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She stepped inside and joined me on the bed.
“My brother has a beautiful home, but I don’t find the ceilings to be that interesting,” she teased.
“I just got off the phone with my mom.”
“Oh, crap.” Ava knew what that meant. “How’d it go?”
“As badly as you’d expect. I told her about the pregnancy and being a surrogate for Gabe, tried asking her questions about her pregnancy with me.”
“And?”
“And she basically told me she doesn’t remember anything. Nothing at all. She carried me for nine months, birthed me and it’s like I’m asking her what she had for dinner on January 15th, 1985. No recollection whatsoever.”
“I’m sorry, babe,” Ava said, rolling over to face me.
“It’s okay. I don’t know what I expected. She’s always been weird about this sort of thing. It’s like she never wants to talk about me as a baby. Hell, I’ve never even seen photos of me as a baby. It’s like she couldn’t have been bothered to take any.”
“I don’t understand it at all,” Ava said. “Maybe we were right as kids and you were adopted or something.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Knowing my parents, do you think the state would have let them adopt a child?”
“Good point,” Ava muttered.
“No, the reality is my mom couldn’t care less about me. Which is so weird considering all the times I overheard my parents arguing about my mom’s infertility. It always sounded like she wanted more kids, but she couldn’t even love the one she had.”
I rested a hand on my belly. These babies weren’t even going to be raised by me, and yet, I couldn’t imagine turning my back on them. I would remember every detail of their birth story, and I would cherish every second I had with them. It didn’t make sense that my mom could be so callous toward me.
“People are complicated,” I said. “I guess my mom got what she wanted, then realized she didn’t really want me after all.”
“Don’t say that” Ava chided softly.
“It’s true,” I said. “But you know what, it’s fine. I’ve got you, and Gabe is taking care of me. I don’t need her.”
Ava smiled and gave my arm a squeeze. “So would this a bad time to tell you I have a date tonight or—"
“You have a date?” I asked, propping myself up on my side a bit.
“Just some rando I met on Tinder, but he seems nice. But if you want me to cancel, I totally will.”
“No, absolutely not. You need to have some fun with all the studying you’ve done lately.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely, and besides, Gabe is here. It’s not like you’re leaving me alone.”
The idea of just Gabe and I at dinner wasn’t exactly a bad thought either. I would never grow tired of looking at him or watching him get all protective over me and the babies.
“Alright, I promise I won’t be long,” Ava said.
“No, please, stay out as late as you want,” I replied. “Because after dinner, I am likely to go straight to bed, or at least lay around in bed like a potato since I’m exhausted.”
There was a knock on the door and Gabe called out, “Dinner is ready.”
“Go, shoo,” I said, playfully nudging my friend. “Good luck, you deserve to find someone who makes you happy.”
“So do you, Bella.”
“Pssh, one day. Once I’m settled in my career,” I said. “Or at least once I’m not pregnant with your brother’s babies.”
