“Ani, you know that you girls crying makes me damn–sorry, Mom–dang nervous. Can you put a hold on that, please?” Christopher pleaded.
Annelise chuckled. “Sorry, Chris, all I do is cry! You should have seen me when I saw a coffee
commercial! Leslie and Ashley were laughing their butts off! It’s the hormones, but I’ll try to keep it in check.”
Christopher looked a little relieved. He grabbed a soda and retreated to the couch to watch TV.
“Happy Birthday, Ani!” Naomi wished, hugging her tightly.
“Thank you, Naomi! I’m going to change so we aren’t late for dinner,” Annelise said and started back to
her room.
“Ani?” Naomi asked, making Annelise turn.
“Could you wear that dress that I helped you buy in London? The eggplant–colored one… I know it might be a bit of a sensitive topic since that’s when your romance started, but please? You looked stunning in the pictures…‘
Anelise nodded. “Sure. It is a beautiful dress…”
Half an hour later, Leslie got home, and the four of them were off to the restaurant that was the Rothchilds‘ favorite spot for celebrations, The Catbird Seat, where the rest of the family members were
waiting.
JJ, the oldest child, hugged Annelise tightly. “Dang girl! You look mighty fine in that dress!”
Anelise grinned, “Thanks JJ. I do look pretty damn good!”
Johnathan hugged her next. “Beautiful, sweet girl! Happy Birthday!”
She blushed. They were seated at their favorite table, and she sipped on her water. She found that if she took smaller bites and small sips, she had greater success in not throwing up everything.
They all laughed and talked, discussing life when Annelise heard her name being called and she turned to find Matt Douglas standing before her.
She stood up and hugged him. “Hi Matt! Good game last week!”
“Hi, Ani, thanks. I do have good guys on the team. I just wanted to stop by and wish you and tell you how beautiful you look. Leslie flaked out on tonight’s chemistry study group because you all were going out,” he said sweetly.
“Thank you, Matt. I appreciate that.” She blushed.
“Hey, I don’t want to keep you, but do you think maybe when the season is over, you might want to go
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out sometime? I mean I know you will graduate by then, but I thought maybe on the off chance I would ask…” he said nervously.
“Wow, Matt… Let’s see what happens by then, okay?” She replied as nicely as she could, knowing full well that she wouldn’t say yes to him since she was pregnant.
He smiled. “I’ll hunt you down after the season.” He then waved to, the family and left. Annelise sat down, and everyone looked at her with wide eyes.
“What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?” she demanded.
“Ani, that was Matt Douglas,” Ashley said.
“I know that,” she said, confused.
“The scale really is gone, isn’t it?” Emily, the oldest daughter, remarked with awe.
At first, Annelise had no idea what she was talking about, but then she thought back to the first time she had met Michael at the airport and what she had told Leslie.
She blushed and shrugged. “Well, some things have changed…”
Leslie smiled, grabbing her hand and squeezing it in support. “And you do look beautiful.”
As dinner continued, they sang to her and handed her gifts. Ashley and Emily got her a spa day card that offered special prenatal massages.
Christopher and JJ got her a gift card to the mall, knowing she would be needing clothes when she started showing, and Leslie got her a coat she had been dying to have.
She thanked them all with kisses and hugs and then sat back down when Naomi handed her a card and Johnathan gave her a small box.
“Okay, these two are a pair,” Naomi began. “You know how we have a tradition of doing something special for the kids when they turn twenty–one. Since we think of you as one of our own, you get a special gift too.”
“And we know you need this, so please don’t argue with us. Naomi and I have had long discussions about this and we really want to do it,” Jonathan added, gesturing for her to open the card.
The card was filled with heartfelt words that brought tears to her eyes. She untied the red ribbon and UNLIMITED opened the box, her mind racing with what could possibly be inside. She froze when she lifted the lid
and saw the glint of a car key.
She looked up, her throat tight. “No, you can’t be serious!”
“Dead serious,” Naomi confirmed. “We want you and the baby to be safe, and this is one way we can
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help.”
“It’s not brand new, because we knew you wouldn’t accept that. But it’s been thoroughly inspected, it’s in excellent condition, has high safety ratings, and it’s only a year old with ten thousand miles on it,” Jonathan elaborated.
Anelise was so overwhelmed by the unconditional love these people showed her that she stood hugged them both tightly, thanking them and failing miserably at holding back her tears.
up
and
“Like it or not, you’re part of the Rothschild clan now, Anelise. And your baby is going to be spoiled rotten by all of us!” JJ declared, grinning, which made her cry and laugh all over again. “That sounds like the best thing I’ve ever heard!”
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Annelise felt like hell. This was a different kind of discomfort than the usual pregnancy symptoms. She’d been up all night, throwing up, unable to keep anything down. Now, she was crampy and just felt
off.
She’d been sleeping on and off all day. She was grateful she didn’t have any classes on Fridays and that she’d already turned in her final proofreading and her thesis. It was eleven o’clock, and she got out of bed to get some ginger ale.
She was wearing pants and a tank top, her usual sleepwear. But after her time with Michael, she’d gotten used to sleeping naked. She’d gone back to her old pajamas, but they felt strange.
Leslie was in the kitchen, typing a paper in between classes, and smiled when she saw her.
“Hey, babe, how are you feeling?” she asked.
“Like crap,” Annelise replied, heading to the fridge to get a ginger ale. Suddenly, she stopped, a massive cramp seizing her, and she gasped, clutching her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Leslie asked, rushing over to her.
“I don’t know!” Annelise said, her voice shaky. “I have this terrible cramp!”
“Let’s get you to a chair, and I’ll call my mom or your doctor,” Leslie insisted. But as Annelise was sitting down, she gasped and noticed. “Ani, you’re bleeding!”
Annelise tensed up, looking at the red slowly spreading on her pants. “My baby!”
Leslie got her to the hospital as quickly as she could, and they sent her up to the women’s floor. In a panic, she called her mom. She was crying when Naomi arrived, and they waited for what felt like forever.
“Is Leslie or Naomi Rothchild here?” A nurse came out and asked.
Both women went to her and followed her to a room where they found Annelise in a bed, crying. They rushed to her side and hugged her, asking what was wrong.
“I’m losing my baby,” she whispered.
Naomi and Leslie gasped and began crying with the young woman they loved. The doctor came in and explained that they would be doing another ultrasound to make sure everything was going as it should.
They’d hooked her up to several IVs and were getting fluids and other minerals into her since her body chemistry was really off from vomiting for such a long time.
She would heal better if her body was functioning properly. Annelise just laid in the bed and cried, thinking the last piece of Michael and Ollie was gone, and she had nothing left but memories.
