“Can you talk?”
“Yeah. I’m alone in the car, and I’ve got the phone on Bluetooth. What’s going on?”
“The woman who has custody of Zack’s kid—she’s pregnant.” I pause. “With Zack’s baby.”
“What?”
I relate what just happened in the hospital room.
“Jesus, Jess. That’s insane!”
“Good word for it. I feel completely certifiable,” I agree.
He laughs. “I can’t believe you’re joking about this.”
“Oh, I’m not. I feel like I’m about to explode or go postal or something. I wasn’t very nice to Zack before I left. In fact, when we went out in the hall to talk, I was a total bitch.”
“Well, no one can blame you.”
“Oh, I think they can.” I tell him what I said.
Brett chortles. “That’s not so bad. Hell, Jess—you’re human, and this is a huge shock. It’s normal to be emotional.”
The kind words make tears run down my face. “Thanks for being so nice,” I say. I watch a woman with a young child and a baby in a stroller cross the parking garage, and feel a familiar jab of pain. Other women’s babies are everywhere.
“You have every right to be upset,” Brett says. “Where are you right now?”
“In my car at the hospital. I wanted to calm down before I drove. I thought that talking might help, but I didn’t know who to call.” I reach in the console, grab a tissue, and wipe my tears.
“I’m glad you called me,” he says.
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“It’s a lot to process.”
“It is,” I agree. “Do you think my life is completely screwed?”
“I think you have an amazing life ahead of you. I have no doubt that you’ll handle this.”
“Well, then, you believe in me more right now than I believe in myself.”
“That’s because you’re in the middle of the situation and you’re overwhelmed. You’ll figure this out.”
“Thanks, Brett.” We’re silent for a moment. I hear a siren wail loudly through the phone, and I welcome the distraction. “Where are you going?”
“To look at a house in Issaquah.”
I like picturing him in his Porsche, going to a destination I know. It’s way better than reliving the hell that just happened in that hospital room. “Is it a house I’d like?”
“Nah. It’s too traditional for you. It’s also a couple million over your price range.”
“Send me a photo when you get there.”
“Why?”
“To remind me that life is happening elsewhere.”
He laughs. “Okay.”
