That Baby

by Jillian Dodd

  "Here's the necklace I had custom made for you. I was going to surprise you with it tonight. I know pregnancy hasn't been easy on you or easy on us, but I wanted to get you something so spectacular that you would know how much I love you and appreciate what you've gone through. I made Jay try it on because I wanted to make sure it would lay properly and the lady at the store had a fat neck. So you enjoy. I'm out of here." He heads toward the door.

  "Danny! Wait!"

  "No, I'm sorry. You being pregnant and the hormones you're taking can excuse some things, but not this. You figure out what you want. You let me know. I'll be sleeping at the hotel tonight."

  When the door shuts behind him, Lori drops to a dining room chair, studies the necklace, and starts crying.

  "You should probably go now," Phillip tells her.

  She leaves the necklace on the table and walks out the door.

  Phillip locks the door behind her and then rushes to me. "Did you really feel the baby kick?"

  April 21st

  Made up.

  "Let's take Angel for a walk," Phillip says, pulling me into his arms. "You've been moping around the house all morning."

  "I just still can't believe Lori. Have you heard from Danny?"

  "Yeah, he texted me early this morning. Apologized again for everything. Wanted to check on you."

  "What about Lori?"

  "She went to the hotel late last night. Sounds like they made up."

  I sigh. "Well, that's good, I guess."

  "Give her some time," Phillip says. "Come on, Angel. Wanna go for a walk?"

  The puppy comes tearing around the corner with one of my shoes in her mouth. The corner of the heel is chewed to pieces.

  "Are you kidding me? Angel, bad girl. Give me my shoe!"

  The dog sprints down the hall, so I run after her.

  "Princess, stop chasing her. She thinks you're playing with her."

  I stop and sit down. Angel peeks at me from under the ugly kitchen table that is still (un)gracing my house. She prances over, drops the shoe in my lap, and licks me.

  I inspect the damage to the shoe. "We're going to have to find her something to chew on besides toys. She's destroying them faster than I can buy them."

  "Let's take her for a walk and wear her out," he offers.

  Later in the day, I get a text from Lori.

  Lori: I was being stupid. I'm just a stupid girl.

  I can't disagree with that and, since she didn't apologize, I don't bother replying.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  YOU KICKED!

  YOU KICKED!

  YOU KICKED!

  (Thank you!)

  I'm able to feel you kick now. Not all the time but once in a while. At least every day since the first one I felt. It's weird. But very, very cool.

  You are now the size of my palm and you are practicing sucking and swallowing, which will be super important soon!

  It's been a rough week, if I'm being honest. My best friend and I aren't talking.

  And it hurts.

  Last week was also the five year anniversary of my parents' death. I mentioned earlier that you have grandparents in heaven. They died in a car accident when I was a senior in high school.

  It's weird how certain memories are engrained in your mind. To this day, I can close my eyes and smell the popcorn in the hospital waiting room.

  I really don't love hospitals, to be honest.

  But I went twice for Lori. Once when they thought she was having a miscarriage and, again, when she was in labor.

  And I'm going for you.

  I hope that my experience having you turns my view of hospitals around. That I'll start thinking of them as a place where miracles happen. Where babies are born. Where people get better.

  You know, sometimes people you think were your friends turn out not to be as good of friends as you thought they were. But when you find ones who are true, cherish them.

  And here's a life lesson for you. If you screw up--and you will--own up to it. Tell the people you care about that you made a mistake and apologize.

  Because making excuses for your bad behavior is not okay. And it devalues your friendship.

  So even though Danny has forgiven Lori, I just can't. I could if she would apologize. But she hasn't. Instead I just hear excuses. She was stupid. It was her hormones. She was dumb.

  And even though I'm being nice and saying its okay.

  It's not okay.

  And neither am I.

  April 26th

  The little monkey.

