A lonely night

"A boy?" Jenny repeated after Sophia. She nodded with a smile, answering Jenny's rhetoric question. "Oh how wonderful Sophia. I can already imagine an angelic looking little boy with those blond curls of yours and those green eyes. What a pretty boy it will be. If he has the personality of either of you two, I won't mind having him as my future son-in-law." Jenny jokingly added. Which caused a friendly competition between the girls, each fighting for the position of his future mother-in-law without the child even being born or them having a child of their own. Including Jenny's friends from the Netherlands, who had met George the last time they were in England and could indeed envision how a child between him and the woman in front of them would look. Despite this competition being silly and serving no purpose, it proved to be a perfect topic to discuss over lunch. They too knew that for all they knew they might all have boys or he might simply not like their future children in that way. However, there was no harm in letting their imagination run wild for a moment.

As Sophia showed them her ultrasound pictures and told them about the so-called 4D ultrasound she would have at the end of the month, they all gushed over the little prince that was growing in Sophia's belly. As she thought about how loved that child was and how spoiled it would be once it was born, growing up with what she imagined were the world's kindest parents, Jenny started thinking about when she and Jason would be having children. Though she always imagined that she wouldn't have children until she finished school but she also knew that her path on becoming a doctor was a long one. Making everyone, including herself, wait for so many years seemed impossible. She was blessed to have married into a family like this and have the opportunity to have a child without it disrupting her education too much. With each picture she saw of the nursery, the clothes and toys that had been bought for little Henry, she became more and more convinced that children would be in a much nearer future than she had initially planned.

When Jenny arrived home later that day, Jason had yet to arrive. It was only the first day but it appeared that the working late had already begun. She tried to hide her disappointment as she joined her in-laws for dinner but the smile she was barely keeping up fell the moment she had walked the stairs up to their room. Seeing the lights off and hearing the quiet, she felt really alone. The thought that this was what she would have to come home to everyday for a long time to come brought her mood down even further. Maybe she had underestimated all of this. She thought they would be fine as long as they made some rules and promises. Thinking that as long as they had a moment between the two of them everyday, she would be able to deal with not seeing him for the rest of the day. But reality apparently loved proving her wrong.

As she walked through the partition to their bedroom, she switched on the lights and dropped herself on the bed as she prepared herself for a lonely night. Holding one of the decorative pillows on the bed as a stuffed animal as her eyes turned towards the door that would lead her to his office. Wondering if she should be using that door this early in the game or if she should hold herself back and train herself to toughen up a bit. In the end, after much back and forth, she decided to call Jason instead of going over. Thinking he must be quite busy to not be home yet and telling herself that he too would rather be by her side instead of cooped up in his office. So, she shouldn't distract him too much when he was working hard for the both of them. At least not if she wanted to be of help to him. She needed to do what she could in order to allow him to come home as soon as possible and not add to his worries.

The phone hadn't even rung two times when Jason picked up the call. He answered with, "Did you miss me already?" Though he had intended it as a joke, when he heard Jenny's silence on the other side of the call and after a few seconds a confirming sound, Jason stopped working and focussed all his attention to Jenny. "What is wrong? Are you really missing me?" Jenny replied. Feeling a bit disappointed that she had done exactly that which she was trying to avoid, which was to have him worry about her. "Yeah. Somehow it felt really lonely without you here." Jason leaned back in his big office chair as he thought of what to say. "Why didn't you come and visit me then? I didn't show you that bridge for nothing." "I didn't want to distract you or have you worry but with the way this call has gone I have failed miserably at that." Jenny said with the bit of laughter she could muster up.

"Well, did you think you were the only one having a tough time and missing the other? I miss you too. You telling me you miss me will make me worried about leaving you there sure but it also encourages me to work harder so I can return sooner. So, don't hide you missing me in the future. Instead come over and give me a nice hug to charge me back up and leave after you have been charged up as well. After I get settled in, I will try to take some of my work home and work on it in our private home office. That way you can see me anytime you want, while I get my work done. But for now I won't be able to do that and I am counting on you to come visit me whenever you want and can, oké?" After hearing these words, Jenny got the encouragement she needed to make use of the bridge starting tomorrow. "Yes. I will visit you starting tomorrow. For tonight I will settle for this phone call. I will hang up now as I have disturbed you enough. Keep up the good work and don't come home too late. Don't forget to wake me when you get here." With an "I will" and a "Good night" their call ended and Jenny put on a movie to accompany her till it was time for her to go to sleep.