The Trophy Chapter 2

About a year ago, his mom started sending over supplements and herbal teas every day.

"Ashley, you're not working anyway. You might as well just focus all your energy on getting pregnant."

Every day, I forced down the bitter concoctions under immense pressure. I complained to Evan when he got home late. "This stuff is so disgusting. I really don't want to drink it anymore."

I looked at him, hoping for some support. But he just turned and walked into the guest room, tossing a single sentence over his shoulder.

"If you don't want to drink it, then don't."

I *wanted* to just pour it down the drain, but his mother's obsession with me getting pregnant was relentless. She always had someone watching me, waiting until I'd finished the last drop.

I bit my lip and tried one more time. "Are you sleeping in the guest room again tonight?" The invitation was obvious.

The only answer I got was the sound of the guest room door clicking shut.

One attempt at intimacy, a lifetime of rejection. What was the point of all this medicine? Could I have a baby by myself?

His mom called the next day. "Ashley, if you don't want to drink the medicine, you can just tell me. You don't have to have Evan pass along the message."

I listened to her angry accusations. "Mom... that's not what I meant..."

She hung up on me.