AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t you dare cry,” she reprimands, rubbing a finger over her eyelid.
“I’m not. It’s dust or something.” Something called love. I met this girl when we were ten and drafted onto the same softball team. When she was always put at the bottom of the batting order, I stood up to Coach and said that wasn’t fair, that he needed to rotate the order. And when friends didn’t know how to talk to me after my mom died, Jilly chatted about boy bands and young-adult novels and putting gummy bears on frozen yogurt to fill the awkward silence.
“I’m a little worried about how he’s going to take it.”
“Don’t be. He loves you and he’d be happy even if you had an alien baby inside you.”
“Chloe! Don’t go putting images like that in my head.”
“Sorry. You know what I mean. You guys are meant for each other. So, you got knocked up before the wedding. It just means you get to be a mom and dad for longer.”
She sniffles. “That’s a really nice thing to say.”
I pick up my taco. “I should write Hallmark cards.”
“You should.” She resumes eating, too. “So, any ideas on how I can tell him?” Jillian is a math teacher and is excellent with numbers, but when it comes to creative or artistic type things, she requires backup.
“Hmm… You could buy a pair of baby booties and tell him your family is growing by two feet.”
“Mhmm,” she says, her mouth full of taco.
“Or you could use body paint or lipstick on your stomach and write, ‘baby on board.’ Oh! Or better yet, write, ‘congratulations, you’re going to be a DILF.’”
“I like that. What else you got?”
I rack my brain for more ideas. I know I’ve seen social media posts with cute baby announcements.
“You could make homemade pizza for dinner and spell out ‘you’re going to be a dad’ with pepperoni or olives since you and Robert love those toppings. Food always goes well with big news.”
Jillian tosses her napkin into her empty taco box. “And then I could buy a bag of Sugar Babies for dessert.”
“Love that. But you know, you could also go the simple route and we can hunt down a baby T-shirt or onesie that says ‘I love daddy’ on it. You could wrap it and tell him it’s an early wedding present.” This is more Jillian’s speed, but she needed to at least consider some other ideas first.
“I think that’s the winner.”
Do I know my best friend or what? “Let’s go shopping then.” We stand and toss our trash before walking toward the shops on Third Street.
“I think I should buy a super sexy bikini for our honeymoon now, too, since next summer—” she silently counts off to nine with the fingers on one hand “—August probably, I’ll be giving birth.” She stops us in our tracks with a hand to my forearm. “Holy shit, Chlo, I’m having a baby before my next birthday.”
“You are.”
We resume walking. “I think I want to keep it a secret until Robert and I get home from Bora Bora. I mean not from him,duh. But from our parents and family. I’d like to enjoy the news just with him. And I don’t want to take the focus off the wedding. You know how excited my mom is about it.”
I do know. And I couldn’t be happier for Jillian and her mom to share this incredible occasion. Sometimes, though, it’s hard. Sometimes I don’t like myself for the jealous, bitter feelings that press down on my chest.
For a fleeting moment, I miss my mom. I miss her so much I can’t breathe.
“Chloe?” Panic fills Jillian’s voice.
“Sorry,” I force out. “Got emotional for a second. I think that’s a good idea. It can be yours and Robert’s secret.”
“And yours.”
“And mine.” And that right there is why my spirits immediately return to normal. I have family, it’s just different. I wrap my arm around her, our steps in sync, just like our periods. Although I guess that’s no longer the case.
Our hunt for the perfect onesie proves difficult. It turns out adult tees rule the fashion scene in this area, so we do what every person does when in search of a must-have. We google it.Ding, ding, ding.Lots of cute baby outfits pop up on my phone screen.
“I really want to tell him tonight, though,” Jillian says, noting we can order online from many different places. “There’s no way I can keep it from him. I’m bursting at the seams as it is.”
