Cross Your Heart (True Heart Series Book 4)

by Layce Gardner

  Parker smiled at Amy. She was enjoying the mental picture of a cowgirl-themed wedding. “I think I’d look pretty good in a pair of chaps, a cowboy hat, and boots.”

  Amy had to agree. Parker would look good in some tight Wranglers.

  Parker and Amy were saved from further wedding plans when the nurse called their names. Amy quickly got up and led Parker down the hall.

  Dr. Chen greeted them as they entered the examining room. “The big day,” Dr. Chen said. She patted the exam table.

  Amy hoisted herself onto the table and lay back on the crinkly paper. “I’m really nervous. And I feel like I have to pee every ten seconds.”

  “How is the morning sickness?” Dr. Chen asked.

  “Much better, actually. I was worried that the baby would be malnourished since I couldn’t keep anything down,” Amy said.

  Parker sat on a rolling chair beside Amy. She said, “But then we read online that the baby was eating Amy.”

  Amy hadn’t been thrilled about that, imagining the baby eating body parts seemed like something out of a horror movie. “I felt like I was Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby.”

  Dr. Chen laughed. “I would recommend staying away from horror movies.”

  “Sometimes they hospitalize the mothers,” Parker said.

  “And stay off the Internet,” Dr. Chen said. “It scares people with all the possible scenarios of what could go wrong. I’ll tell you if we have an issue. Deal?”

  Amy nodded. “Okay.”

  “Deal. I know stress isn’t good for the baby.” Parker said. “It won’t happen again.”

  As Dr. Chen set up the ultrasound machine, she asked, “Any other issues I need to know about?”

  “Nope. Everything is going smoothly except for choosing a theme for our wedding,” Amy said wryly.

  “Personally, I think the cowboy thing sounds like a lot of fun,” Dr. Chen said, getting the lubricating gel out. Amy lifted her shirt.

  “How’d you know about that?” Parker asked.

  “The receptionist overheard. She told the nurse. The nurse told me.”

  “That was amazingly quick,” Amy said.

  “The grapevine is everywhere,” Parker said.

  “You’ve lived here long enough to know nothing gets by anyone,” Dr. Chen said. “I see your gaggle of seniors has invaded the waiting room.”

  “Sorry about that,” Parker said. She peered at the machine as it beeped and blinked.

  “I think it’s sweet. This baby will have a village raising him or her. Speaking of which,” Dr. Chen said, as she ran the wand around and across Amy’s belly. “Do you want to know the sex?”

  “No!” Amy and Parker blurted at the same time.

  Dr. Chen laughed. “Okay. My lips are sealed. Are you going the yellow route?”

  “I’m not much for gender identity colors,” Parker said.

  “Perfectly acceptable,” Dr. Chen said. She turned the monitor so both Parker and Amy could see the sonogram.

  “Is it supposed to look like an alien?” Parker asked.

  Dr. Chen laughed. “Yes. It’s supposed to look like that.”

  Amy cocked her head. “Are those arms?”

  “Yes. Let me give you a tour. Here’s the head, the arms, and legs,” Dr. Chen said, pointing to each feature.

  “Is everything…” Parker stopped and took a deep breath, unable to finish the question.

  “You mean is the baby normal?” Dr. Chen inquired.

  “Well, yes,” Parker said. She looked over at Amy who was holding her breath and looking intently at Dr. Chen’s face.

  Dr. Chen smiled. “Everything is as it should be. I also got your results from the amniocentesis. There are no irregularities, which means that although you are an older mother, there are no birth defects or Down Syndrome,” Dr. Chen said.

  Amy had stayed up nights worrying about this. What would they do if there were something wrong with their baby? How would they deal with it? Would they keep the baby or…she stopped herself. The test allayed her worries. Those hard decisions had been avoided. She let out a sigh of relief. It was all right. Everything was all right.

  Dr. Chen put the wand away. “Any other questions or concerns?”

  Amy couldn’t stop herself. “The birth… is it going to feel like a Saint Bernard trying to get out a cat door?”

  “Interesting analogy,” Dr. Chen said with a chuckle. She then said, “Yes, it is.”

  Parker winced.

