Read Online Tap (Lovibond #1) by Georgia Cates - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Georgia Cates
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Worst-case scenario.
“We decided the best thing for our child was to marry and co-parent him together.” Amazing. Even as teenagers, Lucas and Bridgette chose to do what they thought was best for the welfare of their child over their own happiness. Far more than our grown parents ever did for Ollie and me.
Ava and the new baby were the only children mentioned today. I have that awful feeling in my gut that something bad must have happened.
“Bridgette was about halfway through the pregnancy when we found out our son had bilateral renal agenesis. His kidneys failed to develop, which means a death sentence within hours of being born.”
“I’m so very sorry.” I don’t know what else to say to that.
“Bridgette got really sick and developed eclampsia when she was almost eight months pregnant.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“A condition pregnant women get. All I really remember is how badly Bridg was swollen. She told me she had a terrible headache and blurry vision. I was a kid. I didn’t know what to do so I took her to the hospital. When we got there, her blood pressure was sky high. One minute she’s talking to me, the next she’s having a seizure. Scared the shit out of me. I thought she was dying.”
“How do you treat something like that?”
“They gave her medicine to stop the seizure and took her to surgery for a C-section. Eli died before she made it out of the recovery room.”
“Oh, no. She didn’t get to hold him.”
“Not while he was alive. But I did. And that’s where he died. In my arms instead of hooked up to machines that wouldn’t save him anyway.”
“That’s heartbreaking.”
“The doctor told us any children we conceived together had an increased risk of developing the same disorder.”
“So it’s genetic?”
“From what I understand, we both carry the gene for renal agenesis. It usually presents with one kidney missing, which is okay. People can live with one. But because Bridgette and I both carry the gene, our son inherited the bilateral version. Both were missing.”
That must have been terrible to lose a child and then be told any others they had would likely suffer the same fate. “That’s a tough thing to hear at any age.”
“There we were . . . nineteen and stuck. And no baby, the only glue holding us together. We talked about trying to make our marriage real but that required sex. Even if I could have looked at her as anything other than a sister, neither of us were willing to risk another pregnancy, birth control or not.”
Shit. I guess that means they never had sex with each other again. But they were married. Did they just go without or screw around on each other? I’m surprised by the sickening feeling in my stomach when I think of Lucas taking a lover.
“How long were you married?”
“Six years by the time our divorce was final. But I guess we were about three years in when we agreed to an open marriage.”
Fuck. An open marriage? “You were married six years and dating during three of them?”
“No. I stopped wearing my wedding band after we made the decision to see other people but it took me a year to ease into the idea. We might not have been in love but she was still my wife. Having a relationship outside the boundaries of our marriage felt . . . wrong.” Knowing he didn’t jump at the first chance to fuck around just earned him a few points in my book.
“Why not divorce? It makes so much more sense.”
“I think it’s something we both thought we’d pursue once we were in a better place. But Eli’s death caused Bridgette to have severe depression. It was a year before she even resembled the person she once was. I was afraid of causing a setback if I asked for a divorce. So I adjusted to the idea of being married but not a couple.”
This doesn’t make sense to me. “She became well enough to suggest you have an open marriage but not divorce?”
“We decided it made better financial sense to stay together a
“We decided the best thing for our child was to marry and co-parent him together.” Amazing. Even as teenagers, Lucas and Bridgette chose to do what they thought was best for the welfare of their child over their own happiness. Far more than our grown parents ever did for Ollie and me.
Ava and the new baby were the only children mentioned today. I have that awful feeling in my gut that something bad must have happened.
“Bridgette was about halfway through the pregnancy when we found out our son had bilateral renal agenesis. His kidneys failed to develop, which means a death sentence within hours of being born.”
“I’m so very sorry.” I don’t know what else to say to that.
“Bridgette got really sick and developed eclampsia when she was almost eight months pregnant.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“A condition pregnant women get. All I really remember is how badly Bridg was swollen. She told me she had a terrible headache and blurry vision. I was a kid. I didn’t know what to do so I took her to the hospital. When we got there, her blood pressure was sky high. One minute she’s talking to me, the next she’s having a seizure. Scared the shit out of me. I thought she was dying.”
“How do you treat something like that?”
“They gave her medicine to stop the seizure and took her to surgery for a C-section. Eli died before she made it out of the recovery room.”
“Oh, no. She didn’t get to hold him.”
“Not while he was alive. But I did. And that’s where he died. In my arms instead of hooked up to machines that wouldn’t save him anyway.”
“That’s heartbreaking.”
“The doctor told us any children we conceived together had an increased risk of developing the same disorder.”
“So it’s genetic?”
“From what I understand, we both carry the gene for renal agenesis. It usually presents with one kidney missing, which is okay. People can live with one. But because Bridgette and I both carry the gene, our son inherited the bilateral version. Both were missing.”
That must have been terrible to lose a child and then be told any others they had would likely suffer the same fate. “That’s a tough thing to hear at any age.”
“There we were . . . nineteen and stuck. And no baby, the only glue holding us together. We talked about trying to make our marriage real but that required sex. Even if I could have looked at her as anything other than a sister, neither of us were willing to risk another pregnancy, birth control or not.”
Shit. I guess that means they never had sex with each other again. But they were married. Did they just go without or screw around on each other? I’m surprised by the sickening feeling in my stomach when I think of Lucas taking a lover.
“How long were you married?”
“Six years by the time our divorce was final. But I guess we were about three years in when we agreed to an open marriage.”
Fuck. An open marriage? “You were married six years and dating during three of them?”
“No. I stopped wearing my wedding band after we made the decision to see other people but it took me a year to ease into the idea. We might not have been in love but she was still my wife. Having a relationship outside the boundaries of our marriage felt . . . wrong.” Knowing he didn’t jump at the first chance to fuck around just earned him a few points in my book.
“Why not divorce? It makes so much more sense.”
“I think it’s something we both thought we’d pursue once we were in a better place. But Eli’s death caused Bridgette to have severe depression. It was a year before she even resembled the person she once was. I was afraid of causing a setback if I asked for a divorce. So I adjusted to the idea of being married but not a couple.”
This doesn’t make sense to me. “She became well enough to suggest you have an open marriage but not divorce?”
“We decided it made better financial sense to stay together a
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