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I exchanged a curious glance with Leah, and Freya continued, “Will and I decided it’s silly for us to be renting separate apartments when we spend so much time toget
her. One of our apartments is always empty so he’s gonna move in with me sometime in the next few weeks.”
“Awesome, Freya!” I said, and Leah gave her hand an excited squeeze. “You need some help moving him in?”
“We will. We’d appreciate any help you can give us.”
“Count us in,” Leah said. “I’m all for bringing you two closer together.”
“Speaking of close,” Freya said, smiling. “You know we’re desperate to hear how you’re settling in with Radleigh.”
Leah laughed. “Being here with him is brilliant. We lived together in the UK for a while anyway, so we’re already pretty used to being together all the time. I …” she paused, shaking her head. “I can’t get over how big his place is.”
“Your place,” I corrected. “It’s yours now, too.”
“I’m still getting used to that. Freya, you know how long I took to call your apartment ‘home’.”
“True story.”
“I love living there. I love knowing that when he goes away for matches, it’s only one night, not weeks we’ll be apart. I’m not looking forward to my first night alone, though.”
“Stay with me,” I offered. “I hate being alone in a big house, too.”
“I might just do that.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Freya asked. “I mean, now you’re here, what will you do? You said you wanted to find a job.”
Leah puffed out her cheeks and slowly breathed out. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I actually have something to tell you. Keeping this from you has almost killed me.”
“Oh my God!” I jumped out of my seat and slid in beside Leah, almost knocking over the salt and pepper shakers in my excitement. “He proposed, didn’t he? You’re not going to search for a job because you have a wedding to plan! Oh, can I be bridesmaid? Please? I’ll help you with planning and everything!”
Leah and Freya giggled but how could I possibly hold my enthusiasm in? Leah would be the most gorgeous bride, Freya and I would be perfect bridesmaids, and we’d have so much fun planning! Planning my own wedding was the best thing ever. Bridal magazines, dress shopping, choosing flowers, and colours and…
“Calm down.” Leah held out her left hand to me and wiggled her fingers. “He didn’t propose. Look, no ring.”
My excitement deflated like a popped balloon. Way to ruin my buzz.
“So, what is it?”
Again, Leah let out a breath. “I’m pregnant.”
Stunned. No other way to describe how I felt. Across the table, Freya’s eyes bulged out of her head. Pregnant?
“I know,” Leah said, shattering the stunned silence. “We’ve only been together since last November. Apparently I got pregnant right away. I’m almost at twelve weeks now and the baby is due in August.”
Holy wow.
“I… I don’t…” Freya began, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. “I mean… well, congratulations, it’s just… so fast.”
Leah nodded. “Yeah. Insanely fast. It threw both of us. I thought Radleigh was going to tell me not to bother moving over here, he was so freaked out. So we talked. A lot.” She rested her hand over her stomach and as I looked closer I noticed the early stages of the bump had already formed. Not surprising since she was so petite. “We know it won’t be easy, but this is what we want.”
This might be better than a wedding. Aunt Bree. I could totally imagine myself being cool Aunt Bree to Leah and Radleigh’s baby. Ooh, baby clothes!
“I think this is amazing,” I said, giving her another hug. “I’m so happy for you.”
While we ate, we talked more about what happened when Leah told Radleigh she had a bun in the oven, then went back to Freya and Will’s plans, and finally to me. I didn’t have a whole lot of news to share, though. Nothing that didn’t relate to new clothes and shoes. God, no wonder people thought I had a head full of air.
It never used to bother me. It didn’t bother me. The opinions of others, although sometimes hurtful, never ruined my day. But since I turned twenty-one, I’d started to wonder what I would do. I’d been married for a year already. No career, just wife to a hot soccer star. Not that I minded being the wife of a hot soccer star. Jude meant everything to me. Maybe that was the problem.
