Page 39
But then … I don’t know, I remembered how talking to him made me feel relaxed and how nice that’d be after an afternoon of recorder noise, so I picked up.
But when the team started asking him about a baby shower …
“I don’t know. Isn’t it too soon? And are a bunch of guys really interested in throwing a baby shower?”
“Very interested,” he said with a chuckle. “Ricci is saying he’d be happy to host. His girlfriend just moved down here and apparently she likes hosting. Oh, wait.”
Through the phone, I heard some muffled voices arguing.
“Jimenez cut in because Rosa might want to do it. Honestly, I’m not sure if hosting is Rosa’s thing, but Jimenez likes making sure she doesn’t miss out on anything.”
“That’s sweet of him. And I do like Rosa.”
“Because she bribed you with candy?”
“Obviously. But if it’s gonna cause a fight, we don’t have to do a baby shower. I wasn’t expecting one.” Honestly, I’d completely forgotten about the concept altogether.
“I wouldn’t say they're fighting,” Niall said, right as the ruckus in the background got louder. “They’re just arguing over who gets to show they care first.” He was silent for a little while before adding, “But if that’s too much for you, I’ll get them to cut it out.”
“No, I …” It was unsettling to have practical strangers argue over throwing me a party. Though I guess it was technically for the baby and not me. And if I kept that mindset, it didn’t bother me as much. “It’ll be nice. Just don’t let them go overboard. I don’t want any extravagant gifts, just practical stuff for the baby. And no blues or pinks, but … yellow. Deep yellow, like your team logo, or pastel. No bright neon yellows.”
“I’ll pass that on. Yellow’s my favorite color, so it’s perfect.”
“It is? Well, then maybe we should change to …” I couldn’t finish the bit without breaking out in laughter.
“What’s your favorite color?” Niall asked when my giggles died down.
“Burgundy,” I said with a sigh. “But I can’t really wear it with my hair. It’s looks … too much.”
“Says who?”
“Says every fashionista I’ve ever met.”
“I disagree. I bet you’d look stunning.”
“Well of course you would. You already think I’m hot.”
“Not denying that.”
Something bloomed in my chest and I shoved it down with a topic change.
“Do they have a date for the baby shower or are they still arguing over who should get to host?”
“Our bags finally got here, so they got distracted. But it’ll probably be a couple weeks if we can only do a weekend. We’re doing my volunteer day next Saturday, then the weekend after that is an away game.”
“Oh, the woman’s shelter shoot?”
“It is. Kodi tell you about her calendar?”
“Yeah. And if I won’t get in the way of anything, could I come? I used to do a lot of volunteering events with my mom as part of a school program and … I don’t know, I think it’d be nice to do it again.” You’d think with nobody significant in my life and the way volunteering made me feel close to my parents, I’d do it more often. But I hadn’t been able to. Doing it alone, no matter what the charity, was too nostalgic to initiate. But if I was doing it with Niall and his crew of rowdy boys, I could get myself to the door and not drown in memories.
“Absolutely! We’re about to get in the cabs, but I’ll send you all the details when we get to the hotel. And I’ll let you know who won hosting privileges.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you later.” Before we could get stuck in awkward goodbyes, I hung up. Leaning back in my desk chair, I let my head drop and sigh. Talking to Niall was nice, getting to volunteer with people who were fun to hang around was cool, but committing to a baby shower with sort of friends was emotionally heavy. My nervous system was going to need a full reset before I did anything else today. Good thing my only real plan was a shower.
“Leah! You’re pregnant!” someone screeched from the door and I turned to see Cindy, jumping and clapping like I’d won the lottery or some shit. God, how much of that call did she eavesdrop on?
“Yup. And I’ve gotta go do … pregnant people things.” I stood, grabbing my bag and making an attempt to push by her. But she grabbed my arm.
