Page 66 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

As if on cue, the familiar sound of Chucky trotting around echoed. Hah.

‘You’re already over there, aren’t you?’ she said, barely suppressing a smile.

‘You need to install a Ring camera,’ he said. ‘I could have been a dog-napper or murderer.’

‘How many hours are you there, exactly, during the day?’

‘I’ll never say. But I’ll tell you that your dog is fat and he’s not getting any more jerky sticks from me tonight, no matter how much he begs.’

If she could hug her dad through the phone, she would. ‘I love you.’

‘Ya, ya. You too, kid.’

Chapter 25

Jade

Jade’s eyelids snapped open. She reached across the bed, making contact with the warm imprint of a body now gone. Heavy breathing rose from the floor. What had woken her …? Grunting sounds. Poor Lucy. Just shy of six months pregnant, and this past week it seemed her body was kicking and fighting as it edged into the third trimester.

‘Where’d she go, Chucky?’ Jade murmured.

The bathroom light was off. Jade blinked into the dimly lit room to peek at the clock. 3:15 a.m. Oof. Maybe it was time to return to sleeping in her own bed. Lucy had started tossing and turning at night, and more than once her freakishly oversized snake-shaped body pillow smacked Jade in the middle of the night.

She grabbed the top blanket, wrapped her naked body, and eased herself out of the bedroom. ‘Lucy?’

‘In the kitchen,’ a groggy voice replied.

Lucy lazed a wave, her leg tossed up on the counter as she stretched her muscle and a half-drunken glass of milk next to her ankle.

Jade kissed her shoulder. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Did I wake you?’

Yes. ‘No, I just noticed you were gone.’ She yawned. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Not really.’ Lucy grimaced along with some fire breathing and dropped her leg. ‘My back is killing me. It’s like this weird electric spiderweb shooting spikes down my hips and legs.’ She heaved her other leg off the counter and groaned.

‘Come on, come back to bed.’ Jade pulled the blanket tighter around her chest, the winter chill in the room springing goose bumps up her arms. Tomorrow, pyjamas. ‘I’ll massage you.’

‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘I know.’ She ushered Lucy back to the bedroom. Lucy groaned as she eased back onto the mattress. After throwing on Lucy’s way-too-short yet ultra-plush bathrobe, Jade pumped lotion into her hands.

Lucy shifted to her side and shoved a pillow between her legs. Jade pushed against her lower back and hips with firm pressure, and soon eye flutters replaced Lucy’s gritted teeth. The dads were grateful for Lucy, of course, but did they really know about nights like this? No doubt Lucy hadn’t told them, probably preferring to swap goofy GIFs and raunchy comments with Drew rather than admit she was restless and in pain and literally up at all hours of the night.

When Jade started the relationship with Lucy, she knew what she was getting into. Still, she’d be lying if she said it was easy. Watching her partner transform, shifting from her goofy self to cautious, fluctuating being misty-eyed and forgetful, was harder than she anticipated. For every time she was annoyed at Lucy for spacing out or not picking up on social cues, she was livid at herself for being selfish. And Jade wasn’t sharing the way she should, she knew that, but Lucy had so much going on. Did she really need to hear about Jade’s workplace drama or her favourite colour line getting discontinued? When this was all done, they’d have time. A lifetime, in fact. Right now was Lucy’s time.

Lucy’s muscles loosened under Jade’s pressure. Her chest lifted and lowered, and when her breathing grew even deeper, Jade peeked at her face. Yep – asleep.

Jade eased away and slid back into a sleeping position. She put her index finger up to her lips, said ‘Shhhh’ to Chucky, then reached down to rub his head before closing her eyes.

Three hours later was not nearly long enough. How did parents of babies live with interrupted sleep? Jade dug a knuckle into her sawdust eyes, dragged herself into the shower, and left the house before Lucy woke up. She normally wouldn’t get to the salon this early, but today was a big day. With the Minneapolis Times interview scheduled for this evening, she had a gazillion things to do – swing by the grocery store, grab a fresh flower bouquet, clean every inch of the salon until it sparkled, change clothes, refresh her make-up …

The fresh, overnight snowfall dusted the lawns and tree branches, and she cracked the window to breathe in the bone-dry, crisp air. Normally when snow fell this late in the season, she was officially over it and ready to see green. But even though it was April, the snow was a pretty, magical blanket.

She tapped her steering wheel, turned up the radio, turned down the radio, cracked the window even further, and breathed through her racing heart. Interview. She was getting interviewed by a freaking journalist, and now the steering wheel was turning slippery under her damp palms.

Elizabeth was always the eloquent speaker, not Jade. During family holidays, she gave the toasts and the speeches. In boardrooms, she commanded the space. She’d even been on a few business podcasts, and even though Jade didn’t grasp the content, Elizabeth’s delivery was flawless. She had that gravitational pull where people wanted to breathe her air, like maybe her star power would rub off on them. Jade both hated that trait almost as much as she was attracted by it, fluctuating between feeling ignored, feeling like someone had stolen her thunder, and feeling relieved that competent Elizabeth was by her side when she stumbled. If Elizabeth were here, she’d sit next to Jade, pepper Jade’s words with commentary, and complete the story circle Jade had been mentally struggling with. But now, Jade was flying solo. She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled heavily through her mouth.