Free Frigid Affair by Jennifer Foor

recognized something inside of me that wasn’t a gas pocket, like I’d always assumed. The little life growing in my stomach was moving around in there. I could feel him. The constant reminder was only more active as my pregnancy progressed. By the sixth month I had a cute little belly, albeit my ass was getting too large to fit into my pants comfortably. I had a pair of my father’s old sweats I managed to salvage, and thank goodness I’d taken them with me when I came down from the mountain, because I lived in them.
     
    Being held up in town also gave me a constant WIFI signal. It didn’t take me long to wish I could reconnect with Easton. I began searching every social media site for his name, coming up with nothing. It was like he didn’t exist. For someone prominent in the New York City Fire Department, he was nowhere to be found. It was absurd. My last resort was checking dating websites, in which I came up with no results again. In this day and age, I wasn’t sure how it was possible. People were easy to find, yet I couldn’t even come up with a people search for someone with his name and around the age he was in the entire state of New York.
    By the eighth month of my term, I got it in my head that maybe he didn’t want to be found. Perhaps he was married and told me a different last name to keep me from tracking him down. Lets face it, men take trips to get away from what they deal with at home. He saw an opportunity he couldn’t refuse and he took it. He knew no one would ever find out. I was an adulterers dream; someone living in the middle of nowhere with little means to hunt them down. I’d offered myself on a silver platter that night.
    Since he’d never tried to get in touch with me, I knew I had to be right. Easton was someone who came into my life for a reason. He’d saved me and left with something to forever remember him by, but he’d never be anything more than a memory.
    My doctor appointments became more frequent as my due date came closer. I enjoyed hearing my little guy’s heartbeat on the monitor and getting good results for our health, because I knew soon enough we’d be back on the mountain starting a new adventure together. I’d had plenty of time to consider how I was going to raise him, and what I’d have to do to make sure he grew up educated and respectful. Living on the mountain would pose a problem when he had to go to school. I could do it myself, but I wanted him to have the opportunity to be around other children. We’d have to move, at least into town when the time came. Until he was school-aged, we’d stay in the cabin.
    I’d never expected to love someone this much again, but he’d stolen my heart. My little miracle would be named after the men in my life.
    My son was born during a torrential downpour, go figure. I was in excruciating labor as they came to pick me in a four-wheel drive SUV, because I couldn’t drive myself. Ava was freaking out, especially when the local sheriff walked right into our house to get me. Once I got her calmed down, he helped me walk out to his truck, and then gave me a struggled boost into the passenger seat.
    The ride was slow, rough, and petrifying. I pictured sliding in a ditch and giving birth while upside down. I imagined dying before I got to see his beautiful face.
     
    My contractions were only two minutes apart when we finally arrived at the hospital. I remember my doctor coming out in her rain coat and rubber boots to wheel me inside. I knew I’d be frightened, but nothing could prepare me for what it was like to go through this alone.
    I’d given up my friends a long time ago. It made this particular night bittersweet. A new life was coming into the world, but I wouldn’t have anyone to share it with, aside from the medical team. I wouldn’t have family coming in to visit me, or flowers delivered. I wouldn’t have a man by my side to see his son’s eyes open for the first time. He’d never know his father; something