  Since Danny hired Joey to run his non-profit, he and Chelsea are in town looking for a place to live. Phillip and I worked until noon and then spent the rest of the day taking them on a tour of some of the neighborhoods they are going to look at tomorrow with a realtor.

  "I'm starved!" Chelsea says, grabbing a menu as we all slide into a booth at our favorite sports bar.

  "She's not kidding," Joey teases. "Stand back when the food comes or you might get your hand bit off."

  "Not funny," she says, but she's laughing along with him.

  "We need appetizers, stat," Phillip says to the waitress. "We have two hungry, pregnant women here."

  The waitress chuckles and takes our order.

  "So did you have any favorite areas?" I ask.

  "We really like this area," Joey says. "Lots of restaurants. Close to everything. Good schools. Which even though that may not matter to us now, my dad says it's important for your resale value to buy in a good school district."

  "The one I like best online is near the park too. I hope we like it as much in person."

  A text flashes on my phone.

  Danny: Lori is in labor. We're at the hospital. This is it! It's time!

  Me: Are you sure?

  Danny: Yep. Her water broke, so we'll be meeting the little monkey within the next twenty-four hours.

  Me: That's amazing, Danny! Are you nervous?

  Danny: The weird thing is that Lori was on medicine to stop her labor and now that her water broke and she should be in labor, she's not. They have her walking the halls, trying to get it started. If it doesn't progress on its own then they will give her something to start the contractions. But I have a problem.

  Me: What's that?

  Danny: We don't have the bag we packed for the hospital. When her water broke, we were out. We called the doctor and he told us to go straight to the hospital. Lori is sorta freaking out about not being able to follow her birth plan. Is there any way you could bring it here?

  Me: Of course, we can.

  Danny: Thank you. It's by the front door. We're in room 320.

  Me: Good luck, Danny.

  I announce to the table, "Danny and Lori are at the hospital. Her water broke."

  "That's awesome!" Chelsea says but then she looks at the table and does a little frown. I told her most of what happened with Lori in confidence because I truly needed a girlfriend to talk to about it. She feels the same way I do. Lori owes me an apology not excuses.

  "He needs me to pick up their hospital bag and take it to them."

  "You guys stay here and eat," Phillip says. "I'll run home, grab the bag, let Angel pee, drop the bag off, and meet you back here. Sound good?"

  I let out a sigh. I didn't realize I'd been holding my breath. "I am hungry."

  He leans over, gives me a kiss, and heads out.

  Actually, I'm really not that hungry, I just sorta didn't want to take Lori anything.

  But then I internally chastise myself for being a shitty friend.

  When Phillip gets back, Joey's had enough beers for all of us, and Chelsea and I are stuffed.

  "Their kitchen is never going to be done before they get home. It's too bad," Phillip says. "I wouldn't want to have to take a baby home to that mess."

  "I wonder if we can make it happen?" I say, a plan slowly forming in my head.

  "Make what happen?" Chelsea asks as she's perusing the dessert menu.

  "I'm going to step outside
for a minute. Make a couple phone calls."

  The first person I call is the contractor who's working on our building.

  "Hey, Mike, it's Jadyn. Big favor. Do you think you could get a crew together to finish a kitchen remodel?"

  "Maybe, how soon are we talking?"

  "It needs to be done in the next thirty-six hours."

  "Wow, that's fast! What is there to do?"

  "Well, the flooring and cabinets are in, but the door fronts aren't on. The countertop is in but not the backsplash. Electrical and plumbing are complete, but the appliances are sitting in the garage and the light fixtures aren't hung. Then there are the finishing touches, like putting on the cabinet pulls, hanging curtains, decorating."

  "What's the rush?"

  "It's my friend, Danny Diamond's kitchen and he--"

  "The Danny Diamond?"

  "Yeah. His wife just went into labor. This remodel was supposed to have been done last week, but they had some electrical issues that set them back. I just can't have them coming home to a mess with their new baby. I'll get ahold of the designer. Do you think we could all meet at their house, like in an hour? Will that work?"

