“Why are you looking in trashcans, Angela? That’s strange,” I shook my head, slipping out of my coat, and hanging it up on the coatrack by the door.
“Don’t dodge the question, Nellie. Are you pregnant?”
I sighed, feeling a headache coming on. “Yes, Angela. I’m knocked up. I’ve got a bun in the oven. My eggo is preggo.”
Angela’s jaw slackened. “Oh my god. You know I can’t stand kids! Why would you do this?!”
“It wasn’t exactly planned,” I frowned. “But I’m not sure why my life choices have any effect on you.”
“Because! Either you bring a screaming, crying baby into this apartment, or I need to find a new roommate! Both options are terrible for me.”
“I’m so sorry to have inconvenienced you with my life-altering news,” I deadpanned. “But if it’s any consolation, you’ll be needing to do option number two. Obviously, this apartment is too small for a baby, and frankly—the environment isn’t exactly nurturing.”
Angela’s scowl intensified, which I didn’t know was even possible. “Great, just great. Do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be to find a new roommate I can tolerate?”
“Angela, you barely tolerate me,” I reminded her, rolling my eyes. “Either way, this is happening, so we’re both going to have to deal with it. Me with growing a whole ass human, and you with finding a new roommate. I think you got the easier end of the deal.”
She let out an aggravated huff and stomped off to her bedroom, slamming the door.
“That went well,” I said to myself. Before I had time to reflect any more on Angela’s reaction, my phone started ringing. I tugged it out of my purse, seeing Sage’s name flashing on screen.
“How did it go?” she demanded.
“It’s confirmed; I’m about seven weeks pregnant.”
“Yay! I’m so happy for you, Nellie!” Sage exclaimed with far more excitement than I’d even managed to have for myself. It was a good thing that I could count on her to be excited enough for the both of us, at least for a while. I had a feeling I’d be living in a perpetual state of worry and fear.
“I had her send my high-risk obstetrician referral to Springwood…” I paused, letting the words sit with her. The high-pitched squeal that followed had me moving my phone away from my ear.
“You’re moving here?! You’re moving here! Nix, Nellie’s moving to Hartwood Creek!”
“I gathered that,” I could hear Nix say with a chuckle.
“When are you moving?” Sage demanded, her excitement reaching unparalleled heights.
“I just told Angela, actually. I still need to tell Sal to kick rocks, and then I can leave whenever, I guess,” I replied. Angela was technically the only renter on the lease, although I paid half the rent and the utilities. I could offer to pay the next month, but still leave. She wouldn’t care what I did, so long as I didn’t leave her hanging.
As for work…well. I should give Sal my two weeks’ notice, because it was the right thing to do, but I was pretty fed up with him taking advantage of me.
I’d told him I was going to quit on numerous occasions, but he never took me seriously. Probably because I kept showing up at work the next day, but I digress. I could tell him something came up, a family emergency or something. He’d be irritated, but he’d have to deal with it. As far as I was concerned, Sal was no longer my issue.
My issue was the little clump of cells that would, with any stroke of luck, end up being a fully formed human in seven months’ time.
It was kind of sad, when I thought about it, how quickly I could leave it all behind. I guess I hadn’t put down roots here like I’d thought, at least not permanent ones.
In a way, that had been intentional. I was always hoping for something better to come along. A better job, a different place.
But I’d known for a while now that it wasn’t going to happen for me, at least not in Guelph. It was time to seek out something better.
I’d been thinking a lot about Hartwood Creek since my little visit in the fall. I had fallen for the historic small town just as hard as Sage predicted I would. Everything about it was so whimsical and quaint, and the people were friendly and interesting.
It felt like where I was supposed to be. Not to mention, there was the psychic reading I’d had the night of the Witches’ Ball rattling around in my brain. Though the rest of the night was a blur, that memory was perfectly clear, and had been replaying more frequently within the past week.
You’ll find everything you’ve been looking for here. The medium’s words resurfaced yet again, making me feel all the more confident about my decision.
“Okay, great! I’m so excited, Nellie. This is going to be an amazing thing for you, I can feel it in my bones,” Sage said, jarring me from my thoughts.
“Having an inkling of your own, are you?” I chuckled. Sage used to make fun of what she affectionately referred to as my “inklings”. I got a sense for people and situations, and nine times out of ten, I was right about them.
