“So, wait…you dip the pineapple in the barbecue sauce and then put a pickle on top of it? Isn’t that gross? Roger asked, as Harriett jotted away in her binder. She would be leaving for Scotland until March 12 and she was familiarizing Roger with every note and every page she had kept in his absence.

 “No, no. That’s what she craved last week. Of course, that could all change next week.” Harriett smiled. “She’s been pretty predictable with food. Some of her favorites are highlighted. Doctor upped her calcium supplement. I wish she would gain more weight. The doctor seems to think her body mass is good but in nearly six months she’s only put on ten pounds. Most women I see have put on at least fifteen to twenty at this point.” Harriett shared.

 “I’m tellin’ ya’. You’re not going to get Lyd to put on any more weight than she thinks she has to.” Roger said, milling about the kitchen to get everything out that he needed for his cocktail. Harriett laughed and flipped a few pages of the binder.

 "Listen, I need to ask you about something in Lydia's medical history. It becomes important as she enters the final trimester." Harriett said, continuing to write notes.

 "Sure. What do you need to know?" He asked, pouring his drink and offering Harriett the same; of course, she declined.

 "I see that Lydia has was treated for Syphillis and Herpes in 1977. Which strain of Herpes did she have? 1 or 2?" Harriett asked, flipping her pages. Roger looked at her a little taken aback by her question and rubbing his finger around the rim of his glass. He didn’t answer. She stopped writing and looked up. "Mr. Taylor?"

 "I don't wanna talk about it." He said abruptly, picking up his glass.

 Harriett was puzzled. "That doesn't matter. I need to know. It's very important that I..."

 "I said, I don't wanna’ fuckin’ about it! She had it! It's gone. Nothin' to talk about!" Roger slumped back in the chair and scowled. Harriett studied him carefully.

 "If Lydia has an outbreak, it could be passed to the baby. I need to know more about this." Harriett emphasized. Roger slowly softened his gaze at her, his face in a bit of shock. "What strain did she contract?"

 "The...the baby could...could get it?" Roger asked, not answering the question.

 "It's my duty to make sure she doesn't have an outbreak and the baby doesn’t  get it. Please. Please answer me." Harriett begged. Roger stared at her in disbelief. There was another silence between them as he finally blinked at her.

 "Two. It was two. Herpes Simplex 2." He said before sniffing and shifting his focus to the table, taking another drink.

 "How did she get it?" Harriett asked, writing away. There was silence again as Roger nervously reached for his pack of cigarettes. Harriett looked up from her notes. "Mr. Taylor?" She inquired further into the silence. Roger refused to look across the table at Harriett. He had been home for one day and he didn’t have time for this…or so he thought. When Harriett didn’t get an answer, she pressed on.  “Mr….”

 “She got it from, me, okay? She fuckin’ got it from me! And now….now….” Roger shook his head angrily. “…now my baby could get this because of me!? Can’t you see that I fuck everything up!? Huh!? Yes! Yes, Harriett! I’ve slept around on Lydia! I’ve slept around on her a lot. Now I know that this information isn’t something you want to hear nor do you condone! But it’s the truth! Lydia and I have dealt with it and I…I need you to…to stop lookin’ at me like that because I love Lydia.” Roger glanced to the table and put his hand against his forehead as Harriett continued to stare at him.

 I was coming down the stairs, having had my shower and all wrapped up in my soft, maternity black robe. I was officially ready for Harriett to leave Roger and I to alone. He had been home for a day and I was naked underneath this robe and ready to take him upstairs and make him my ‘do what I want, for how long I want, where I want it’ slut. There was nothing slutty about the sight I saw in the kitchen. I stopped as I approached the kitchen dinette table, trying to make sense of the sight before me. I glanced at Harriett and then to Roger.

 “What’s goin’ on?” I asked. Seeing as Roger’s body language didn’t look right. I knew that look. I’d seen it before. The posture that Roger got when something uncomfortable was happening. There was a strange, unsettling silence in my beautiful, marbled-floor kitchen. This was supposed to be a happy time because Roger was home and Harriett was pleased with my current pregnant state. Harriett had her hands in her lap and Roger was rubbing his fingertips against his forehead. No one had answered my question.

 “If you have an outbreak of Herpes before you give birth; the baby could get it.” Roger sighed and put his cigarette between his lips, ready to light it. Now I was the one who was speechless.

