They made love for hours that night. It was another one of Chris' favorite "sexy sexy times" to remember. Again, not that there hadn't been plenty. They'd been married for 45 years and had four children together, after all. But, it always made him kind of sad remembering that night too.
"Chris, I need you to come over." Even over the phone, he could tell she was upset.
"Larissa, are you ok?" Chris immediately became concerned.
"I'm fine. I just...I can't tell you over the phone. I just really need you to come over," she choked back a sob.
"Yah. Of course. I'll be right over." Chris clicked off his phone and ran out the door.
Chris banged hard on Larissa's front door. It felt like an eternity before Molly, her roommate, answered it and let him in.
"She's upstairs in her room," she spoke quietly. The sympathetic look in her eyes was all he needed to see to know that she already knew what was wrong with Larissa. It irritated him that Molly knew before him, but he didn't have time to be pissy. He was glad someone was at least here for Larissa, whatever the problem was. Chris finished ascending the staircase and knocked on Larissa's closed door.
"Hey, babe. It's me," he waited. Larissa opened the door a few seconds later. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, her face slightly splotchy. "Baby, what's wrong?" Chris hugged her close and he felt her body shake as a new wave of sobs overtook her. He felt her head roll back and forth across his chest. She wasn't ready to talk.
"Larissa, you're really worrying me," he stroked her hair."Please, calm down," he soothed. "Let's go sit down." Chris guided Larissa over to her bed, but kept his arm around her. He didn't speak any more, giving her a few minutes to calm down,hopefully. She finally regained her composure enough to talk.
"I don't know how it happened," her lip began trembling. "Well,I do, but it's SO ridiculous!" a hint of anger entered her voice.She finally just blurted what was on her mind. "Chris, I'm pregnant." He knew he should say something, but was thoroughly speechless. He wasn't sure what to think. He wasn't sure what to feel. This was about the last thing he had expected to hear from her.He did keep his arm around her and pulled her to him.
"Are you mad?" Larissa managed finally, muffled by Chris' shirt.
"Oh my God, no!" Chris hugged her even tighter. "No," he whispered and kissed the top of her head. "Did you...Just find out?" Larissa nodded her head.
"Why are you so upset? Did you think...?" It didn't take him long to put two and two together. "You were afraid I was going to be mad?" he spoke softly. She nodded her head again against his chest.
Chris had never really thought about having kids. He didn't know what to think. He certainly wasn't mad, though.
"I could never be mad at you. I'm just...Surprised."
"Yah," Larissa scoffed. "Me too."
"So how did it..." he trailed off, letting Larissa pick up on the insinuation.
"The night you popped the question. It pretty much had to have been. I think that was around the time I missed a pill..." she tried hard to fight back the fresh tears.
"No," Chris said firmly. "I should have been more careful too.My God, we had sex for like 3 hours that night with no protection.What did we expect?"
"I know, but my birth control..."
"Stop," Chris interrupted her. "You're not gonna blame yourself, you hear me?" Larissa slowly nodded her head, but continued looking down at her lap. Chris lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "I love you. Absolutely nothing is going to change that, ok? Everything will be fine."
A couple of weeks went by and Chris couldn't wait to share his big news with Larissa, though he was also kind of worried about how she would react. Just as he was about to reach his phone to call her, it rang. Little did he know at the time, it would be the most horrible phone call of his life.
"Hey, I was just about to call you! I have some big news. Where are you?"
"Chris? I'm at UCLA," she hiccuped. "In the ER. I, I don't want to tell you this over the phone, but I know you'll worry the whole way," Larissa was blubbering, almost hard to understand her. "I'm fine, but I started bleeding this morning. I lost the baby, Chris,"she began sobbing uncontrollably.
"Where, uh, UCLA, you said? I'll be right there. Is anyone with you?"
"N-no. I drove myself." Chris wiped his hand across his face. He felt terrible.
"I'll be right there, babe," he spoke calmly. "I love you."
