Reunited After 25 Years 56: Emergency!

"So what did the doctor say this time?" Anton asked his wife that evening.

"He said my blood pressure's a little high, but other than that, everything's fine," Andrea told him.

"Oh, you need to be careful, Andrea." Gently he trailed his finger down the side of her face. "Having a baby is serious business. You must take every precaution." At my age. Mentally she added the words she was sure he'd left out on purpose.

She took the food out of the oven and brought it to the table, and they both sat down. Andrea took a bite and automatically reached for the salt shaker, but Anton was faster and swiftly snatched it out of her reach.

"But it needs salt!" she whined.

"Sorry." Anton smiled sympathetically. "No salt for you. You have to keep your blood pressure down."

Andrea sighed heavily. "So from now on, all I can eat is bland, bitter food."

"Only until the baby comes." He reached across the table and patted her hand. "Only until October, Andrea."

Andrea was in a foul mood for the rest of the evening, so much so that she even turned over and ignored him when he reached for her in bed that night.

June arrived, and with it, warmer weather. The first weekend of the new month, Anton and Andrea had a picnic on the beach with the Prices. "You're getting fat, Andrea," Tyson informed his mother's friend.

"My belly's getting bigger because there's a baby inside it," Andrea exclaimed.

"Cool!" Tyson's eyes grew round with wonder. "Can you take it out and play with it?"

Andrea chuckled. "No, it has to stay inside of me until it's big enough to come out, which will be in about October."

"When's October?"

"Several months from now. Right now it's June. Next comes July, August, September, and then October."

"I start kindergarten in August!" Tyson exclaimed.

"That's wonderful!" Andrea replied. "You'll enjoy that. I didn't get to go to kindergarten myself. They didn't have it when I was your age. I didn't go to school until I was six, when I started first grade."

"I'm gonna be six on my next birthday!" Tyson said proudly.

"I know," said Andrea. "You're growing so fast, and so is your sister!"

At her doctor's appointment in June, the nurse frowned as she stepped onto the scale. "You've gained ten pounds over the past month," she told Andrea. "That's a bit excessive."

Andrea was shocked. "But I haven't been eating any more than normal, and Anton's been watching my salt intake like a hawk."

"You're retaining water," Dr. Keller told her later. "You're also borderline diabetic. I'm going to put you on a special diet. No salt and no sugar."

Andrea's feet swelled up so that she couldn't wear any of her shoes except flip flops, and her hands swelled up so that she couldn't wear her wedding ring anymore.

Anton looked at her with worried eyes. "After the baby is born, I will have a vasectomy," he decided. "What you are going through to have this baby is too much. I do not like to see you suffer."

"I'm all right," Andrea insisted.

"You are a strong woman, Andrea," her husband replied. "You are enduring much to bring a new life into the world. I admire you."

On the fourth of July, they went to the beach to watch the fireworks, as they had the previous year. Denny, Darya, and Fawn joined them, along with a young man Andrea had never seen before.

"This is my boyfriend, Walter," Fawn said. "I met him in a computer store." Walter had longish, straw-colored hair, green eyes, and a friendly smile.

"How do you do." He shook hands with Andrea and Anton. He noticed Andrea's swollen belly and smiled but didn't say anything.

"Are you OK, Mom?" Denny sounded worried.

"I'm fine. Why?" asked Andrea.

"No reason." Denny shook his head, but Andrea could see the concern in his eyes. They met Anton's, and the two men shared a meaningful gaze.

Anton took his wife home shortly before the fireworks ended because she told him she wasn't feeling well. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I don't mean to spoil your fun."

"Do not apologize," Anton replied. "It is not your fault."

It was a beautiful Saturday morning a couple of weeks later. Anton wanted to go to a car show, and Andrea said she'd stay home and work on a blanket she was crocheting for the baby.

Anton wavered at the door. "Perhaps I should not go," he said. "I know that you have not been feeling well."

"Oh, I'll be fine," Andrea said airily. "It's only for a few hours, and besides, if you hang around here, all you'll do is worry about me. You deserve a break. Go ahead and enjoy yourself."

"Well...all right," he agreed reluctantly. "Good-bye, Andrea. I love you very much." He held her as if he never wanted to let her go.

"I love you, too...so very much, Anton," she mumbled into the front of his shirt.

Anton did manage to put his concerns to the back of his mind and enjoy the car show for awhile; however, a summer thunderstorm cut it short. Driving home in the rain, he thought that perhaps Andrea had prepared a delicious clam chowder for lunch, as she often did on rainy days. He hoped so.

All was quiet as he parked the car and entered the house. There was no delicious aroma of cooking soup.

He saw the ball of yarn and the partially crocheted blanket lying on the sofa. Then he saw Andrea lying motionless on the floor beside it. He went to her, knelt beside her, and gently shook her shoulder. "Talk to me, Andrea."

There was no response.