Page 50 of The Regrettable Mistake

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” I told her. She was silent again for a minute or two.

“See you on Thursday, Ollie.”

“See you Thursday…” Before I could finish, the line went dead.

“Who are you seeing Thursday?” Mom asked when she came back into the room. Obviously, she hadn’t gone very far.

“Stephanie. She invited me to her next appointment.”

“Maybe that’s what progress looks like.” I grinned at my mom. “Now, don’t screw it up!” She threw a pillow at my head and wandered back out of the living room humming a tune I couldn’t place. Nerves kicked in the minute I was left alone with my thoughts. It felt like going on a first date, standing up to say “I do” at a wedding, and a million other important moments all rolled into one.

Steph had texted me the place, time, and date. I was twenty minutes early because being late wasn’t an option and I hoped to see my wife in the parking lot and be able to walk into the appointment together. I stood there, waiting on her to show and wondered if she’d want to be seen with me. If I were her, I’d probably be embarrassed.

Of all the worst case scenarios in the world, Jia just had to be a semi-famous actress who had spilled all of our dirty laundry all over the front pages of every major and minor publication for weeks on end. Most of it had been lies, but there were dabs of truth inserted into the mix.

Everyone in our town, and most of the rest of the country, knew exactly who we were. More importantly, they knew that I’d cheated on my wife. I hadn’t really thought about how embarrassing that must have been for her. Not that she was the reason at all, but I knew how people thought. They’d wonder what she did wrong to make me step out the way I had.

“Ollie?” I turned and watched as Steph walked around the backside of my car. She had apparently parked somewhere behind me and I’d been staring off in the wrong direction.

“Hey, Steph. Sorry, I was lost in thought and didn’t hear you.”

“Okay.” Her answer was just that crisply spoken word, and she gave it while staring down at the ground in front of her feet. “Are you ready to head in?”

“Yeah. Of course, I am. Are you sure you want me there?”

Her head finally tipped up and our eyes met. “I invited you.”

“I know, but I was standing here thinking about how I’ve been a complete embarrassment to you. I would understand if you didn’t want to be seen with me.”

Steph rolled her eyes and waved me off. “Whatever. My nurse told me about her ex-boyfriend who she caught balls-deep in her cousin a couple weeks ago.”

“People really tell you that stuff?”

“Yep. And her cousin’s name was Mark.”

“Ouch.”

“At least she could always say she must not have had the equipment necessary to please him.”

“You never did anything wrong,” I was quick to tell her.

“I know that. Your cheating, and everything else, was a reflection on your personality, not mine.”

“You’re right.” She was, but I was shocked to hear her say that. Everyone kept telling me how she probably felt like there was something wrong with her. That didn’t seem to be the case.

“Come on, they’re usually pretty quick about getting people in, even when they’re early.”

She reached out without thinking and I took advantage and grasped her hand. “Lead the way,” I suggested as my fingers tightened around hers.

Steph walked a pace or two ahead and it hit me that in my excitement to finally see her after all this time, I hadn’t made it past looking at her face. Her walk held a slight waddle to it as she navigated the growing weight in her belly. She had popped and my fingers itched to touch it. I wanted to feel our child moving around inside her.

There were so many things I wanted, but they all had to be pushed aside for her comfort. Once we were inside, it did not take long for someone to call Steph back. When I didn’t immediately follow behind her, she held her hand out to me again. It felt like everyone else in the waiting room held their breath to see what would happen next. That might have been just me, but it seemed like it was everyone else too. With my hand in hers, we walked into the back area of the doctor’s office where a nurse weighed my wife, asked her if she had been feeling okay and then gave her a cup to pee in. While we waited on Steph to finish the nurse eyed me up.

“I can’t believe she forgave you,” the woman said.

“She didn’t.”

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