Nadine agreed, “Yes, very… lovely.”
“And beautiful.”
“Yes,sobeautiful.”
Then they both took a bite of their salads, nodding again as if to further convince one another.
Margo’s expression flattened. “Very helpful. Well, I guess I’ll just have to ask him myself when I meet her at the brunch. We’ll sit them on this end of the table,” she said, pointing to the illustration she’d made in her notebook.
“Great,” Emma said almost to herself. “Davina Sundar is coming to my birthday party too.”
“God, he’s so lucky to have us looking out for him. He’ll be so happy,” Margo said, around a huge bite of her cheeseburger.
They finished lunch and Nadine got ready to head back downtown to study for a test, while Emma and Margo stayed behind to go over final details. Emma walked Nadine to the door and gave her a hug before watching her leave. She really needed to get back tothe table—Margo had cornered the manager again to discuss table linens—but instead she stared out the window. She had so many memories of walking up this restaurant path, so many birthday parties she and Margo had here as children, both dressed up in cute matching pink dresses with matching pink nails. Margo would make sure to apply the polish for them both the night before the big day. And then when they arrived, there were always an inordinate amount of balloons and entirely too many presents. It seemed so strange to be back here celebrating as an adult. Slightly awkward maybe, like it didn’t quite fit anymore, almost how she’d feel if she put on a pink fluffy party dress right now.
Emma exhaled, looking down at her hands and realized they were shaking slightly. What was wrong with her? Why was the simple planning of this party leaving her so unsettled? Emma normally loved to plan events, and Margo would make sure nothing went wrong.
Maybe it was the Davina Sundar invite. After all, Davina hadn’t even been invited to a Sunday dinner yet, much less a familial celebration. There was a required order of events that everyone knew to follow before you could just randomly be invited to a birthday party. This was New York, not lawless California! There were rules here. So why was everyone but Emma forgetting them?
She looked back up at the window and caught her reflection staring back. Her pursed lips, her flushed cheeks, the two harsh lines appearing between her brows. She had to stop her mind from spiraling. She took a long, slow breath.
Margo was probably right. They couldn’t exclude someone Knightley was dating. And Emma would be next to Montgomery, the guy she was… what was she doing with Montgomery? God, she didn’t even know.
“It’s just a damn birthday party,” she whispered to herself, trying to quiet the uneasy storm brewing within her.
She made her way back to the table to meet her sister, who was already standing to leave.
“Ready to go?” Margo asked.
“Yeah,” Emma replied. “I should probably get back home to Dad.”
“Walk with me around the park a bit? I feel like I never get to just hang out with you anymore.”
Emma smiled, realizing she felt the same way. “Absolutely.”
“I’m trying to get in as many steps as I can. I’ve already gained so much weight,” Margo sighed as they left the restaurant and started strolling along the tree-lined path into Central Park. It was a pleasant day, the sun warming the cool air.
“You look great. Feeling okay?” Emma asked as the sprawling expanse of Sheep Meadow appeared before them.
“Now that the morning sickness is gone, I’m just so hungry… all the time,” she whined as she eyed a nearby hot dog cart.
“Oh my God, Mar. We just ate.”
“Maybe just a pretzel?” Margo was already walking over to the seller. She ordered two pretzels and offered one to Emma.
“Why don’t you save that one for later.” Emma motioned it away. “How are you feeling overall? Nervous?”
“Not nervous. Just working on the birth plan. We’ve managed to get it down to eighteen pages now.”
Emma laughed. “It’s going to be so wild having a little baby around.”
“Yeah… I’m happy.” Her sister smiled. “And what about you?”
Emma’s eyebrows rose. “What about me?”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Emma replied, linking her arm into her sister’s as they strolled.
