Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Can you take me with you?
For my hand is cold
And needs warmth
Where are you going?
Far beyond where the horizon lies…

Kristin sang sweetly to her baby as she fixed herself a snack in the kitchen; a cheese doodle sandwich. She had never understood why pregnant women ate such weird foods but, after she’d gotten to her 5th month, she understood completely! She would get the weirdest cravings at the weirdest times; she loved having Tommy around again if only to fetch her some fried chicken at two o’clock in the morning.

“I’m back!” Tommy hollered from the front door.

“In the kitchen!” Kristin called to him as she walked toward the living room.

“Hello, beautiful!” Tommy said as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss before leaning down in front of her belly. “And hello to you too!”

Kristin couldn’t get over the feeling of complete happiness that engulfed her body every time Tommy put his hands on either side of her belly and kissed it. She had always had an image of Tommy as such a strong, no-nonsense businessman, so the idea that he could be this affectionate and loving toward their baby gave her so much joy.

“Wanna watch TV?” Kristin asked as she put her sandwich on a plate and cut it in half.

“What on earth do you have in that thing?” Tommy asked; hearing a weird crunching sound.

“Cheese doodles,” Kristin said before taking a bite.

“Cheese doodles?” Tommy questioned, raising his eyebrows at her.

“I’m allowed,” Kristin told him as she began walking toward the couch in the living room. “I’m pregnant; remember?”

“Kind of hard to forget,” Tommy told her.

“What was that?” Kristin asked, turning around to face him.

“I love you my little firecracker!” Tommy said as he kissed her nose.

“Nice try,” Kristin replied with a little giggle as she turned around again and went to sit down on the couch.

Tommy stood in front of her and stared at her for a minute as she took another bite out of her sandwich. Kristin felt herself falling more in love with this man every time her eyes met his. She couldn’t get over the way he looked at her; he made her feel as though there was nothing in this world more important to him than she was.

“Care to join me?” Kristin asked as she patted the couch beside her.

“Why thank you, Madame!” Tommy replied as he lay down on the couch and rested his head on her belly. “This thing makes a pretty comfortable pillow!”

“And this thing makes a pretty decent table!” Kristin said as she set her plate on Tommy’s face and took a bite.

“No fair!” Tommy said; his nose squished by the weight of the plate.

“Oh hush!” Kristin scolded him; she lifted up her plate, popped a cheese doodle into Tommy’s mouth, and put the plate back down before taking another bite.

Kristin laughed as Tommy pushed her plate off of his head and sat up beside her.

“That’s cute,” Tommy said. “You know that?”

”What?” Kristin asked, confused.

“The way your belly moves when you laugh like that,” Tommy explained. “It’s really cute.”

“Are you on crack?” Kristin asked as she took another bite of her sandwich and looked down at her belly before looking back at him.

“You’re the only high I need, baby!” Tommy said as he put his arm around Kristin and pulled her close.

“Mhm,” Kristin mumbled; her mouth full after taking another bite of the sandwich.

Tommy laid his head on Kristin’s lap and lifted her shirt above her belly before kissing it and drawing a heart on it with his finger. Kristin was ticklish anyway but whenever someone did that to her, pregnant or not, she couldn’t help laughing.

“See,” Tommy told her. “Cute!”

”No fair!” Kristin laughed. “That tickles!”

“You know you love me!” Tommy said as he continued to draw little pictures on Kristin’s belly.

"If I was thinking straight,” Kristin began. “I would hit you. At the current moment, however, these hormones make me think it's the cutest thing you've said all night."

Kristin smiled at him before popping another cheese doodle into his mouth and taking a bite of the sandwich herself.

“Kristin,” Tommy said, his mood suddenly becoming very serious.

“What?” Kristin said as she took another bite of her sandwich and then looked into his eyes; she saw the seriousness in them and began to worry. “Tommy, what is it?”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Tommy told her. “And it isn’t easy.”

“What is it?” Kristin asked as she set her empty plate on the coffee table and looked into Tommy’s eyes.

“While we were separated…” he said, his voice trailing off.

“What?” Kristin asked; her heart sinking as she considered the words that may come out of Tommy’s mouth next.

“While we were separated,” he tried again. “I was involved with another woman.”

Had she heard him correctly; had her husband just told her that he had been having an AFFAIR? All the hope that had begun to build in her heart since the day Tommy had come home left her and all that remained was a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“What did you say?” Kristin asked, wanting to give Tommy every chance to clarify.

“I fell in love with her, Kristin.” Tommy confessed. “She’s coming here today; I want you to meet her.”

“WHAT!” Kristin screamed as she pushed herself up off of the couch.

“Kristin,” Tommy told her. “I know you’ll understand when she gets here!”

“You know I’ll UNDERSTAND!” Kristin hollered, tears streaming from her eyes. “Tommy, do you honestly expect me to understand you having an affair!”

“Calm down,” Tommy told her as the doorbell rang and he got up off of the couch to answer it.

Kristin sat back down and buried her head in her hands as she began to cry. How could her husband have cheated on her? She knew he had been mad but she never thought he’d cheat on her; he hadn’t even asked for a divorce! Since Tommy had come home it had been like he had never left; there had been no question in her mind that Tommy could have been unfaithful.

Kristin heard Tommy open the door and say hi to someone but she refused to lift her head from her hands. Whoever this woman was; Kristin had absolutely no interest in seeing her.

“Kristin,” Tommy said, now standing in front of her. “I’d like you to meet Pumpkin.”

Pumpkin? How could Tommy bring another woman into their apartment and then call her by a cutsie little nickname? Kristin made her decision then and there; she would stand up, look the two-timing creep in the face and walk out the door.

“Look—” Kristin began, standing up but stopping suddenly when she saw what stood beside Tommy.

“Kristin,” Tommy said as an amused smile crept onto his face. “I’d like you to meet Pumpkin.”

Pumpkin was a small, pure white, beady eyed…Maltese.

”TOMMY,” Kristin shouted as tears of laughter and relief streamed down her cheeks.

Kristin should have guessed Tommy would pull something like this; it was so typical of him! She smiled as she sat down on the couch again and the little dog jumped up beside her and began licking her hands as she pet her.

“Hey Punkin,” Kristin cooed at the little dog.

“I told you you’d understand!” Tommy laughed as he sat down beside her.

“I should kill you!” Kristin said; unable to tear her eyes away from the cutest little dog she’d ever seen.

“But you won’t,” Tommy replied confidently.

“And what makes you so sure of that, smarty pants?” Kristin asked him as she finally tore her eyes away from Pumpkin and looked over at him.

“While a pathetic look from me might not melt your heart enough,” he informed her as he picked Pumpkin up and held her in front of his face. “You could never resist this!”

Pumpkin’s tongue hung out of her mouth as she wagged her tail and licked Kristin’s face as Tommy moved her closer. Her husband was right; it may be easy enough to resist a pathetic look from Tommy, but she definitely could not resist this adorable little dog.

“You win,” Kristin told him. “For now.”

“For now?” Tommy repeated.

“I need your money,” Kristin joked with him. “So as long as you keep making more; I’ll allow you to live.”

”I always knew you only loved me for my money,” Tommy teased her.

“Oh, there are other things,” Kristin replied. “But we’ll discuss those later.”