by Magan Vernon
As I scrolled through more pictures, I found one of him with Emily making goofy faces at the end of an outdoor pool. It was the first time I’d looked to see her tagged in a picture. So like the good stalker, I clicked on her profile and saw more recent pictures. There were ones of Jay putting his face under a soft serve ice cream machine in some sort of a cafeteria and one of Johnny with a snorkel on and crossing his eyes.
If Emily was posting...that meant she was using her phone.
Okay, so I hadn’t been the friendliest to the girl, I didn’t like the ex-hookup, and it was probably the bitchiest move imaginable, but I was desperate. And desperate girls did crazy things.
I clicked the private message button and sent a quick note to Emily.
Hey, Emily!
I’ve been trying to get in touch with Johnny. Know why he’s not posting anything? Is he okay?
It sounded not crazy enough.
I sat there waiting for a response, wondering how long I’d have to stare at my phone. It was nine a.m. in Texas so only eight in Colorado.
I knew swimmers were up early, but the question now became when and if Emily would get the message. The girl had like half a million fans on her page. Maybe she was vetting them or maybe she didn’t even handle her own page and someone else was going through these and thought I was some complete Johnny stalker.
Less than a minute later, I had a new message in my private messages.
Emily: Sofie! What’s up! I’m glad this isn’t another dude sending me a dick pic. Don’t even ask how many of those I get a day.
Sofie: Um. Okay. I won’t guess.
Emily: So what’s up, you looking for Johnny? Is the baby coming? Do I get to meet my future nephew?????
Sofie: No, no baby yet. But, yeah, I don’t know how to say this...Johnny and I weren’t on the best terms when he left, and I haven’t heard from him. I’ve tried calling, and I haven’t seen him post anything, so I didn’t know if he was just ignoring me or what.
Emily: Oh
Oh? That was all I got? I shouldn’t have even tried to message the girl. She was probably trying to get down his pants right now. God, I was stupid.
Then it seemed like the three little dots flashed across the screen forever, signaling she was typing back. It had to be the longest freaking reply ever.
Emily: Jay tackled Johnny when he got here, and they both ended up with their clothes on in the outdoor pool. Both of their phones were fried from day one.
Sofie: Oh
Now, it was my turn for the one-word response.
Emily: Look, I know you see me as a threat and don’t like me, but I mean no ill will between you and Johnny. I know the guy is crazy about you. Like super crazy. Sometimes, us swimmers just get too much chlorine in our brains and don’t know what to do when things get tough but keep swimming.
Sofie: Sorry I’ve been a bitch to you. I could blame hormones, but we know it’s not the case.
Emily: ;) No problem, sweets. All water under the lane line. Want me to tell Johnny you’re trying to get in touch with him?
Sofie: Yeah. That would be great.
For the first time all day, I actually smiled. I didn’t think I’d have a confidant in Emily or actually like her, so now, I had to see if she actually delivered on what she said.
***
I didn’t hear from Johnny all day. Part of me wondered if Emily even told him I messaged her. Maybe she was trying to sabotage us, or more realistically, maybe she hadn’t even seen him yet.
I didn’t realize I fell asleep on the couch with a half-eaten kolache still on my stomach until my phone vibrated on my chest.
“Hullo?” I said, not looking at who was calling, but in the back of my head, I hoped it was Johnny.
“Can you fly at thirty-six weeks pregnant? I tried to Google it, and Google just said to ask my physician, but I don’t have a physician since I’m not the pregnant one,” Lia rambled.
“What? What are you talking about?” I asked as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and sat up, catching the kolache before it fell to the ground.
“Speedy called me and said you’re ready to pull your head out of your ass and talk to Johnny and since he and Jay are dumbasses without phones, I’m chartering one of Jay’s dad’s planes and we’re going to see the boys,” Lia said, spitting it out like it was the most sensible answer in the world.
“You know what you’re saying is crazy, right?” I asked, taking a bite of my now cold kolache.
“Do you want to make up with Johnny, or do you want to mope forever?”
I sighed. “I want to make up.”
“Good. I’m off work at five tomorrow, seven your time. I’ll meet you at the Rockwall airport at ten and send you the flight itinerary.”
I shook my head. “You know this all sounds crazy, right?”
“Yes, but do you want to do it?”
“I guess if it’s okay with my doctor, then I’ll see you at Rockwall tomorrow.”
Lia laughed. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter 24
I’d never ridden on a private plane before and would have enjoyed more of the swankiness if I didn’t think about the fact that the first time Jay fingered Lia was on this very plane.
I was also tired, beyond tired, and crampy. The doctor gave me permission to fly since it was a private plane, a short trip, and I wasn’t high risk. I hadn’t dilated or had any contractions or anything. I figured the cramps were because of my giant baby pushing on my ribs.
I was in and out of sleep by the time we descended into the mountains of Colorado Springs, and my ears were popping like crazy with Ellis kicking like he was trying to get out of my stomach as quickly as he could.
“Whoa, that’s like something out of Alien,” Lia said, pointing toward my stomach moving like a wave beneath my t-shirt.
“Yeah, I don’t know how he feels about all of this,” I said, rubbing my stomach.
