HE checked to make sure that Estee was watching, then rose up on his toes dramatically before tossing the bowling ball. YES! Strike!

He did a little two-step and bowed as Estee clapped.

“Reason I married him,” she said to everyone. His family laughed, he bowed again.

His mother leaned over to say something to Estee and Gita; they both smiled. He loved watching her with them, seeing the way they genuinely liked her. He was so proud to be her husband, so proud that she was the one he could point to and be like, “Yeah, that’s my wife there.”

It had been a hard few months, first trimester was no picnic, but here they were, having a great time, feeling young and cared for. He watched his father bowl a nice split and went over to formally shake his hand.

“Daddy, that was admirable.”

“Thank you, son,” Dovid said, just as formally. He saw Gita shake her head at Estee, and Estee snort in response. He grinned. It was good to be home.

The next thing he knew, he was being half-tackled from both sides. Panicked, he broke free and spun around.

“No WAY! Lerner! Horowitz! GUYS!”

The three tackle-hugged again. “No way, no way,” Yonah said over and over. “So good to see you, what you up to?”

“Back at Stenger’s, how about you?”

“Still Treiger’s. Kollel, you know.” he grinned.

Horowitz punched him lightly in the arm. “Should’ve known you’d be shmoneh esreh l’chuppah.”

Yonah punched him back, less lightly. “I was 21, learn math.”

“Basketball tonight?” Lerner said hopefully. “Old Town Court?”

He looked over at Estee. “Basketball tonight with these guys?” he called.

She raised her eyebrows and then shrugged.

Yes! He turned back to his old friends. “See you then.”

“I can’t believe you’re going and leaving me alone with your family.”

Yonah practically dropped the bagel he was slathering with cream cheese. “Excuse me?”

Estee picked at her plain toast. “You heard me. What am I supposed to do while you’re out, play Boggle with your mother?”

“I don’t know. Read a magazine. Or yeah, play Boggle with my mother. She happens to be great at Boggle. And lots of other board games, for that matter. If you had a problem, why didn’t you say something earlier?”

Her face turned red. “Oh, I was supposed to shout across the bowling alley, ‘No, no, stay home with me, and be miserable?’”

He clamped his mouth shut. Whatever he was tempted to say would not be conducive.

“Well,” he said through gritted teeth, “what, exactly, should I do now?”

She pushed away her toast and got to her feet. “I don’t know, Yonah, figure it out. You’re a big boy.”

So he went to play basketball with his friends.

She couldn’t believe he had left. She literally had nothing to do. She could hear Gita and her mother-in-law cooking in the kitchen, but she wasn’t comfortable enough to just walk in there and join the cozy mother-daughter duo. They were nothing but welcoming, but still, she felt a little shy around them.

She was also feeling super nauseous and achy. Best thing would probably be to lie down…

But the next thing she knew she was running to the bathroom as her meager lunch made a reappearance.

And then she couldn’t stop. This was worse than any first-trimester sick.

Something was wrong. She could sense it. And that’s when the first cramp went shooting through her.

“Yonah,” she gasped.

But Yonah wasn’t there. So, on trembling legs, she walked over to the old intercom on the wall and clicked it on with shaking fingers. She couldn’t believe she was calling attention to herself, on a loudspeaker no less, but she needed help. What if something was really wrong with her? What if something was wrong with the baby? She took a shuddering breath as another spasm doubled her over.

She couldn’t take that chance, even if it meant mortifying herself in front of her mother-in-law.

“Um, Mom,” she croaked. “Can you come here?”

To be continued…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1035)