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21
JULY
SKY
Dylan walksthrough the London apartment door and straight over for a kiss. He ducks as I swat him on the head with a magazine and covers his head with a look of confusion.
“What the hell?”
“You did it again!” I smooth open the magazine on the kitchen table and point to the bottom right hand corner.
“Did what?” He takes hold and studies the page. Dylan, gift bags in hand, hidden behind sunglasses, walking out of a store in Camden.
“Your shopping trip. When was this? Last week? Exclusive or not, that’s a baby store!”
“My friend is having a baby next month. Why wouldn’t I visit a baby store?” he snaps.
I stare at him and speak words I never thought would cross my lips. “You’re buying Jem baby equipment?”
“No, I asked Tina what to buy for a new baby, and she sent me to the shop with a list. I bought uh... not sure. Some kind of thing they wear.”
“Thing?”
Dylan gestures at himself. “Dunno. All in one suit thing. Yellow.”
My mouth twitches in amusement. “You’re unpredictable sometimes, Dylan. Two years ago you didn’t know how to use a supermarket, and now you’re buying your rock star friend baby clothes.”
Dylan places a hand on my small bump. “Told you, I’m gonna be a hands-on dad. I can practice with Jem’s baby.”
“Right,” I say and squeeze his hand. “Uncle Dylan.”
He looks at the magazine again. “So why am I in trouble just for visiting a baby store?”
Adjacent to the image of Dylan walking into the shop is a separate shot of me, bending down to climb into my car. This time I have to admit there’s a bump showing beneath the loose T-shirt, to match the attached pregnancy rumours headline. “Morgan baby on the way?”
I clear my throat: “‘Normally, Dylan would compare the merits of prestige cars, but today he was spotted looking for wheels for a baby.’” I roll my eyes and continue. “When we asked a close friend, they refused to confirm or deny the rumours, but a radiant Sky with just a hint of a bump answers our question.”
“I love the way they need to use arrows to indicate where your belly is,” snorts Dylan.
“Radiant?” I ask with a scornful tone.
“I’m sure the morning sickness will stop soon.”
“Morning, afternoon and evening sickness, you mean?”
Four months pregnant. Close friends and family know, but the public knowledge scares me. I don’t want a repeat of Lily’s reaction following our wedding. We’ve heard nothing from her since, and as the weeks pass, my anxiety she’ll appear somewhere or send anything else lessens. The legal threats worked, I guess.
The prospect of announcements and another interview don’t thrill me, but we need to make the news public soon.
Dylan’s lack of thinking might’ve forced our hand. “You were buying baby items, Dylan. Naturally, people will jump to conclusions.”
“Oh. Didn’t think. Oh well.”
I wrinkle my nose at his nonchalance but know his attitude is the better one.
“Of course,” I sigh. “I’m in denial, aren’t I? Thinking we can hide this.”
“Yep. And the doctor says everything is going perfectly with the pregnancy. We have nothing to worry about. The world can know.” He curls a hand around the back of my head and kisses my forehead. “Do you know how bloody hard it is not to tell every single person I meet? I am so fucking excited!”
