I took my phone out from under my pillow so I could silence it and caught the name on the screen. It was Ava.
“Hey,” I said, rubbing my eyes as I answered the phone.
“Were you still asleep?” she asked. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I said, pulling myself up to a sitting position and leaning back against the wall. “I actually woke up a while ago, but I made myself go back to sleep. It was really hard to fall asleep last night, and I’m really tired.”
“I’m sure you are,” she said. “I just wanted to call and check on you. How did last night go?”
“Well, I’m in a really crappy motel at the edge of town if that tells you anything,” I said.
“I thought you said you got a reservation at the hotel,” Ava said.
“I thought I did,” I said. “But to add to the fun that was my evening, the hotel lost my reservation. So, I ended up here. Alone.”
“You should have just come to my house,” she said. “We could have had a slumber party.”
“I’m sure Mason would have loved that,” I said.
“I would have just kicked him out,” she said matter-of-factly.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I guess it’s safe to assume Tom didn’t take the news well?” she asked.
“That’s one way to put it. We were sitting there at the table, and I told him. I just came right out and said it. I didn’t want to beat around the bush or make a big deal out of it,” I said.
“That was the right thing to do,” Ava said. “It’s better to just put it out there and be straightforward. That way there isn’t any ambiguity or confusion.”
“That’s what I thought. But apparently, Tom doesn’t need ambiguity in order to be confused. I told him straight out, and he gave me this look.”
“What kind of look?” she asked.
“No idea. That’s the thing. I’ve never seen this kind of look before. Especially not from him. It was this kind of disturbing blend of anger and shock and confusion. Just several decidedly negative things. There wasn’t any sort of positivity or even neutrality. It’s not like I expected him to jump up and declare to the restaurant that he was going to be a father and champagne all around or anything. But there could have at least been a hint in his eyes that he was willing to talk about it,” I said.
“What did you do?”
“I left,” I said. “Whatever that expression was, it didn’t seem like it was going to accompany a conversation I wanted to have with other people in the restaurant with us. I was totally overwhelmed. I didn’t know what was going to happen or how he was going to react, but I wasn’t ready for that.”
“Have you talked to him since?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “He didn’t come after me.”
“Has he called you?”
“Once, but I didn’t answer. I booked a flight home. It leaves later today,” I said.
“I think you should hold off on leaving,” Ava said.
“Why?” I asked.
“You said you didn’t know how he was going to react, and the truth is, you still don’t know. You didn’t even give him time to. He might have just been surprised. Wouldn’t you be?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I’m sure I would have been.”
“Then you need to hold on,” she said.
“I can’t, Ava,” I said. “I would have been surprised, but I would have at least said something. I can’t just stick around.”
“Look, just cancel your flight. Don’t give up. I’m going to come pick you up for lunch. You sound like you could use some girl time. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
“Good. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Taking a shower woke me up, and I spent the next couple of hours going through emails and doing a little bit of work. It definitely wasn’t the most productive morning I had ever had, but it kept me distracted and made me feel like I wasn’t completely going off the rails.
Early that afternoon, Ava called me from the parking lot to let me know she was there. I headed down and got in the car, happier than ever to have her as a friend. I glanced into the back seat, but there was no car seat.
“Where’s Robert?” I asked.
“He’s having a day with his daddy,” she said. “When I said girl time, I meant it. I have a feeling you haven’t really talked about everything that’s going on with you right now, have you?”
“Not really,” I said. “I mean, Emily and I talked about it some, but I didn’t really go into details. I know she wouldn’t complain about it or anything, but it’s not like if I talked about everything she would know what I was going through. She’s never been pregnant, and we don’t have any friends with children.”
“Well, I have been pregnant. Twice. One might not have made it all the way here, but that was still my first pregnancy and I can remember what it was like. Consider me your sounding board,” she said.
“Thank you,” I said.
Ava ended up bringing me to a restaurant two towns over. She didn’t explain why. She only said it was a place she really enjoyed. I believed that part of it, but it also felt like she was giving me a little bit of space. Being out of Astoria helped me relax, and we settled into a conversation about everything I was going through at this stage of my pregnancy.
“I know it’s really early, but I already feel like I’m having symptoms. Morning sickness, obviously. That’s what clued me into it to begin with. But I’ve also been really tired. And I’m having a lot of breast pain. That one is unexpected. I’ve never really gone through that with my period, or anything. It’s definitely the tiredness that’s the most surprising, though,” I said.
“Why?” Ava asked. “You’re literally growing another human being in there. That takes energy.”
I laughed. “I guess you’re right. The baby is just so small right now, I didn’t think it would take that much energy, yet. But I guess it is still a major undertaking.”
“To say the least,” she said with a laugh. “If it makes you feel any better, all of that is totally normal.”
“That actually does make me feel better,” I said. “You know what’s also really interesting?”
“What?” she asked.
“Everything I’ve read has said that right around at this point some women start to experience symptoms, which obviously I have. Early in the first trimester, there aren’t as many cravings as there are later. But I’m definitely craving pie,” I said.
“Pie?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Of all things, I have a major hankering for pie.”
“Well, I don’t know how much stock I put into whatever you were reading saying cravings don’t start until later. I think I was pregnant for approximately six minutes when I started craving deviled eggs like nobody would believe.”
“I don’t know if that is more or less strange than pie,” I said.
“To each baby his own,” Ava said. She pulled the menu toward her and flipped through it. “It doesn’t look like this place has any pie. But I happen to know of a little bakery not too far from here.”