Jasper woke up earlier than Martha and made coffee.  Teegan only came down to grab a pop up waffle and then headed back to his room.  Jasper and Martha knew that they wouldn’t see him until lunch. The police car had already left their house.  Jasper and Martha didn’t know what time they had left, they both over slept.

“Do you think it is too early to call Richard?” Is it too early to mention Richard, Martha thought. She looked at Jasper expecting him to be frustrated.  He left the room. Martha thought that she had made him mad.  Surprisingly, Jasper came back with his phone and handed it to Martha.  Should she ask about the calls to Kelly?  But then he would know that Martha was on his phone last night.

“Put it on speaker,” he said as he shoved the phone into Martha’s hand.

She dialed his number and pressed the ‘speaker’ button.  Again it went straight to voicemail.

“I think something is wrong,” Martha said.  She tried not to sound too concerned, afraid of Jasper thinking she still had feelings for Richard. She just wanted to sound concerned enough to maybe convince Jasper to visit him.  She did not have feelings for Richard anymore. She honestly did have a gut feeling that something was wrong.

“What do you mean?  Maybe his phone is just shut off.”  Jasper shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee.

“It’s been shut off for a few days now.  And Anne said that he never showed up to his conference that he was suppose to attend this week.  Do you think he is missing?” Martha still cared for Richard, but she cared for Jasper’s feelings more.  Jasper and Richard were friends, but I think after the little stunt that Martha pulled with Richard, their relationship was over.  Richard doesn’t know that Jasper knew about them though, so why would he ignore Jasper’s call? “Maybe we should go over there, just to see if his truck is in the driveway.”

Jasper looked away for what seemed like forever.  What was he thinking about?

“Yes, let’s go.  And I am only saying that because Richard is still one of my friends.  I have to admit that I am a little worried about him. It’s not like him to miss a conference.  Let’s just not make it awkward. It already feels awkward just knowing about it.”

Martha couldn’t believer her ears.  How did she end up with such an understanding husband?  Most husbands would be filing for divorce right about now.  Why was he being so considerate? Was he hiding something too?  Martha pushed the thought to the back of her head. She thought about the calls to Kelly.  She did believe that Jasper was trying to help her and she believed that he was trying to help their marriage as well.

“What are we going to do with Teegan?  Do you think he’d want to stay home alone right now?”  Martha asked Jasper.

“Let’s go ask him.”

They headed upstairs and knocked on Teegan’s bedroom door.  Brick started barking right away. He was always so protective of the boys.  

“Teegan, can we come in?” Martha asked, knowing she wouldn’t hear Teegan’s voice.  He instead came to the door and opened it for his parents, again not saying a word.

“Teegan?  Mom and Dad have to go and visit Mr. Garbel for a while.  Are you going to be OK if you are home alone for a couple of hours?”  Martha asks Teegan, still hoping for some kind of reaction from him. Even if he changed the pattern in the way he blinked his eyes would make Martha happy.  He still stared at them in blankness.

“Teegan, would you like us to invite over Anne?  She can maybe watch a movie with you.” It was Jasper’s turn to try.  Sometimes fathers and sons have a better bond than with mothers. Teegan still didn’t answer.  Instead he got up and grabbed Jasper’s phone out of his pocket. After swiping and typing some things, Teegan showed his parents the screen.  It was of movie show times for the new Marvel movie that came out last week.  The boys were planning on seeing it some weekend together, before Carter passed away.

“I will call Anne and ask if she can take you, OK?  I am sure Carter will be there to watch it with you.”  Still nothing. At least he wanted to go out to the theater.  Maybe an outside person could get Teegan to talk. Martha went downstairs and called Anne.  It was a short week at school so she was home as well. Martha asked if she could take Teegan to the theater.  Martha offered to pay, and offered to give Anne gas money. Anne was delighted to take Teegan, but she refused payment.  

“You know I treat Teegan as if he were my own.  I can’t have kids, so I will take any opportunity I can to hang out with yours,” Anne would always tell Martha.

“I am going to let you know now that he still isn’t talking.  Try not to push him. I think he is still grieving. We all are, but Jasper and I need to head out for a couple of hours to take care of some things.”  Martha hasn’t told Anne about anything that has been happening. She was surprised she didn’t ask about the police in front of the building last night. Usually Anne survived off of gossip.  

“That’s alright.  I will take it easy on him.  Maybe all he needs is some company from a friend.  I will be there in twenty minutes,” Anne said sounding so comforting.  She really was the perfect sitter for Teegan.

“Thank you, Anne.”

