“I think we did that when we got pregnant.”
“So? That doesn’t mean you can’t start now.”
“Considering she thinks I’m a lunatic now, I don’t think anything is going to start between us.”
“Well, have you thought of apologizing?”
“For suggesting we move in together?”
“For going about it all wrong. You need to get to know her, Mark, and that means taking it slow. Not moving in together.”
“So just ask her to hang out. We are sort of on a time crunch.”
“Honey, you two are tied together for life. You have all the time in the world.”
Damn. She has a point.
“It’s not that simple.”
“Hanging out with the woman who is going to be your child’s mother isn’t simple?”
I cock my head. How does she turn everything I say around on me in a way that makes me see it differently?
“Okay, so, I’ll just text her.”
I pull out my phone and open my contacts.
“You need to call her,” Ms. Coraline cuts me off before I can even begin to type out a message. “Ask her to do something that has no pressure. Nothing baby related. Something you are both comfortable with that puts the two of you on common ground.”
“I don’t exactly call a lot of people. Shoot, my dad had been calling me for weeks and I just spoke with him yesterday.”
“Trust me. Call her.”
“All right, I’ll call her when I leave.”
“No. You should do it now. So I can help you if you need it.”
I chuckle, but she doesn’t think anything about this conversation is funny. “Oh, you’re serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
My gaze flickers between her and my cell phone before I finally give in.
I sure hope Sydney is awake on this fine Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m.
“Mark, are you being serious right now?” is how she answers.
“As a heart attack,” I blurt out before thinking.
“What do you want?”
“I . . .”
Ms. Coraline nods and just points at the phone. Whatever that means.
“I wanted to see if you were free to hang out tonight.”
“I’m working.”