 “What!?” I questioned, looking at Harriett and then Roger. I shook my head because this surely isn’t what I wanted to talk about!

 “Miss Lydia, how many outbreaks have you had since you were treated?” Harriett asked of me. I was suddenly very irritated.

 “None. I’ve had the one fuckin’ outbreak, okay? It was treated and I haven’t had symptoms since. Put that damn thing out.” I reached over and took Roger’s cigarette from his mouth; desperately wanting to inhale it. He rolled his eyes at me and he had every right too. Harriett had hit a nerve. Being pregnant has a way of making your past come back to haunt you.

“I…I need to know…which…which of…you…had the worse infection?” Harriett asked, closing her eyes. She was almost as uncomfortable with this subject as we were; the reasons being quite different I was certain. I glanced at Roger as he briefly made eye contact with me.

 “She had it worse.” He mumbled at Harriett and took another drink. Harriett’s heart seemed to break because she had stopped writing.

 “Mr. Taylor…I can’t believe it. I just…can’t believe you would give your wife…”

 “I didn’t fuckin’ mean to give her shit! She got Herpes from ME and neither of us want the baby to get it! And the baby won’t get it, okay!? Lydia, is fine! She’s fine! You’re fine aren’t you?” Roger questioned.

 “Yes….yes I’m bloody fine. I’ve not had a single problem since it happened.” I answered, although a little concerned that the baby really would get Herpes when he or she was born. I hoped that my anxieties wouldn’t spark an outbreak.  Harriett shook her head.

 “Very well. I…I won’t ask anythin’ else. I’m…I’m going to go soon. I’ll be back April 12th.  Please, please call me should you need something. Mr. Taylor, I’m not one to give lectures but you’re going to be a father soon. It’s time to slow down.” She said, closing up her binder and gathering her things up.  As she stood, Roger couldn’t I sighed and reached my arms out to her. I couldn’t not hug Harriett before she gathered up her things to leave. She meant well but she had no idea that she had hit such a grave nerve. 

 I saw Harriett to the door, bidding her a most awkward farewell until her return. I closed it behind her softly, gazing at the grain in the walnut. I lingered there in the foyer, leaning my forehead against the wood. I now had these thoughts racing through my head that I hadn’t considered before. It was dormant. It had been dormant since 1977 and I desperately needed it to…my thoughts were interrupted by Roger’s hands on my shoulders.

 “I’m sorry…” he said softly. “I didn’t…”

 “Just…just don’t got there. There’s no reason to go there. She’s only concerned for the ba…”

 “This is my fault! This is my fuckin’ fault. This is…” I gasped at Roger’s words.

 “Shut up…the baby’s kickin’! The baby’s…you gotta’ feel this!” I spun around, disregarding everything that had happened in our lives over the past ten minutes. It didn’t matter at this moment because Roger had never felt this before. I reached out and took his hand, placing it on my abdomen. “Roger…it’s…it’s kickin’.” I shifted my focus to see his reaction.

 “Oh shit…Lyd.” He mumbled at me. He looked as if he were about to either faint into the floor or bawl…or maybe both. “Lydia…” He reached his other hand to my stomach. It was such a bizarre feeling, these motions from the inside out. It was all it took to put everything back into perspective. Roger was speechless, feeling his baby move for the first time.

 “It…it stopped.” Roger said weakly, rather fearful.

 “That’s how it happens. It moves for a little bit and then stops and then…moves again…then stops.” I explained, placing my hand over his. It was very evident that Roger and I were okay with each other. Harriett, however, had some coming to terms with things to do.

 “Lucas.” Roger said.  I gave him a questioning look, wondering what he was talking about.

 “I like that…for a boy maybe? Lucas or…Grisham, after your dad?” Roger said, sighing nervously. I smiled at him, having not thought of a single name.

 “And what if it’s a girl?” I questioned. Roger laughed.

 “Lydia…or Elaine! That’s after you.” he said. I laughed again because it was tugging at my already hormone-fueled heartstrings. I hadn’t thought of any girl names either. I leaned forward and kissed Roger deeply. It wouldn’t take much to get Roger’s mind completely off Harriett, and off what was to come. I adored the way his lips melted into mine because I had so desperately missed this. I wrapped my arms around him, my stomach beginning to get in the way of our embrace. That part wouldn’t matter. The way I had intended on taking him upstairs and making him my slut would not involve my stomach at all. He had no idea how fired up a woman halfway through her pregnancy could get.