Page 4 of Carly's Heart

♥ Chapter Three ♥

Four Months Later:

“Mike. I’m pregnant. Six weeks.” Carly threw the words at her husband as soon as he woke up. She timed telling him to catch him without a snoot full of booze. “You need to stop drinking and help me raise our child.” She stared down at him, hands on her hips, biting her lip to keep her pain inside. Screaming at him wouldn’t help.

This should be one of the happiest moments of her life and it was the worst. Slowly, over the past nine months, her love for Mike had changed. No longer was it sweet and uplifting. It was sad and pitiful. She was falling out of love with him. Nothing she said or did seemed to make a difference. He was increasingly unable to function without drinking himself into a stupor after work. He rarely ate because he was deep in a bottle. She was nearly certain he was still drunk when he went to work yesterday. He'd lost the charming smile that won her heart and he constantly smelled of alcohol. She wanted to weep for him. For them. For their baby.

“Maybe if you changed jobs. We could get a fresh start somewhere else,” she suggested despite knowing he’d never leave his high paying position.

“I just signed an extension to my contract. I got a huge raise. Thirty percent. I’m one of a handful of people, world-wide, that can do this. They need me. I love it here.”

“Then what the hell is the problem?” she screeched. “Why all the booze? You never talk to me. We never go out.” They’d shared one dinner out a couple months ago and had made love afterward. She’d been disappointed when he got up for a drink immediately afterward. She felt used and abandoned. It left her feeling as though he felt making love to her was a mistake. Maybe in some respects it had been. It gouged her heart, but that agony didn’t lesson the love she felt for the precious bundle she carried.

“And you think telling me you’re pregnant will change that?” He slammed his hands on the coffee table, wincing at the noise. “I have enough pressure already.”

The acid smell of bourbon washed over her, making her gag. She raced for the bathroom to be sick. When she came out, he was gone, the front door wide open. She slammed it and slid down the front entry wall and collapsed into a ball. She cried until she had no more tears. Her phone rang and rang. She ignored it. It rang again. Sometime later, the doorbell pealed. Someone pounded on the door and rattled the handle.

“Carly, open up,” Tanya yelled. “I can see you. Are you okay?” She knocked again. “Don’t make me call the police.” Shoot. It was their day off and they had quilting class. In her misery, she hadn’t thought about, let alone gone to, class. Tanya would be worried.

Carly crawled to the door and opened it up. Her friend rushed in.

“What’s wrong?”

Tears welled in her heart and streamed down her face. Eventually, she managed to choke out, “Mike won’t quit drinking. I think my marriage is over.”

“Oh no.” She pulled Carly into her arms and held her while she cried.

She wept herself out. Eventually, she managed to pull herself together. “I’m okay now. Let’s get to class.” Carly didn’t need the class, but quilting had become her solitude. Now that she knew she was pregnant, she was going to need a lot of help keeping her calm.

“Are you sure?”

“I need the distraction. I’ll be fine.” She couldn’t bring herself to share her pregnancy yet.

Over the next few weeks, Carly watched as Mike tried to stay sober. He just wasn’t strong enough to resist the temptation. Addiction was a terrible thing to endure. Her husband and marriage wasted away. He retained enough functionality that his addiction didn’t hurt his new contract, and Carly knew that until he hit rock bottom, nothing would change. She was going to have to come up with a plan for survival on her own. They didn’t even speak to each other.

♥♥♥

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO do,” Carly moaned into her hands. The diner was nearly empty and she was taking a break with Tanya before the lunch rush started. She wasn’t sleeping and she was exhausted. She wanted to be sitting with her feet up, not trying to decide her future.

“Are you sure? Could it be a false positive?” She fiddled with a coffee cup. “I mean I thought you guys weren’t doing it anymore.”

“Sh. Keep your voice down.” There were only two customers seated on the far side of the large room, but she didn’t want to risk them overhearing. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve known for a while. I finally went to the doctor. I’m four months. What am I going to do? I can’t raise a child with an alcoholic.”

“Have you talked to him?” Tanya waved her hands. “Never mind. Of course, you have.”

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