“Are you ready to see your daddy and have him and Mommy make up?” Lia leaned in, talking baby talk to my stomach.
As if he was responding, he added a good jab that seemed to poke me right in the bladder.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Lia said with a laugh.
It was only eleven Colorado time, but with the time difference, it was midnight Texas time. Even with two naps, I was dragging, but when our Uber driver got us close to the Olympic training facility, a new adrenaline kicked in.
I would do this. I was going to see Johnny.
Or so I thought.
The place looked closed without a single car in the parking lot and most of the lights out except a few outdoors ones near the giant globe statue.
“Um...how are we supposed to get in?” I asked as we got out of the car, and Lia smiled, pulling out her phone.
“Don’t worry; Speedy’s got us,” Lia said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you two become BFFs?”
“Since she agreed to help us sneak our boys out. I just texted her, and she said to meet at the Velodrome.”
“The what?”
Lia smiled, sliding her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. “It’s like a race track in the back. Come on, preggo. How fast can you waddle?”
“Uh, not very,” I said as Lia took my hand and speed walked like an old lady on a mission. We walked through a courtyard between the brick buildings lined with flags from different countries.
It was like a beacon of light came down from the sky, or well, the street lamp above, but there stood Johnny alongside Jay and Emily. I could have picked him out of a crowd anywhere, but at that moment when my eyes met his across the courtyard, it was as if time stood still.
“Sofie?” he yelled, looking at Jay and Emily and then at me.
He jogged over toward us, closing the distance. Before he could even get to me, I started waddle-jogging and threw my arms around him before he could say anything.
He was taken aback—literally taking a few steps back—before he put his arms around my
waist. “How did you two get here? When?” he asked, holding on to me, but I felt the stubble of his chin as he moved his head around.
“I think we’re going to leave you two be for a while. If you need us, we’ll make our way to the Velodrome,” Emily said before whispering to Jay and Lia and then I heard their footfalls grow softer. Maybe the girl wasn’t so bad after all, and maybe I didn’t have to worry about her. Maybe I was the one holding myself back all along. But not anymore.
I let go of Johnny, tears springing from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Johnny stared at me wide-eyed. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I should be. I shouldn’t have just left my pregnant girlfriend. I could have rescheduled this. I was stupid. Are you okay? Is there something wrong with Ellis? Is that why you’re here?”
“No, nothing’s wrong with him. It’s what’s wrong with me,” I sniffled out, shaking my head.
Johnny’s eyes widened even more so, concern brimming in them. “What’s wrong with you, babe? Do we need to get you to a hospital?”
I sucked in a breath and wiped my nose on my sleeve. “No. There’s nothing physically wrong with me, just stupidness not to see what was right in front of me.”
“I’m not following.”
I laughed slightly. “Johnny, I love you, you big oof. I should have said it a million times before, but I’ve just been too scared to let you in. I think I used the excuse of your closeness with Emily, but really, I should have known it’s always been us. You’ll always be a part of me since we’re having this baby together, but I was afraid if I gave you all of me that you’d break me. But—”
Before I could finish my thought, Johnny’s hands were on my cheek, pulling me toward him and kissing me fiercely, taking away all of my tears and all the hurt I felt when he left.
“I love you, too, Sofie. I love you so much,” he said, breaking the kiss only slightly to whisper into my lips before he kissed me again and again.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he put his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. I was lost in the moment and in him until a sharp pain seared in my stomach. I was sure I had peed myself, which happened when I laughed or breathed too heavy or sneezed.
I jumped back and felt another gush that went through my sweatpants and trickled onto the sidewalk.
“What was that?” Johnny asked, staring at my crotch.
“Um, I think I may have gotten excited and peed...” I held onto the rail, feeling another gush. Geez, this was a lot of pee.
“Are you sure that’s pee or...?” Johnny looked wide-eyed from my sweatpants to the ground.
I opened my mouth with recognition as another little gush seeped through. “Oh. Shit. My water broke.”
Johnny ran his hand over his face. “Shit. I don’t have a phone. We need to get you to the hospital!”
I handed him my phone and leaned against the railing. “Call Lia and get Jay and Emily.”
“Okay.” He took the phone with one hand and put his arm around me with the other, steadying me as he dialed with one hand.
“And ask Lia for pants while you’re at it,” I said, holding onto my stomach. The cramps were intensifying, and it was getting hard to breathe.
“Lia! Get Jay’s car. The baby’s coming. Like literally now. Hurry!” Johnny hung up my phone and put it into his pocket.
“Babe, I’m going to carry you to the parking lot, okay? Or do you think you can walk?” he asked.
“I think I can walk. It just hurts. It hurts really freaking bad,” I whined.
“I’ve got you, Sofie, and this time, I’m never letting go,” he murmured.
***
We made it to the hospital just in time.
Four hours later—and with no epidural, I might add—Ellis Gale Laughlin came into the world weighing in at eight pounds, one ounce and measuring twenty-one inches long. A big-ass guy just like his dad, as Jay said.