  “But, believe me, as soon as you’re holding your baby in your arms, you’ll completely forget about the pain,” Dr. Chen added. She patted Amy’s foot. “Give me a few moments. I’ll be right back with your first baby photo.”

  Once alone, Parker turned to Amy and said lightly, “I love your cat door. I will always love your cat door.”

  Amy laughed.

  ***

  Amy and Parker walked back into the waiting room. Mabel was the first out of her chair. “Well, girl or boy? We’ll take either.”

  All the women sat on the edge of their chairs in anticipation. Amy felt instantly guilty. Parker squeezed her hand. “It’s all right.”

  “Well?” Mabel said again. “Which is it?”

  “We don’t want to know,” Amy said.

  “We like surprises,” Parker added.

  “You do not,” Mabel said. “You hate surprises.”

  “I like this one. And once you get over being disappointed,” Parker looked around the room, “You’ll be delighted when she or he shows up.”

  “Ugh,” Mabel said, throwing her arms up in the air.

  “Mabel, you be nice. This was more about having a healthy baby,” Clara said, then stopped and looked at both Parker and Amy for confirmation. “The baby is healthy?”

  “It’s a healthy baby with all the correct parts,” Amy said. She touched Bernie’s shoulder. “You ready to be a great aunt?”

  “You betcha,” Bernie said. She leapt up and gave Amy a big hug. “You’re going to be the bestest mother in the world.”

  Millie smiled and hugged Parker. “And you’re going to be the bestest Parker in the world.”

  “So this means we’re going yellow,” Edna said. “I’ve got some great onesie patterns. I won’t bedazzle them though. I don’t think it would be safe.”

  “Good idea,” Clara said, looking down at her shirt which was covered in sparkly glass stones.

  “Well, let’s see the little bugger,” Mabel said, pointing at the oversized envelope tucked under Parker’s arm.

  Parker proudly pulled out the sonogram and handed it to Mabel. All the women crowded around Mabel and oohed and ahhed over the photo. Amy suspected they were trying to see whether there was a vagina or a penis.

  “Looks like a tiny alien,” Mabel said.

  “That’s what Parker said,” Amy said.

  Parker said, “Millie, would you mind calling Steph for us? Tell her everything’s okay? She’s waiting to hear.”

  “Why don’t you do it?” Millie asked.

  “’Cause she’ll get mad at me for not knowing the sex,” Parker said. “She won’t yell at you.”

  “Coward,” Mabel said. Clara swatted her arm.

  Millie whipped out her cell phone and punched a button. Parker grabbed Amy’s hand and quickly pulled her out of the room and down the hallway. They stepped into the elevator and once the doors were closed, Amy asked, “What letter are we on?”

  “D,” Parker answered.

  They began to play the “name the baby” game. The rules were simple. For each letter of the alphabet, they took turns saying a name that began with that letter. So far, they were only up to the letter D. They hadn’t found a name yet that they both agreed upon.

  “Daniel,” Amy said.

  “Daniela, for a girl,” Parker said.

  “David.”

  “Davy. Boy or girl.”

  “Desmond.”

  “Desi.”

  “Damien.”

  “Are you kidding?” Pa
rker said. “Didn’t you ever see The Omen?”

  “Okay,” Amy said. “Not Damien.”

  Chapter Six

  “What d’ya think, babe?” Steph asked, her arms wide. She was dressed completely in yellow—polo shirt, shorts, and socks. She’d finally come to terms with not knowing the baby’s gender.

  The entire house was decorated in all things baby shower: banners, balloons, streamers, signs, and there was even a giant blowup baby sitting in the front yard. (The neighbors had already complained about its creepiness factor.) There were party games set up, party favors, gifts piled on the coffee table, and food up the ol’ wazoo.

  “All yellow. I’m embracing my inner gender neutral,” Steph kidded.

  “I think it’s overkill, but that’s normal for you. I do think, however, you should get rid of the giant Kewpie doll in the front yard. The neighborhood dogs keep barking at it and it’s scaring the children.”

  At the mention of dogs, Steph said, “They better not bite a hole in that baby. I told the rental place I’d return it in perfect condition. You know how much one of those costs? I’ll put it out back.” She raced out the front door.

