Page 134 of Clinically Bewitched
“A tiny human.”
“Yes.”
“Who’s going to depend on us for everything.”
“That’s generally how babies work.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“That’s beautiful.”
“It’s both,” he said.
“It is,” I agreed.
We sat there in comfortable silence, his hand resting on my still-flat stomach, both of us processing the enormity of what had just happened.
“Athena?” he said finally.
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For this. For everything. For being chaos and making me surrender to it.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, smiling. “Though technically, you should thank the universe.”
“I’m not thanking the universe.”
“Why not?”
“Because the universe made me faint in front of my colleagues.”
“The universe has a sense of humor.”
“The universe is a menace.”
“The universe loves you.”
“The universe is testing me.”
“That too,” I admitted. “But you’re passing.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Julien
The universe was testing me.
I’d known this for weeks now. I felt it in the way my carefully ordered life had been systematically dismantled, in the way my wife’s pregnancy had turned my apartment into what could only be described as a spiritual wellness center, in the way I had been forced to surrender control over things I’d spent my entire adult life controlling.
But I wastrying.
God help me, I was trying.
Week Eight:
