by Devney Perry
“Ah, okay. Would you like some water?” I asked.
“No. I’m okay,” she said. Still no eye contact.
Sitting down on the loveseat opposite her, I curled my feet underneath me and took a long sip of my coffee. “How was your Christmas? You seem a little . . . off. Is everything okay with your family?”
“Yeah. They’re okay,” she muttered.
I quietly drank my coffee. I figured when she was ready, she’d tell me what was going on. But after five minutes of fairly uncomfortable silence, the air around us started to get heavy. I couldn’t take it anymore so I broke the silence.
“Maisy? What’s wrong?”
She finally looked up and her big doe eyes filled with tears.
“No. I’m not okay. Oh god, Gigi. This has just been the worst Christmas of my life!” she cried.
The dam holding back her words broke and her explanation came flooding out.
“So you know how Everett was super distant before the ugly sweater party but then was great that night?”
“Yeah. It looked like you two were back to normal,” I said.
“We were. Until the next day. He kicked me out of his house the next morning. He actually woke me up and said I had to leave. So I left, thinking I was done. Who needs a boyfriend that kicks you out? Jess would never do that to you. Right?”
“Right,” I said.
I had assumed things were going well with Everett. Apparently not.
And Maisy was right. Jess would never kick me out of his bed and she did not need a boyfriend who thought that was acceptable.
“Yeah. So I decided to break up with him. I just couldn’t take all of the drama, you know? It was draining me. I was exhausted and tired and totally over feeling sick because of stupid Everett Carlson.
“So I went back that night to dump his ass. But then he was apologetic. Said he’d just had a lot on his mind. We went back to normal and I was super happy. I even invited him to my family’s house for Christmas.”
“Well that’s good,” I said.
“I thought so too. But he ruined it!”
Maisy started sobbing again. I knew where this was going. “Sorry.” She sniffled and wiped away some tears.
“It’s okay, sweetie. You take as much time as you need and cry all you want.”
“So Everett decided to drive us to my parents’ house. He said he wanted his car in case the hospital called. Fine. No big deal. If he got called in, I could just get one of my brothers to bring me home. So he picks me up and the entire trip in the car, he doesn’t say a word. Not one word. Not hello. Not even Merry Christmas.”
“What? That’s weird.”
“I know, right?! When we got to Mom and Dad’s, I asked him if he was okay and he didn’t even answer. He just got out of the car and walked inside. Not a single word! So I’m, like, freaking out.”
“Was he like that the whole time?” I asked.
“Ha,” she huffed. “Nope. Because three minutes after we got there, he dumped me. In front of my family!”
“No way,” I said as my eyes bugged out.
Everett Carlson was now at the top of my asshole list. Well, not the top, but close. After all this time, the nice doctor who I had come to like and respect had turned out to be a jerk. A huge effing jerk.
“Yes, way.” Her tears had all dried up and she was moving onto the post-breakup angry stage.
“He tells me that we just don’t work. I’m too young and he’s too busy trying to establish his career here in Prescott. And he said I had too much growing up to do. That he wasn’t interested in putting in the time while I matured. Oh, and my favorite part. That I say ‘like’ too much.”
Damn.
Yes, Maisy was young but he’d known that when he started dating her. Saying that she needed to grow up was way over the line. Everett should have kept that to himself.
“Can you believe it? He was too much of a pansy to break up before the holidays but he finds the nerve on Christmas? Who does that?” she asked me rhetorically.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
She had been sitting up straighter as she got angrier and angrier. But now that her story was over, her shoulders slumped and she slunk back into the seat.
“He left right after that. Which was probably good because I think Beau was about ready to hit him. I just . . . I don’t know, it was so humiliating.”
“I don’t think you need to feel embarrassed, Maisy. That was all Everett.”
“I mean, all this time he’s been distant. Why couldn’t he have just come out and told me he didn’t want to date?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But in the long run, it’s good that it’s over. You don’t want to be with someone who would treat you like that.”
Maisy sat quietly for a second before bursting into more tears, dropping her face into her hands.
I got up from the loveseat and sat on the edge of the coffee table, leaning forward to stroke her shoulder.
“It’s okay. You’ll get over him. You just need to give it some time.”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered between sobs.
Eff.
Well, that was unexpected.
Now her reaction was making more sense. The sobbing and how she wouldn’t meet my eyes when she had arrived. This wasn’t just about the breakup. She was dealing with some major problems.
“You’re positive?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “What am I going to do? How am I going to tell him? I’m on birth control. I get the shot religiously every three months. I didn’t plan on this. What if he accuses me of doing this on purpose?”
“He’s a doctor, Maisy. He’ll know that birth control doesn’t always work,” I said.
“What about my family? They’re going to be so disappointed in me. I’m only twenty-four. They had plans for me. I had plans for me. Now they’re ruined.”
I pulled her hands into mine and looked into her sad eyes. Not too long ago, I had been in her place, so I offered her the best advice I could.
“One day at a time. That’s all you can do. You might be right and your family might be disappointed, but it won’t last forever. They’ll come around and be there to support you. And your plans will change but they don’t have to end. You just have to make a few adjustments,” I said.
