What the Palm Reader Didn't Say

Marissa sat across from him at the beachside café, her fingers worrying a loose strand of hair that had escaped her messy bun. The same strand she'd tucked behind her ear at their wedding, seven years ago. David watched her hands—how they'd grown more angular, the knuckles slightly pronounced now. She'd lost weight again.

"The palm reader last night," Marissa said, not looking up. "She told me I'd have a long life, lots of children." She laughed, but it caught in her throat. "She didn't mention the part where my husband stops seeing me."

Outside, the palm trees bent in the wind, their fronds scratching against the glass like nervous fingers. David thought about all the things he hadn't said lately. How her hair still smelled like lavender even when she came home exhausted from the hospital. How he'd started sleeping in the guest room because his restlessness kept her awake.

"I ordered you the spinach salad," David said. "Remember? From our first date. You said it was the only thing you'd eat that wasn't brown or white."

Marissa finally looked at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed. "David, I'm pregnant."

The words hung between them, heavy and impossible. She'd had three miscarriages in two years. Each one had chipped away at something fundamental between them, until they were both just going through motions they'd forgotten how to feel.

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm terrified to hope."

David reached across the table, and for the first time in months, their palms met. Her hand was cold. His was shaking.

"The palm reader was wrong about one thing," he said, his voice cracking. "She said you'd have lots of children. She didn't say you'd have them with someone who didn't know how to be there for you."

Marissa's chin trembled. A single tear tracked through her foundation. "You're here now."

"I'm here now," he repeated, and it felt like the first true thing he'd said in a year.

The waitress arrived with the salad. "Spinach with warm bacon vinaigrette," she announced cheerfully. Neither of them let go of the other's hand.