Page 60 of Summer Breeze
“It must have been so traumatizing.” She took his hand.
“I don’t know how women do it.” He shook his head. “Just dealing with the ups and downs of monthly cycles, then childbirth, and the possibilities of stuff like that happening. I guess I never thought about miscarriages before. I mean, I knew they happened. I’d just… never known anyone who’d had one.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said tilting her head. “Around ten to fifteen percent of pregnancies end in miscarriages. My mother had three of them herself before finally having me.”
“Really?” He frowned and thought of his own mother. Maybe that was why he was an only child. Had she had problems too? Suddenly, he realized he’d never talked to his mother about it. About why they had never had more kids.
“Hey,” she said, getting his attention. “Women are a lot stronger than men believe they are.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He thought about what Lea had said as they ate their pizza and drank the wine Jerry had delivered to them himself.
There was so much he didn’t know about things. So much he’d never thought about. What would have happened if Zoey hadn’t had a miscarriage? You’d have to be dead or have your head buried in the sand to not know what was going on in the country, the heavy debate over choice.
Zoey didn’t choose for her pregnancy to not take. She’d seemed so excited—scared, but excited—about the prospects of a new little one. Paige had been born healthy enough last year.
He’d ignorantly figured that any woman who chose to end her pregnancy had done so for non-medical reasons. Not because the baby—or whatever it was or wasn’t at that point—had no heartbeat. Did the lack of a heartbeat make it less loved?
“You’re very deep in thought.” Jules’s voice shook him from his own internal debate. “How about a walk on the beach to clear your head?”
“It’s dark.”
Jules smiled. “Has that ever stopped the relaxing sound of the waves or the wonderful feeling of soft sand between your toes?”
He smiled and shook his head. “No, I suppose it hasn’t.”
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Jules held onto Damion’s hand as they strolled along the soft sand. She was thankful the moon was full and lighting their way down the white sandy beach.
“Did you know that only one in about ten thousand sea turtles will survive to adulthood?” She asked as they went along.
“Seriously?” He frowned. “I’m beginning to think I know nothing.”
She laughed. “Isn’t that what life is all about? Learning as we go?”
He stopped and pulled her into his arms. “Yes.” He sighed. “You’re amazing. You make me want to be better.”
“Better than what? Because from where I’m standing, you’re looking pretty amazing,” she told him. He continued frowning down at her, so she added, “Just because you don’t know all the ups and downs of the female reproductive experience, or odd facts about sea turtles, which I learned one summer when I volunteered to find nests, doesn’t mean you’re ignorant. What makes a person ignorant is knowing these facts and still pushing agendas that fall in line with their own views or so they can get more money.” She watched his shoulders rise and fall. “I would say you came away from today enlightened.” She smiled. “So, what is Damion going to change in his life because of his newfound knowledge?”
He was silent for a while. “Well, for one, I’m going to stop thinking that women complaining about their periods is a ploy to get attention.”
“You thought that?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Not really, but my father has always mentioned it when my mother cries for no reason.”
Jules smiled. “Hormones will do that to us.”
“I’m rethinking how many kids I want too. I don’t want to put anyone through that much… pain. Or the possibility of it.” He shrugged.
“Children are a gift. Whoever you’re lucky enough to have children with will understand.” She felt her heart flutter.
He nodded. “Another thing.” He glanced around. “I might just volunteer for turtle watch too. I’ve been wanting to for a few years. I just don’t like the idea of waking up that early.”
She laughed. “That’s the number one reason I only did it for one year.”
She took his hand and started walking again. “Feel better?”
“Yeah, thanks. I was getting stuck in a debate loop in my head.”
