But today isn’t about business. Instead, Laurelin’s throwing me a baby shower, and I’m so excited I can barely stand it. Her posh townhouse is laden with food, desserts and gifts galore. The people I love the most are all here, including Laurelin, her husband Tate, their baby, and of course, my parents. Maurice was standoffish at first because of the taboo nature of my relationship with Max. But my mom got him to change his mind, and with a grandbaby on the way, they’re both excited beyond measure now.
At that moment, Laurelin walks up to me. “Hey little mama.”
I giggle. “Girlfriend, please. There is nothing little about me and this belly.”
She laughs and says, “Yeah, but remember when I was this far along? I was a walking complaint line. You’re so much kinder and more forgiving than I was. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have a chance to be better behaved this time around.” She’s rubbing her belly and looking at me out of the sides of her eyes, and it takes me a second to process what she just said, but when I do, I squeal.
“OMG, you’re pregnant again?”
Laure grins and nods as Max looks up with alarm at my shriek.
“Everything okay here?” he growls, running his hands over my tummy to check on the baby. “I want the little bugger to be okay.”
I slap at his hands, laughing. “OMG, there’s nothing wrong with me. It’s Laurelin! She’s pregnant again!”
With that, me and my best friend hold hands and dance around a bit, like we’re little girls. But then, there’s a tap on my shoulder and I see Laurelin’s eyes go wide at the intrusion. I spin around, and a beautiful blonde girl greets me. She’s young, innocent, and looks somewhat nervous.
“Hi Rachel,” she greets. “Thanks for inviting me.”
I give her a warm hug.
“Of course, Katy, I’m glad you could come. Please, make yourself at home. Have you met the hostess yet? This is Laurelin Connor. Katy, Laurelin. Laurelin, Katy.”
My best friend gets a crafty look in her eye and immediately begins talking up a storm while gently seizing Katy’s elbow to guide her away.
“So you just graduated high school, hmmm?” Laurelin begins innocently. “Let me tell you, those were some of the best years of my life. Were they the best years of yours too?” she asks.
I merely giggle and shrug. After all, Laurelin knows of Katy’s unwitting role in my break-up with Max. She knows that Katy was banging some older guy when she picked up Max’s phone, but instead of being disgusted, Laurelin was intrigued.
“Wow. And she’s only eighteen?” my friend asked.
I nod.
“I know, right? When I was eighteen, I was still eating popcorn while watching Saturday Night Live on weekends. I certainly wasn’t doing what girls these days seem to be doing.”
But everything turned out okay because to be honest, Katy isn’t a bad person. She’s just young and ridiculous, but then again, a lot of people are at that age. As a result, we decided to forgive and forget, and when Katy asked Max to do her make-up for a fancy dress party, he agreed. One thing led to another, and while she and I didn’t become friendly exactly, I decided to invite Katy to my baby shower as a gesture of goodwill.
But after a few hours, my feet hurt and I feel totally exhausted. Max senses my fatigue and spirits me off.
“Thanks for organizing this, Laurelin,” he growls to my friend.
“Oh sure!” she waves, winking. “Take care of my best friend!”
With that, we left the party and are now snuggled up on the couch in our penthouse, watching a movie together. Max has made my favorite: popcorn with pickles, and I gnaw hungrily on a pickle in my right hand while grasping a handful of popcorn with my left.
He merely sighs and smiles before nudging me. “I need to go to the bathroom. Are you good, or can you wait until the movie is over?”
I laugh because my boyfriend knows that these days, I need help getting off this couch. It’s amazingly comfortable, but usually a crane is required to haul my fat ass off the cushions. I merely smile sunnily.
“I’m good,” I tell him as he nods. Max gives me a stern look.
“Don’t move.”
I giggle.
“I couldn’t, even if I wanted to.”
With that, my boyfriend disappears down the hallway, and then reappears after a few minutes. But he doesn’t sit immediately.
“Baby, what are you doing?” I ask in an absentminded voice while biting into a pickle with a satisfying crunch. “This is the good part of the movie.”
“I’m just looking at the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
My lover says stuff like that all the time, and I flush happily. But then, Max kneels in front of me, and my eyes lock on his as he pulls a box from behind his back. It’s small and a deep, midnight blue. No way. I look from his face to the box in front of me several times, my eyes going wide.