“Thanks, Gigi.”
“Anytime, sweetie.”
“I don’t know how to tell Everett,” she said.
“The sooner the better. But if I could make one recommendation, do it in private. Telling Rowen’s father at a restaurant didn’t work out so hot for me.”
“Okay,” she said.
And she would be okay. One day she would realize this wasn’t the end of her life. It was just the start of a different one.
“That machine’s going in the garbage,” Jess said as he stomped into the kitchen.
It was Friday and New Year’s Eve. We were hosting a special farmhouse sleepover for Bryant’s daughter and three of Rowen’s friends from Quail Hollow. At the moment, five little girls, all six years old or younger, were upstairs in Rowen’s room singing Disney princess anthems on her karaoke machine.
As I had promised while in the hospital after the barn incident, I’d bought Roe the singing machine. It came as no surprise that she was thrilled to have it. She had used it a few times but then stowed it away in her closet. I guess it wasn’t much fun to sing karaoke by yourself. And since it had been put away, Jess hadn’t heard it yet.
Tonight, the girls had been using it continuously for the last two and a half hours and he’d heard enough.
I was in the kitchen, making the girls hot chocolate with marshmallows and some snacks. It was well past their normal bedtimes but what good were sleepovers if you had to go to bed on time?
After cocoa and munchies, the girls were going to play beauty parlor in the dining room. I’d set out a pile of eye shadows and glitter strings for their hair.
“If you throw the karaoke machine away,
Rowen might insist you move into the garage,” I told Jess.
“Not a problem. There isn’t fucking karaoke out there.”
“Just let me get these snacks done and I’ll bring them down here, okay? No more singing,” I said.
“Fine.” He went to the fridge and pulled out a beer.
My eyes bugged out as his throat swallowed the whole bottle in four enormous gulps. When that bottle was emptied, he tossed it in the trash and grabbed another. This time it only took three swallows to drain it dry.
“Uh . . . are you okay?” I asked.
He let out a huge belch. It was loud and long. I’d never heard him do that before so my eyes got even bigger and my jaw fell open.
“Better,” he said.
His phone rang before I could say anything.
“Lissy,” he answered, looking more and more irritated the longer he listened to his sister. “Fine,” he said before hanging up.
“Lissy and Ma are coming over. Lissy wanted to say good-bye before she leaves Sunday and thought you girls could drink some champagne,” Jess said, not at all sounding happy that his family was coming over.
“Uh . . . did you tell her that there are five little girls here? She doesn’t seem to really . . . like kids much.”
“Then I guess they won’t stay long.”
“Jess! That’s not nice.”
He grumbled something under his breath and walked out of the kitchen.
Fifteen minutes later, Felicity and Noelle joined us. Felicity took one look at the dining room table filled with little girls and immediately went to open the champagne. Much like her brother, she downed her first two glasses without hesitation. Noelle just smiled her sweet smile and watched the kids play.
Jess was nowhere in sight. He had disappeared right after saying hello to his mother and sister.
I was sipping champagne glass number two when my phone rang. It was Maisy.
She must have told Everett she was pregnant and was calling to give me a report.
“I need to take this, sorry,” I told Felicity and Noelle, moving to the office.
“Hi,” I answered.
“Gigi?” she said, crying.
“Uh-oh. I’m guessing that you talked to Everett?” I asked.
“Yep. And it was awful!” she sobbed.
“Do you want to come over here and talk about it?”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Of course. Come on over. But I’ll warn you that we’re having a sleepover with four of Rowen’s friends. And Noelle and Felicity are over too,” I said.
“Oh . . . well, I’m not sure—”
“Come over. We can talk in the kitchen. And maybe some girl time will make you feel better.”
I ended our call and walked out of the office, colliding with Jess’s chest. I wasn’t sure where he was going but I noticed another beer in his hand.
“Oh . . . hi, honey. Maisy is coming over,” I said.
“Fine,” he muttered and then walked around me to disappear again, the bottle tipped to his lips.
“He was just so clinical. Like I was a patient. He acted like it wasn’t even his baby we were talking about. That he had no part in its creation. He just sat there and calmly told me to think about having an abortion. I was looking at him and I didn’t even know him,” she said, standing at the kitchen island.
“I’m sorry, Maisy.” Though it was far better than the way Nate Fletcher had reacted, it still wasn’t great.
“Did you ever?” she asked quietly.
“Did I ever, what?”
She turned her head in all directions to make sure we were alone. “Think about having an abortion?”
I was making her a cup of cocoa but I stopped at her question.
“No,” I said. “Even though I was scared and nervous, I knew I wanted a baby. I picked out names early on. Rowen for a girl, Coby for a boy. And after that, the baby was real. It was my baby with a name. So no, I never thought of an abortion. It just wasn’t an option for me.”
She pondered what I had said for a few moments, then she smiled. “Coby, I like that. Would you care if I used that name if the baby is a boy?”
I smiled too.
Her life would never be the same. It would be better after she jumped over a few hurdles.
