Free A Few More Nights (Slice of Life) by Olivia Gaines

job. A board had been placed in the break room with a countdown to the days that Marc would return. Since Nadine didn’t follow sports, she was told it was a Fantasy Football board. “As long as no money is being used,” she told them since gambling was against company policy.
    Selena had come off the road to be at her daughter’s side. A mother understood the signs of the changes Nadine was experiencing, but she waited for her daughter to open the subject.  She never did.  Any attempts to speak on the life changes she was facing, was met with tears and melancholy. When her daughter wasn’t crying, she was singing, or reading out loud. Selena wasn’t sure how she felt about Marc now, but would wait and reserve any thoughts when he returned home.
    The conversation only danced around the plastic zip ring that she wore on her finger.  Anytime anyone asked about it, Nadine would burst into tears. The campaigns she worked on were flourishing because the new Nadine was full of insights and was in touch with her feelings. These feelings were connecting with the public and sales were booming. She truly had a golden touch.
    The golden touch was appreciated even more when Rolland received the call at 9:30 am.  Relief was all over his face. Simply because Bena had been such support, he immediately called her.  Bena called Selena, and everyone was in route to the office. It was now only a matter of time. 
    Lunch was ordered in; it was a quiet afternoon until he arrived.  A hush fell across the office as a travel-weary Marc Deasley walked into the offices of Deasley and Associates to see his wife.  Rolland shook his brother’s hand and noticed the similar plastic ring on his brother’s left hand.  He had been right, she could not visit the site unless they were married, but neither Marc nor Nadine had mentioned their union to him in the past three months. This made his reunion brief with his brother, since Marc’s main concern was getting into the office with Nadine.
    She looked up with amazement when he walked into the door.  She pointed to the chair for him to have a seat. Marc wanted to hold her but she had not risen to meet him halfway.  The plastic ring was still on her finger which was a relief.
    “Marc, we really need to talk, I was planning to tell you some things when I came to Alaska….” The words were interrupted by a very anxious Marc who rose and closed the door to her office.  He sat down impatiently and leaned forward on her desk.
    “I know we started all wrong, Nadine, but we have something here.  I didn’t marry you because I had to, I did it because I wanted to and needed to make sure you would be here when I returned.”
    Tears flowed down Nadine’s cheeks; she felt so stupid.  Every day she was crying.
    “Nadine, you and I were supposed to meet.  Somewhere out there, the universe aligned for you and me to be together.  I want to stay married to you, buy a house in the Valley, and make some beautiful children with you.” She cried even harder.  Marc was at a loss, were these tears of joy, anxiety, regret?
    Finally, she collected her thoughts long enough to get out a sentence, “You want kids, Marc?  Honestly?”
    “Yes, Nadine, I would love to start a family with you.”
    She cried even harder and rose from behind the desk.  “I am so happy to hear that, we started a family about six months ago.”
    His eyes followed her body as she stood. “I would like to introduce you to our son; he’s still baking, but he’ll be done soon.”
    Marc was at a loss for words.  He stared at her enlarged belly and realized that her pooch in Alaska wasn’t from bloating from the long flight.  She had come to him on his birthday to give him the gift of fatherhood. He was choked up with emotion but tried to gather her in his arms.  The embrace must have been too tight and Marc felt a small kick, which made him turn completely goofy. “Did he just kick?” His hand went to her stomach and the