Her shoulders sagged in relief once the door shut behind Arthur. There was no need for pretense or falsities with Ben; he had been privy to all her worst moments for a near year now. Whatever estrangement there was to come from this conversation, Melody needn't pretend to be alright with any of the happenings. Neither did he, really.

A long silence filled the air before she finally found the courage to speak. "I didn't know before you left," she explained without meeting his eyes. Perhaps it was denial that kept her from the realization, but she hadn't accepted it as the truth until later that night. "The illness I have ... I thought it was due to stress, not pregnancy. But then my mother asked me if I might be and I remembered how sick I was in Paris and ... " she trailed off, unsure of how to explain her certainty that she was, in fact, expecting.