Can and Can't handle

Once the thought that he might be in the wrong as well had entered Jason's mind, he didn't quite know what to say. So, even though Jenny had intended to make him stop ignoring her, in a way she had reached the opposite effect. With their destination in sight, he needed to reach a conclusion soon if he did not want to have an awkward ride back and bring an unneeded tension back to the hospital. With Jason remaining silent until he had gathered his own thoughts, Jenny was in her own way doubting whether she had taken the right course of action. She had been sitting beside him with her arms crossed and turned away from him, waiting for Jason to say something, to give her a reply. A reply which didn't seem to come. Making her glance backwards more and more often to try and read his expression and determine if he was still upset with her or if something else was keeping him from talking.

When he drove into a parking spot and turned the engine off, Jason remained seated after unfastening his seatbelt and he finally turned towards Jenny. With earnest, yet stern eyes, he looked at Jenny, who had slowly turned around as well, and he said, "Let me start by saying that I still do not support your decision earlier. As you should be well aware of, any heavy lifting can induce labour at this stage of the pregnancy. Just because we have a due date, does not mean you aren't at risk of going into labour at any moment. Instead of asking one of us to go or to go with you, you decided to leave on your own to do a job anyone was more suited for than you. You did so without consulting or informing anyone." Feeling the weight of his words and finding some of it unfair, Jenny wanted to say something in return but before she was able to utter a single word, Jason lifted a finger as he continued with what he wanted to say.

"BUT, be that as it may, I too realize that maybe we have been going a bit too far in our ways to protect you. Making you perhaps feel like a prisoner in your own home, instead of the cherished, beloved and most prized being in there, which was our goal. In turn probably even causing this rebellion, this need to prove that you can make yourself useful in other ways too, other than those that we feel comfortable with. So, though I am upset with what you did and find the way you went about it wrong, I do understand where it is coming from. And you are right in saying that it is your pregnancy and your body. So, you are the best judge of knowing what your body can and can't handle."

Jason then took another deep breath as he said, "Having said all that, I want to finish by saying that I don't want to turn this into a fight nor did I ever intend it to become one. That has never been my goal with this. All I said, felt and did, was initially out of concern. I just felt myself getting upset when I saw you with those flushed cheeks, carrying all those bags half out of breath. Ignoring you however wasn't the right solution but was done in order to prevent my saying something I didn't mean or shouldn't. In short, I am not sorry for saying something when you take needless risks or don't take proper precautions, but I am sorry for making you feel like you don't have a say about your own body and I admit that ignoring you wasn't my best decision."

Jenny was surprised to say the least about Jason's words. She didn't think that she would be able to reach him that quickly or for him to admit his part in the wrong so easily. Making her almost feel bad she hadn't started with an apology herself. It seemed that the longer they were together, the easier and faster their disagreements were solved. As they get to know each other better, it becomes easier to put yourself in the shoes of the other and look at it from their point of view. Which helps resolve an issue before it becomes a real problem and therefore also prevents it from turning into a fight.

After saying his piece and seeing that his words had reached Jenny, Jason stepped out of the car and made his way over to Jenny's side. He opened her door and unfastened her seatbelt before he helped her step out of the car, just as gently as he had done when he helped her get in. Not knowing whether Jenny had accepted his apology or felt like apologizing herself, he had turned away from her the moment she was standing next to the car and he had locked the doors. He intended to walk ahead of her, without holding her hand or sticking close like he usually would have, to give her some space. But before he was able to take a single step forward, Jenny reached out to grab his hand as she called out, "Wait..."

Jason immediately stopped moving and looked over his shoulder in Jenny's direction before turning around fully to look at her properly. Jenny lifted her downcast eyes to meet his eyes as she said, "Don't just walk away after saying what you have to say. Because I too owe you an apology..."