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I’ll ignore the fact that I have three to get through tomorrow.
My phone buzzes. I pick it up and read the message from Tyler telling me where he’s having lunch with Tessa. I stare the screen. I don’t particularly want to go and have this conversation, despite its inevitability, but since I flaked on him with his parents last night, I probably should.
At least they’re in a public place so emotion will be kept to the minimum.
I’m still pissed about the ‘Me, Tyler. You, Liv. You pregnant. You live with Tyler’ display this morning.
On my way
I reply to his message and head out to my car. I’m about to get in when I realize that the restaurant they’re at is only two blocks over. Since the sun is out, I lock my car again and make the walk there instead.
I feel really awkward about this conversation. I just met his sister a few days ago, and now I have to tell her that I’m carrying her niece or nephew. And I also no longer have no reason to not meet his parents.
And that’s going to be even more awkward. Oh, holy hell.
Holy hell on a plate of llama balls.
I stop outside the restaurant and take a minute to breathe. It’s okay. This is another one of life’s curveballs.
I’m not kidding anyone. Since the second Tyler walked up to me in that club, my whole life has been the curveball. It’s twisted and turned in ways I never saw coming, colliding with both my heart and my mind on its way to this moment.
Now, looking at the restaurant and knowing that my boyfriend and his sister are inside it, I wish I could be left to swing with the curveball and absorb what it’s throwing at me.
“Hiding?”
I turn and smack into Tyler’s hard chest. “Hesitating,” I correct.
He smiles and tucks some hair behind my ear. “Don’t worry, baby girl. She’s not here. I changed my mind and texted her a minute ago.”
“You changed your mind?” I raise an eyebrow.
“I thought about what you said. You’re right. Both of us need time for it to sink in before Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee start planning baby showers and all that shit.”
Tessa and Dayton. “Don’t forget decorating the nursery. You know they’ll be all over that.”
“Oh, shit. Don’t. When Tessa was thirteen and redecorated her room, it took her five different shades of pink before she found her favorite.”
“Let me guess. It was the first one she tried?”
“Of course it was.” He brushes his fingers across my cheek and holds up a paper bag. “I got us lunch. What do you want to do?”
I thread my fingers through his and lean into his arm. “Let’s go to Kerry Park and just sit.”
“Just sit?”
“Just sit,” I confirm, walking with him.
Our feet are perfectly in sync as we take the turn toward the park. Tyler releases my hand and wraps his arm around my back, curving his hand around my hip. I step into his side and inhale slowly, breathing him in, breathing us in, breathing hope in.
I can almost convince myself that we don’t have issues we need to work through. That we’re not still trembling from yesterday’s surprise, because that’s what this baby is.
A surprise.
“You’re thinking,” he murmurs. “I don’t like it when you think. You tend to fuck shit up.”
“I’m thinking good things,” I reply with a smile.
“Bloody hell. Five weeks and pregnancy is already messing with your mind.”
