Read Online Holy Water by James P. Othmer - Free Book Online

friends. ” Five men so desperate to validate their manhood they dedicate an entire night to the burning and consuming of large quantities of animal flesh. “ Any suggestions? ”
     
    ~ * ~
     
    He told Rachel to snap out of it and stop feeling sorry for herself. He said there was nothing wrong with her eggs or his sperm and she still had another twenty childbearing years in front of her, if she ’ d only stop obsessing. He even showed her an article he ’ d downloaded on the effects of self-imposed pressure on a couple ’ s ability to conceive.
     
    Then, that September, he took her to Block Island, to a two-hundred-year-old bed-and-breakfast on a hill overlooking the Atlantic.
     
    And it worked.
     
    Getting away from the house prompted some kind of psychic release, and they made anxiety-free love twice a day for three days. On the ferry back to Point Judith, a transformed Rachel said that she was sorry, and that maybe they should wait to have children anyway. After all, they were still kids, and maybe it would be for the best if they sold the house and moved back to Manhattan. Henry felt as if the four-thousand-square-foot weight of that house had been lifted off him. He promptly contacted their Realtor in the country, a new Realtor to help them find a place back in Manhattan. He booked a return trip to Block Island.
     
    Two weeks later, when he got home late one night from work, Rachel told him that she was pregnant.
     
    “ How do you know? ”
     
    “ I missed. I never miss. ”
     
    “ Holy— ”
     
    “ It ’ s a miracle. Why are you not ecstatic? Where is the beaming face of the proud father-to-be? ”
     
    “ I. . . It ’ s . . . Considering what we ’ ve ... it certainly is. . . ”
     
    “ What? Don ’ t say shock. Our first child will not be considered a shock. ”
     
    “ How about ironic? ”
     
    “ We wanted this, Henry. We desperately wanted this, and now our prayers have been answered. ”
     
    “ Yeah. Great, Rachel. My God, but. . . ”
     
    “ Well, if you ’ re not ecstatic, your mother certainly is. Maybe she ’ ll stop pitying my barren womb now. ”
     
    “ She never . . . You told my mother? ”
     
    “ And my parents. I knew you ’ d be home late and I didn ’ t want to tell you over the phone and I couldn ’ t sit on this all by myself. ”
     
    “ Did you see a doctor? ”
     
    “ No. Tomorrow. I used a strip. Then I got another test at the drugstore. Positive-positive. Isn ’ t it amazing? ”
     
    “ Yes, ” he said, and as he hugged her his gaze drifted out the kitchen window and over to the murky surface of their pool.
     
    The next day her ob-gyn confirmed that Rachel was two, maybe three weeks pregnant. They took the house off the market and told the Manhattan broker they were no longer interested in moving. She went back to the health-food store with a vengeance, loading up on products with names like Fetal Fortifier, Mother ’ s Essentials, and Living Womb. At night after dinner he painted constellations on the ceiling of the baby ’ s room.
     
    Rachel still wasn ’ t herself, still wasn ’ t the carefree woman he had fallen in love with and married, but she was happy, and that was an improvement. Regarding having a baby just then, he wasn ’ t sure what he wanted beyond wanting Rachel to be happy. For the first time he thought of his approach to their relationship in terms of saving her. And him, and them, of course. But he was convinced it had to begin with her.
     
    At eleven weeks her mother and sister began plans for an extravagant surprise baby shower.
     
    At fourteen weeks she began to spot blood.
     
    At sixteen weeks she was put on bed rest and given medication, a special foam wedge to put between her legs.
     
    At nineteen weeks they made their first trip to the emergency room.
     
    The fourth time they went, at twenty-one weeks, they lost the baby.
     
    That night they cried together on their living room couch. Later, in bed, he promised