When Mari left the restaurant to head home half an hour later she was in much better spirits. She sang along to the radio as she drove, smiling as she let herself into the house. She saw the light on in the kitchen and headed in that direction. Poking her head around the doorframe to see what he was doing, she was surprised to see him sitting at the kitchen table drumming his fingers.
“Hi, Joe,” she said.
His head jerked up at the sound of her voice. When he saw her his eyes frosted over and his face hardened. He had gotten home from work early, thinking they might try dinner again. Joe had felt almost normal after the last time, and he needed that feeling today. The emotions surging though him were so wearing. But when he got home, Mari was no where to be found. As the hours ticked by, all the possible scenarios went through his mind. First, that she was working late, then that she may have had car trouble. Finally, the thought that she might be with her lover drove him to the edge of losing control. By the time she walked in the door he had worked himself into a fine rage.
Joe shoved his chair away from the table and stood. Without a word he stalked over to the fridge and pulled out a soda. The door closed with a bang, making the jars on the door shelves clatter. He spun away from the appliance and would have left the room, but Mari blocked his way.
“We can’t keep going like this, Joe,” Mari insisted. “We have too much to lose.”
He tried to sidestep her, but she moved again. “I don’t want to talk about it now, Mari.”
“Then when, Joe?” she demanded, voice raising in agitation. “If we wait for you to want to talk about it, it may never happen. You avoid me. I understand you’re hurt and angry at what you think I did, but I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Nothing wrong?! How can you say that? You’re pregnant.”
“Yes, I’m pregnant,” she confirmed. “By you.”
“Don’t go there, Mari. Just don’t go there right now.” Joe’s voice was hot and his blue eyes flamed. “I won’t stand here and listen to you declare how innocent you are when the proof is sticking right out of you.” He thrust his hand out towards her stomach.
“Where were you tonight?” he asked suddenly, accusation in his voice. “Spending more time with your lover?”
Mari’s face flushed in anger and she growled, “If you must know, I was having dinner with Jennifer. Like you would even care when I’m not home, since you’re hardly here yourself.” She stalked toward Joe, who instinctively took a step back. All her own bottled up anger was rising to the surface and she did nothing to hold back this time. “I could smack you, I’m so mad. We’ve been together for twelve years, Joe. Twelve years! Don’t you know me enough by now to know I would never do anything deliberately to hurt you?”
Despite his anger, Joe wanted to smile at the dichotomy. She might not want to deliberately hurt him but that obviously did not apply to the bodily harm she wanted to inflict on him right now. He stepped out of range, putting the table between them and stared down at her. The bump he could just see hiding under her shirt mocked him. Fury at the unknown man who had fathered this child flared up inside him.
“I will not talk about this now,” he hissed. “You may not believe it, but I would rather not do anything I might regret. And the best way to do that is to just stay away from you.” He pushed past her and left the room, thrusting his hands into his pockets to prevent himself from putting a fist through the wall.
After Joe left, Mari deflated. The adrenaline rush from the anger faded leaving her shaking in reaction. He had been a step away from violence and Mari had all but ignored the signs and let her own anger fly. How stupid can you be, she thought to herself as she dropped into a chair at the table. Way to egg him on. She picked up the abandoned can of soda and took a sip. Grimacing at the taste, she set it back down. He thought she had a lover. No news there, considering he did not believe the baby was his. But to accuse her of going to see another man, that really stung.
“Maybe I should just go ahead and get the amnio,” Mari said to softly. There would be no refuting the paternity results. But the thought of something going wrong, slight as the chances were, caused her to shudder. No, she would not risk this baby, not even if it meant living with Joe’s anger for another four months.
“Okay, baby,” Mari said as she rubbed her belly. “We’re going to have love daddy though this.” Standing, she poured the rest of the soda down the drain, then went up to bed.
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