Penelope had transferred to UCLA, and Kevin called her up, asking if they could get together.
She agreed.
Two years later, they were married.
A year later, she became pregnant.
Penelope sat in the window seat of what was going to be the baby’s room and stared out the glass at the children playing in the street. She’d recently gotten her mothers’ money, and they both had good jobs, so the baby would not be a financial hardship. And, she supposed, she was happy. Kevin was a good husband, and she loved him.
But… But sometimes she wondered what her life would have been like if Dion had lived, if she had married him and was now carrying his baby.
She loved Kevin.
But she’d trade him for Dion in a second.
Why couldn’t it have been the other way around?
Downstairs, she heard the front door open, heard Kevin toss the mail onto the hall tree. “I’m home!” he announced.
“Up here!” she called.
She waited for him, smiled as he entered the room. He hurried across the carpet toward her. “How are you today?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Fine.”
He sat down on the window seat next to her, untied his tie. He looked at the box of sesame-cheese crackers and the empty container of yogurt by her feet. “Cravings again?”
She laughed. “Yeah.”
He put a hand on her distended stomach. “Is there anything else I can get you? Pickles and ice cream? Anchovies and orange juice?”
She started to say something, then looked away, shaking her head. “No.”
“Come on.”
