Page 13 of Jocked Up

“Hurt you? Emotionally or physically? I’ll kill him either way but how has he hurt you?” Amelia came over to me then, leaving the cups to brew their tea, and took my hand as she sat on a chair next to me.

“He has someone else and didn’t tell me. She answered the phone after, well after he spent the night.” I hiccupped, trying to control my voice.

“That bastard! You just wait. As soon as you tell me it’s alright to, that man’s getting a piece of my mind big enough to crush him!” My friend soothed me then, bringing me the tea and stroking my back until the sobs stopped and I could breathe again. “For the sake of your health and the baby, I’ll keep quiet for now, Bethany, but Drake has to know at some stage. Now, what sex is it? Have you thought of a name?”

“Thank you, Amelia.” I gave her a watery smile but I knew this was only going to be a momentary reprieve. She was right, I suppose, they’d all had a right to know but for now, I needed peace, not the hell-storm Drake would bring with him.

“I’m thinking of naming her for you, actually, and my mom. Helen Amelia, what do you think?”

Amelia’s eyes had gone wide and she looked teary as she put her hand over her mouth. “Oh. Oh that’s so sweet.”

“I think Helen’s a little too grown up for a baby but we can’t have two Amelia’s running around, can we?”

“No, I suppose not, we had three John’s in my family and it gets so confusing, even though one of them is gone now. I think it’s wonderful.” Amelia squeezed my hand again and looked away as Peter came into the kitchen.

“Mommy, I’m hungry! Aunt Amelia!” He ran to the woman and gave her a hug, telling her about his day and the exciting things he’d seen. He never mentioned the baby or having a sister and I wasn’t sure if I was proud of him or ashamed of myself.

“What do you think of your new sister coming soon?” Amelia asked, looking over his head at me as if to ask if he knew. I nodded and smiled.

“Mommy told you? We weren’t supposed to tell!” He looked back at me with something like disapproval. “I guess if she told you, though, I can talk about it. I would rather have a brother but a sister will be nice. I can look after her and be her protector, can’t I?”

He looked so pleased with himself, I wondered where he’d learned words like that, even the idea. I felt love swelling my chest and wanted to kiss my son but he was still hugged up to Amelia.

“That is very gallant of you, Peter. Where did you get such an idea from?” Amelia tousled his hair and looked into his eyes, the exact match of mine.

“I read it in a book about being a big brother. I found it in the library at school. It said we’re to defend our little sisters because we’re older and bigger.” He looked rather pleased with himself as he told Amelia about the book.

I was just shocked that he knew enough to look for a book, I hadn’t even thought ahead enough to get him one.

“I had to look up some of the bigger words but I understand it all now. I think it’s going to be awesome!” Peter then left Amelia and went to the fridge, taking an apple out of a drawer as a snack.

“Well, I guess we don’t have long to wait, do we?” Amelia asked, looking back at me.

I sipped my tea and smiled. “Just a few more months. Not long at all.”

“Where are you going for Thanksgiving next week?” Amelia pretended to be casual about asking the question but I could see the tension in her back.

“Your house I suppose, depending on who’s going to be there. Don’t we always go to your house?” I spoke casually, a new tension between us that I didn’t like.

“Well, Mom is having dinner at her house, as usual, but hubby dear wants to stay at our house. He’s had a hard year and wants to just relax. From what I understand, Drake wanted to come to our house but Mom insisted if I wasn’t going to be there one of her children was going to be.” Amelia’s mother had left our town and moved back up to northern Louisiana after our parents split. Over the years, Amelia hadn’t exactly become distant with her mother but there wasn’t the closeness there that she used to have with her mother.

It had taken a long time for Amelia to finally say yes to Mike when they got married, she understood my hesitation to commit. She also knew that with Peter in my life I couldn’t make the same decisions a woman without children could walk into without worrying about consequences. I had more than just me to worry over and she understood that. I had been the one constant in her life until recently and I felt horrible about lying to her by omission. I’d have to make it up to her somehow.

“Shall I bring a dozen devilled eggs then?” I asked her nonchalantly. I knew she loved them and a dozen wouldn’t be enough.

“Um, no! Maybe two dozen? Poor Mike won’t be able to sit in the same room with me for days but I don’t care. I love those things.” She giggled happily, not needing anything more from me than the truth and my love but I knew I owed her.

“And two pans of my fudge brownies, I suppose?” I knew I had her when her eyes went wide.

“With ice cream and maraschino cherries?” She was all but salivating now.

“Mmhmm, you know it.” And just like that, everything was fine again.

Mike was gone on a business trip so we all went out for dinner and Amelia started making her plans for her being a new aunty to a girl role. She already had plans for photo shoots and all sorts. I didn’t exactly want my daughter growing up thinking she had to be some kind of beauty queen but Amelia was her aunt, she was going to influence my daughter. If it got out of hand, I’d say something but I knew Amelia was more lost in the idea of a baby girl right now than anything. Even I was getting caught up in the idea of frilly pink dresses and hair bows.

I went to sleep that evening with a smile on my face and less of a burden in my heart. If I could get through the actual carrying of the baby part perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad. If Drake found out after the baby was born, then perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe. I stopped thinking about it as my eyes closed and my brain went quiet finally. Cradling a hand against my rounded tummy I knew I at least had Amelia’s support for now and that was all I needed to know.

Thanksgiving came and went, a time of laughter, love, and a lot of food. Mike was pleased to have another one of my munchkins to love and treated me like a queen. I knew when it came Amelia’s turn to have a baby she’d go mad because Mike wouldn’t allow her to lift a finger. Amelia was a doer, not a sitter and it would likely drive her mad but Mike loved his wife, I could see that.