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“Well, obviously, you are!” Pointing at Bridget’s perfectly round belly emphasized by a snug white sweater and the skinniest jeans Patty had ever seen, she waited for an answer.
“Yes, obviously. How are you, Patty?”
“I was a lot better sixty seconds ago. That should bemybaby!” she lashed out. “Ishould be pregnant with Tony’s baby, not you, a nobody.”
“Why, Patty? Come on. You’ve moved on. You’re just saying this to hurt me.”
“Momma,” baby Flynn said, reaching up to Bridget’s face. She kissed his hand and looked back at Patty.
Unexpectedly, Patty began to cry. Paralyzed, Bridget felt completely unprepared. Looking around the store, she wished someone would suddenly appear who could help her.
“I’m sorry. I’m just jealous,” she cried. “We were all wrong for each other. It should have ended right out of high school.”
Waiting for her to calm down wasn’t working.
“Patty, you two had a good run,” Bridget said softly. “Just because it ended doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be. Now you’ll find someone else and be with him and have a family or not. It’s up to you.”
“You look so nice pregnant,” she said, blowing her nose. “I remember you at the Christmas party when you were a student. It must have been with this little guy?”
“It was. This is Flynn.”
Patty got another tissue out of her pocket and tried to wipe her eyes without ruining her makeup. “I’ll let you get back to your shopping,” she said, looking at the baby items in the cart. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Truly.”
Patty nodded her head and took off, her perfect butt flexing in the skintight dress as she disappeared around the corner. Suddenly exhausted, Bridget just wanted to talk to Tony. They went through the checkout and into the car, heading back to the Saints’ house.
After dropping off the powdered sugar in the kitchen, she went to their room and prepared to put Flynn down for the night. They had a little dorm refrigerator in their room with a microwave so she could take care of him without having to leave the bedroom. While he took his bottle, she called Tony’s cell, but he didn’t answer, a clue that he was out on a call.
Having a routine at night helped her get through the stress of life. Worry about the baby and the unknown, the new house, the job, running into Tony’s old girlfriend at the grocery store, all things she would have to deal with, but she’d do it on a daily, as-needed basis, and she’d done her quota of dealing for that day.
She knew that if there was something wrong with the baby, she’d have to keep the suspected issues from Tony. But she also knew him and knew he was worse than she was about fretting. Hopefully, the baby would be okay, but if not, they’d cope with it together. One night after the grocery store incident while they lay in bed, he’d brought it up.
“Were you worried about Flynn when you were pregnant with him?”
“Yes. Constantly.”
“Are you worried about this baby?”
He had his hand on Bridget’s belly, where it stayed most of the night when he spooned her.
“Yes, constantly,” she repeated, chuckling. “It’s human nature to worry about the unknown. Why? Are you worried?”
“Worried sick,” he said. “I can’t believe how much I love her already. If anything happened to her…”
“Nothing’s going to happen. If she has any problems, we’ll deal with it, okay? You and me, together. You’ll be so relieved when she’s born healthy. You know, we never discussed what we’re going to do about the birth.”
“You mean like me going into the delivery room?”
“Yeah, I guess that’s what I mean. What do you think?”
“I have to. She’s my baby. Don’t you want me there?”
“Of course I do, but it’s kind of gross. I won’t be looking my best, that’s for sure.” She laughed out loud. “Less than my worst, I’m afraid.”
“Remember, I saw deliveries in training. What’s a little blood?” It was his turn to laugh, remembering what looked like gallons of bloody fluid coming out with the baby. “One of the guys said he told his wife that if her membranes ruptured in his car, he was going to divorce her.”
“Ha! That’s harsh,” she replied, laughing. “We’d better get plastic over the seat covers just in case.”
