"Ooh, that was a game-winning penalty kick." I placed a hand over my belly. "Come here, Keaton. You need to feel this."
"Can't," he said, grabbing his keys off the hook. "I'm running late again. I have that big deadline at the office. You know how it is."
I did know. Or I thought I did.
At night, I would lie in bed with my hands on my belly, whispering secrets to the baby while Keaton's side of the mattress stayed cold.
When he finally did come home, he was a ghost.
"I have that big deadline at the office."
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I'd hear his shoes drop by the door, the shower would run, and then he'd crawl into bed and roll away from me.
"Too tired," he'd mumble if I tried to reach for him.
He was always too tired.
The next afternoon, my best friend Briar came over. She brought iced coffee and enough gossip to last a week.
When the baby moved, she didn't hesitate. She pressed her hand to my stomach and grinned.
He was always too tired.
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"There she is," Briar said softly. "My niece is a fighter."
"We don't know if it's a girl yet," I replied. "Bri, I'm worried. Keaton's been gone a lot. Work is just... a lot right now, and I get that, but… but I'd feel a lot better if he were home more."
Briar rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her drink. "Men panic when it gets real, Kate. They see the crib and the diapers, and they just freak out."
She leaned closer to me, her voice dropping to a serious whisper. She looked me right in the eyes.
"I'd feel a lot better if he were home more."
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