Episode 711: Rainy Days

Quentin turned to his wife after setting the bowl of soup on the bedside table. He frowned at her. "You’re not apologizing for this." He gestured at Justine laid up in their bed in the middle of the day. "This isn’t your fault."

"How many women handle pregnancies just fine, meantime I’m on bed rest. I’m-"

"Human." Quent sat on the edge of the bed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. The sadness in her eyes terrified him. "This is totally human. It’s not the end of the world to need to take it easy for a while. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad mom or you’re weak or a failure or any of the other negative stuff rolling through your mind right now. I’m not blaming you, and you shouldn’t blame yourself. Please, don’t."

"Yeah, mom, it’s not anybody’s fault, it’s just what the baby needs," Tansy said, walking into the bedroom. She paused. Her mouth twisted. "Is it okay if I’m in here now? I thought maybe we could watch movies or something. I mean that way it won’t be so bad that you’re stuck here; we can use it to make up for how much time we won’t have to do that for a while after we have the baby. We’ll be so busy with the diapers and teaching her stuff. So, do you want to hang out with me whenever I don’t have school?"

"That sounds really great, sweetie, thank you." Justine’s smile appeared genuine, it was at least a start.

"Aunt Talia’s the one who actually said that maybe we could turn this into a fun thing. She also says she knows lots of babies who needed a little extra care on their way into the world, that it’s no big deal, and like dad was saying, not your fault."

"She said that?" Quentin and Justine said in surprised unison.

"Yeah, she’s in the living room right now, and she’s being weirdly nice."

Quent did find it a weirdly nice and thoughtful gesture from his sister, still, when Talia offered to act as caregiver for Justine while he worked, Quent refused. His sister had too strong a history of upsetting his wife to be trusted. The last thing he wanted was Justine any more upset than she already was.

Tal, of course, didn’t understand, she took his refusal like a slap in the face and stormed out.

"Yeah, great," he called after his sister, "you pouting is just what I need to worry about on top of everything else, thanks a lot, you’re just proving my point that you wouldn’t help anything!"

Episode 712: Hot And Cold