  "I can do it, but it's gonna cost you."

  "I figured. Offer them double overtime." I know Danny would gladly pay anything to have it done, but I don't plan on asking him. I know Mr. Diamond will let me take it out of my trust. Surely, he wouldn't want his grandchild to go home to that.

  "That will help get them there," he says.

  I give him the address. "See you soon."

  Next, I call their interior designer, who calls her construction crew. They all agree to meet me and seem up for the challenge.

  Then I call the one woman who I know could probably pull this off singlehandedly. "Hey, it's JJ."

  "Did you hear the good news? Lori is in labor," Phillip's mom says.

  "Any chance you'd like to come visit me tomorrow?"

  "What do you need?" she asks, so I tell her.

  April 27th

  Designated hitter.

  I wake up super early because I have to pee. Then I can't go back to sleep, so I grab my phone, thinking I'll read for a little while, when I notice I have a group text.

  Danny: ***IT'S A GIRL!!!*** Baby Diamond was born via emergency C-section at 3:07 this morning. Both mother and baby are doing fine. Labor was rough. She pushed for two hours before they tried forceps. (Don't ask.) Then they decided baby was just too big and did the section. Baby weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 2 ounces and is 17 inches long. And she's perfect.

  "Phillip!" I screech. "It's a girl!"

  "Uh, what?" he says groggily.

  "Danny and Lori had their baby. It's a girl!"

  "Aww. That's awesome. Everything go okay?"

  I read him the text.

  "Did they say what they named her?"

  "No, at least not yet. I'm not sure if they had decided on a name."

  "We need to start thinking of baby names. What do you think of Otto?"

  "Otto? Are you serious?"

  "Sure, it's cool. Two t's and two o's. Easy to learn to spell. And it's an anagram."

  "Is it short for ottoman?" I tease.

  "Very funny. Fine. Let's hear your ideas." He rolls over and faces me, propping himself on his elbow.

  "For boys, Owen is kinda cute. Carter. Liam, um--"

  "I thought you weren't thinking of baby names yet."

  "I don't want to choose one yet, but if I hear a cute name, I try to remember it. Although my favorite boy name right now is Chase. Chase Mackenzie just sounds like a little stud. Like a boy I would have had a crush on in school."

  "I'm surprised. I thought you would like more funky names."

  "Well, for a girl, I do. I like Harley and Aria. I also like Addison, Landon and Emerson, but I want to spell them with a Y at the end, like mine, instead of an O. And we know her middle name has to be James."

  "Of course," Phillip says. "Those are all pretty. When do you think we should decide for sure?"

  "Well, we have plenty of time. But I suppose we should make a firm decision a few weeks before we are due. Naming a child is hard. You have to think of all the potential bad nicknames kids could come up with."

  "I think you can rule out Aria. That reminds me of that word for nipple. I never know how exactly to say it."

  "Areola?"

  "Yeah, that's it. And Airhead. Hairy, Scary, Airy. Short names are tough. They rhyme with a lot."

  "You're cute," I tell him, ruffling his hair and giving him a good morning kiss.

  Which leads to some other morning fun.

  Before we go to the hospital to see baby Diamond, we check in on the kitchen progress. I made a cute pink 'It's a Girl' banner to hang in the entryway. The crew has been working non-stop in shifts since last night. I'm shocked at all they have accomplished. The backsplash is in and the cabinet doors are being installed.

  "Can you believe how much they got done already?" I ask Phillip as we're walking down the hall at the hospital.

  "Yeah, it's starting to look like a real kitchen. Mom said she's headed down?"

  "I thought we could go shopping and stock their fridge. Your mom's going to whip up some dinners and put them in the freezer along with an assortment of baked goods. Danny's parents are on their way too and have offered up their help. I think we'll have it done. Especially since she had a C-section. I think that means she'll be in the hospital for a day longer."

