Sophie Tells Henry She's Pregnant

Sophie—Two months after Sophie in Siloam ends

Sophie paced the length of her living room incessantly. She had a home pregnancy test in one hand, an ultrasound in the other, and a stomach full of nerves. Henry had made good on his promise to work less, but he had something come up on one of his sites. He rushed out that morning with a promise to bring back lunch for them.

Sophie glanced at her phone again: 12:18. Henry had texted her just before noon that he had the food and was on his way. The restaurant was about twenty minutes away, so—

Sophie’s train of thought screeched to a halt when she heard Henry’s car pulling into the driveway. She should wait until after they eat to tell him. Why did she get everything out already? Sophie started shoving things into her pockets, though she was careful not to crease the ultrasound. She’d spent almost the entire time Henry was gone looking at it. She was sitting on the couch when Henry opened the door, and she did her best to look nonchalant.

“Hey, darlin’, everything okay?” he asked as het set the food down on the counter.

Mission failed.

“Yeah, why?” Sophie stood. She busied herself with getting plates and silverware for the Chinese food he’d brought back.

Henry stopped her, pinned her against the counter with his hips, and took the plates out of her hands. He set them on the counter beside her and took her face in his hands.

“Sweetheart, I have been learning you and loving you for over a year now. Something is obviously going on. Is it the war again?”

The odds of Henry getting drafted were stressing her out, but she hadn’t been thinking about it lately until he said that.

“No, but thank you for reminding me,” she quipped. “Can it wait until after we eat? I’m starving.” It wasn’t a lie. She had eaten breakfast and snacked while Henry was gone, but she was still hungry.

Henry studied her face for a while before it seemed like he believed her.

“Sure.” He kissed her forehead and retrieved the plates. As he handed one to her, he asked, “So what did you do while I was gone?”

Oh, just sat around and stared at the picture of our child that you don’t know exists.

“Nothing much. Scrolled on my phone. Watched some funny cat videos.” She shrugged to cement her bout of completely believable unconcern.

Henry scoffed. “Right. I’m assuming we’re gonna circle back to that, too.”

Sophie bit her cheek, rolled her eyes, and finished making her plate. Henry turned the TV on for a bit of background noise, but Sophie wasn’t hearing any of it. As they ate, she thought more about odds.

She had rarely been on birth control. She wasn’t on it at all as a teenager. She only started taking it when she decided she wanted to leave Daniel. She was on the pill for a few months, and then she stopped when she left Ohio. She and Daniel had sex hundreds of times throughout their time together before she was on the pill. While she hated thinking about it, she had to admit it happened. Why hadn’t she gotten pregnant then? She’d always assumed she was infertile for one reason or another. She took the pills as an extra precaution when she decided she didn’t want to be tied to Daniel anymore.

Sophie figured that when the time was right, she and Henry would sit down to discuss options. She certainly hadn’t expected the gut feeling she had months before to turn into two pretty, pink, little lines that had upended her entire world.

And what would Henry think? They had never discussed whether he wanted more kids. After his daughter’s death, Sophie didn’t know if it was something he’d want to do again. It’s a bit late for that now, though. I’m carrying his baby, and I have to tell him.

A fresh wave of nausea hit her, and it wasn’t morning sickness. She’d been symptom free minus the missed periods.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Henry asked. His plate was almost clear, and Sophie realized that she’d barely touched hers.

“Are you done with that?” she asked. Before he could answer, Sophie had taken his plate away from him and put it in the kitchen. She walked back to the living room and stood in front of him, wringing her hands.

“Darlin’, you’re really starting to scare me,” Henry said. Sophie already knew that, though. Concern lined his face and made his body tense. She’d been learning him just as much as he’d been learning her.

“Okay, just… don’t freak out, okay?” she finally said.

“Whatever’s going on, I’ll handle it. Plus, it seems like you’re freaking out enough for both of us.”

“Well, actually…” she said as she pulled out the stick and ultrasound. She thrust them at him. “It’s three of us.”

Henry took the items with more care than Sophie had given them. He turned the test over in his hand before switching his attention to the picture. The longer he looked, the more his muscles started to relax. Sophie watched as Henry basically melted into the sofa. A few seconds later, he was beaming at the image of their little peanut. He looked happy, but he stayed silent.

“Could you say something? Please?” Sophie pleaded.

Henry placed the items on the table and took Sophie’s hand. He pulled her onto his lap and rubbed her back. Sophie likely would have cried anyway, but the hormones weren’t helping. Silent tears streamed down her face.

“Are you scared about the baby, or were you scared to tell me?” Henry asked.

“Yeah,” she said with a sniffle.

“Don’t be scared, darlin’. About either. We can handle the baby, and you never have to be scared of telling me things.”

“I didn’t know… I wasn’t sure if you…”

Henry put a finger under her chin and tilted it up until she was looking into his eyes.

“You honestly thought that, given how much I love you, I wouldn’t want another, smaller version of you running around? One that I helped make? You’re going to be an amazing mother, Sophie, and I can’t wait to watch you do it.”

The tears stopped being silent. Sophie let out a long series of choking sobs that would have made Henry sick if he weren’t too busy laughing. When Sophie calmed down enough to realize he was chuckling, she swatted him.

“It’s not funny!” she cried. “This is a lot, and the feelings are a lot!”

“It’s not funny, sweetheart. I’m just happy.”

That placated Sophie enough to lay back down against him. Henry rubbed her back with one hand and her thigh with the other.

“We can do this, right?” Sophie asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Me and you? We can do anything.”