“The worst of it, for me, is feeling so helpless. There’s so little I can do for her, or the baby.”

The only other person this side of the bar nodded. “That’s rough.”

“Yeah. She’s the one suffering, though. She says she’s sure everything will be okay, but her eyes are scared. All the time we’ve been married, I could fix anything.

“I used to love seeing that look in her face. You know that look, when someone wants your help, and they know you can fix whatever it is? When we were dating, I hated that she lived in such a crap neighborhood, but that old house? Every time something broke down, she’d look up at me, and ask me if I knew anything about whatever it was. Even if I didn’t, I’d say I did, and go figure it out for her.”

“She’s giving me that look now. She’s trying not to, but she is. I would give anything to be able to fix the pregnancy.”

The other man perked up. “Anything?”

“Anything.” The father-to-be didn’t notice the smell of brimstone. Even if he had, he would have signed the contract.