“I’m disappointed but I’m not angry,” Robert said. He looked at Marissa. Marissa stared back at him. “Well, maybe there have been a few moments,” he confessed.

“Look what I’ve done to your clean shirt,” Marissa said.

Robert glanced down at his chest. There were patches of dampness from Marissa’s tears both on his shirt and on his half-tied tie. Robert took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll put on another.” He quickly pulled off the shirt and tie and threw them into the laundry basket.

Gazing at her red and swollen eyes in the mirror, Marissa had a hopeless feeling about the task of making herself presentable. She slipped into the shower.

Fifteen minutes later Marissa felt significantly calmer, as if the hot water and suds had cleansed her mind as well as her body. As she dried her hair, she returned to the bedroom to find Robert just about ready.

“I’m sorry I got so hysterical,” she said. “I just can’t help it. Lately all I ever seem to do is overreact. I shouldn’t have gone off the deep end just because you don’t feel like going to the clinic for the umpteenth time.”

“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” said Robert. “I’m sorry for picking such an idiotic way of expressing my frustrations about this whole experience. While you were showering, I changed my mind. I’ll come with you to the clinic after all. I already called the office to arrange it.”

For what seemed like the first time in weeks, Marissa felt her spirits rise. “Thank you,” she said. She was tempted to take Robert in her arms, but something held her back. She wondered if she was afraid he might somehow reject her. She was hardly looking her best. She knew that their relationship had been changing through the course of their infertility therapy. And like her figure, the changes hadn’t been for the better. Marissa sighed. “Sometimes I think this infertility treatment is just too much to bear. Don’t get me wrong; I have no fonder wish than to have our baby. But I’ve been feeling the stress of it every waking moment of every day. And I know it hasn’t been much easier for you.”