@kingdonmicrofic / @kingdonmacrofic day 19: pumpkin (wc: 693)
Mel couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She took her glasses off and rubbed the smudged surface against her shirt, convinced that she was imagining things. Hallucinating, maybe. Delusions of grandeur were not beyond the realm of possibility.
Putting her glasses on again made the world reappear around her in stunning clarity. She blinked, almost unused to how bright and sharp everything was; she barely had time to clean her own glasses anymore.
When she glanced back down at the sink, her heart stopped.
There it was: two blue lines, stark and proud. Not even the suggestion of a blur.
“Frank,” she called out, hoping her voice was even. It didn’t feel even. She felt really shaky, actually, unable to pick up the pregnancy test from where it sat on the counter. Her pee was still in the cup next to it, mocking her.
In an instant Frank was there, standing at the doorway of their bathroom, their daughter in his arms. He’d been getting her dressed up for trick or treating with Abby and the kids in a crochet pumpkin outfit his mom had bought on Etsy. It was adorable. “Yeah?”
She didn’t turn to face them. She couldn’t bring herself to look away. “You need to get a vasectomy.”
“What?” he said as he adjusted Ella on his hip, drawing closer. “Where’s that coming from? I thought you said one more, and then— oh.”
He’d peered over her shoulder, the test’s evidence of his virility unimpeachable. Ella was babbling, leaning down with sticky milk hands to try and tug at Mel’s hair. She twisted to take her silently, pressing an absent kiss to her baby’s golden head as she waited for Frank to react.
“Jesus Christ,” he said, picking it up and inspecting it closely. “I don’t even have to try, do I?”
Mel rolled her eyes. Their running jokes about his exemplary insemination track record weren’t exactly appropriate right now. “Frank,” she warned.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sheepish. When she didn’t respond he put it down again, wrapping his arms around her. “Thought it’d make you laugh. We don’t have to— you know.”
“I know,” Mel said. She’d been wondering the same thing. She bit her lip, handing Ella a comb to keep her entertained. “She’s only ten months, Frank.”
“And getting bigger every day,” he said, picking up the orange cap from where she’d tossed it on the floor.
“It’s so soon.”
“It is.”
“But,” she murmured, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Trying for two was always the plan, wasn’t it?”
“It was.” Frank sighed, taking a seat on the toilet so he could look up at her. “It’s up to you, baby. You’re the one that has to deal with the worst of it. This is… I mean, this is a lot. We don’t have to decide right now.”
“I know,” she said, frowning. “But… oh, God, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I want to? Is that so bad?”
Her approval seemed to give Frank the green light to express any excitement at all, because when he looked up at her again he was misty-eyed, grabbing her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. “Like I said, whatever you want. But if this is what you want…”
Mel nodded, bouncing Ella on her hip. Already, she felt more sure of her decision than she had two minutes ago. “I think it is.”
“Okay,” he said, bewildered, running a hand through his hair. “Okay. Then I guess we’re doing this. Are we doing this?”
“We’re doing this,” Mel nodded, letting Frank crush her in a hug while Ella squealed excitedly, cocooned happily in their little family of three. Soon to be four, she supposed. Six, including the kids. Seven, with Becca.
Such a large family. So much love to give and share and receive in return. She felt spoiled with it, these days.
Mel let Frank kiss her once before she pulled away, biting down on a grin. "This is an objectively ridiculous choice for us to make, you know."
"Look on the bright side," Frank smiled and pointed to Ella's pumpkin outfit, far-too-smug now that he could afford to be. "We'll save on a Halloween costume next year."
“You realize as soon as we’re in the clear here you are getting that vasectomy, right?”
Frank laughed and kissed her again. “Yes ma’am.”
