The Truth About Ever After

by Rachel Schurig

  Before I could answer, the house phone rang. Probably the doorman with the delivery. “Hang on,” I said to Eric. I covered my cell and answered the phone, instructing the doorman to send the delivery up. Then I walked back to the bedroom, where the girls were now sitting in my closet, trying on my shoes. “Food’s on its way up. Can one of you answer the door?”

  “Sure,” Ginny said, grinning at me sheepishly as she started to put the shoes back. I headed over to the office and pulled the door shut.

  “Sorry about that,” I told him.

  “Are the girls there?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I told you they were coming over, remember? To work on stuff for Jen’s shower.”

  “Is that this weekend?” he asked, sounding annoyed.

  “Yeah,” I said. “Is that a problem?”

  “I wanted to actually do something this weekend,” he said. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “I’m aware of that,” I said, starting to feel annoyed myself. Why was it always my schedule that he had a problem with? It was after nine and he was the one still at work.

  “So are the girls still going to be there when I get home?” he asked.

  “I doubt it, if you’re really going to be as late you say.” I know my voice was cold, but I couldn’t help it. Why was every conversation between the two of us ending up this way lately?

  “Look, I have to go,” he said, sounding even more tired than when I had first picked up the phone. “I’ll talk to you when I get home, or tomorrow, if you’re sleeping.”

  “Okay,” I said, blowing out a gust of air. Neither of us hung up, as if we were both waiting for the other to do or say something.

  Finally Eric sighed. “Goodnight, Kiki.”

  “Night,” I whispered. It was quiet for a moment and I took a deep breath, suddenly wanting to tell him that I was sorry for whatever was happening, that I loved him and missed him.

  But he had already hung up.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Over the next few days I tried to put the tension with Eric out of my mind. There was so much to do for the wedding, as we were now fast approaching the bridal shower. In addition, we were also coming up on deadlines for bridesmaid dress fittings, cake tastings, final approval on food; every time I looked at my to-do list, I felt lightheaded.

  Smack in the middle of all that was Jen’s shower. The girls and I had booked a banquet room at her favorite Italian restaurant downtown. Over the past week or so her appetite had started to return and her nausea seemed a lot better. I was keeping my fingers crossed that she would continue in that positive direction. I wanted her to enjoy her shower.

  “I think this is all of it,” I said, setting down the last box. I blew my hair out of my face and looked around the room. Annie and Ginny were busy placing vases of flowers at each table. The room was coming together; it was a pretty little restaurant with exposed brick walls, big windows, and an enclosed little patio filled with greenery. We didn’t have to do much by way of decorations.

  “What’s in that one?’ Ginny asked, coming to peek into the box I had just set down.

  “Candy dishes and snacks to put in them,” I told her. “Let’s do three per table, okay?”

  “Got it, boss,” she said, starting to unpack the dishes. “Geez, Kiki, these are gorgeous.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “They’re antiques. My grandma gave them to me.”

  We filled the candy dishes with a variety of chocolates, mints, and nuts for the guests to munch on. It was probably a bit much, as we were going to enjoy a pretty substantial Italian feast, but I would rather be on the safe side.

  “Everything looks great,” I said to the girls once we had finished up. “Now, when people start arriving make sure you have them put presents on that table there.” I pointed. “This one is for the cake.” I looked at my watch, feeling a pang of worry. Eric was supposed to have been here with the cake fifteen minutes ago.

  “I’m gonna try Eric again,” I muttered, walking out into the hallway. I let the phone ring until the voicemail picked up before sighing and hanging up. Where was he?

  As I turned to go back into the banquet room, I caught sight of Jen and Matt entering the building. The sight of her made my breath catch; it suddenly hit me that Jen was going to have a baby. I mean, I knew that, of course, but it hadn’t really registered until that moment. She looked pregnant now, really pregnant. Somehow I hadn’t noticed just how big her tummy had gotten, maybe because I was seeing her every day at work. Or maybe it was the fact that she was feeling better that made her look so transformed. I had almost gotten used to the sight of her pale with dark circles under her eyes. Today, she looked gorgeous. Cliché or not, she was absolutely glowing. I felt a lump form in my throat as I ducked back into the room, thinking she might want to see the girls before I started crying all over her.

