Forgotten Honeymoon by Beverly Farr

break,” she said with decision.
She sat on the edge of his desk, swinging her sandaled feet. “Why
don’t you take me out to lunch? Or I’ll order something in. We can
eat Chinese food right here.”
    He was tempted, but he had too much work. “We
ate lunch together yesterday.”
    “That was Monday, Lars. Today is
Thursday.”
    Now he was the one with the memory loss. “I
can’t afford to take breaks from my work day whenever you waltz in
here.”
    “Then maybe I’ll stop waltzing in here, as
you so rudely put it.” She stood to leave and sank to the
floor.
    Lars ran around his desk. Kelly lay silent,
unmoving on the carpet. He checked her heart, still beating, and
her chest rose and fell with each breath. “Claire!” he shouted.
    His secretary ran into the room.
    He cradled Kelly’s head in his hand. “I don’t
know what happened. She was standing here, and the next minute she
was out cold.”
    “She must have fainted,” Claire said, taking
Kelly’s hands and rubbing them. “I thought she looked pale.”
    Lars searched Kelly’s thin face. She was pale
and there were dark circles under her eyes. He felt like a selfish
brute for not noticing. “Kelly, darling,” he said.
    Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?” she
asked weakly.
    “You fainted.”
    “Oh, that,” she said as if embarrassed. She
brushed the hair away from her face and struggled to sit up. “I
must have stood up too quickly. Sorry to alarm you.”
    “How long have you been fainting?”
    “Not often,” she assured him. “I’ve blacked
out once or twice. It’s normal for pregnant women.”
    What if she blacked out while she was
driving? “I don’t care if it’s normal,” Lars said, picking her up
easily. The sheer material of her dress floated over his arm,
reminding him of her wedding dress. “I’m taking you to see Dr.
Armanzo.”
    She wrapped her arms around his neck for
support. She protested, “But your meeting --”
    “To hell with the meeting.”
    She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.
She said quietly, “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said
to me.”
    Her words cut through him, and he knew he
hadn’t been doing well in the husband department.
    #
    Dr. Armanzo pursed her lips with disapproval.
“You’ve been a bad girl, Kelly. Your blood sugar is down. Are you
eating regularly?”
    Kelly lay on the examining table, pleating
the paper gown in her fingers. Since she’d gotten pregnant, nothing
tasted good, but she knew that was a lame excuse. “I never eat real
meals. I’m more of a snacker,” she said.
    “Then snack more often with three big snacks
a day,” Dr. Armanzo said firmly. She glanced over at Lars who stood
by the doorway, his arms folded, a stern expression on his
face.
    “I’ll see to it,” he said calmly.
    “And how are you sleeping?” Dr. Armanzo
continued.
    “Pretty well. I don’t have to get up as much
to use the bathroom as I did in the first trimester.”
    “She doesn’t sleep regular hours,” Lars
volunteered. “Sometimes she’ll get up in the middle of the night to
go work on a project.”
    How did he know that when they didn’t even
sleep in the same room?
    Dr. Armanzo shook her head. “Not good, Kelly.
You need to take better care of yourself and your baby. You’re not
gaining enough weight and the baby’s smaller than he should
be.”
    Kelly felt a stab of guilt. “I’m sorry,” she
said quietly. “Overall, I’m so healthy, sometimes I forget that I’m
pregnant.” She addressed her stomach. “I’ll do better, baby. I
promise.”
    Dr. Armanzo placed a plastic wand on her
abdomen and they heard a distinct shwaa shwaa sound. “That’s the
heartbeat,” she said. “In a few weeks you’ll be feeling the baby
move, too, and it will seem much more real.”
    Lars stepped closer. “Our baby,” he said
quietly, and smiled down at Kelly.
    She held out her hand for his and for a
moment they were together, listening to the miracle of the new