excerpt from Artistic License

Gary's face flushed with the immediate red of intense anger. Shouting an expletive, he slapped the table with both hands. "Oh really? I had nothing to do with you getting yourself pregnant?"

Now every eye in the restaurant shot their direction.

Beads of perspiration popped out all over Annie's face and she took a deep breath, refusing to make eye contact with the other patrons. She put a hand up, but Gary wasn't finished.

"Maybe I misunderstood your little confession the other day, sweetheart. When you told me you were pregnant I just assumed the baby was mine." His face screwed up in a scowl and his voice grew louder with each syllable.

Gary looked around the restaurant with outstretched arms, playing to the dining audience. "I find out my wife is pregnant," he pointed at Annie, scraping his chair against the floor as he pushed backward to stand. "And, fool that I am, I'm happy about it. I'm thinkin' hey, sure we have our problems, everybody does, but now we're a family." He shot a look at her so angry it burned. One of the elderly women sat frozen, her mashed-potato filled fork poised midway between the plate and her open mouth. Only her eyes moved, from Gary's dramatic stance, to Annie's infuriated and embarrassed face.

Without stopping for a breath, Gary continued, his voice booming throughout the room, bouncing off the large windows nearby, "Now I'm thinking 'What am I, stupid?' Maybe this baby isn't mine after all."

Annie jumped up, causing her chair to fall backwards. "Stop," she reached across the table to grab his arm.

He yanked away from her. "What's the name of the guy you've been spending your nights with? Sam?"

The shock of hearing Sam's name coupled with accusation startled Annie for a moment. A half-second later, her wits returned and she wondered how he knew Sam's name. How dare he bring him into this?