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Chapter Seven
At 5 p.m.,Lucy sat at her desk as she had since three when he left for the marketing meeting. Today she didn’t even pretend to work; her mind was working too hard as it was. She wondered what the meeting was about tonight. At least he was going to feed her.
All she wanted to do was go home and crawl into her bed and pull the covers over her head and never come out. Her doctor appointment had been brutal. Not only had they done a lot of tests on her, but they also had taken almost all the blood she had in her body. The doctor had been mad that she hadn’t seen a doctor yet, the lady taking her blood had been mad that she had small veins, and the lady with the ultrasound machine had been mad that she wasn’t excited enough.
For her part, she had been mad at them all because she was convinced it was their fault that there was not one but two babies in there. Fuck, she was single and having twins. She had no luck at all.
This morning when she had woken up, she had four months left on this pregnancy. Now she had three because they were going to come early. Twins always did. They were identical like she and Mabel but were bouncing baby boys, according to the ever-so-happy ultrasound lady. She wasn’t ready for one baby, and now there were two.
When Sera's youngest, Violet, had been a baby, she had Agatha stay home with her. Now Lucy was wondering how much Agatha charged for nannying. And it would be double for Lucy. Great.
And in the middle of the excitement—or lack of excitement—Mr. Montgomery had called, wondering where she was. She was able to say “at an appointment” instead of the truth: in hell. Even on the phone, she could tell he was angry at her as well; everyone was.
The nurse had been amazed at how small she was but assured her that at any moment, she would pop. Yup, she’d used the word “pop.” All Lucy had to do was wait. She as going to be huge.
On the drive back, she had started to analyze her life. She had always just thought that when she had kids, she would be staying home with them. Even if her mom hadn’t, or her real mom, for that matter. Her real mom had been a college professor and not too interested in her five girls.
But she would have to work because she had no one to help but Agatha. One day, maybe Agatha would meet someone, and she too would be gone. At least Lucy would win the house then, by sheer fact that nobody loved her.
“Sorry I’m late.” Mr. Montgomery rushed into the office carrying his laptop and a few files in his arms.
“I didn’t realize,” Lucy admitted. She had been wallowing in twins.
“Did you order anything?” he asked from in his office.
“No, you said you would.” She realized that had meant she would do it. He never did those types of things.
“I can. What do you want?” he asked, putting the files away.
“I’ll do it. Just give me a moment.” She turned back to her desk and wondered what restaurant would be fastest.
Within a few moments, she had pasta dishes coming in less than thirty minutes. Hoping that they were on time, she waited for him to call her into the office again. He was looking at his computer.
Back into her wallowing, she decided she would have to clean out Violet’s room, but Violet was completely attached to having a room at home. Since moving two blocks down with her mom and dad, Violet and her sister, Emma, had both insisted on keeping a room at the house they had been raised in. Until now, it hadn’t been an issue since there was plenty of room, but with Lucy having two babies, those rooms would be needed.
“Lucy, are you okay?” Mr. Montgomery was standing in the doorway, looking at her. She wondered how long he had been there, watching.
“Fine, thank you. Pasta will be here shortly.” She covered her spaciness. Maybe a meeting today was a bad idea. By tomorrow, she might have a grip on the situation, but she was sure she wouldn’t.
“Did you get my favorite?” he asked.
“Yes.” She grinned because he liked that she rarely asked what he wanted. “Alfredo with chicken.”
“Good, you know what I like. How do you remember everything?” he asked, not for the first time.
“I don’t know, just can,” she lied. Early on, she had learned that if she figured it out the first time, she wouldn’t waste time looking again, so she committed it to memory. If she heard it, it was even easier.
“Did you get your hair cut?” he asked, looking closely at her.
“A little, just needed the ends cleaned up. Got it done right before I came back.” She wondered why they were talking about her hair. It was after 5 p.m., and she wanted to go home. Her bed was calling her, the one with the nice covers to pull over her head.
“I think we’ll go to the conference room. Did you want something to drink?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets as if he were nervous.
“Sure, a water or a pop would be great.” She watched him walk out of the office, most likely to the break room where the machines were.
Soon he was back, but empty-handed, and his hands were still stuffed in his pockets. Back in his office, he hurried with a file and said he would wait in the meeting room. This left Lucy alone to wait on their meals. He was acting strange this evening; well, actually, he’d acted strangely most of the day. Or maybe he’d been acting weird since she had taken Aubrey home that night. He was probably going to talk to her about being around his daughter.
She had just started pacing when their meals came, probably because she was not ready to have a meeting about how she was a bad influence on a teenager. Taking the two white containers down to the conference room, she found him pacing also.
