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Angling toward me, she asks, “Can we talk about Tatum and the pregnancy?”
“Sure, I could use the outside perspective.”
The game is forgotten as her attention redirects to me. “I’m happy for you both. I’m just a little shocked. Or a lot, honestly. It’s a big change from us having to referee the space if you both occupied it to you guys having a baby together. It makes me nervous.”
“I hear what you’re saying, and there’s not a thought in there that I haven’t shared. But I want this baby.”
“What about Tatum?” she asks as if that’s even a question.
“I want the full package, which includes her. I care about her, Nat. I get where you’re coming from. Tatum and I don’t make sense on the surface or from our history. But when we’re together, we do. We click.”
Nick takes a drink of his beer and then says, “We don’t want either one of you to get hurt, but Natalie and I also know we can’t butt in or protect you. We just have to air the initial concerns, which you’ve now addressed.”
Natalie gently rests her hand on my arm. “You know I adore you, Harrison, but I worry where that leaves us if something goes wrong.”
I wasn’t expecting to have this conversation, but there’s a lot of things I didn’t expect to happen when I came to New York, mainly to fall for Tatum all over again. Fall? My stomach tightens because I may not have said anything to her or have to answer to my friends, but I can’t lie to myself.
My relationship might appear to be only a few weeks old, but we were something special back in Catalina. I knew that then, which is how I was so sure she’d be in my life again. We’ve had some obstacles in our way, but the road ahead has been cleared, and I’m not taking any shortcuts when it comes to her.
“Your allegiance lies with Tatum. I understand that, and I’d never come between the two of you, but maybe we’re supposed to work out. Maybe this baby is a sign that we’re tied together in this universe,” I say.
“You sound like my mom,” Nick says under a chuckle.
“Cookie might understand what’s going on better than I can, but I know what I feel and what I see.”
Although Natalie’s hand had already returned to the table in front of her, her attention and the joy in her eyes shine on me. “I can’t ask for anything more than someone who loves her through the good and the bad. Do you love Tatum?”
And there it is. All I have to do is tell the truth, but I should tell the woman I love first. “I hope you understand that I need to talk to Tatum before I talk to you guys.”
“We do, man,” Nick adds. “Go change clothes. You look like shit. And then I suspect you won’t be joining us for soup?”
More? I start laughing. “Not tonight, but what’s on the menu?”
With her arms in front of her already explaining, Natalie replies, “French onion. I got the best gruyere at the market today for the topping.”
I scoot my chair out. “Sounds good.” Gripping the back of it, I debate how I’m supposed to say this without getting Natalie excited and Nick rolling his eyes at me, ready to say I told you so. Ah, fuck it. They’re my best friends. If I can’t share my happiness with them, who can I? My family, but that’s the next step. “I’m going to take some of my clothes over to Tatum’s, so I might not be around as much in the next few days.”
Their reactions are predictable, sans the I told you so, but that’s what makes them so great. They voice their concerns up front, but when all is said and done, they support Tatum and me. “Oh, and we’re having the baby. I didn’t know if you thought we might not, so yeah, I’m going to be a daddy.”
“Harrison,” Natalie says, getting up quickly. She hugs me, and I think I feel her body rattle with a soft sob.
“Are you crying?”
“I’m just so happy for you, and I get to have a baby at the same time as my best friend. This is such a beautiful day.”
Nick comes around and pats me on the back before pulling his wife to his chest. “C’mere, babe.” To me, he shakes my hand. “Congratulations. Look at us all grown up and becoming dads.”
“Didn’t see that coming.”
“The best things in life aren’t the ones we plan. They’re the ones that happen naturally,” he says.
Nick could be talking about his own relationship or mine. Maybe both. Definitely both.
Whatever the grand plan was for me, I’m glad Tatum and this baby are a part of my destiny.