  Rosa sighed and shook her head. She loved Steph, but she was a handful sometimes. Steph’s heart was definitely in the right place. She’d asked Rosa if it was all right to have the baby shower at their house. Millie had offered to host it. Rosa couldn’t do that to Steph. Parties and celebrations were her delight. It would be like taking Christmas away from a child. How could she fault Steph for being excited about a baby coming into their mix?

  Rosa hadn’t meant to tell Amy about her miscarriage. It had been an accident, an emotional slip of the tongue. Rosa thought she’d regret it later, but so far she hadn’t. Perhaps talking about the grief and pain had been the best thing for her. She felt lighter somehow, sharing that burden with Amy.

  One of the girls Rosa had been friends with when she lived at the State Home for Orphans had a baby. A little boy who had only lived for twelve days. Her friend had gone off the deep end after that. She married a loser with a drug and alcohol problem and had another baby. But even that hadn’t filled the hole from losing her first child. She didn’t want that for Amy. Nothing, not even Parker and Amy, was a sure thing. Look at what had happened to Ruth. She started a family only to have her partner run away, leaving her a single mother.

  Steph came in, rubbing her hands together. “All taken care of. Baby is in the backyard. Mrs. Johnson’s Pomeranian went ballistic when he saw me carrying it. He yanked on the leash so hard, he about face-planted her.”

  “We might want to leave off the blowups for a while.”

  Steph looked crestfallen. “What about my Fourth of July decorations? Or Christmas?”

  “Let’s revisit that when the time comes,” Rosa said. She picked up one of the soup spoons from the party games table Steph had set up. “What are these spoons for?”

  “The egg game.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’ve never heard of the egg game?”

  “Will that affect my salvation?” Rosa asked facetiously.

  “You’re not even religious.”

  “I’m not a follower of organized religion. I’m still spiritual.”

  Steph ignored that. “The egg game is where you and your partner trade off carrying a raw egg on the spoon. The team who drops and breaks the egg is out. The last egg standing wins a prize.”

  “Now that is a skill I have never anticipated needing. Should I practice?”

  “If you want. I’ll get you an egg.”

  “No, I better not. I want to go in fresh.”

  Steph rearranged gifts on the table for the 100th time. “Have you ever been to a baby shower?”

  “Not that I recall.”

  “You’d know if you had. Believe me, it’s an experience,” Steph said. The oven timer went off and Steph dashed for it.

  Bernie’s voice called out, “Knock, knock!”

  Rosa limped to the front door. She opened it to find Millie and Bernie. Their arms were so full of presents, they couldn’t even knock on the door. Rosa quickly grabbed one of the presents as it toppled off Millie’s pile.

  “I don’t think you’ve brought enough gifts,” Rosa said.

  “There’s more in the car,” Bernie said.

  “A baby can never have too much,” Millie said. She walked to the living room and set her stack of gifts on the table.

  Bernie also set her stack down. She looked at the party game table. “What’re the spoons for?”

  “The egg game,” Rosa said.

  Bernie’s face lit up. “I remember that game. I’m damn good at it.” She headed back outside.

  “Do you need help carrying?” Rosa asked.

  “Naw, I’ve got it covered,” Bernie said. She hitched up her brown polyester Wranglers.

  “That yoga must be doing you some good. You’re losing weight,” Rosa said.

  “As well as a healthy diet,” Millie said. She wagged a finger at them. “Fast food kills.”

  “God, what I wouldn’t give for a big old greasy burger,” Bernie said. She left the house humming the McDonald’s commercial jingle.

  Steph came out of the kitchen holding her cell phone, “Good news. I finally talked Tamika into coming. She’s heading to the store right now for diapers. I told her that’s the safest bet at this point, seeing as how,” Steph pointed at the gift table, “We’ve probably already got twelve of everything else.”

  “Why did you have to talk her into it?” Millie asked.

  “She doesn’t know Amy all that well. She thought she might be intruding. I told her there’s no such thing with us. I did have to put the kibosh on Luke coming, though. A baby shower is a girls-only event. He sent that,” Steph said. She pointed to the far corner of the room where a miniature Jeep was parked.