  “The mommy’s here,” I told Annie and Ginny. “They’re on their way in.”

  “What do you think, Miss Event Planner?” Annie asked, gesturing around the room. “Everything ready for her grand entrance?”

  I nodded. “We did good, girls.”

  I heard a little whimper behind me and spun around. Jen and Matt were standing in the doorway. I watched in horror as her whimper turned into a sob. Jen covered her face and completely burst into tears.

  “What’s wrong?” I cried. “Don’t you like it?”

  “It’s beautiful!” she gasped, not looking up. Matt grinned and put his arm around her, rolling his eyes at us slightly.

  “Don’t mind her,” he said. “She cried when I buttered her toast this morning too.”

  “Because that was really sweet of you!” Jen cried from behind her hands.

  “Don’t you tease her,” Annie said in a mock-serious tone, elbowing Matt out of the way so she could put her arm around Jen. “She can cry all she likes.”

  “Yeah,” Ginny agreed, stepping to Jen’s other side. “Carrying a baby is hard work. Harder than anything you’ll ever do, mister. Jen needs a little spoiling.”

  Matt held up his hands in surrender. “You’re completely right,” he said. “She can cry or do anything else she likes whenever she likes.”

  “Be nice to him. He’s perfect,” Jen said, finally looking up from behind her hands to give Matt a watery smile. “He’s taking such good care of me.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” Annie muttered, apparently forgetting her edict that Jen could be as sappy as she wanted to be.

  “Kiki!” Jen cried, spotting me across the room. “This is so, so nice. Come here and hug me; I’m too fat to waddle over there.”

  I laughed and went to wrap my arms around her, feeling the swell of her belly against my stomach. God, she really had gotten big. I thought back to my baby book, wondering how much the little thing had grown by now.

  “Come and look at your flowers,” Ginny said, leading Jen away. I felt a little pang; we should be showing Jen her cake. Where the hell was my husband?

  “Hey,” I said, grabbing Matt’s sleeve. He looked down at me. “Have you talked to your brother today?”

  “Yeah,” Matt said. “I talked to him this morning. Asked him if he wanted to catch a movie while this was going on, but he was working. Does he usually go in on Saturdays?”

  I shook my head, feeling fear grow in my stomach. Eric was supposed to go in for only a few hours today. It was the reason he was getting the cake; it would be right on his way home to pick it up and stop here. Why hadn’t he told Matt that? Had he forgotten?

  “It seems like he’s always at work these days,” Matt was saying. “Ever since his promotion. Your dad must really be making him earn it, eh?”

  I knew Matt was teasing but I felt myself bristle all the same. Eric’s department was nowhere near my dad’s office. There were at least six bosses between my father and my husband; their interaction at work was minimal.

  “Everything okay?” Matt asked, looking concerned.

  “Yeah,” I said, turning back to the party. �
��Just something he was supposed to do for me.”

  As I headed back to the girls I had a growing certainty that Eric was not coming. Was he still at work now? What was I going to do? Should I leave the shower to go get the cake myself? It was all the way on the other side of town. Maybe I could have Matt do it? No, that didn’t seem right either, to send the father-to-be out to get the cake. I sighed, and picked up my phone, determined to call him one last time.

  Two minutes later, I was grabbing my purse, feeling more furious at my husband than I ever had. He still wasn’t answering his phone, and I couldn’t believe he would let me down today, that he would let his sister-in-law down. I was practically shaking as I approached Ginny.

  “I have to go get the cake,” I told her. I saw her eyebrows go up in surprise. “Eric totally flaked out on me. It’s probably gonna take me at least half an hour.”

  Ginny’s face fell. “I’ll go,” she said. “You stay here. You’ve worked so hard on this, you shouldn’t miss it.”

