“I know. Travis told me.” I walked over to her bed.
Her eyes were sunken and she looked frail. A totally normal state for a woman who’d just given birth, but I knew this was more. I couldn’t imagine the weight pressing on her heart.
Krystan folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. “I know I said I didn’t want to know the sex because I didn’t care as long as the baby was healthy, but the truth is I was afraid of stressing for nine months if I knew it was a boy.” Then in a voice so quiet I almost didn’t hear it, she said, “What if he turns out like my dad, or my grandpa?”
I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand in mine. “Krystan, you can’t think like that. You have to see this as the beautiful opportunity that breaks the cycle of violent men in your past. You know how you are going to do that?”
My best friend looked up at me, earnest desperation for the answer written on her face.
I pulled her other hand into mine, giving them a squeeze. “Because you and Travis are going love the hell out of this kid, so much that it won’t even be possible for me him to harbor those pockets of dark, twisted anger inside him. I can’t believe how excited Travis has been to be a dad. And not only that, you have me and Calan to help smother that kid in with so much love and happiness that he won't know anything else.”
With a sigh, Krystan looked away from me. “That’s not how it works all the time. Sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes monsters are born, not made.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “Look at you. Your gran took you in and you went through some pretty horrific stuff as a kid. Didn’t her love make a difference?”
Krystan opened her mouth with a defiant scowl but I stopped her. “Even though you sometime gave her shit, didn’t you still want to do better for her? And Travis is going to be the best dad, I can already tell.”
She snorted.
“Do you know how excited he is to sit and hang with you and his kid, watching cartoons together? He said a couple weeks ago that he couldn’t wait for tea parties, soccer games, school plays, or whatever came up. Best of all, he couldn’t wait for hugs with the tiny human you made together.”
When Krystan looked up again, her eyes were shiny with unshed tears. “He said that?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I didn’t think the dumbwit would ever amount to anything, but look at him now. He’s head over heels for you and it’s clear he would do anything for you and that baby.”
We embraced as the crashing feels overtook us.
“What a weird way life has of working out huh?” Krystan said. Her words were strangled with emotion as a hot tear landed on my shoulder.
I squeezed her tighter as I struggled to speak over the lump in my throat. “I know, you guys are the strangest pair and now you’ve made a little oddball amalgamation of both your crazy.”
The door to the room opened up, and Travis entered. He paused, as if sensing there was tension in the room. Krystan pulled away and emptied her face of emotion. I only let go of one of her hands, holding on tight to the other to let her know I was still here with her. I always would be.
Travis’ gaze darted back and forth between us. “Um, sorry, looks like you guys are having a moment, but Mrs. Rits said I needed to come in here.”
Krystan straightened.
Travis focused on Krystan. “She says that you are a good girl.”
Krystan snorted. I tried to hide my own smile.
Travis glanced to the right near the mounted TV where I’d bet my Kurki Krystan’s ghostly gran was giving him an earful.
“Okay, she says, fine, you’re a pain in the ass, but regardless, you’ll be a good mom.” Then Travis focused in on Krystan with realization. “Wait, you’re worried you’re not going to be a good mom?”
She jutted her chin out. “Like you’re not?”
“Of being a parent? I’m terrified,” he said without pausing.
Krystan rolled her shoulders back, a wince of dread flashing on her face.
I got up and passed Travis, giving him a chance to go to Krystan. He took my spot on the bed and pushed Krystan’s hair back from her face and looked deeply in her eyes. “You are the greatest mom that is ever going to be. Are we going to fuck up? Constantly. That’s kind of our thing. But we’ll fuck up together and more than that, we will have a total blast along the way.”
It was then I noticed he was holding a box in one hand. He handed it over to her. It was what appeared to be a velvet jewelry box for a necklace. When Krystan opened it, she gasped and clutched her chest.
For a split second, a spike of adrenaline went through me. Was Travis proposing? The box seemed way too big for a ring, yet excitement shot up inside me, and I had to do everything I could to keep a respectful distance so as not to horn in.
Krystan struggled to form words, a feat in itself. “It’s...it’s...the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” She dropped the box and grabbed Travis’ head and gave him an urgent kiss, holding nothing back. Creeping forward, I snatched the box off the bed and opened it. When I saw what was in it, I busted out laughing.
