I was thirty-one.
We’d tried for three years. When I finally got pregnant, Christopher bought a little stuffed giraffe and set it on the dresser. I thought that meant he was all in.
At fourteen weeks, I started bleeding at work.
Christopher spent most of that afternoon in the hospital hallway answering work emails on his BlackBerry. Telling people he’d call them back.
Gertrude sat beside my bed.
She didn’t tell me everything happens for a reason. She didn’t tell me to be strong. She didn’t tell me I’d have another one.
She held a paper cup of water to my lips when my hands were shaking too badly to hold it. She tucked the blanket around my cold feet. And she stayed with me until I fell asleep.
When I woke up at two in the morning, she was still there. Asleep in the plastic chair. Her purse in her lap. Her coat still on.
Christopher had gone home to sleep.
We never got pregnant again.
Years later, when arthritis twisted Gertrude’s fingers so badly she couldn’t do small buttons anymore, I started stopping by her little cottage every Sunday before church to button her coat.
When she couldn’t drive at night anymore, I took her to her appointments.
When her memory started slipping two years ago, Christopher and I moved her into our guest room. I labeled every drawer. I set alarms on my phone for all eleven of her medications.
Christopher thanked me the way you’d thank somebody for picking up a gallon of milk.
“You’re a lifesaver, Ros.”
He always promised he’d spend more time with her. Next week. After this deal. After this trip.
There was always a flight. A deadline. A client dinner. A call he couldn’t move.
And Gertrude defended him longer than I did.
“He works so hard, honey.”
“He has people depending on him.”
“He’ll slow down when this deal is over.”
The deal was never over.
There was always another one right behind it.
Sophia Rivers is an experienced News Content Editor with a sharp eye for detail and a passion for delivering accurate and engaging news stories. At TheArchivists, she specializes in curating, editing, and presenting news content that informs and resonates with a global audience.
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