After cleaning up the mess from lunch, holding her breath as she mopped around the kitchen table, Sophia washed her hands and sat on her couch, pulling out her work pad. She spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between busying her mind with work and acting out imaginary fights with Jed, replaying all the biting things she wished she had said to him in the heat of the moment.

Before she knew it, the sun was setting beneath the buildings of New York. She stretched, prepared a light dinner, and changed into a pair of pajamas.

Just before she went to bed, she stood in front of her bathroom mirror and lifted up her shirt, revealing a rounded belly. It was larger than she thought it would be, though the doctor hadn’t seemed concerned. She had opted not to get an ultrasound unless absolutely necessary, so it had been some time since she’d seen her little bundle of joy.

“How you doing in there, my love?” she whispered, running a hand along her belly.

Her emotions had been on overdrive for some time, but at that moment she felt an extreme emptiness. Jed had proven, once again, that he was a selfish man incapable of showing human emotion. Sophia had been dead set on getting him to work with her, but as she stared at her belly in the mirror, all she could see was a baby with no father.

A tear traced down her cheek as she thought of it. In that moment, the baby kicked.

“Oof!” Sophia exclaimed, her hand darting to the spot she had felt the movement.

She smiled then, feeling as the baby wiggled around in her womb, the sensation completely indescribable. Patting her belly, she chuckled.

“Always here to reassure your mother everything’s going to be all right, huh?”

The baby moved again, and a little budge could be seen, where his or her foot was. Sophia caressed the tiny appendage, longing for to the day when she could hold her child for real. She released a gusty sigh, wiping the remnants of her tears away.

“You’re right, of course. I’ve never given up on anything, and when it comes to you, I certainly won’t. Let’s get some sleep, little one.”

Sophia was on her way to bed when her phone rang from the bedside table. When she looked at it, her eyebrows rose in surprise.

Lifting the phone, she pressed the answer key and held it up to her ear.

“Well, this is unexpected,” she said without preamble.

Jed cleared his throat.

“Yes, well, I had some time to think about our interaction today, and I wanted to apologize for my behavior. It was unwarranted.”

His voice was rushed, like he had been practicing what he was going to say all day and just wanted to get it out. Sophia leaned against her bed, staring at her bedroom wall.

“An apology from Jed Shields. I don’t imagine many people get one of those.”

“You might be the first,” he admitted.

“Well now, that is progress,” she said.

There was a silence. Just one in a million that had dotted the landscape of their sordid relationship.

“Sophia, I’m not good at this. I am good at one thing—convincing people to see things the way I want them to. You are the first person that I haven’t been able to crack, and frankly, I haven’t known what to do about it. You are, to me, the biggest failing of my career, because no matter what I have tried, you have refused to change your way of thinking about anything.”

“Really? I am entirely unaware that you were trying to get me to think anything at all.”

“That’s the point. If people know you’re turning their thoughts, they would guard them mercilessly. I wanted you to believe that I won’t be there for you, so that you could come to terms with what I wanted to do—help you minimally and forget this whole thing happened.”

Sophia’s heart cracked a little at his words. This whole time she had been working to convince him that being a family man would better his life, he was covertly trying to convince her that she was better off without him.

“Do you want out of this, Jed?” she asked in a whisper.

Jed hesitated before he answered.

“No. I don’t.”

Her heart was racing. Their future was on the line, defined by this moment. He was either in, or he was out, and she was tired of trying to make him into something he wasn’t. It might be the first battle she lost.

Wait, what did he just say?

“What?” she asked, dazed.

“I don’t want out. I still don’t want to be where you want me to be. Maybe that’s my own stubbornness talking, I don’t know. All I know is I have felt worse than I’ve ever felt in my life this afternoon, and I imagine it’s because I don’t want you to be unhappy. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to play happy family, but there it is.”