  It was a drivable Jeep that ran on a battery. It was just big enough for a child to sit comfortably behind the wheel.

  “Its top speed was supposed to be three miles an hour, but Luke said he took off some clip and now it goes a lot faster. How fast, he didn’t say,” Steph said.

  The Jeep was neon yellow. It looked just like the real thing only made of plastic and much, much smaller.

  Millie walked over and checked it out. She kicked one of the fat plastic tires with her toe. “I wonder if I’d fit in it?” Millie was petite and flexible from all her yoga. “I could give it a test drive. You know just for safety’s sake.”

  “If you like it, I’ll get you one for Christmas,” Bernie said, returning with more gifts. The table was so crowded with brightly wrapped packages, she had to put the gifts under the table.

  “Give it try,” Steph said to Millie. “I don’t think the baby will object.”

  ***

  Susan and Tess parked on the street behind Millie’s car. They saw Bernie standing in the front yard, intently studying her watch. “Hi, Bernie. What’s happening?” Susan asked as she got out of her car.

  “Hi, Susan. Hi, Tess. I’m timing Millie,” Bernie answered.

  “Is she late?” Tess asked.

  “No, she’s making good time,” Bernie said.

  Their mouths fell open as Millie, driving the miniature Jeep, rounded the corner on two wheels.

  Millie skidded to a stop mere inches from their toes. “How’d I do?” she asked Bernie.

  “Damn good. Four minutes and five seconds,” Bernie said.

  “We’re going to have to soup this baby up some more,” Millie said, unfolding herself from the seat.

  “I think we’ll leave this one alone and get you your own,” Bernie said sensibly.

  “We’ll go look at them after the shower,” Millie said.

  “Why do you want a toy car? You’ve got the Judge,” Tess asked.

  Millie shook her head. “Too many speeding tickets. I get one more and my insurance goes up. Ever since my acts of civil disobedience, the police have been nabbing me,” Millie said. “They can’t touch me i
n one of these, though. A toy car doesn’t have to be licensed or insured.”

  “Be careful,” Susan said. “They still wreck the same as big cars.”

  “I just had my bone density test. I have bones of steel,” Millie said.

  “Bernie, I’m counting on you to keep her safe,” Susan said.

  “I know I shouldn’t encourage it, but at our age, you’ve got to do fun things. You just don’t know how many more of them you’ll get,” Bernie said.

  Tess nodded. She totally understood where the older women were coming from.

  “Within moderation,” Susan warned.

  “Right,” Millie said, winking at Bernie. “I’m all about moderation. Speaking of which, did we tell you about the wedding we’re planning for Parker and Amy?”

  “I don’t believe so,” Tess said, warily.

  “It’s going to be a theme wedding—a Wild West theme,” Bernie said. “But that’s all we’re telling you for right now. We want it to be a surprise.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it will be,” Susan said. She shuddered to think what the bridesmaid dresses would look like. She was going to end up looking like Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke.

  Mabel and Clara pulled up and parked behind Susan’s car. Mabel, who usually didn’t drive, ran up onto the curb as she tried to parallel park. The back half of the old Cadillac hung out in the street. Mabel got out of the car and stepped up on the curb. She put her hands on her hips and smiled at the group of women. “Hello, ladies. Nice day for a baby shower.”

  Clara rolled down the window and leaned out. “Mabel, you can’t leave the car parked like this.”

  “Yes, I can. It’s fine,” Mabel said. She walked over to peer at the tiny Jeep. “This is just my size. Can I give it a whirl?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Millie said. “I did.”

  Susan could think of lots of reasons why not. Mabel was more of a daredevil than Millie, only she didn’t have Millie’s driving skills.

  “Mabel, you get back here,” Clara called. “You simply cannot park like this.”

  Mabel ignored Clara.

  “I’ll park it,” Susan said. “Give me your keys.”

  Mabel tossed Susan the car keys. “Thanks. Parking isn’t my gig,” Mabel said as she climbed into the Jeep. She pressed down on the accelerator, spun a donut in the yard, bounced off the curb and whooped loudly as she took off down the street. Despite their misgivings, all the women laughed.