Page 26 of Wait for the Dream

Charly and Maggy have been my two best girl friends for most of my life. I didn’t have many real friends in high school. Most of the girls my age either hated me or pretended to be my friend as a way to get close to Aiden. They thought that if they pretended to be my friend he would notice them, but he never did. Aiden never showed interest in the girls at school, and I had no interest in fake friends. I had the whole Baker family. That’s all I needed.

“Charly, I missed you. I can’t wait to find out what Little Bear is going to be.” I say as I pull her into a hug. Momma and Pop come out of the house to greet everyone. The car doors close in the driveway to my childhood home. It’s still weird that the house no longer belongs to my parents.

Luca comes toddling over to us and goes straight up to me. “Bee Bee! I miss you.” He says when I pick him up.

“I miss you too, my favorite boy. How was your drive here?” I ask him, tickling his belly. He squirms and giggles in my arms.

“Bee Bee!” He belly laughs and I stop tickling him, “Dwive was goot.” His toddler voice wraps around my heart every time. I love this boy.

“Blue please be careful holding him. He’s heavy, and you’re pregnant.” Aiden says next to me, reaching for Luca, who shakes his head then buries it in my neck. Sebastian, Chloe and Dallas walk over to us, and Luca squirms until I put him down so he can go to his dad. “That boy doesn’t like me.” Aiden says, looking mildly offended.

“That’s not true, Aiden, he just loves Bailey more than anyone else. Myself included.” Sebastian says picking up the toddler. “Mr. and Mrs. Baker, it’s good to see you again.”

“Sebastian, honey, how many times do we have to tell you to call us Lizzy and Matt?”

“I apologize, ma’am. I will get it some day.” Sebastian has always been polite. “How are you Charly?” he asks the youngest Baker sibling.

She blushes bright red. Huh? I think someone has a crush on our friend. “I’m good. How are you?” Her words come out in a squeak.

Luca, who has asked to be put down again, walks up to Charly, looks up at her and says, “You pweety.” We all laugh at that. Sebastian rolls his eyes.

Charly bends down to him to get closer to his level. “Why thank you handsome boy. Aren’t you a charmer?” She tickles his belly and he giggles at her.

“You have no idea. He has every girl he has ever met wrapped around his finger.” Maddy grumbles.

“Don’t even act like the boys aren’t just as bad as the girls. We all love him.” I say giving Maddy a mock glare.

“He’s spoiled rotten by everyone in his life. Just like Little Bear will be. I’m secretly hoping for a little girl to spoil in our group.” Sebastian says.

Charly stands up and says looking at me, “I guess we’ll all find out tomorrow. You never answered me when I texted you the other day. Do you have names picked out?”

“Yes, I do have a name for both a girl and a boy, but I want to wait until we know the gender to tell anyone and there are certain people I want to tell first.” I respond. The first name is going to be the same whether it’s a girl or a boy, but the middle name will be different depending.

“She won’t even tell me the name she has picked out. So don’t even try to get it out of her.” Aiden pouts. He has been bugging me to tell him the name, but he isn’t the first person I want to tell. He will find out second, after the people I need to tell first. It’s weird. I do want to tell him, I mean I tell him everything, but this one time I just want to keep something for myself until I know the baby’s gender, then I’ll start telling people.

We file inside and spend the rest of the afternoon watching movies and playing with Luca. At Luca’s bedtime Chloe, Dallas, Sebastian and Luca go over to the house next door with promises to come over after breakfast in the morning to help with whatever Charly needs for setting up the surprise.

“Good morning, my sweet girl.” I hear Momma’s voice from behind me while I’m making my one cup of coffee I get every day. The thing I hate about being pregnant most is limiting my caffeine intake. Sure, I sleep more than I did before I was pregnant, but I miss being able to drink coffee whenever the fuck I want to.

“Good morning Momma.” I say with a smile on my face as I peek over my shoulder at her. “You excited to find out what your first grandbaby is going to be?”

“I haven’t been this excited about something since I found out I was pregnant with Charly.” She grabs a mug from the cabinet and fills it with coffee.

“Any guesses?” I ask her, curious what she thinks.

“I think it’s a girl, but I will be happy no matter what the baby is.”

“I think it’s a girl too.” I look around to make sure we’re alone. I take a deep breath when I know we are. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“You can ask me anything Bailey Girl.” Momma says, taking a sip of her coffee.

Taking another deep breath I place my coffee on the counter, “I have decided on a first name for the baby, and it would be the same whether it’s a boy or a girl. The baby’s first name is Rowan. I love it, and it means ‘river to paradise’ and I feel like this baby is going to help pave the way to a better life for me. I love it so much, and it’s just motivating me to be the best version of myself.”

“That’s beautiful, Bailey.” She says her eyes getting glossy. I haven’t even gotten to the part that’s really going to make her cry.

“Thanks Momma. I did a lot of research on names, and I’m kind of obsessed with it. I was wondering though, would it be okay if I use Elizabeth for her middle name if she is a girl?” Momma goes silent for a long moment, and I look up to see tears streaming down her face.

“Oh Bailey, it would be my greatest honor to have that baby’s middle name be Elizabeth.” She places her coffee down on the counter and pulls me into a hug. I don’t know how long we stand there hugging, but I’m not in any hurry to pull away.