  “No way,” I told her, already heading for the door. “You stay with Jen.” I looked at my watch and sighed. “Appetizers are supposed to start in twenty minutes. Are you cool with doing the welcome speech before they start serving?”

  “Of course,” Ginny said. “Don’t worry about anything, I’ve got this.”

  “Eric’s the one that should be worried,” I muttered to myself as I walked out of the hall.

  ***

  In spite of the cake fiasco, the shower turned out just fine. At least that’s what Jen kept telling me afterward.

  “This was great, Kiks,” she said, stretching out on her couch and plopping her feet in my lap. “Seriously. Best shower ever.”

  “I’m glad you had fun,” I told her, leaning my head back on the couch. The exhaustion had hit me as soon as the last gift was loaded in Matt’s truck. I wished I could just go home, but I had agreed to hang out at Matt and Jen’s for dinner with the girls, Josh, Nate, and Matt.

  “Is Eric coming?” Jen asked.

  I frowned. She probably didn’t need to hear about my marital drama right now. “I’m not sure,” I said lightly. “He was working today.”

  Eric had actually called me several times in the last few hours, but I had determinedly ignored every call. I was so angry with him that I was almost afraid to talk to him. Much better to cool off first.

  The front door swung open and Annie let out a cheer, making me jump. She had been lying on the floor of the living room with her eyes closed. I had thought she was sleeping. “It’s Josh with the pizza,” she called out. “We love Josh!”

  Jen and I giggled as Josh rolled his eyes. “Just how drunk are you, Ann?”

  “Very,” she said happily. “Restaurant had really good wine.”

  “Get up, you lush,” Nate said, coming in from the kitchen with a six-pack of beer and nudging her with his foot. “It’s only six p.m. for Christ’s sake.”

  “I’ve been drunk since three!” she said proudly, giggling in a very un-Annie-like way.

  Nate snorted and reached down to pull her up. “Let’s get some food into you.”

  Josh deposited the pizza down on the coffee table and Matt brought out paper plates.

  “I love this whole people bringing-the-food-to-me thing,” Jen said, smiling. “I don’t even have to move.”

  “You’re the pretty princess today,” Annie snorted. “Pretty party princess Jen.”

  “Oh, my God,” Ginny muttered. “Why the hell didn’t we cut her off?”

  As everyone gathered around the coffee table, I felt a stab of loneliness. Everyone was paired up with their guy, and my husband was AWOL. I tried to put it out of my head and just enjoy the company, but it was hard.

  Halfway through my second piece of pizza there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in!” Matt called. The front door swung open, revealing Eric standing there. I couldn’t help the scowl that came across my face. I did not want to have the inevitable fight with him here.

  “Oooh, Eric,” Annie said, shaking her finger at him. “You’re in trou-ble. Kiki is mad at you. And you don’t want to see Kiki when she’s mad.” Annie started laughing at her own words, but Jen must have caught sight of my expression.

  “Shut up, Annie,” she hissed. Miraculously, Annie listened to her. Looking somewhat awkward, Eric joined us.

  “How was the shower?” he asked in a bright voice, his eyes flickering over to me nervously.

  You should be nervous, I thought.

  “It was great,” Jen said, still watching my face. “Kiki did an amazing job. She’s the best sister-in-law a girl could want.”

  “Ginny and Annie did just as much,” I mumbled. I appreciated Jen’s words but I really didn’t want any more attention on me right then. I prayed for someone else to start talking. Maybe Jen picked up on my vibes, because she quickly started to talk to Ginny about the relative quality of the two highchairs she had gotten that day.

  After dinner I figured it would be okay to make my excuses and get out of there.

  “You don’t want to hang out?” Eric asked, surprised.

  “I’ve had a really long day,” I said, trying to keep my voice even in case anyone else could hear us. “But you can feel free to stay and hang out with your brother.”

  “No,” he said quickly. “I want to go with you.”

  “Whatever you want,” I said, turning away from him.

  “Kiki—”

  “Not now,” I said, my voice low.

