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“Freak on a Leash,” Onyx said.
“Smells like Teen Spirit,” Alys chimed in.
Easy enough. “Alternative it is.”
Onyx narrowed his eyes and studied me. “What’s your answer?”
“Baby shark. Doo doo,” I sang.
Alys scowled, but Onyx chuckled. “To live in your head, dude.”
He had no idea.
We moved on to constructing a playlist, which really was more a matter of listing all the songs. The first few came easier, because we each had favorites we felt defined the genre and us, but the number of titles grew quickly, and none of us wanted to let go of a single one.
We finally agreed to leave it alone for now, and narrow things down when we’d had a chance to think about it.
And somehow, it was after seven at night. We really spent half a day listing songs? Yeah, that sounded like us.
“Do you really have to go home?” Onyx asked.
It did kind of suck. We’d be up here every day for the next week anyway. “I bet Judith would let us work remotely if we asked. And Link will definitely tell Alys yes. No one is better at their job.”
The pink that dotted her cheeks was an adorable contrast to the way she pursed her lips. “A lot of people are better at their jobs than me. And that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to ask.”
Because she was scared of Judith, the woman who ran the company we worked for.
I never understood people’s fear of Judith, but I also realized not everyone had memories of learning how to make grilled cheese with her when they were kids. “I’ll ask for both of us.”
“Not tomorrow, though,” Alys said. “We’ll go into the office tomorrow and come up tomorrow night.”
Right. I almost forgot, and that was shitty of me. Alys’s appointment was tomorrow, to see a doctor who had the time and equipment to give her a more definite yes on her pregnancy.
Or no, I supposed. “Okay.”
Onyx’s suspicious frown was back.
Hopefully she’d be able to tell him tomorrow. I trusted that she had a plan for everything.
What would it be like to be one of those people? The kind of person who could think past I want Pop Tarts with my breakfast?
4
Alys
Maddox not only got us permission to work remotely for the next one to three weeks—everyone assumed we’d make it into the contest, and we always did—he must’ve given Judith the biggest baby brother puppy-dog-eyes ever. He got himself out of work early Monday to go to my doctor’s appointment, too.
“I just told her we wanted a little extra driving time,” he said, as we climbed into his truck.
I wanted to be amused. To joke and laugh about the entire thing.
I was too focused on what came next. On the entire reason for this visit. Finding words was difficult, and doing nothing but staring out the window as Maddox drove was maddening.
“Are you thinking about baby names?” Maddox asked.
“No.” Should I? Crap, I had to name the baby… If there was one. The sick pit in my stomach grew. I was so not ready for any of this.
“Do you want to be? Because I came up with the perfect one.”