Chris raced the 20 minutes from his apartment to the medical center.He couldn't believe he didn't get pulled over. He had never felt so helpless in his life. The woman he loved more than anything in the world was suffering. And alone. Even once he did reach her, he knew there wasn't much he could do to comfort her, and perhaps that hurt worst of all.
The idea of him becoming a father had been slowly growing on him over the past two weeks. It seemed so strange at first, him being someone's father. He had never given kids any serious thought, but here it was, looming in his face now, whether he was ready or not.The whole thing filled him with sheer terror...But joy, too, at the thought of sharing the experience with Larissa.
He ran up to the reception desk. "I'm looking for a Larissa Olsen,"he told the big black woman behind the desk.
"Just one moment, please," she went about typing on the computer in front of her. "What is your relationship to the patient?"
"I'm her fiancee."
"Here she is. I'll have someone take you back."
"Thank you."
Chris waited to the side of the reception desk, too nervous to sit down. His phone rang.
"Hey dad, I-"
"Chris! Tony Mazono just called me and told me the good news, that you got that part on that upcoming wine movie. Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman! I'm proud of you, son!"
"Dad, I have to call you back," Chris was finally able to get a word in over his father's gushing. It wasn't like him to hang up abruptly on his father, though.
"Is everything alright?" he could hear the concern in Robert's voice.
"Ugh," Chris sighed as he debated whether to tell the truth or lie. He absolutely hated lying to his family, but they hadn't told his parents about the baby yet either. Chris figured Larissa would be more upset if he told them the truth without telling or asking her first.
"Larissa's in the hospital, dad. I just got here. I'm not really sure what's going on."
"Oh, son. I hope everything's ok. Your mom and I will be thinking about her. Let us know when you get any news."
"I will, dad. Talk to ya soon."
"Right here," the receptionist pointed at Chris as a nurse emerged from the emergency room area.
"Larissa Olsen?" she asked to double check. Chris nodded. "Follow me," she turned and walked quickly away. Chris didn't usually have a hard time keeping up with people due to his height, but she was quick for being a good six inches shorter than him. I guess no-nonsense in an ER nurse is a good quality, he thought. After a few turns she stopped.
"Right through there," she pointed. "I hope you can help her calm down," she spoke more quietly. "Poor thing's been through a lot this afternoon," the nurse turned and walked away, as if she was never there.
Chris slowly walked toward the room. Now that he was actually there,he realized he was totally unprepared. How could he possible console this woman? She tried to hide it most of the time, but Chris knew she was secretly excited about the baby. After all, she had told them on their first date that she wanted lots of kids. He had no idea what she was going through, but he was about to find out.
"Larissa?" he knocked lightly on the door, poking his head in.She rolled onto her back and held her arms out to him. Chris crossed the room in two steps.
"I'm so sorry," he was surprised to find himself crying as soon as he wrapped his arms around her. She looked so frail and tired."I'm so sorry I wasn't here. Why didn't you call me?," he pulled her tear-reddened face up to his.
"I don't know," Larissa shrugged. "I didn't want you to worry,I guess. I figured I was just being paranoid. But then the bleeding got worse..."her shoulders heaved as she leaned her forehead against Chris' chest. He silently stroked her hair for several minutes, letting her cry.
"We're getting married, Larissa. I want to know everything."
"I'm glad you're here now," she spoke quietly.
"Me too. So, what happens now? How much longer do you have to stay here?" Chris hoped he didn't sound insensitive.
"They want to keep me for another hour or two. Make sure the bleeding doesn't turn into hemorrhaging. It was getting pretty bad.Other than that, they said...it, should pass on its own," Larissa tried to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Ok, ok," Chris tried to soothe her. "Why don't you lay back down and get some rest?" He helped Larissa get settled, then asked,"Can I lay with you?"
"Of course," she replied over her shoulder.
"I'm sure the nurses won't like it, but I don't care," he whispered in her ear as he cuddled up behind her on the small gurney and wrapped his free arm around hers protectively.
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