CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

The knock on the door froze Mattie in the middle of her pacing. She turned and looked at the clock; then the door. ‘Finally.”

Mattie had been thinking about Sam’s phone call. “Don’t you dare do anything stupid, Mattie! I’ll be home from Basic Training for a leave in two weeks. We’ll work this out then. Please, Mattie, don’t do anything either of us will regret.” Now, she was contemplating the regrettable.

“Miss Johannson?” The nurse looked at the record. “I’m Joan, you’re nurse for today. You’re here for your monthly check up. I’ll bet you have a million questions.” The motherly nurse chattered as she pulled up Mattie’s sleeve to wrap the blood pressure cuff around her arm. “I sure hope the daddy is still around. It makes me so angry when these boys don’t stick around. Blood pressure is normal.” Joan completed checking Mattie’s vitals and then sat down. “Now, do you have any questions?”

Mattie didn’t know where to begin.

“Have you told your parents and / or the baby’s father?”

“I wrote Sam a letter and told him. We’ve talked on the phone once. He’s on his way back on leave from Basic Training. I haven’t had the heart to say anything about this to my parents yet.”

“What are you plans for this pregnancy, honey? Abortion? I know I’m not supposed to give advice, that’s the doctor’s job in this facility, but I just hate seeing young girls choose abortion. What about adoption? Or you could even raise the child yourself? The college has wonderful programs for students who are parents of small children.”

This nurse was getting on Mattie’s nerves. She wanted to have this appointment over with and have a little time to think and pull herself together. Sam was going to meet her at Denny’s at 3:00.

“I haven’t made any decisions about that just yet. I thought it would be better to talk with the baby’s father.”

“Good decision.” Nurse Joan patted Mattie on the belly. “Hopefully, he or she will be a happy baby. The doctor will be in to see you shortly.

Shortly in an OB-GYN office could mean anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Last time she was here, she waited almost an hour. Luckily, today was different and she had a couple of hours to walk in the campus park and think about the situation she was in.

Mattie arrived at Denny’s promptly at 3:00, but Sam was nowhere to be found. She decided to go in and get a table and wait for him. The waitress brought her some water, and Mattie sat at the table tracing the letters on the placemat with her finger. She had become so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard Sam’s greeting. When he placed his hand on her shoulder, she jumped.

“Sam. You came; you actually came. I really thought you wouldn’t show up.”

He pulled her up and hugged her as passionately as he could in the middle of a Denny’s restaurant.

“Of course, I came. We need to talk and spend some time together, but first let’s sit down. I’m starved.”

Sam ordered without even looking at the menu: western burger, fries, and a large Coke. A Coke sounded fabulous to Mattie, but she opted for a large glass of milk, doctor’s orders, with her omelet.

“Mattie, I’m not sure you are going to like something I’ve done.” His statement confused her. “I feel that we need some motherly advice in our discussion.” With that he stood up and waved toward the door. Mattie turned and in horror saw both his mother and her mother approach the table.

“Mother.” The cold war still waged in Mattie’s heart. That is until her mother held open her arms for a hug.

“I wish you had told me. I am so, so sorry I have never believed you about your sister.”

The quartet sat at the table and ate a delightful meal. Time had healed the rift between Mattie and her mother.

As the evening wore on, Mattie and Sam took a walk through one of the campus parks. They had at least come to an agreement that Mattie would not have an abortion, but they had been tossing the other two options back and forth. At length they came to sit on a bench.

“When do you go back?”

“Not back. I go to my assignment.”

“Where is that? Do you get to stay in the states or are they shipping you to another country?”

“Stateside. Texas, but I don’t remember which base at the moment. I’m there for a year, and next October I can put in for a transfer, if I want. Right now I’d rather look into your eyes and tell you how beautiful you are.”

“Are you getting romantic on me?”
“Very,” he said as he pulled the tab off the pop can. “And when I put in for a transfer, I hope to have it a shared decision with my wife so that she and our child can be together.”

Mattie shook the cobwebs from inside her head. “What did you say? Your wife.”

He laughed to himself when he realized that his stab at a proposal had sounded like he was going to marry someone else. “Mattie,” he said as he took her hands, “there’s no other woman that I would want to be my wife than you, and we already have a start on our family.” He affectionately caressed her stomach. “I don’t have the money for a ring just yet, but would you wear this pop ring as a gesture of our engagement?”

Mattie laughed heartily as she put the ring on her finger. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I guess that means I’ll be an Army wife.” At least for now, everything would be alright.

WORD COUNT –
CHAPTER 1 = 891
CHAPTER 2 = 1,037
CHAPTER 3 = 597
CHAPTER 4 = 560
CHAPTER 5 = 938
CHAPTER 6 = 731
CHAPTER 7= 977

TOTAL = 5731