  I found Jen in the kitchen, helping Matt to clear up. They were both laughing at something, clearly happy. Matt rested his hand lightly on her belly as she passed him, making my heart turn over. I was filled with the worst kind of jealousy—for her perfect marriage, for the child she was about to have, even for her relationship with the two girls in the living room.

  Stop it, I ordered myself. None of this is her fault.

  “You taking off?” she asked, catching sight of me in the doorway.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty beat,” I said, plastering a big smile on my face. I prayed it would hold out until I got outside.

  Jen came to me and wrapped me up in a big hug. “Thank you so much for today, Kiki. I meant what I said: you’re the best sister in the world.”

  I closed my eyes shut tight, willing myself not to cry. “Right back at ya,” I whispered.

  I felt the strangest movement against my stomach and Jen pulled back, smiling at me. “Did you feel that? Here.” She took my hand and held it against her stomach, and I felt it again. Something moving. “I guess the baby wanted to say bye to its Aunt Kiki.”

  I stared down at my hand, overwhelmed. Her baby had just kicked me! My first little niece or nephew. I felt a rush of love for Jen and for Matt and for this baby, which was swiftly followed by guilt for the jealous feelings I’d had only moments before. Some aunt I was.

  “Wow,” I whispered, rubbing her tummy. “Hi, little baby. I’m going to love you so much.”

  I looked up and saw Jen and Matt both smiling at me, big huge smiles full of love. I felt my control slip a notch, the tears inching closer.

  “I should go,” I said, pulling my hand back. I kissed Jen’s cheek then turned to Matt, who bent so I could repeat the action. “I love you guys.”

  “Thanks again,” Jen called after me as I walked out of the kitchen.

  “Yeah, thanks, Kiki!” Matt echoed.

  I peeked my head into the living room to say goodnight to the girls. Annie and Ginny were sitting on the couch, laughing about something, Annie’s legs draped over Ginny’s lap. Ginny had a beer in her hand, clearly enjoying her night off from her children, and seemingly determined to join Annie in the land of tipsiness.

  “Night, girls,” I said, waving.

  “Kiki, come hug me!” Annie yelled. “I love you!”

  For some reason even Annie’s drunken silliness made me feel sad. I wanted nothing more than to curl up with the girls, get my own beer, and spend the evening giggling. But my
heart wasn’t in it; I just felt too mixed up about Eric and tired of being emotional. So I walked over to the girls and hugged them each, before turning back to the front door and slipping out into the warm summer darkness, Eric behind me.

  “Kiki, I’m so sorry,” he said the moment the front door shut.

  “I don’t want to talk about this here.” I walked quickly to my car, hoping he would get the hint and not follow me, but of course he did.

  “Please, I know you’re upset. I don’t want you driving when you’re upset.”

  I spun around, my control suddenly gone. “Oh, really? That’s funny. I was pretty damn upset this afternoon when I had to leave the shower I spent weeks planning for half an hour to go do the thing you had promised me you would do.” He winced. “And I was pretty upset when I didn’t hear from you all day and had to drive over to your brother’s by myself.”

  “Kiki, I am so sorry. I was stuck in conference calls all morning. It was so crazy there it just slipped my mind.”

  I stared at him. “Great excuse. I’m so glad I gave you the chance to explain.”

  “What else can I say? I’m so sorry. It will never happen again.”

  I turned to my car, the will to fight gone. “Can I please just go home? I’m so tired.”

  “I’m driving you,” he said firmly. “We can come back for my car tomorrow.”

  “No, thanks. I’d rather have some time to myself.”

  “Kiki—”

  Before he could say anything else I was climbing into my car, slamming the door and leaving him standing alone in the street.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  “Mrs. Thompson?” Barbara’s voice called over the intercom. My stomach dropped. Please not Sarah, not again. I’d already talked to her a dozen times that day and I didn’t think I had the patience for another conversation about her views on the ineptitude of everyone in the service industry. “I have Mrs. Gillingham on the phone,” Barbara continued. I felt a wave of relief. Kara.

  “Put her through, please. Thanks.”

  “Kiks?” Kara said, then immediately burst into tears.