They both hung up the phone and Martha looked back at Jasper.  He was looking out of the window. His face looked so concentrated that Martha thought his wrinkles were going to pop out of his head.  She headed for the window and looked at where Jasper was looking. There it was, looking more beat up than it normally did. After being dropped in the lake, of course the white truck sitting across the street would look like it would be on the verge of collapsing.  How did it get across the street? Surely it wouldn’t be able to run after it took a bath in the lake a few days ago.

“What is that doing here?  It should be at the pound.”  Martha was so shocked. She felt another dizzy spell coming on.

“I don’t know.  I just looked out the window and it just happened to be there.  There was nobody inside either. Should I go out and check it out?”  Jasper tried to sound brave, but Martha heard the shakiness in his words.

“No! They could have a gun and start shooting,” Martha said.  The nauseous feeling she got from her being dizzy got the best of her.  She ran to the bathroom so she could throw up again. Jasper followed her.  She made a mental note to stop at the gas station on the way to Richard’s and get a pregnancy test.  She had to find out what was going on.

“Martha, again?  You need to see a doctor,” Japser told her in a firm, but concerning voice.  “I am going to call and make an appointment for you as soon as we get home later.”

Jasper left the bathroom and came back with a glass of water for Martha.  Martha loved the cooling sensation that trickled down her throat and into her now empty stomach.  Or at least she hoped her stomach was empty.

Her dizzy spell disappeared and her stomach calmed down.  She got up and brushed her teeth. Their doorbell rang right when Martha was wiping her face clean.  Anne was here to pick up Teegan. She didn’t know where Jasper ran off to so she hurried to the door herself.

Opening the door, Anne stood there with a big smile on her face.  Typical for her to be always happy. In her mom jeans, even thought she wasn’t a mom, and a blue sweatshirt Anne seemed to be excited to take Teegan to the movies.

“Hi Anne.  What do you have there?”  Martha asked, looking down at the tupperware container Anne was holding.

“Oh, I made some homemade protein bars for Teegan.  I know he hasn’t been eating the best since, you know, Carter.  So I thought these might help give him some strength and energy back.”

“Thank you Anne.  I will go put them in the kitchen and go and get Teegan.”

Teegan left with Anne to go to the movies.  Martha started looking around her apartment for Jasper.  She couldn’t find him anywhere. He then came in the front door, and felt Martha’s glare from across the room.

“I was just getting the mail,” Jasper answered Martha’s unasked question.  “The truck is gone. I looked up and down the street and I couldn’t see it anywhere. I didn’t even get a chance to see who got inside.”

Martha ignored him about the truck.  She just wanted to talk to Richard and get another opinion.  “I am feeling better. Can we just go now please? Anne is already gone with Teegan.”

“Yeah. I saw them on the way out.  Teegan still isn’t saying anything.  He didn't even wave goodbye.”

They said goodbye to Brick and got into the van.  Luckily the van needed gas, so Martha had an excuse to stop at a gas station.  

They pulled into the Gas ‘N Go on the way to Richard’s house.  “You fill up and I will pay?” Martha asked, knowing her plan was to take the pregnancy test in the gas station bathroom.  “Do you want a snack or something to drink?”

“How about a Vanilla Coke?” Jasper said, still thinking. “And maybe some Fritos to share?”  He turned to Martha and winked. He knew Fritos were Martha’s favorite.

Martha got out of the van and starting walking inside.  Her nerves were already getting to her. What if she was pregnant?  They could get back the child that they lost. She got inside and walked towards the chip aisle.  She glanced outside to make sure Jasper wasn’t following her. She didn’t want him to know that she was taking a pregnancy test.  She went and grabbed a Vanilla Coke for Jasper, and grabbed a ginger ale for herself. She found the tampon and pad aisle and walked down it.  She looked behind her shoulder for witnesses. She didn’t want to be the new talk of the town. She grabbed a test and headed to the cashier.  

After cashing out she took the bag of goodies and headed to the bathroom.  She looked out the window and Jasper was waiting for her in the car. Another five minutes wouldn’t kill him.   

She was safely inside and took out the test.  Making sure to get rid of all of the wrappers and evidence, she pulled down her pants and peed on the stick.  

As she waited for the results she washed her hands and thought about what could happen if she was pregnant.  They could gain back the child that they lost and it would be a bit of positivity in their lives considering the events that have been happening.  

Suddenly Martha’s heart dropped.  She’s only had sex with Jasper once in the last six months.  What if the father was Richard? What if Jasper left her after knowing she was pregnant?  He’s been understanding so far, maybe he will understand this as well.

She was babbling in her mind.  Why did she do that? After the five minutes were up, Martha looked at the test.  She took a deep breath and saw the two distinguished lines.

POSITIVE