"The Second Line" by Raum @emergencybeta

EBS’s 2nd Anniversary Challenge 

Emergencybeta.com

Entry type: Twilight

Name of entry: The Second Line

Primary prompt: Free pass: write about something involving second (2nd) or two (2) of something

Secondary prompt: Write in 2nd person

Categories: Romance / Family - All Human

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The Second Line

by Raum

 

You're supposed to wait for five minutes, but you cheat. A crease forms between your eyebrows as you take a peek at the tiny object in your hands.

I keep my distance, not wanting to make you feel under pressure, but I'd like to smooth that crease with a soft caress. I wish I could brush away the worry that’s seeping into your irises.

One minute has already gone by, and you look up at me.

I guess the tentative smile on your face mirrors my own.

You leave the thin bar on the counter and close the distance between us.

I don't dare to speak, suspended between the last moments of hope and the fear that, in a matter of seconds, disappointment will crash down on us again, like a chilling wave that the warmth of our embraces can't keep at bay.

Three minutes, and you're already holding your breath.

I draw you close to my heart, and I wish you could find there all the words that I can't say out loud. As if I could read your mind, I know your thoughts are surfing through the last two years – the medical check-ups, the empty reassurances that everything is okay, that it's just a matter of time, that we have to relax.

Do they listen to themselves, when they say Don't think too much about it...When you least expect it, it will happen?

You break our embrace and return to the counter, where you take up the object again.

The time is up, and I get ready to envelope you in my arms again, to rock you back and forth, whispering how much I love you.

Tears form in your eyes, and one of them glistens through your eyelashes. Like a breaking dawn, your smile lights up your face. Your cheeks redden, and you open your mouth.

You hand me the pregnancy test, and when I see two lines on it – one clear, the other thin and still forming, but present nonetheless – our voices mingle in one long-expected word.

“Positive!”

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Thank you to Camilla and SatinCoveredSteel.