Lucas gazed lovingly at Gabby, in the same way he did on their wedding day as he spoke, “Well, we found out this morning, it was a bit of a surprise, as it turns out she’s actually already four months along!”
“What?!” Ivy gasped again.
“Yeah, exactly!” Gabby said, still in shock. “I’d been sick a couple of times, but not even once a month and not always in the mornings. I still had my periods but not as heavy, so I didn’t suspect a thing! We went to the doctor last week for our annual physicals and they rang this morning with the results and told me then. I sent him straight out for tests, he came back with seven, and they all say the same thing!” she shook her head, not believing the news.
“Holy...” Ivy breathed out. “I mean, wow!”
“I know, right?!” Lucas grinned, proud as punch.
“How do you feel? Other than shocked,” Ivy asked, as she sat down on the stool beside Gabby and reached out to hold her hands while Lucas couldn’t take his eyes off his wife.
“Honestly? So happy, I can’t believe it’s finally happened,” she grinned through her tears at Lucas.
“We’ve been trying for a while, it just hadn’t happened yet, you know? But now?! Ivy, I didn’t know I could be so happy!” Lucas said, holding Gabby’s other hand and leaning in to kiss her.
“Well,” Ivy started, “I’m guessing movie night is out the window, but how about I make us some dinner and you two go and relax and be all, couple-y, and I’ll give you shout when it’s ready, ok?”
“Thanks Ivy,” Gabby said as she gave Ivy another hug before she got up to leave the room.
An hour later they all sat back down around the island to loaded potato skins with cheese, bacon, scallions and mushrooms.
“Has Cleo been able to help you with your search for your property yet?” Lucas asked.
“She’s found a few listings that I had passed over just because they didn’t look like what I wanted, but she explained how the changes needed to each would work, and they looked like real possibilities after that. I’m going to view two of them over the weekend with her so she can help walk me through the changes while physically being in the space. Then, it’s just a matter of seeing what’s still available, and if the location will work,” Ivy said. “She’s been great.” Ivy felt her voice soften as she thought about the way Cleo had helped her, and how patient she had been explaining everything to her.
“She seems to be,” Gabby gave Lucas a knowing look. “Is she great enough for you to open up to her fully, do you think?” She watched as Ivy felt her breath catch.
“I want her to be,” Ivy said in little over a whisper, that she wondered if the others heard her or not.
“Ivy,” Lucas reached over for her hand, “I know we’ve not met her yet, and that’s absolutely fine. We know we’ll both get our chance to give her the you-hurt-her-and-we-hurt-you talk soon enough.” He smirked at that, while noticing the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks with what he had to say next. “But if you’re in this,reallyin this, you have to tell her. You can’t be in a relationship and hold such a large piece of yourself back.”
“He’s right, you know,” Gabby added, placing her hand gently on Ivy’s back as the tears started to silently make their way down Ivy’s cheeks for a very different reason than they were just a few minutes earlier. “The fact you’ve made it this far without it being brought up already is, impressive, really, but you can’t avoid itforever. Trust me, you know I know these things.” Gabby pulled Ivy in for a hug, and Ivy let her.
“I know, I just didn’t want to add anything dark to our happy little bubble,” Ivy admitted sadly.
Later that night, Ivy lay in bed watching a movie on her tablet. She tried everything to occupy her mind since she got home from Lucas and Gabby’s house two hours ago, but nothing was working.
The conversation they’d had kept playing over and over in her mind. She knew they were right. If she wanted to build a future with Cleo, then she had to trust her with her heart. No matter how shattered it had been so very long ago.
It wasn’t one to have over the phone, it had to be in person. She reached over to her nightstand and picked up her phone to message Cleo.
Ivy:Hey gorgeous, I know we have those viewings on Saturday, but do you want to come back to mine for dinner after? XO
She had barely sat her phone down on the bed before a new message came through from Cleo that simply said:
Cleo:I’d love to XO
Chapter 35
Cleo
It had been a long week. The longest Cleo could remember since college, leaving her tired to down to her very bones.
The trouble began Monday afternoon, when Gerry Martin, point of contact for Jackson Copeland’s vast residential development, warned Lana of a delay caused by a material Mr. Copeland had insisted upon. Cleo’s phone and inbox hadn’t stopped until Thursday morning, when the matter was finallyresolved. Cleo had to pull in favors and call on contacts she hadn’t spoken to since setting up on her own three years ago, but they eventually managed to sort the issue and source the material, and get the build back on track.
That is, until lunchtime on Friday, when Mr. Martin called to say that all of his sites, including Mr. Copeland’s, were shutting down early due to a union meeting. The result of this was that Jackson Copeland arrived at Cleo’s office blowing smoke at how unprofessional the entire operation was.
Cleo spent over an hour explaining to him that her role was not as a sounding board for his issues with the build, but she was a liaison between him and Mr. Martin. Her protests fell on deaf ears.
