Jenni saw Shelley standing nearby and gave her the thumbs up.
Jack laid a paw on her knee and looked at her plaintively. With a sigh, Jenni gave the dog her dessert, two peanut butter cookies. Graced with a doggy grin, she smiled back.
The boy and his dog jogged over to Shelly, leaving her to finish her fries alone.
* * * * * As her best friend dug through a pile of supplies, Jenni giggled. Katie looked up at her, holding baby wipes in one hand and diapers in the other.
“What?”
“You look cute. ”
Katie frowned and put her items into the growing stack beside her. Jenni remembered her own anxiety when she was pregnant with Mikey. She felt envy mingled with happiness as she watched Katie search for necessities in a large unsorted pile. The pile had been designated as unnecessary goods and was left in a storage room. It was from the WalMart truck. Baby supplies just hadn’t seemed important in the first days. Months later, Katie was
desperate to find what she could.
Jenni, meanwhile, eyeballed what looked like lingerie, WalMart style, but slinky nonetheless.
“Do you want a boy or a girl?”
Katie was deep in the pile again and had to straighten to speak. “Uh, either. Travis wants a girl though. He actually offered to name her Lydia. ”
Jenni looked at Katie in surprise. “Really?”
Katie nodded. “He said it was okay with him. I told him I’d think about it. ”
Sitting back, she pressed a hand to her belly. “I know that if this nightmare hadn’t happened that Lydia and I would still be together and that Travis. . . ” She hesitated and then wiped a tear from her eye. “I know I never would have met him. ”
Instantly, Jenni crawled across the piles to hold Katie. She held her friend tightly, feeling the other woman trembling.
“I’m so damn emotional!”
“It’s hormones,” Jenni assured her.
Katie laughed and wiped another tear away. “I love them both, you know.
Lydia and Travis. And I’m very happy with Travis, but. . . I miss her. ” She paused. I can’t. . . give the baby her name. It doesn’t feel right. ”
“Then if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Travis is trying to be a good guy.
It can’t be easy living in Lydia’s shadow. ”
“Oh, I know that. And he’s so good about it. He really is! And I love him!
If I hadn’t lost her, I wouldn’t have him and it feels so fucked up! And I’m such a hormonal mess!” Katie was half-laughing, half-crying.
Jenni kissed Katie’s cheek firmly, then snuggled her tighter. “I know, I know. If I hadn’t lost my family, I wouldn’t have you and Juan. I’m so grateful to have Jason, and it feels really weird to be happy cause the world is definitely hell right now. ”
It did seem weird to Jenni. She found this world almost comfortable compared to the suburban lifestyle she had once lived. Lloyd had controlled every aspect of her life from what she wore to what she ate.
She had been a trophy wife and his punching bag. Her former life was devoted to her children and pleasing Lloyd. He hadn’t even allowed her to have friends. She now had someone who loved her, good friends, and a purpose in life. The only thing that would make it better was if she could have Benji and Mikey with her. Juan would have been such a great dad to them.
Katie nodded and wiped more tears away. “We’re lucky to have each other, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely!” Jenni agreed and held her best friend tightly against her.
“Without a doubt, Katie. You saved me. And I love you. ”
Pressing a kiss to Jenni’s cheek, Katie whispered, “I love you, too, Jenni.