26
Denise - Warrior Princesses and Plans
“Hey Xena, glad you came by,” I say as I open the door and let in my oldest friend. “I hear Ryder has been spilling secrets in the name of keeping me away from caffeine.”
Xena walks in and drops her purse by the door, kicking off her shoes at the same time.
“I had to drag it out of him,” she says. “I almost had to use my sword but the man finally wised up when I threatened to add shots of espresso to your coffee.”
Ryder stands up, looking like he’s not quite sure what to do with himself.
“Well, I guess I’ll get going now then.” He says while patting his pockets for his keys. “How long do you think you’ll be hanging around here, Xena?”
“Oh, I’d say for a couple of hours at least. Why?”
“I just want to be sure that I’m back before you go, that’s all. I’m sure Denise will tell you the details, if that’s what she wants.” Ryder walks over and kisses me, like it’s the most natural thing in the world and we do it all the time. Oddly enough, it almost feels like we do. “I’m going to talk to Aiden about this, see if he has any ideas on what your next steps should be. Call me if anything happens, OK?”
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” He gives me a disapproving look. “But, yes, I will call you if anything happens.”
“That’s all I ask. See you ladies later.” He kisses me one more time, a little deeper this time, and it feels like a promise. A promise that zings right to my lady parts. “Don’t forget to lock the door behind me.”
Once Ryder leaves, Xena and I head to the couch and sit.
“Alright, we’re going to talk about whatever that,” she gestures to the door Ryder just left through, “is all about later. For now, what’s this I hear about you being knocked up? And why am I hearing about it from Ryder?”
She looks a little hurt, which makes me feel pretty good. I knew we were friends, but I guess I thought we’d drifted apart in recent years. Apparently I’ve just been in hiding, and she’s been missing me.
“I’ve missed you,” I tell her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around more.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve missed you, too. Don’t change the subject.”
“OK, so I have some news,” I say. “It might come as a surprise, but I’m pregnant!” I make it sound like I’m announcing it to her for the first time, widening my mouth into an ‘O’ and throwing up some jazz hands for fun. May as well try to tell her, like I originally wanted to, before Ryder opened his big mouth.
“What?!” Xena pretends to be shocked, catching on to what I’m trying to do. “That’s amazing. Congratulations!”
“Thank you. Do you want to see the ultrasound picture?” I ask, while already reaching for it on the coffee table. “I just got it yesterday. They said I’m about 12 weeks along.”
“Gimme that baby.” Xena snatches the picture out of my hand. “Oh, look at this little beauty,” she says, her mouth turning down into one of those frown smiles reserved for things that make you so happy you’re sad. “Auntie Xena is going to spoil you so bad. Just don’t tell your mom,” she whispers to the picture.
“Hey, stop making plans to corrupt my fetus. I’m sitting right here.” I joke.
“Shhh, never mind your mom. Auntie Xena will corrupt you real good. I’m going to teach you all the best swear words.” She laughs as she puts the ultrasound back on the coffee table. Xena has been known to string together some pretty hilarious and nearly nonsensical expletives when she’s angry.
“So. You and Ryder? You finally snagged him? Good for you.”
Xena has known about my crush on Ryder since the beginning. She was with me at that house party the night that I approached the band and declared that I was going to be their manager. It wasn’t long after that she opened Bump & Grind and both of our increasing workloads kept us apart more than I would have liked.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve snagged him.”
“Well, he just kissed you goodbye before he left for a couple of hours. Plus, there’s the whole ‘you’re having his baby’ thing to consider. And he came into the shop this morning to buy you coffee, and I assume all the bags from the diner mean he also bought breakfast. That sounds an awful lot like you snagged him to me.”
“Yeah… about that. This isn’t Ryder’s baby. Although things would probably be a hell of a lot easier if it were.”
I give her a quick overview of Andrew and the events of last night, and by the end of the story she’s hopping mad, and even more convinced than ever that Ryder is now mine. She seems to have completely ignored the part where I said it wasn’t fair of me to encourage things with Ryder when I’m having someone else’s baby.
“First things first. Where does this donkey-humping son of a rabid badger Andrew live? I think I need to pay him a visit with an actual sword, not just the replica you bought. Or maybe I can get Kaden to just go over and arrest him?” Xena pulls out her phone and taps at the screen for a minute before putting it on the couch beside her and continuing. “No wonder Ryder wanted you to make sure the door was locked.”
“Yup, that’s why. I guess Andrew managed to avoid them. It was 3:00 in the morning before Aiden finally wound up going home to get some sleep. And I already told you Devon slept on my couch last night.”
