But she didn’t have long to ponder over it because her landline rang the moment her office door closed.

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“Oh!” Rosemary said and hurried over to her desk. “Sorry, Mike, but I really need to take this one.” She gestured over to where the Keurig cup carousel was. “Just leave the machine over there for now. I’ll talk to you again later, promise!”

Rosemary picked up the phone and cleared her throat as Mike set down the Keurig machine. “Hello, this is Rosemary of Superior Healthcare. How can I help you today?” she said as she walked back into her chair to sit down.

“Happy Saint Patty’s Day, Rosemary! Doing anything fun?” A chipper, sultry voice said back on the other end, and Rosemary imagined Adino, the bestie, was the employee who spoke with her now.

“Talk again, Rosie,” Mike said with a wave on his way out the door. 

She waved back and forced a smile. The other boy’s question was a painful reminder that her “fun plan” was meeting a supervillain later. She’d rather mentally prepare herself for that than go to some parade surrounded by drunkards. Although, drowning out her own sorrows with a glass of beer or two didn’t sound so bad.

“Not yet, sweetheart,” Rosemary chuckled and prayed the young man wouldn’t buy into her dread. “Is Elias also there, or do you want me to send the documents over to you instead? I spoke with the company’s CEO an’ received  special permission to allow you both maternity coverage with us, but you will have to choose a plan higher than bronze. Will this be okay, dearie? And I can cost-compare each plan with you, of course.”

Rosemary picked up her cup of coffee after that mouthful and took a swig. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten the drink had gone cold during her round of call-backs. She set the cup down again and squeezed her eyes shut as the thickened taste tickled her throat. Cooled coffee changed the experience too much for her to continue on with it.

She’d make a better cup after the call, when she returned to her own trusty Mr. Coffee at home.

“Oh, uh,” Adino said with an exasperated huff. “He’s still setting up the store to open, so I thought I’d take care of the voicemails real quick! Um, maybe I can call you back?”

“No!” Rosemary shot up despite herself, but then instantly regretted her rash outburst. “I apologize,” she continued and reached for a tissue from the box above her notebook. “I’m going to be leaving my office after this call, and the CEO expressed urgency so he could make sure your benefits aren’t altered after application.”

Oh, please don’t hang up, Rosemary thought and folded the tissue. She used her shoulder to hold the phone up against her ear.

“Oh,” Adino made a popping sound and paused. “Well, let me go get Eli because he does most the business stuff. Be right back!”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Rosemary sighed when she heard the sound of shifting fabric, and imagined the young man was holding the phone against his shirt. She wiped the folded tissue across her forehead while she waited, disgusted by her growing sweat.

“Hello?” Rosemary heard Elias say and thanked the Lord the other boy didn’t just hang up on her.

“Good morning, Elias!” Rosemary smiled into the phone. “This is Rosemary from Superior Healthcare. Did Adino give you the good news?” She tossed the tissue into the wastebin beneath her desk.

“Oh, no, no he didn’t,” Elias said, sounding exasperated. “Dino! Why didn’t you tell me it was the insurance lady? Good grief!”

Rosemary couldn’t make out whatever Adino said in response—if he said anything at all—but she found herself chuckling anyway. “That’s okay, hon! I don’t mind repeatin’ myself.”

“Oh, sorry about that!” Elias continued, likely realizing she’d heard what he said to his coworker. “Did the higher ups say we could get a C-section?”

“That would be included, I imagine,” Rosemary said. She sat up in her seat and adjusted her hold on the landline phone. “The catch is that you have to choose a plan above bronze. I can send you the details right now, or give you a breakdown, but I recommend the silver plan if you want premier basic coverage which includes maternity coverage.”

“Let’s not make it complicated and go with that then,” Elias sighed. “If that’s the cheapest and we get the usual works for a year, then it’s good enough for me. I don’t need anything extra, and Dino makes just as much as me, too, so I’d say the same for him.”

“Okie dokie,” Rosemary responded and scooted her chair closer to her keyboard. “Then I can take you through the basic questions and get you all set up right now, how’s that sound?”

“Well, the store’s about to open, but I don’t think Jay would mind too much.” Elias paused to take a breath and sounded a little distant when he shouted next, as if he was holding the phone away from himself. “Dino! You run the front while I finish this!” 

Static resounded then, so Rosemary switched the phone to her other ear and scratched the now irritated one.

“Okay, I’m heading to the back now. Do I need a computer?” Elias huffed.

“No, dearie,” Rosemary chuckled and opened up the software on her computer. “I just need to ask you some questions, but I will get your email to send over the documents and so you can make a portal on the website.”

“Gotcha,” Elias continued. “Sounds typical to me. You can start whenever!”

“Alrighty,” Rosemary laughed. “How about we start with your date of birth?”

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14:41 Hours

After Rosemary set both the pregnant men up for coverage with Superior Healthcare, she’d sent the information back to Mr. Dawning in an email and promptly left for the day. Unfortunately, the bus had been on a different route due to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in the downtown area, so Rosemary ended up walking the whole way back to her apartment. 