“Not at all,” I said. “Coby Holt. I love it!”
“Me too,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “How do you think it’s going to work? With Everett? If he doesn’t want anything to do with me or the baby, what will happen? It’s not like he can avoid us. We live in Prescott.”
“That’s the million dollar question. He’ll have to come to terms with it. Or else, I guess he won’t. Rowen’s father signed over all of his parental rights. Maybe Everett will do the same. We’ll just have to wait and see,” I said.
“Yeah,” she muttered.
“But don’t fret too much about it now. This is a lot of news for him. Don’t give up yet. You two didn’t work as a couple but you never know. Given some time and thought, he might come around. Turn out to be a better dad than a boyfriend.”
“Yeah,” she muttered again.
“And you have a strong support system. Don’t forget that. You’ve got a great family all living close. And friends. Me. I’ll do whatever I can to help you navigate through this. I’ve been there. It’s not easy but it is so effing worth it,” I said.
“Yeah,” she said again, this time sounding more confident.
“When will you tell your family?”
She took in a deep breath. “Tomorrow, I guess.”
“Good idea,” I said. “Better now than later.”
“Did you tell Jess?” she asked.
“No. And I won’t. Not until you’re okay with people knowing.”
“You can tell him. After tomorrow, everyone that I need to tell in person will know.”
I resumed mixing her cocoa so we could go back to the living room with Felicity and Noelle.
“Gigi? Do you like the name Mabel for a girl?”
I gave her a huge, wide smile. “Love it.”
Jess and I were finally in bed.
The girls had worn themselves out and crashed around midnight. They were all sleeping on the floor of the living room in a “tent.” I’d made a huge canopy over the living room furniture out of some bed sheets and blankets. Then on the floor, we’d piled all of the extra blankets and pillows I could find.
They’d giggled and laughed in their makeshift beds while I sat in the office reading, waiting until I heard the last of their chatter and could come upstairs to Jess.
He had finally emerged from wherever it was he’d been hiding about twenty minutes before his sister and mother took off. Then he’d come upstairs to escape the girl gaggle.
I climbed into bed next to him as he shut off his light.
“Happy New Year’s.” I slid tight into his side and threw my leg over his.
“You too, baby,” he said, leaning down to kiss my forehead.
“Where’d you disappear to tonight?” I asked.
“Huh. I’m not telling.”
I laughed into his bare chest.
“We need to make a deal, Freckles. No more winter sleepovers. Have them when there isn’t snow on the ground so I can take off and go camping. Avoid the torture.”
My laughter continued. “I can do that.”
“And we’re putting a maximum female capacity in place. No more than a four to one ratio, women to men,” he said. “Includes kids.”
“So, I’ve got some baby news,” I said when my laughing subsided. “I hope you’re excited. I am.”
His body tightened, causing me to jerk my arm off his torso and hold it in mid-air.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked.
“Huh?” I said. “Oh, no. Not me. Maisy. Maisy’s pregnant. And Everett dumped her on Christmas. Then he asked her to have an abortion. Can you believe it?!”
He didn’t answer. He just stared at the ceiling with a clenched jaw.
I knew he wasn’t an Everett fan but I didn’t think he’d get this upset. I put both hands on his pecs and shook his chest. “Jess? What?”
“I thought your baby news was you telling me you were pregnant,” he said.
“Ah . . . no.” I replayed the last minute in my head.
He’d thought I was telling him that I was pregnant and his whole body had tensed. Every muscle. Did he not want kids? I already had Rowen but that didn’t mean I hadn’t thought about having more kids one day.
He was great with Rowen and would be great with a child of his own. I wouldn’t push him into having kids if he didn’t want to but I would be disappointed. I had been an only child and I didn’t want that for Roe.
“Do you not want kids?” I asked.
“What? Where the fuck did you get that?”
“Well, you got all tense. And you just said you thought it was because I was telling you I was pregnant. So . . . there,” I said, waving my hand in the air.
He sighed and relaxed. “I tensed because I was holding back from rolling you over and celebrating. If you were having my baby, I’d do some serious work to show you how happy that would make me. But we can’t have sex tonight because there’s a hoard of girls downstairs. So I tensed. And then you said it wasn’t you.”
“So you want to have kids?” I asked.
He brought his fingers up to my face and ran them across my jaw. Then his hand traveled over my hair and to the back of my neck.
“Baby, the way we’re going, I’ve got a kid. She’s downstairs. And yeah. Adding a couple more to our family is something I sure as hell want to do someday.”
My heart swelled so big I was sure it was going to burst. Jess had said a lot of wonderful things to me before. Saying I had true beauty. Saying he loved me. But saying that Rowen was his kid topped them all.
It was everything.
“I love you, Jess,” was all I could say as a huge smile spread on my face.
“I take it you’re good with having a couple more babies?” he asked, grinning.
“I love you, Jess,” I repeated.
I was definitely okay with having a couple of Jess’s babies.
“Stop saying that, Georgia. I just told you I can’t fuck you. Stop making me want to.”
