Loathe though I was to admit it, I guess I was more like Jason. But hopefully much less of a douchebag.
I was saved answering Amanda’s question by the ringing of my cell. I glanced at the display and smiled. “Hey, sweetie,” I said into the phone.
“Where are you?” Ginny, my best friend and roommate, sounded irritated.
“They’re announcing the promotion tonight,” I answered. “We’re all stuck here until they’re ready.”
“Is it Jason?”
“We think so,” I replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.
“Well, kick him in the nuts for me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that will help my chances for next time.”
“It will be you next time,” Ginny said seriously. “I know it.”
“Thanks, Gin. How’s the baby?”
“Oh, Jen,” she squealed, her voice lighting up with excitement. “He walked around the entire couch today!”
“Well done, Danny,” I smiled. Ginny’s son, nine- month-old Danny, had recently started to take a few steps—while holding onto something.
“Anyhow,” Ginny said, with obvious restraint—she was liable to go on about Danny uncontrollably when prompted—“Josh will be here soon to watch the baby, so please try and hurry, okay? We’re going dancing tonight if it kills me.”
“I’ll do my best, hon,” I said. Just then, Thomas, our administrative assistant, popped his head in the doorway, gesturing us out into the hallway. “Gotta go, Gin, I think they’re ready for us.”
“Good luck,” she said. “See you soon.”
I ended the call and stood, pulling on Amanda’s arm as I went. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
***
I pulled into the driveway of the little yellow house we were renting about an hour and a half later. There were already three cars parked outside; Annie, my other roommate, must have already gotten home. Josh’s car was there, too. I sighed as I climbed out of my Jeep. They were probably all inside waiting for me.
I opened the front door and was immediately hit by a rush of noise. Danny was crying, loudly, from the kitchen. Over his yelling I could hear Ginny talking in a calm, measured voice, as if reasoning with him. In the living room, Annie was sitting on the couch, purposefully avoiding looking at Josh, who was typing something on his laptop. Annie appeared to be watching TV and had the volume up full blast. I sighed again.
“Hello,” I called out over the noise. Josh looked up at me and smiled.
“Hey, Jen,” he said.
“Hey.” I raised my voice even louder. “Hello, Annie!”
She waved without looking at me. Rolling my eyes, I headed into the kitchen, where Ginny was trying, with little success, to feed Danny some gloppy-looking beige mush.
“They at it again?” I asked, sitting next to her at the table.
“Of course,” she muttered. “I’ve had about enough of it, too.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I promised. “Hey, Danny-o!” The baby flashed me a huge, toothless grin, and I leaned over to kiss him, messy face and all. “What the hell is your momma trying to feed you here little man?”
“It’s cereal. It’s supposed to be good for him. And no swearing by the baby,” Ginny commanded, spooning up another glop of mush and holding it up to Danny’s mouth, which he promptly slammed shut. Ginny sighed. “I give up.” She scooped up the bowl and took it to the sink.
“So, was it Jason?”
“Yup. We all had to stand there and pretend to be happy for him while he smarmed around. Jackass.”
“Sorry, hon.” Ginny grimaced at me as she attacked Danny’s face with a wet washcloth, making him squirm in his chair. “Wanna talk about it?”
“Nah. Thanks though. I don’t want to think about work at all for the rest of the weekend.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Ginny finished cleaning up the baby and went back to the sink to wash his dishes. Danny grinned at me again and I decided I needed to get my hands on him. I unbuckled him from his chair and snuggled him close to me, breathing in his baby smell and trying to force the stress of the day away.
It was hard for me to believe that Danny was only nine months old. It felt like he had been with us so much longer than that. The baby had been unexpected, to say the least. The day Ginny had discovered she was pregnant was, without a doubt, the single most shocking event of my life.
Ginny, Annie, and I had moved in together shortly after we had graduated from college. We had been best friends ever since freshman year of high school, and we had always wanted to be roommates. It probably never would have happened though, if not for Josh.
Josh and Ginny had dated for years, and had lived together at school. It was a forgone conclusion that they would get married after graduation. Instead, they broke up. According to Ginny, it was a long time coming, but to us, it was very much a surprise. So instead, the three of us moved into this little house in our home town and got to the business of starting our real grown-up lives.
Only a few months later, Ginny dropped the bombshell: she’d had a rebound hook-up with Josh and had gotten pregnant. Since Josh was out of the picture by that time, Annie and I stepped in to help Gin with all of it: the pregnancy, the birth, having a newborn to take care of. It changed our lives, all three of us, immensely.
The best part, of course, was that we ended up with Danny. I know that I’m prejudiced and everything, but Danny is perfect. He’s adorable and sweet, and clearly very bright for a nine-month-old. I loved him to bits.
Luckily, Josh did too. It took him ages to find out about the baby (long story), but when he did, we couldn’t get rid of him. Eventually, he and Ginny decided to give it another go and they seemed to be really happy.
But tonight was supposed to be a girls’ night: no boys allowed, including Danny. I walked him out to his daddy and plopped him in Josh’s lap, right on top of his computer. The two broke into identical grins at the sight of each other. I had to admit, it was pretty cute.
“Annie, you need to get ready,” I said loudly over the noise of the television. She turned it off without a word, got up from the couch, and walked to her bedroom.
“Nice talking to you, Ann!” Josh called out sarcastically.
“Knock it off,” I muttered. “You two are driving Ginny nuts.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who—”
“I don’t care. Just try to get along with her.”
Josh huffed and turned his attention back to Danny.
“Ginny, come help me pick out clothes!” I called to her. “Josh will finish the dishes.”
I smiled sweetly at him as he flipped me off, then headed to my room. I was tired, my feet hurt, and I was fast developing a headache. But it was the weekend. I didn’t have to think about work, or Annie fighting with Josh, or any of the other things that usually stressed me out. I was going to put on a cute dress, fix my makeup, and go dancing with my two best friends.
Three Girls and a Wedding
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Three Girls and a Baby Page 20
