“I love you wife but my hatred for cheese it in my genes.”
“Hey, you ate one of these once!” I argue.
“I was a desperate man but if you look like you’re gonna toss your cookies, then I’m definitely not inspecting it. Anyone else?” Sy motions toward my mother who is wearing a peculiar look on her face. She steps forward being the fearless woman I know her to be and peels the bread apart to inspect the sandwich. She sniffs it, looks at me then takes a small bite.
“It’s fine,” she announces. “Tastes and smells like it always does,” she shrugs but raises one questioning brow the tiniest fraction and my heart slams to a violent halt, my eyes widen, my jaw drops. All while my inner circle, mostly retired as they are, begin filing in to give their input.
“In his genes,” Sy had said.
No way.
Whew! I made it and I’m super excited! A new version of myself joins the inner circle looking frazzled but tickled pink, as momma would say. She has her long black hair tousled and piled into a messy bun. The flats on her feet look comfy and pair nicely with her slouchy sweater and skinny jeans. She has a large diaper bag on one shoulder, a baby stroller, her purse, an iced coffee in one hand, and a pile of what looks like parenting magazines and books under her arm.
And who the hell are you? Anxiety wheezes with wide eyes.
Ah. Sorry. I’m Baby Fever and I’m seriously so pumped about this. We are going to nail this mom life.
There goes all the amazing spontaneous sex for the next eighteen years, Negativity grumbles, rolling her eyes.
How are we going to deal with a baby, a husband and a brand new consulting firm, Self-Preservation asks quietly, her brows pinched together, concentrating deeply.
None of that matters! This is amazing news! Optimism and Happiness high-five.
Right! Baby Fever adds, joining them in a little huddle all of them jumping up and down.
I’m out of here, Self-Loathing grumbles as she kicks her chair over and leaves. Negativity and Blind Rage mutter and groan as they follow her out.
Breathing a little too rapidly for my families liking I grab my phone and scroll to my calendar to do some quick math.
“I’ll just get rid of this,” Momma announces with a smirk on her lips. I glance up in time to see her wag her brows at Audrey who then makes a squeaking sound. I can’t focus on the super sleuth moms or my inner ramblings or my husband or anything else at the moment though because according to my calendar I’m late as in, very late. Fifteen days late to be exact and if it means what I assume it means, then it’s right on time.
“Remember you said you needed a name for the new boat for the North Carolina chapter of BCF?” I ask tentatively. Sy’s forehead creases but his eyes twinkle. “I think you might have a name now,” I say shakily and hand Sylas my phone.
“No way,” he says looking at me. “You better not be kidding. Are you serious?”
I shrug and shake my head, tossing up my hands in disbelief. We just got off birth control two months ago not expecting anything to happen so soon. We’ve both been so busy with the firm and the nonprofit; I guess I hadn’t noticed my period was a no show.
I peek up to see everyone in the room aside from the moms and us are wearing confused expressions. “Everyone out,” Momma orders and they all begin filing out of my office, giving Sy and I a moment.
“Oh my god, is she pregnant?” Ellie gasps from out in the hallway. I begin laughing and happy tears collect in my eyes.
“We should probably confirm this suspicion before getting too excited,” I say, trying to be reasonable.
“We will but I already know. We’re having a baby,” Sy says in his normal self-assured way. “And if it’s a girl her name will be Magnolia, Maggie for short,” he muses and my heart doubles in size at the thought of a precious baby girl called Maggie with her daddy’s big brown eyes and brown wavy hair. His wide grin and eyes sparkling with excitement is a sight I’ll not soon forget.
“And what happens if we have a boy?”
“Meh,” he shrugs, pretending to think. “He can be Magnolia too. He’ll be a modern man with no hang-ups on societal norms,” Sy says smiling. I laugh breathlessly, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“You’re out of your mind,” I declare, tangling my fingers in his soft locks.
“Gabriel is a pretty good name,” he offers gently.
“It’s definitely a great name,” I say grinning.
“And Year Thirty is gonna be a hell of a year and one hell of a boat.”
“Vessel,” I correct him with my lips pressed to his and my heart so incredibly full, I believe it just may burst. I can’t say I’d mind, because for all our struggles and victories over the last twenty years of knowing one another he has always been there to listen to the music with me and he has always been my Gabriel Oak just like he promised. My heart can go ahead and burst all it wants.
THE END