Triad (continued)

Shaun walked into the kitchen, carrying two paper bags filled with groceries. As Robyn had items scattered around on the various countertops, he placed them on the nearby table to start unpacking them.

“Did you take her to the doctor?”

Robyn continued chopping what appeared to be either celery or shallots, shaking her head. “She was feeling a little better.”

“Oh.”

Shaun frowned, but let it go. He knew two things: one was that Melinda could be incredibly stubborn, and two, Robyn could be even more stubborn when the need arose. That Robyn had not pushed the issue told him that Robyn was not yet too concerned. He began opening cabinets to put the groceries away.

“Anything ideas then?” he asked, curious to hear the results of Robyn’s amateur diagnosis.

Without answering him directly, she reached over and placed a small box on the countertop in front of him. Shaun looked down at it, puzzled, and then picked it up. It took him only a moment to realize what it was.

He looked over at Robyn, staring at her with widened eyes. Her mouth was set in a firm line. There was a bright shine in her eyes that spoke of something other than anger, but Shaun could not be certain what. His eyes turned back down to the box in his hand.

An absurd collage of images flashed through his mind: making love to Melinda, a clinical-looking scene of his sperm flowing into her, Melinda clutching him as she climaxed. A knot twisted in his stomach.

His eyes refocused on the box: it was unopened. He looked back up at Robyn.

“Does she know?”

Robyn stared back at him for a long moment. The muscles of her jaw worked before she answered in a flat voice.

“That I bought the test, no.” She took a slow, shallow breath. “That she might be pregnant—you tell me.”

Shaun’s forehead wrinkled slightly as he analyzed the sudden harsh note in Robyn’s voice. He had not known. They had all occasionally discussed having children at some point, but had never reached any kind of agreement, other than that it probably was not the time yet. Apparently, Melinda had decided otherwise.

For a moment, Shaun wondered if someone else might have fathered it. Neither he nor Robyn kept track of Melinda every moment and, he knew, if someone wanted a sexual encounter bad enough, they would find a way to make it happen. His gut though, at least the part of it that was currently tied into tight knots by the news, told him otherwise. He had no doubt what any reasonably accurate paternity test would show.

“Where is she?” Shaun asked. His voice was barely above a whisper.

Robyn’s head nodded toward the hallway. “In the bedroom,” she said. “Resting.”

Shaun and looked in the direction of their bedroom. His lips formed an uncertain line.

“Okay.”

He said nothing more as he finished putting away the groceries, but his mind was far, far from the task.