Although her body ached by the end of it, Rosemary didn’t mind the distance because it helped her plan for her nightly encounter. Plus, the fabulous floats she passed working her way through the crowded sidewalks were an excellent distraction for her heightened nerves. 

And they stopped her from looping the end of her conversation with Elias multiple times in her head.

“Why would you need to know that?” Elias questioned Rosemary when she asked him around what time he’d gotten pregnant.

Rosemary tapped one finger lightly over her keyboard, staring at the computer screen until her vision blurred. “No need to worry, Elias,” she said and forced a smile. “Truth be told, I was rewatching videos of The Boom, and I realized something last night that made me worry.”

Which was true. Rosemary had rewatched footage on YouTube when she was lying awake in bed, wondering if she might find a clue in what Boom Boom had said. But it didn’t hit her until now to ask the boys what time they’d suddenly formed a baby. If Elias was given his bump sometime in the afternoon, then that would line up perfectly with Boom Boom’s personalized attack involving Waves—and the top hero, Rage, but that was no matter to Rosemary. Waves was her primary concern. Although, it would be quite ironic for both the boys to have both the worst villain’s and the number one superhero’s offspring. Talk about a double whammy!

“...what do you mean?” Elias continued after a breath’s pause, and Rosemary somewhat regretted asking at all.

“Welllll,” Rosemary drawled and pushed her keyboard tray back under the desk. “When that nasty man mentioned Rage and the other man I will not name, he said the mother will be ‘the least expected person’ there. Since he didn’t specify gender, that didn’t sit right with me, and I couldn’t help but to think of you both.”

Rosemary licked her lips and off-handedly thought about the chapstick in her purse. “You don’t gotta tell me nothing, dearie, but I never heard of a pregnant man before you two, and got a little worried. And well, I just wanted to tell you to be careful if you have that wicked, wicked man’s baby, and I’m here for you if you ever need it, okay?”

Despite her rambling, Rosemary thought she actually played it off quite well there, leaving no room for the boys to ever suspect her of encountering the “wicked man” himself. Did she feel good about it? Heck no! But she had to do it. The warning was the least she could do since she was sacrificing their safety for her family’s.

“...thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” Elias finally said after an awkward silence stretched between them over the phone. “I don’t think that’s the case for me and Dino, but I appreciate your concern. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us, Rosemary. I mean it.”

“Of course, dearie,” Rosemary said, even as tears stung the corners of her eyes. “Feel free to call me anytime with questions, or if you just need some motherly advice,” she chuckled and wiped her eyes. “You have my office number now if you ever need it!”

“Awesome,” Elias chuckled as well. “Kind of wish I had a mom like you! Take care, Rosemary.”

“You and your friend, too, sweetheart,” Rosemary smiled.

She’d waited for Elias to hang up the phone, and then she’d continued to sit there as the tears rolled down her face, and she didn’t put down the phone until it began to beep incessantly at her.

When Rosemary had arrived back at her apartment, she’d changed from her uniform into a green blouse, a pair of black business pants, and a black cardigan to match. Then she cleaned up and made herself a pot of coffee and a corned beef sandwich—one for herself, and another one for her husband’s inevitable arrival back.

She sat on their too-expensive leather couch and placed her plate down onto the coffee table, then picked up the remote to put on the Channel Three news. There was nothing of real value playing, just some business upstart talking about her idea for a line of pacifiers tailored specifically toward the superpowered babies.

“Bless her heart,” Rosemary said and slowly shook her head. “Good on her for capitalizing on all those poor mothers!”

Ambrose walked in when she had finished her sandwich, and was now simply staring at the television screen, both hands wrapped around her cooling coffee mug.

“Hey there, sugarplum,” he said and hung up his coat. “You wanna go grab a bite at the pub down the street?”

“No, baby,” Rosemary sighed. “I gotta be back at work for a little later, and I need to catch some zzz's here in a minute.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “But I made ya a sandwich in the fridge. Help yourself when you’re ready.”

She felt her husband’s eyes on her, but she said nothing more. What else could she say? Certainly not the truth—lest he call Milly up. The less her family knew, and the faster she got the blackmail out of the way, the better.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Rose? You’ve been off since this mornin’, an’ I’m starting to worry.”

Rosemary slowly turned her head to regard her husband. Was she really acting all that different? “I’m just tired, baby,” she said and smiled, strained as it felt. “Just need a couple hours nap and then I’ll be fit as a fiddle soon enough.”

“Alright, I won’t press ya.” Ambrose raised his hands up and walked toward the fridge. “If you’ve got the energy to disagree, you’re probably right. But please, just talk to me, mmkay?”

“Of course,” Rosemary chuckled. “You know I don’t like to keep you in the dark.”

Oh Lord, please forgive me for my sins, Rosemary prayed as she scooped up her empty plate from the table. She didn’t like to lie, but she’d been doing a lot of it within the past twelve hours alone, and she felt hollow from it. And it hurt knowing the one person she wouldn’t be lying to was the one who didn’t deserve the truth.

After everything was all said and done with, Rosemary planned to go to church twice a week instead of just Sunday’s now.

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While you wait for the next episode, try checking out these other entries! Links below (author desc)!

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