I woke up to an empty house full of sunlight. I panicked for a second before remembering she had a doctor’s appointment.. She had left her tea on the kitchen table again. It was left right next to the book of baby names, riddled with dog-eared pages. I wish she would remember her peppermint tea, because it smells too much like her breath just before we kissed for the first time. And every time since. Every time she spoke my name, I smelled peppermint. And every time we argued the smell overcame me, clearing my head. I would be reminded that neither of us is perfect, but the love we have for eachother is, and I’m not willing to lose that over a few words said out of hatred.

I opened my laptop to get some work done before she came home and we had our traditional Saturday morning brunch. The browser was opened to the real estate website, she had been looking at houses again. I started to click around on the website to see what sort of place where on the market. All the houses were beautiful. There wasn't a single one that I could see anything wrong with, but I could never see us living in them. I know that she wants to move into a bigger place before the baby is born, but I don't ever want to leave our apartment.

We moved in here the day we got married. After moving our boxes and furniture, we went down to City Hall and got our marriage license signed. It was simple and short. I had lost my job the day after I proposed, so we did not have enough money to do anything special, not even a honeymoon. I decorated the apartment and did my best to make our first night as a married couple special. The apartment feels like the place that made our love official. I am worried that moving to a new house would somehow change that.
I heard the car pull up outside. She waked in the door with a smile on her lips, a sparkle in her eyes, and sunshine in her hair.
“I wish you had come with me,” she says taking of her green peacoat. “I know you really wanted to sleep in late, but I heard the heartbeat for the first time.” I was stunned. I felt guilty that I had missed being there with her to witness our child's heartbeat just for a few hours of sleep.
“I’m...” I trailed off, not knowing how to express my shame. But I didn’t need to say anything, she got it.
“I know, don’t worry honey it will be fine. I brought you something that will make you feel better though.” She rummaged around in her blue purse until she found a small piece of paper. Her lips struggled to hold back a smile as she handed me the paper. It was a photo of our baby from the ultrasound. My heart skipped a beat. The baby looked so healthy and peaceful, as if it were sleeping. I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
“Nothing, the baby just seems so real and so beautiful.” I said choking on my words.
“Of course it’s real, and if it’s my kid it better be beautiful!” She said jokingly.
“Next time we will be able to know the sex. Do you want to know? Or should it be a surprise?” I paused, trying to figure out the right thing to say. I wanted a baby girl, but I was pretty sure she wanted a son.
“Well it would be easier to figure out a name if we know the gender.” I said, hoping she was as eager to find out as I was.
“That’s very true, do you want a boy or a girl?” She asked. I could tell she knew what my answer would be.
“I just want a healthy child.” I said holding my head high, not willing to admit the shallow truth.
“That’s bullshit, you want a daughter!” She laughs.
“Hey watch your mouth around the baby,” I retort “and I know you want a boy, but I’m gonna win this one.” I go over and hug her. I have missed the feel of her heart against mine, even if it was just for a few hours.
“Wanna bet on that?” She says pulling her head back to look at my face.
“Excuse me?” I know perfectly well where she is going with this. We bet on practically everything. It started when I first asked her out in college. I bet her that if I could guess her name then she had to go out on a date with me. We never bet with money, there was no agreement to do that, but I think both of us prefer the things money can't buy.
“If the baby is a boy then you have to change all his diapers for the first month, and if it is a girl then I will do all the diaper changing.” We shake on it.