  "So does all this mean that you and Lori are okay now? You still haven't talked to her much, have you?"

  "No, just some awkward texting."

  "And are you doing okay with being here at the hospital?" he asks, giving me a little squeeze.

  "As long as you hold my hand, Phillip, I'll be fine."

  "I can tell you're pregnant today. Your shirt's tight around your tummy. It's cute."

  I look down. "No denying it anymore."

  "What you're doing for Danny and Lori is really nice. Are we going to tell them today?"

  "No. I want them to be surprised when they walk in the door."

  "Will you tell them it was you who made it happen?"

  "Probably not, Phillip. I'll let the designer take the credit. I don't . . . Like, it's not about that. I don't know if she'll ever be my friend again. But, regardless, I want both of them to be happy when they bring their baby home. Maybe it will help them too. I know they made up, but Danny said things are still a bit strained."

  "I saw her wearing the necklace the other day," Phillip states dryly.

  "Well, she must not be as traumatized as she claims."

  He flattens me against the wall, his strong body firmly against mine, holding me in place. "Are we good?"

  "We seemed pretty good this morning."

  "Okay, let me rephrase that. Are you good? Do you feel good about us?"

  "I feel great about us, Phillip. I can't wait until people are coming to the hospital to visit our new baby."

  He kisses me. "I can't wait either. Let's go see this new little girl."

  Phillip knocks gently on the door and Danny tells us to come in.

  Lori is lying in the bed, holding a little pink bundle.

  "Congratulations!" we both say. "Are you so excited it's a girl?"

  Danny takes the baby out of Lori's arms and holds her out for us to see.

  "She's beautiful," I say sincerely.

  "Thanks," she says.

  "She has a little bit of a cone head," Danny says with a laugh. "Stuck in the birth canal for a few hours does that to them, I guess. And I was surprised. I thought she was going to be a boy."

  "So, the birth sounds like it was a little crazy," Phillip says.

  "Oh, yeah, you should have seen it. Miss-I-Want-A-Natural-Birth here was like, 'Get me the god dammed epidural now!' And I was like, honey, but you told me no matter what you said, I was supposed to follow the birthing plan. I told her she should focus on her breathing more, like in yoga. Then she grabbed me by the shirt like a scene out
of the fucking Exorcist and said in a voice that sounded like the devil himself, 'Get me the fucking epidural. NOW!' So, I did. Thank goodness, too. They were able to do the C-section quickly when they needed to and it was amazing. They pulled this sweet little monkey out of her lickety split, and I cut the cord, and she was crying, and I was crying. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life." He sits on the bed next to Lori and they share a sweet look.

  I hope that means they are going to be okay.

  "So the text didn't mention a name. Have you chosen one yet?" Phillip asks.

  "We have," Lori says. "Meet Devaney Alayna Diamond."

  "Devaney?" Phillip says. "Like the great Husker coach, Bob Devaney?"

  "Yep," Danny says. "Isn't it the coolest name ever?"

  "I really like it," I say. "It's very pretty. I've heard of the name Delaney before but never Devaney."

  "That's why we liked it," Lori says. "It's different and pretty. We'll probably call her Devan for short."

  "That's really cute too," I say directly to Lori. "I'm glad everything worked out so well."

  "Do you want to hold her?" Danny asks me.

  "I'd love to. Can I wash my hands first?"

  "There's some antibacterial soap in the bathroom."

  After washing my hands, I am rewarded with a beautiful baby girl lying in my arms. She looks up at me and moves her lips, like she's doing a fish face. "She's ready for selfies," I laugh, mimicking her.

  Danny talks to Phillip while I stare in wonder at Devaney.

  "So one thing you should know about childbirth is your doctor, who your wife has spent months getting to know, only shows up the second it's time for delivery. You think he's going to be with you the whole time. Like through labor and all that. No. He's like a designated hitter, only shows up when he's at bat."