Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
A ngela stopped by The Thai House on her way home from work. It was already after five and she didn’t feel like cooking. Her husband, Philippe, was usually good about it, but she knew he was deep into writing a book and when he was at this stage, he often lost all track of time. She made a stop at the pharmacy, too. She didn’t want to get her hopes up. She knew better now. But still, there was a glimmer of hope that maybe they might finally have good news.
She paused for a moment after getting out of the car. Their waterfront view of the ocean always filled her with awe. Especially on days like this, when a thick fog hovered over the water, which was like glass at the moment, much calmer than usual. A storm was on the way—a Nor’ easter was predicted and there was an eerie stillness in the air as well.
She grabbed the mail and headed inside. The view from inside was even more spectacular, as the wall facing the ocean was all glass. They’d watched many a storm from their living room sofa. The house was up high enough on the bluff that they didn’t have to worry about flooding.
Angela set her bags on the kitchen counter and listened for a moment. Normally, when she walked in, Philippe came out a moment later to greet her. The room was so quiet that she knew he was still working. She grabbed the paper bag from the pharmacy and went into her bedroom bathroom and followed the instructions on the box. She set her phone timer for three minutes and went back to the kitchen and got plates out of the cupboard and serving spoons, knives and forks from the drawer. That took less than a minute.
She went back to her bedroom and checked messages on her phone until the timer went off and she went to the sink where the test stick waited.
And it was positive! She felt like screaming, but she also didn’t quite believe it. There were two tests in the box and she pulled the other one out and waited three more minutes—pacing around her room in a state of nervous excitement.
When the second test was positive, Angela exhaled and felt a rush of joy bigger than she’d ever imagined she could feel. It had finally happened for them. She and Philippe had been trying to have a baby for over a year. And for the past few months, they’d had help with IVF. Their first attempt didn’t work, so both Angela and Philippe tried to keep their expectations low this second time. They knew that it could take three or four tries to have a successful pregnancy.
Angela didn’t normally interrupt Philippe when he was writing, but he didn’t usually work this late and she knew he wouldn’t mind. She headed toward his office and just as she reached it, the door opened and Philippe stepped into the hallway. He smiled when he saw her, and her heart felt even fuller. She couldn’t wait to tell him the good news. He ran a hand through his hair.
“I should go wash up. I’m sure I look a mess. I haven’t left that room all afternoon.” He did look a bit disheveled, with his wavy hair all tousled. It was in need of a cut, but he usually let it go until he finished a project. And Angela didn’t care. She liked it long on him.
“You look fine. I brought Thai home for dinner. Let’s eat while it’s hot.” She grinned and held out the test stick. “Guess I’ll pour some sparkling apple cider to celebrate. Want some?”
A range of emotions flashed across Philippe’s face. Confusion, disbelief, joy. He picked her up and twirled around the room, laughing as they went in circles. He finally set her down and stared at her in wonder. “We’re having a baby.”
Angela nodded, and the emotions spilled over as her eyes watered. “I can’t believe it. I want to tell everyone. But I know we should probably wait.”
“Probably. What do they suggest, three months? It will be hard to keep quiet, but I don’t want to jinx anything.”
“I don’t either.”
“I’ll open that sparkling cider,” Philippe said and dug deep into the refrigerator to find it.
“You can have the real thing!” Angela laughed.
“Tonight, I’ll celebrate your way. We’re in this together.” He got two champagne flutes out of the cupboard and filled them both. Angela started helping herself to some of the pad thai and tofu Massaman curry over white rice. Philippe did the same, and they took their dinners to a round glass table by the window. It was still light enough that they could watch the fog rolling in.
“Lauren should be here by now. She’s staying at the Beach Plum Cove Inn. I’ll probably see her at breakfast there tomorrow. I was thinking of having the girls over tomorrow night for drinks and appetizers. I want Lauren to meet everyone and once filming starts, I’m not sure how many free evenings she’ll have. You don’t mind, do you?”
Philippe shook his head. “Not at all. I’ll give Jack a call and see if he wants to grab a beer downtown. Or if he can’t get a sitter, maybe we’ll just watch the game at his place.”
“Thanks, honey.”
Philippe took a sip of his cider. “It’s going to be hard for you to keep quiet about this with the girls.”
“I know. I really want to tell them. But I know it’s too soon. I can wait. Three months will go by fast.”