“I’m good. Thank you. This looks amazing,” Ashley says.
“Awesome! If you need anything, just signal. It’s quiet in here this afternoon so I’ll notice. Enjoy!” She bounces away and we doctor up our coffee, taking a sip then diving into our chocolatey muffins. I honestly don’t think I could eat one of these without cutting the sweetness with some coffee, but the combination is amazing.
“Holy crap, that’s good,” she mumbles around a mouthful of muffin.
“Right?”
“You were not wrong, I’ll be craving these.”
I store that little bit of information for later.
“What are your plans for the rest of the day? Tomorrow? Do you have plans?”
She gives me a funny look that makes me laugh. “What’s tomorrow?”
“New Year’s Eve?”
Ashley hits her palm to her forehead. “I swear, I have no concept of time whatsoever.”
“Something tells me that will change,” I suggest, looking at her stomach.
She places a hand where my eyes are focused. “Probably. I already think of the pregnancy as spaces of time.”
“That’s what Josie said, too.”
“When is she due, again? I know you told me when we were on the phone Christmas Eve.”
“Like… three days ago?”
She pulls an eek face. “Oh boy.”
“Oh boy, is right. She’s driving Dean crazy.”
“I bet.”
“Her doctor is taking pity — likely on Dean — because she whined enough so they’ll induce her tomorrow if the baby doesn’t come on its own. My guess, though, is that they won’t need to do that. She’s determined to will that little guy or gal out of her stomach and there’s never been anything Josie hasn’t set out to do that she’s failed at.”
“She sounds intimidating.”
Josie? Far from it. Though, from that explanation, I can understand why she would think that. “Nah, she’s not intimidating.”
“Well, probably not to you. You’ve known her since she was born,” she adds.
“That’s not the reason she doesn’t intimidate me.” I put my empty muffin plate on the table and lean back, resting my ankle over my knee and stretching an arm over the back of the couch. “She’s just a stubborn ass who doesn’t take no for an answer. But, honestly, she’s been having those fake contractions since Christmas Day and when the doctor checked her the day after he said she was moving in the right direction.”
“You guys are… super close, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I have two sisters and we talk like that with each other. Like we know about our menstrual cycles and stuff but we’re women. We share random and weird stuff. I can’t imagine sharing the same with a brother.”
“We’re it for each other, though. She doesn’t have a sister. She has Dean and me. Dean has a lot of sisters but they’re not close with her because they have each other. We tell each other things.” I shrug.
“Okay, that’s actually kind of sweet.”
I offer up a toothy grin. “That’s me. Sweet.”
Ashley rolls her dark brown eyes. They’re darker than mine, and so expressive. She has a few freckles on the bridge of her nose. When she smiles a certain smile, there’s a little dimple in her left cheek.
She reaches into her coat pocket and pulls out a hair tie, wrapping her long brown hair in one of those messy buns. She makes it look quick and easy and for some reason the short process fascinates me. It looks so complicated, but she just threw it up in twenty seconds.
She forks up the last of her muffin and asks, “Does your sister know what gender the baby is?”
“If she does, she hasn’t told me. She said she wanted to find out but the baby was in a weird position during the ultrasound.”
Her eyes get wide and she slides the fork out of her mouth, chewing rapidly and swallowing. “There’s a chance of that happening? I figured they just keep looking until they know for sure!”
“Apparently not. I guess that’s something we’ll figure out eventually, right?”
“Along with about a million other things.”
“We’re so underqualified. Thank goodness we’re underqualified together.” I joke but there’s a lot of truth to it. What first time parents are actually qualified, though? “So, you’re on board with finding out the gender for sure, huh?”
“Like you said earlier, we’ve had enough surprises. Let’s minimize those that we can.”
“Good plan,” I say, wishing she’d left her hair down so I could twirl my finger in it. The desire hits me hard and swift, and an uncomfortable itch right along with it. Fortunately, my phone rings, breaking into my thoughts.
I pull it out and see Dean’s contact lighting up my screen.
“It’s Dean.”
She bounces and jumps onto her knees on the couch. “You need to get it! Maybe there’s a baby being born right this second!”
I grin at her eagerness for someone she’s never met. “Relax, relax. I’m answering.” I lift the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“It’s time! Get your ass over here now!”
Quickly shifting, I plant my feet on the floor, my eyes trained on Ashley. “Holy shit. For real?”
“Of course it’s for real. Did you really think your sister would have let the doctor induce her? She had a plan and you know how stubborn your sister is.”
Ashley’s watching me closely, leaning in to see if she can hear anything. “It’s time,” I tell her and she squeals.
“Who are you talking to?” Dean demands to know.
“Ashley.”
“Bring her along. Your sister will want her here.”
“Uhh,” I hedge. “I don’t know. I’ll call you when I get there, okay?”
“Yeah. Just… hurry. We got here and she’s already at eight centimeters dilated which means it could happen soon.”
“Okay, well, why don’t I just come over after the baby’s here? I don’t really want to see my sister in labor.”
Ashley grabs my arm. “No! Let’s go let’s go let’s go!”
I give her a weird look. “Are you drunk? You want to go to the hospital where you’ll meet my sister for the first time while she’s in labor?”
“It’ll be a good learning experience for us! What better way to understand what we’re about to get into than watching it firsthand?”
“You’re drunk. You’re pregnant and you’re drunk. This isn’t a good thing.”
She playfully shoves me. “Shut up, you can’t deny that there’s truth to what I’m saying.”
“I can deny it. Why in the hell would I want to be in the room while my sister shoves a baby out of her vagina?”
“Hey! I’m still here, you know. Just come so that you’re here when the baby arrives. You don’t have to be in the room. Holy shit, that would be awkward.”
I point to the phone. “See? Even Dean says it would be awkward.”
She drops back onto her butt, pouting. “I don’t know why you’re being such a party pooper about it. It would be so cool.”