I put on a pair of blue jeans and a button down shirt today.Nick told me I looked great, that I had the pregnant glow; the glow he saw was perspiration from all the energy it took out of me hurling up the little breakfast I ate.He’s in my soon-to-be old room, but Ava doesn’t know he’s here with me—she doesn’t even know we’re back together.I didn’t want to be grilled over the phone.She’s like her cousin; one question would only lead to another, and she wouldn’t let anything go, it’s the Nancy Drew in her.
She’s speaking with a light Southern drawl nonstop, as if we didn’t talk two days ago.“Honey, I’m happy to see you and the state of New York.I mean, I love being back home in Nashville, but Mama was driving me nuts.She wouldn’t stop complaining about my hair being strawberry blond.I finally caved and went back to my natural color.I don’t know what got into her, she wanted to bond.I love shopping as much as the next gal, but how much time can I spend with my mama?I practically had to gnaw my arm off to hang out with my friends.She really needs to divorce my daddy and get herself a man.”
When she stops talking long enough to breathe properly, she frowns, steps back, and looks at me.I bite the inside of my lower lip and brush the palm of my hand against my thigh.“Why are you looking at me like that?”
She pokes her lips out and scrutinizes me for another minute.“Did you lose weight?”
“A little.”
“Is this because of Nick?”Her frown deepens.
“Yes and no.”I’m getting nervous to the point of becoming nauseated.I know she’s going to bombard me with questions.My door opens and Nick comes out, just when I need him.
Ava’s eyebrows shoot up over her hairline, and she turns her head and mouths to me, “What is he doing here?”
I shrug my shoulders and give her a nervous smile.She saunters over to him in her wedge boots, skintight jeans, and cropped leather jacket to give him a hug.Tossing her thick jet-black hair over her shoulder, she gives him a beaming smile.“What are you doing here, Nick?”
“I came to welcome my favorite cousin home.”
She turns her head back and forth between Nick and me.“What the hell is going on?What did I miss?”
She watches Nick walk over to stand next to me.He interlocks our fingers together and points to a chair next to the couch.“Sit down and we’ll tell you.”
“You’re a ‘we?’You’re a couple?I’m happy if you got back together.”
We sit on the couch and Nick puts his hand on the back while I lean against him with my hands in my lap.“Good, you’ll be happy,” he says.
I press my lips together and try to push away the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.I take a deep breath and decide where to begin.
“Cat, if you’re together, say it already.I’ll be happy for you; I don’t know why y’all are being so dramatic.”
“We’re together for real this time.”
She lets out a howl.“Woo, thank God.”She smiles and looks at the ceiling.“Y’all acting like y’all had something bad to tell me.”
I look at Nick from the corner of my eye.He gives me a reassuring smile and nods toward Ava, signaling me to go ahead and tell her the rest.I turn my eyes back to Ava and blurt it out in one breath.
“There’s more.I’m moving out.I’m going to live with Nick.”
“What?Why?Because you’re together?I haven’t been gone that long…don’t you think you’re moving a little fast?”
“Yes and no.”
In frustration, she glares at me.“Why do you keep saying that?”
“I’m pregnant.We’re going to have a baby.”I sit still and wait for her reaction.Nothing, she doesn’t move, she’s in some kind of shock.“Ava?Are you okay?Did you hear what I said?”
She blinks twice, ignoring me entirely while turning to Nick.“I guess that’s one way to lock it down.It’s airtight.”
I look at Nick and he’s watching Ava with a wary expression on his face.I turn back to Ava when she gets up, her hands folded across her chest.She paces across the floor and halfway across the room she turns around with an incredulous look—the one when someone slaps you and you can’t believe they did it.Like my mother did to me, that’s the look.
“What the hell were you thinking?I mean, I know what, but couldn’t you wrap it up?Are you going to get every female in her family pregnant?After the last fiasco you should make sure those little suckers are sealed in tight.”
I’m a little shell- shocked, as I wasn’t expecting this reaction from her.I can feel Nick tensing up beside me, and when I turn to him he looks pissed; this isn’t good.He’s off the couch and in front of Ava in one stride.
“Pick a fucking side, Ava, and stay the fuck on it!”he barks out.“You’re giving me whiplash.”
“I’m giving you whiplash?”Her hands are in the air, her index fingers going around in circles in front of her face.“Your dick should have whiplash, the way you’re whipping it all around with those sharpshooters!”
