Lydia reddened. “Um, both.”
Deep confusion took over Krysta's entire body. “Both? How is that possible? I mean, they don't, um, stuff both of their, you know, into the same condom and then – ”
A mental image of what Krysta was describing invaded Lydia's brain, making her shake her hands in cootie outrage.
“No! What? NO! Who would do... that?”
Krysta shrugged. “How would I know? I've never slept with two guys at once. The mechanics of it are mystifying.”
“Mystifying? If you're curious about how threesomes work, just go watch some porn,” Lydia said in full-on sarcasm mode. Nothing she, Jeremy, and Mike did together in bed bore any resemblance to the cheesy adult films Jeremy had an affinity for.
She'd watched a few with him, and while they were certainly arousing, they were pure fantasy.
As in, detached from reality.
At that exact moment, a rustling of leaves behind them made Lydia and Krysta turn to find Caleb standing there, gape-mouthed and bright red.
A warm flush of embarrassment spread like wildfire across Lydia's skin.
“Uh,” he said, holding a hatchet, wearing snowshoes, a heavy bag of kindling in his other hand. “Jeremy said you could use some for the cabin, and I was walking past and – ”
“Right. Sure.” Krysta cut her eyes to Lydia, the question clear:
Had he heard that?
“I'll leave it on your porch,” he said, walking past Krysta without even looking at her.
Oh, yeah. He heard it.
“Lydia!” Krysta hissed in horror. “Now he thinks I'm taking lessons from you on sex and threesomes!”
“Maybe it'll finally force my stupid brother to see you as a sex object.”
“Hey! I don't want to be objectified like that.”
“Not objectified, but Krysta, come on. You two have been playing this weird flirty thing for too long. You need to just take a chance and – ”
“I'm dating someone else,” Krysta confessed in a rush of words.
Above them in the sky, the piercing sound of a hawk's cry punctuated Krysta's words.
It was almost supernatural, and made Lydia shiver.
Her witch theory was starting to really take hold.
“You – what?”
“His name is Zach. He's a software developer for a small GPS business that does something with aerospace companies. We have our fifth date on Tuesday.”
“Date? You're dating him? He's not just a booty call?”
“It's – no. It's not just that. He's super nice, and we're both really into mystery podcasts, and he likes to play D&D, and we went skiing once and – ”
“You have slept with him. And you didn't tell me?”
“No. No sex yet.”
“Then what's wrong?”
“Nothing's wrong. I just... He's patient.” Krysta looked at the path Caleb had made in the snow, deep into the woods. “And I'm waiting until I'm ready.”
“You're deluding yourself. You won't be ready until you come clean with Caleb.”
“Huh?”
“Krysta. You are dating a nice guy. Four dates. No sex. And you can't peel your eyes off my brother for a single second while you're here. Don't tell me Caleb isn't the reason you haven't done the nasty with your new boy toy.”
Nostrils flaring, Krysta's cheeks turned pink, anger rising in her. “Caleb has had years to make his move. He hasn't. He isn't interested in me!”
“You haven't made your move, either! It's the twenty-first century. Women can initiate. What kind of feminist are you?”
“A very insecure one!” Krysta burst into tears, making Lydia feel horrible.
This was not how a weekend of hanging out together was supposed to start.
“Oh, honey!” Lydia cried, grabbing her friend for a gooey, emotional hug. Both of them sobbing, they held onto each other, each crying for very different reasons, but what they had in common was precious:
Love and support for each other.
“This is so silly! I'm a grown woman. I should be able to ask Caleb out. But I turn into an adolescent girl when I'm around him!” Krysta sniffled.
Lydia looked down at her navel. “And I can't believe the condom broke with Mike and I chased Jeremy down so he could have a chance at being the father, too!”
Krysta froze comically, as if someone had cast a spell on her and turned her into an ice statute, the snowflake on the edge of her long lashes and all.
“What? What did you just say?”
Lydia's tears turned into hysterical laughter that floated so high into the air she was sure the hawk felt it in its bones.
“Crazy, right? But... but... when the condom broke, and we realized I was fertile, Mike said to be fair, I had to give Jeremy a chance, too! And when I chased grumpy Jeremy down, he didn't want sex because I'd rejected him that morning, and then when I explained what happened he said it was all up to me. My body, my choice.”
“Oh my God, Lydia, that's so sexy.”
“I know, right? So I pulled him into the woodshed, and we screwed like bunnies in there.” She looked down at her midsection. “And now I might be pregnant.”
“That's one heck of a moral quandary. The whole 'give each guy a fair shot at knocking you up after a birth control accident.'”
“It's like a Dan Savage column written by Judd Apatow.”
“But... are you okay? Now?”
“No. I mean, yes...” She drew the word out, assuring her friend she was fine. “But no. Babies weren't part of the plan.”
“I don't think they are much of the time, Lydia.”
“We just – I mean – if I'm a mother,” she hissed, “then it'll change everything.”
“That's the point of children. They do change everything.”
“I know. But the way we live now – me, Mike, and Jeremy – we really like it.” Lydia rubbed her belly and smiled. “And yet...”
“And yet, you'll be an amazing mother. And you'll have two fathers to help you.”
“Can you imagine them as...as – as dads?” Stumbling to even say the words, she cracked into laughter again, Krysta joining her.
“We're getting old, aren't we?” Krysta said, shaking her head.
In the distance, a deer shot through the woods, the sound of more animals making their way through the snow-covered ground mingling with her thoughts and feelings, turning into a whirl of everything.
“Look at us,” Lydia declared. “Getting old, for sure. You're dating some hot software developer in the city now. I'm settled with my guys up here. When did we get to this place? Tell me more about Zach.”
And with that, they headed back to Lydia's cabin, wiping their eyes as hot chocolate beckoned.
7
Mike
“Look at us,” Lydia declared. “Getting old, for sure. You're dating some hot software developer in the city now. I'm settled with my guys up here. When did we get to this place? Tell me more about Zach.”