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“How are you?” she says, pulling back and looking at me from head to toe once more with the biggest smile on her face. “God, it’s been so long since I have seen you; it’s unbelievable.”
I feel so silly now, being so hesitant to meet someone whom I’d been so close to once.
“I’m good. I’m good,” I reply. “What about you? What are you up to? There are so many things we need to talk about.” I glance down at her belly and she smiles, rubbing it proudly.
“Yeah, I’ll say. Do you have a little time? I was just thinking about going to lunch after this.”
“Sure. That sounds like a great idea.”
We both go to the checkout and pay for our items, then walk out together smiling as if time hadn’t ever passed between us. “I know a place around the corner,” says Stacy. “It’s a little vegan café. You want to meet me there?”
I agree and before long, we’re sitting in a small but quaint cafe nearby. The cafe has a 50s theme, the walls lined with vinyl records and pictures from artists such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and The Supremes. I appreciated the vintage-yet-fresh ambiance the place provided.
Stacy isheavilypregnant, and although I try not to show it, seeing her struggling to walk unlocks a new type of fear and uncertainty inside me. I shake myself to rid my brain of such thoughts. Now is not the time to show panic.
We order, with me asking for a decaf coffee and Stacy some fresh juice. How strange to see her in a café andnotdrink coffee. She was practically a drug addict for coffee when we were in school.
“So, tell me, what’s up with you?” I ask, placing my head on my palms.
Stacy lets out a big, hearty sigh as if silently telling me that it’s a long story. I smile back—I understand her completely.
“Well, no point hiding it now,” she smiles at the table satirically. “I know you can’t really tell, but I’m pregnant.” She throws her hands up in an excited manner, inciting a laugh out of me suddenly.
“No way,” I gasp, going along with her joke.
“I know, I know,” she laughs.
“So, when did this happen? How did this happen?” I ask sincerely. I genuinely want to hear her version of the story.
“Uh, where do I start?” she chuckles, not quite looking at me. “Do you remember David? The annoying know-it-all from our class?”
“How could I forget? You two fought like cats and dogs.”
“Well, after college, we ended up doing more than just fighting,” she says smartly.
The disbelief on my face is genuine. It just doesn’t make sense with the two these two used to go at each other.
“You and David?” I say. “How does that even happen? I thought you hated each other.”
She shrugged. “You know what they say. It’s a thin line between love and hate. I guess we just…always had a thing for one another.”
“Wow,” I say, sipping my coffee. “It’s just so hard to believe.”
“Yep. I mean, it started as just sex, you know? Just the two of us, having fun, getting out our frustrations on each other.” I giggled at that statement and she giggled too. She went on, “But eventually…I don’t know. Things just turned serious between us. Next thing I know, I’m pregnant, and…David’s the daddy.”
“What about David? How does he feel about all this?” I ask tentatively.
“He sort of proposed,” she replies sheepishly.
“What?” My mouth drops open. I haven’t heard this news yet.
“Yeah. I mean, it was inevitable, you know? Oh, we had a lot of challenges, sure. What couple doesn’t? But at the end of the day, I couldn’t picture my life without him…and he couldn’t be without me.”
I lean back in my seat, processing this information. Stacy looks happy, though. Very happy. That’s all that matters at the moment.
“So, how did you manage? Being pregnant all of a sudden must have been quite a challenge,” I muse, eagerly waiting for her answer. Stacy is my ray of hope right now. My mind’s all muddled, and I need help comprehending what I should do next. Maybe her story will be the final clarification I need.
“I’m not going to lie,” she says, “it’s not easy. Finding out my life is about to veer in a direction I’d never imagined… It was kind of hard to take, you know? I spent a lot of time debating my options before deciding to keep the baby.” She’s sipping her juice, a little bit of a faraway look on her face.