His voice was terse, his frustration with his own feelings glaringly apparent. Sophia realized in that moment that she had been quietly wearing away at his defenses. While he was unwilling to admit that he was coming around to the idea of being a father, he had just told her without saying it that she was getting through to him.

Her heart warmed.

“I suppose I can understand that,” she conceded. “I appreciate you calling. I think this might be the first time you have.”

“It might,” he agreed.

Another pause.

“I have another checkup tomorrow afternoon, if you’d like to join.”

“I’ve got a meeting,” he said, the excuse readily available.

Sophia bit back her frustration. The fact that he called, apologized, and admitted what he was doing to push her away were all major victories. She would hold them close and hope that before the baby came she would be able to get him more than just halfway there.

“I understand. I’d love to go for a walk again sometime this week, if you’re game.”

“I think I can make one of those,” he said, his voice filled with relief that she wasn’t going to force him to visit the doctor with her.

“Sounds good. I’ll be in touch.”

“I know you will,” he said.

“Hey Jed?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

“No need to thank me. I know when I’ve been wrong. At the very least, I think you deserve to know where I’m coming from. This isn’t exactly easy for me, Sophia.”

“Why?”

“Do you really have to ask? You think having a child sprung on you is easy?”

“Do you really have to ask me that? The difference between you and me is right here, Jed. I’m ready to face the challenge head on. You’re doing everything you can to run away with your tail between your legs.”

“You’re calling me a coward,” he said, tersely.

“You bet I am. Do you have any idea what it’s been like to face this situation not only alone, but forced to do everything in my power to ensure that my baby’s father is the parent my child deserves? Even you don’t believe you are. It has been a herculean task!”

Sophia sat back as she heard Jed breathing to calm his temper. She probably shouldn’t have said that. They had actually taken steps towards a better place. She couldn’t help herself. The man was infuriating.

“Look, I called to apologize for my behavior. I don’t need my character questioned by you, or anyone else.”

“And yet, when you’re running for office, it will be on full display. I encourage you to consider that as you dodge me every step of the way towards parenthood.”

“Well let’s cross that bridge when we come to it, shall we?”

“I’m not sure if I’ll still be on your bridge when that time comes. Or have you forgotten that I matter when it comes to being seen as a good father? How am I going to lie to the public when they ask what you were like during my pregnancy? Am I going to tell them that you catered to my every need? Ran out for ice cream whenever I wanted? Massaged my aching lower back?”

“I call you to say I’m sorry and you threaten my career. How do you expect me to support you when you behave in such a way?”

“It’s not a threat when it’s the truth. Why don’t you examine your own behavior, again, and you’ll see that you’ve been the one who needed to change all along, not me.”

The conversation was veering wildly out of control again. How was it that Sophia couldn’t talk to Jed without it turning into an enormous fight? Is that what she would expose her child to, if they stayed together? Perhaps cutting him out was the right answer.

When Jed answered, his voice was laced with exhaustion.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Sophia. I get it. I haven’t been supportive of any of this. Maybe someday you’ll concede that you weren’t exactly understanding of my position, either. In any case, I would like to end at least one of our conversations on a positive note.”

“Really? And how do you intend to do that? After all, I can’t do all the heavy lifting here.”

“By repeating to you that I am sorry for my behavior. I’m not lying to you—I really do have a client meeting tomorrow afternoon, but let’s plan on walking together the day after. Would that be sufficient?”

Sophia bit back a cutting retort. She reminded herself that in spite of his terrible manners, he was trying. It was up to her whether to accept his efforts or not.

“It would. I’ll meet you at the park.”

“Until then. Have a restful sleep, Sophia.”

“Good night, Jed.”

She hung up the phone then, holding it in her hand as she stared out into the depths of her mind. Pregnancy was hard enough without having to deal with the likes of Jed Shields.

As she snuggled under her comforter, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. The baby woke then, shifting in a myriad of directions. She cradled her belly with her hand once more as she drifted off to sleep, wondering just what the future held for all of them.