“Hey, Sophie, can I talk to you for a minute?” Penny asked, casting a glance at Ian. He wasn’t paying attention.
Something was up. “Yeah. Sure.”
We hung back until everyone was in the dining room except us. Penny took a deep breath and smiled her gleaming Barbie smile. “I’m pregnant.”
“What?” I exclaimed way too loudly. “Since when?”
“Since the end of May.” She beamed. “We weren’t telling anyone until I was three months out. But I wanted to tell you, in person, and next week—”
“You’ll be in the Bahamas,” I finished for her. Even though we had the means to buy a whole tropical island if we wanted to, running away would never be practical. I envied Penny her chance to live in a sun-drenched paradise. “I’m so honored that you told me!”
“Well, you set us up, so…” She shrugged. Then, without warning, she launched herself at me for a big hug. “Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Okay. Thanked,” I gasped. She was stronger than I would have expected from someone so petite. “Can I breathe, now?”
“Right,” she said, her cheeks flushed red as she stepped back. “Anyway, please don’t tell anybody else. I’m going to send out announcements after we get settled in down there.”
“Yeah, I won’t.” I looked down at her still flat stomach. There was another person in there. Pregnancy was so odd.
Dinner was as Midwestern as you could get on the east coast, but everyone s
eemed to love it. Mom had baked a ham, and when she was out of the room, Rudy said in a hushed tone, “This is the traditional food of her people.”
“Hey,” Tony said in a warning tone. “That’s my girl you’re talking about.”
“Why, Tony.” Neil grinned. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“I’m off the clock, Mr. E,” he reminded Neil.
The laughter and conversation brought to mind that awful day back in April, when we’d gathered to celebrate Emma’s birthday and Neil had tried to end his life. But those thoughts were quickly banished when I realized that, this time, he wasn’t wearing a brave mask. He was relaxed, engaged, and truly happy.
After our guests left and I helped Mariposa put Olivia down for the night, I went to look for Neil. In the back of my mind, I feared I would find him taking pills or having a drink or doing something else horribly self-destructive. I would probably worry about that for a long time. Maybe the rest of our life together.
He stood on the patio, looking out at the ocean far in the distance. Even from this far away, I heard the waves crashing.
“They’re really giving the shore hell tonight,” I said, stepping closer to him to use him as a windbreak. Even on a warm night in late June, the Atlantic wind could chill you.
“Good,” Neil said cheerfully. “It’s like applause. ‘Welcome home, Neil! Don’t fuck it up this time!’”
I laughed and put my arm through his then leaned my head on his shoulder. “You’re not going to fuck it up. Look at how many people there are ready to support you and love you and be here for you.”
“And absolutely destroy my kitchen,” he said with a grimace. “Your mother may make a fine home-cooked Midwestern meal, but she also makes a truly gruesome mess.”
“Which I’m sure she’s in there cleaning up, right now,” I lightly scolded.
“Oh, I hope she stays late, negating any chance I might have had for a ‘welcome home’ fuck.” He slipped his arm around my waist.
“Wow.” I pretended to be teasing to cover up my shock. “Are we really doing that, now?”
“Doing what? Continuing to have sexual relations as man and wife? Knowing each other biblically? I’d like to think so.” His bravado faltered a little. “That is, if you’d like to. I don’t know if anything has changed, now that we’re home—”
“Nothing has changed.” We hadn’t exactly been burning up the sheets the way we used to, but at least our sex life had started to exist again while we were in Reykjavik. But what I wanted from him, I wasn’t sure he was ready to give.
Even though I hadn’t said anything, Neil knew what was on my mind. He always had an uncanny knack for that. “Nothing has changed, but you’d like it to.”
“No. No, honestly, I slept on my own for so long I’m just happy to have a body next to me.”
“That’s very flattering, thank you,” he said dryly.