A plane was chartered for my dad and Johnny’s mom to come in the next day, and I didn’t even want to know how much that was going to cost. But really, there was nothing else I could think of as I stared down at the sleeping little boy in my arms.
I was so scared to fall in love with Johnny, but the moment I first saw Ellis come into the world, a screaming little pink mess, I was head over heels in love with him. And I think I fell in love with Johnny all over again as I watched him hold our little boy and kiss his tiny forehead.
“Do you want me to hold him for a while so you can get some sleep?” Johnny asked from the seat next to my bed he hadn’t left.
“I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to let him go,” I whispered, running my hand along Ellis’s little fingers.
“You’ll have to one of these days when our parents get here, and whenever you’re ready to walk down the aisle...”
I finally looked up from Ellis to raise an eyebrow at Johnny. “What?”
Johnny smiled, pulling something out of his pocket. Between his forefinger and thumb, he held up a straw wrapper tied into a bow. The same straw wrapper from our first date when I told him I was pregnant. “The real one is in my nightstand back at your house. I planned to do this when I got back, but, well, I think now is as good a time as ever.”
“You seriously kept that straw wrapper?”
He smiled, slipping it onto my finger. “Yeah. That night meant a lot to me. I remember feeling every emotion I ever thought I could and knew just how easy it was going to be for me to fall in love with you. Now, seeing you holding our baby, I think I’ve fallen in love again a million times over, Sofie. You and I, we’re a part of each other, and I’m never going to let that go again.”
I leaned over and kissed him and whispered, “Yes.”
“Yes?” he asked into my lips.
“Yes. Straw wrapper ring or real ring. Summer or winter wedding. Whatever it is, I’m on your team. Me and you, and now Ellis. We’re a part of each other. For better or for worse.”
Johnny smiled, putting his hand on my cheek. “For better or for better.”
Epilogue
Johnny
Christmas Eve a year ago, I couldn’t travel home for the holiday. Jay said he was going to be in Friendship and invited me to celebrate with his girlfriend and her big Italian family.
I kept refusing, but after the promise of enough pasta to put me in a carb coma, I finally agreed.
I didn’t expect to come face to face with the green-eyed girl I made out with one crazy night the year before. The girl who I’d thought about ever since then but was sort of dating someone else at the time who happened to be another swimmer.
But Emily and I decided we were better off as friends, so nothing was holding me back from the girl I told myself I was only kissing to make a bitchy girl jealous. But even with the crazy hair and braces, I wanted to get to know Sofie White.
And then when I saw her again with the little sparkly skirt, no braces, and that silky brown hair, hell, no way could I resist her.
You know, or again on Christmas when I forgot all about a condom and knocked her up, not pulling out since her dad walked in right as I finished and I couldn’t even think about it.
However, that was a year ago, and a lot had changed since then. For one, now we had a four-month-old son. One I loved even more than I was in love with Sofie White, who on this Christmas Eve morning would finally become Sofie Laughlin.
“You sure you ready to do this, man? You could still back out, and it’s about a six-hour drive to Mexico.” Sonny, Lia’s brother, smacked me on the back.
“Like you aren’t too far behind from walking down the aisle yourself,” Jay said with a laugh, straightening his tie as he came in behind Sonny and squeezed his shoulder.
With us already living together and having a kid, Sofie and I figured there wasn’t much of a reason to wait to get married. Okay, so I had to convince her.
Neither of us had siblings, except for her almost stepsister, and our biggest family was the adopted Contis. A small
ceremony by the lake followed by lunch at Conti’s was perfect for us.
My first choice was totally an underwater wedding in the Caribbean, but even though Ellis had already started swim lessons, there was no way we could include him in that. And that kid was more a part of us than anything in the world.
As if Ellis knew I was thinking about him, my mom came into the bedroom, already dressed in her green wrap dress but holding the squirming little brunette boy wearing nothing but a diaper.
“Johnny, he’s definitely your son and is refusing to let Grandma get him dressed,” Mom huffed, handing me the giggling little butterball.
“He can definitely be the best man half-naked, right? I mean, comes with the territory of hanging with swimmers,” I said, tickling his stomach, which caused an eruption of giggles.
“So if he gets to show up in his diaper, we all get to go in our Speedos, right?” Jay asked; his hands on his belt were ready to take his pants off at any moment. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the guy was ready with a pair of trunks under his dress pants.
“No, no. Maybe at your wedding in a few months, but today...” I held Ellis up and nuzzled his nose with mine. “Today, we wear pants.”
***
The average temperature for Christmas in the Dallas area was something like sixty-four degrees. But we got even luckier in planning an outdoor wedding because there was a heatwave, so the temperature was a nice seventy-five degrees.
Sofie had spent the night and got ready at the Conti’s house while Mom and I stayed at Sofie’s and my place in town. I hadn’t seen Sofie in over twenty-four hours, which was the longest I’d gone without seeing her since right before Ellis was born.
I hadn’t even gone to a meet unless it was driving distance and I could make a sleep-deprived Sofie and Ellis come with. Now that Ellis was sleeping through the night and Sofie was gearing up to start acting classes, we both figured we should get married, and I could see her in a white dress that would hopefully be on the floor later if Ellis would go to sleep.
