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Once fed, Potato let me know how much he’d missed me, so I guess I was forgiven.
I also had a few missed messages, including a few from Em.
Can you believe Gretchen is fucking pregnant?!
I replied that I couldn’t, and that led to a flurry of messages back and forth while she gave me the full story.
As far as she knew, it was unintentional, but they were keeping it and Gretchen was moving in with him. No talk of marriage yet, but she didn’t think it was out of the picture.
Can I come over tonight? I need to process this shit with someone.
I told her she could as long as I didn’t have to cook. My night on Linley’s couch hadn’t been as restful as I needed, so I decided to take a short nap before starting my Monday.
That short nap turned into a much longer nap, and I was all messed up when I woke up later. After a fast breakfast and two cups of coffee, I headed to the café to get my work in.
Esme checked in to see how I was doing, and I said that I was better. She asked if she could come over after work, and I agreed. She had Tuesday completely off, but I had work, so she was going to bring Stormy and then just chill at my place while I did the work that I couldn’t put off.
My life before Esme had been full, so fitting her in required work moving things around. It would mean taking fewer work projects, spending fewer hours on my computer. In the end, it was worth it. I was willing to make those cuts because she made me happy. My life had improved with her in it. Why wouldn’t I want to have more time with her?
She was also re-prioritizing her life, and not just for me. We’d both gotten ourselves into ruts and hadn’t realized it until we’d started spending time with each other.
My Monday was as productive as it was going to get after my weird morning, and with thinking about Wyatt and Gretchen.
Their news hit social media with pictures of them from the night before at the restaurant. I tried not to look, but it was hard not to.
The cake was lovely, Linley had done an incredible job.
All the comments were congratulatory and excited and made me want to throw up. After a while, I closed the windows and forced myself to go back to work.
A very small, small part of me wished that I had somehow been able to get my revenge on Wyatt. Not with Esme, obviously, but I could have come up with something else. Now it felt like it was too late.
I wish I’d at least put his toothbrush in the toilet and then back on his sink. That would have been good. Too bad I still didn’t have the key to his place, or I probably could have.
* * *
“So,how do you feel about being an aunt?” I asked Em when she came in with takeout bags with sushi in them.
“I don’t fucking know.” She dumped the bags on the coffee table and groaned as she sat on the couch. Potato jumped into her lap, lured by the smell of the sushi.
“It’s just… It doesn’t feel real. I know it’s happening, but I can’t believe it’s happening,” I said.
We dug into the containers while Potato wailed that we wouldn’t share with him.
“I’m sorry,” Em said.
“For what?” I shoved a roll into my face.
“I don’t know. For everything that happened between you and my brother.” She shrugged one shoulder.
“It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. Well, it’s Wyatt’s fault. Everything is pretty much his fault.”
She made a face.
“I’m just so tired of his bullshit,” she said, mixing in more wasabi with her soy sauce.
“Hey, same,” I said, holding my chopsticks up. She clicked hers with mine in solidarity.
Things could be worse. I could be the one knocked up instead of Gretchen. I was absolutely militant about my birth control, but accidents happened.
