She stopped chewing and stared at me.
“It’s time,” I said.
She swallowed and nodded. Then she got this mischievous little smile on her face. “You’re going to be in soooo much trouble,” she giggled. “Can’t wait.”
She was right about that. My mother was going to kill me.
Right before she started sobbing with joy.
FORTY-ONE
ANNA
She knew this could be her future. She didn’t know if she was worthy.
“This is going to be intense,”I warned E.G.
“It’s going to be fine,” he said, calmly.
“There is going to be hugging and shouting. You saw what happened when we Facetimed them. This is going to be way worse than that.”
We were at the airport, down in baggage claim, waiting for E.G.’s parents. Rebecca had wanted to come too, but she hadn’t been able to get away from work. In some ways, I was relieved. Having them all gawk at me for a few days was going to feel like being stuck in a fishbowl.
When we’d called them together, his mom, who I still couldn’t think of as Jackie, had gasped when she saw me sitting next to E.G. on the couch.
E.G. must have told them I’d left, and now suddenly I was back.
That was before we’d dropped the big bomb.
E.G. did not mess around. Right up front, he told them I was pregnant. We decided to not find out the sex, because in the last minute I freaked out about it. All we could tell them was, there was going to be a baby in September.
I could see they were shocked. Then his mom had started hard crying while his dad tried to look sternly at E.G., all while comforting his wife.
They didn’t ask to come see us, just said they were coming, and now we were here picking them up at the airport, three days later.
I think, maybe they were happy?
Or maybe, they were secretly thinking I was a gold-digging baby momma who lured their precious into having sex with me.
It was hard to know with all the crying.
“Grant!”
We turned at the shout of his name and saw his parents coming down the escalator wheeling their carry-on luggage behind them. His mom, with her traditional blonde bun, and his dad, who gave me a glimpse into what my future with E.G. would look like if I stayed for the duration.
Immediately, I shut those thoughts down. I couldn’t think about long term. I didn’t want to think about anything beyond today and tomorrow. That’s how I was handling all of it. The baby. Living with E.G.
And now this.
“There she is!” his mother squealed, as she came rushing toward me. She swept me up in a hug I had no choice about. Just grabbed and held me. And when she pulled away, she looked at me with a very serious expression.
“How are you feeling?”
“Really good,” I said.
Then she looked down at my belly and I couldn’t help it. I pulled away the coat I was wearing and flattened my shirt over what was now a little bump I called Boo.
Carefully, gingerly, she placed her hand over my belly. Then she looked up at me and beamed. Then the waterworks started to flow.
