband Mark would react to the news. 120 seconds is a long time to sit and ponder when your dreams are coming true. She imagined what would happen once that red light turned green.

This was something they both dreamt of since they fell in love 15 years ago. They were much younger then and now they were in their late 30’s and with each of those 15 years, came more doubt than they could ever imagine. The heartbreak they had experienced during all those years was more than they could bare.

She remembered each of the babies she had lost along the way. Most people would have already given up and in a way, they had. Of course, it had always been in the back of their minds each time they made love. In fact, their sex life had dwindled down a bit, knowing that whether they tried or not, more heartache could follow.

Claire was finally going to have her moment and her rainbow baby. She wouldn’t have to see Mark's dreamy eyes look down in sadness any longer, because this time it was for sure. After missing almost, a year of periods, she didn’t even think this was possible. However, by some major stroke of luck, Claire was pregnant and quite far along at that. Nearly seven months along. She never thought she would end up as one of those women. One who didn’t realize they were pregnant, and yet here she was.

Hardly any symptoms showed. The doctor said this was normal, especially with her history. Claire had attributed her weight gain to stress and the emotional eating she had been doing for the last 6 months. Well, she thought it was emotional eating, but she was really eating for two. A smile lit up her face as the realization had finally hit. She was finally going to have a baby.

Looking over at the seat next to her, she saw the ultrasound. The doctor told her that she was far enough to tell the gender, but she wanted Mark there for that. Christmas was a few weeks away and she had the perfect plan for telling their families as well as revealing the gender. Thank goodness both families were coming over to their house this year.

Her mind went to the future and the many things she wondered about her child. What would it be like to finally hold that baby? What theme would they choose for the nursery? Would the baby have her eyes? Whose hair would they have? And who would this baby become? This was now her reality and future. Of course, they would love the baby regardless of the answers to all of these thoughts. This would be their child. Something they only thought they could imagine.

She wanted that red-light to turn green now. This would be the perfect ending to a gloomy day. The rain was finally letting up and she could see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds.

Another thought popped into her mind. How would she tell Mark? Should she just blurt it out when she walked in the door? Would a fun game be the best way? Maybe she would just show him the ultrasound. Telling everyone else would be the easy part but telling Mark was going to be tough with all the loss they had experienced. She quickly brushed those thoughts out of her mind, knowing he would be happy regardless of how she told him.

One last time she glanced at the picture of the baby. At least he or she was healthy. That was all that mattered to her. Claire took one last deep breath and continued on her way home as the light finally had turned green.