AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Those weren’t so bad.
“Denver,” I threw out.
“Yup,” Natalie said.
“Orlando,” I said.
“Sadly, yes.”
I rattled off more city names, and yup. She had a theme.
“Let’s hope they give this baby a normal name, and if they have another one, they throw this list out,” I said. “Does Wyatt get any say in all of this?”
“I think that was just Gretchen’s list, and she was going to sweet-talk Wyatt into submission,” Natalie said.
That probably wouldn’t take much. I didn’t think Wyatt really cared all that much what his kid was called. I was still wondering if he was going to bail on Gretchen. I mean, he’d have to leave Castleton to do it. You couldn’t exactly ghost someone while living in the same small town.
“I’ll have to ask Wyatt about the names when Gretchen isn’t around,” I said. “My parents are begging me to come over for dinner later this week, so I’m probably going to see him.”
Since I’d moved out, I kept my interaction with my parents on the more casual end. It had been nice to put up some boundaries and get some independence from them. I loved my parents, but they made things hard sometimes.
“I’m always here for emergency texting support,” Natalie said.
“Thanks. I’ll probably have to take you up on that.” I almost always had to bail on dinner when the fawning over Wyatt got to be too much. Or he and Gretchen got too gross with the PDA. I swear, they were seconds away from sweeping all the plates off the table and humping each other in front of everyone. Always a performance with those two. I had no idea what they were like when they were alone together, but I’d love to know. Something told me the fire didn’t burn as hot when they didn’t have an audience to perform for.
“Gretchen and Mom have been doing wedding stuff nonstop, so I’ve somehow been roped into helping with a lot of that. Gretchen seems to think that your parents are going to pay for live swans and a helicopter.”
I snorted.
“Who does she think we are, the Bezos? My parents aren’t made of money. Between this and all her baby showers, we’re all going to be broke.”
“Don’t worry, I think reality is going to set in that swans are out of her reach,” Natalie said.
“Maybe we can train some seagulls. Those are free,” I suggested.
Natalie burst out laughing and clutched her stomach. This made me join in laughing until we were both rolling around on the couch, wiping tears.
“I’m sorry, I’m just picturing trying to train seagulls, and then them going rogue during the wedding,” Natalie said, as we tried to get ourselves together.
“I’ll tell you one thing, everyone would be talking about that wedding forever. That right there is memorable,” I said.
“Oh my god, my abs hurt,” Natalie said, gasping and then taking a swig of lemonade. “I needed that.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
Natalie’s phone dinged with a new message.
“Okay, I need to get home for dinner,” she said. “Can you drive me?”
“Sure,” I said, getting up.
“I know that I should be all adulty and cook for myself and everything, but my mom loves cooking and always makes too much, so I don’t feel bad about it.”
“If I had someone to cook for me, I would have so much more energy.” Cooking always took so much out of me, I didn’t know why.
“I’m happy to bring over leftovers. I can freeze some for you and then when we hang out I’ll bring them with me. Think of it as payment for the rides.”
“Works for me,” I said. Natalie’s mom was an amazing cook, so this was a pretty great deal.
