The Envelope - a 750 Word Story

First, my thanks to all those who sent well wishes for my wife's recovery, it is GREATLY appreciated!!! I continue to work on part 3 of Jack and Diane's story, but that is a much bigger mental and emotional investment, so it's going to take a while under the current conditions.

I know there are those that don't like the 750 word story format, but I find it particularly enjoyable. It's a challenge to try and get the reader at least a little emotionally invested with so few words. It's not what many would consider a 'complete' story, so it allows the reader to draw their own conclusions as to how the story ends.

Please excuse any grammatical errors. I try my best, but grammar was always my WORST subject in school! I hope everyone enjoys it for what it is. Like momma always used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"

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The Envelope

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Mike couldn't imagine how this day could be any worse. It was bad enough being called into their office and given the envelope and the bad news...but now he was going to have to go home and break it to his wife Michelle.

They'd gotten married three years ago, right after they graduated from college, and were only just now getting started in their careers. They were both making decent money, but Mike had no idea how they were going to deal with this financially.

Mike was lost in thought, barely aware of his surroundings as he drove home, when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe, is everything alright? You don't sound right."

"Sorry, it's been a rough day, I'll tell you about it when I get home."

"Ok, I have something to tell you when you get home too. Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier, my parents are having dinner with us tonight. I'll see you when you get home, love you!"

"Love you too."

When the call ended Mike groaned, he loved Michelle's parents, but the last thing he wanted to do was to give her the bad news with her parents there. On second thought, maybe them being there wasn't such a bad thing. They'd been through a lot over the years, so maybe they could help Michelle see that this is only a setback and that together they would find a way to get through it.

Mike didn't want to spoil dinner for everyone, but he figured it would be best to deliver the bad news right when he got home. That way they would have a good amount of time to talk about it and try to come up with a plan on how to move forward.

Mike, holding the envelope in his hand, walked through the door of their small apartment and found Michelle and her parents, Tom and Marybeth, sitting on the sofa, waiting for him. Michelle had the biggest smile on her face as she sat holding her mother's hand, and it pained him knowing that he would be the reason that her smile would turn into tears.

"Hey babe, I know you had a rough day, but I have some something important to tell you." Michelle said as soon as he was through the door.

"So for the last 10 months we've been trying unsuccessfully to start a family, so today mom went with me to a fertility doctor. They drew some blood to run a few tests while we talked to the doctor. After a bit a nurse came in and gave the results of the bloodwork to the doctor. After looking over the results he said that he would be unable to help...BECAUSE I'M ALREADY PREGNANT!!!"

Mike stared soundlessly at Michelle for a minute as he processed what she had just told him. As the words sank in, tears started running down his face.

Michelle, thinking Mike was overwhelmed by the news, jumped up to give Mike a hug but recoiled in horror when he screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Tom and Marybeth stared at Mike in disbelief; they had never seen him like this before.

"Mike, what's wrong? I don't understand, we talked about this, I thought this is what you wanted?"

"WHAT I WANTED? This is most definitely NOT what I wanted. What I wanted was to make babies with the woman I loved more than anyone else in the world, raise them up and then grow old together, surrounded by family and friends. THAT is what I wanted!"

Michelle was on the verge of tears, "What are you talking about? We ARE going to have a baby, we ARE going to grow old together."

"No, YOU are going to have a baby, not US." Mike spat out like venom.

"Did you forget that I had a doctor's appointment today? I also went to a fertility doctor to see what kind of advice he could give me to help with getting you pregnant."

"But instead," he choked as he raised the envelope in his hand above his head before slapping it down on the coffee table, "THIS is what I got...a stupid fucking piece of paper that has robbed me of all my hopes and dreams!"

Since no one else spoke, Tom asked, "What's in the envelope Mike?"

Looking Tom in the eye, Mike replied, "The results from today's appointment..."

Turning his hate filled eyes back to Michelle, he said through clenched teeth, "I'm sterile!"