Page 36 of F Buddy

I woke up, remembering it was the weekend and feeling so glad. I lay on my side because it was the only position I found comfortable anymore. I was seven months pregnant, and I had a bump on my stomach to show. In the next couple of months I’d grow even bigger. I was not looking forward to it.

My phone rang with a notification, and I sighed, shifting so I could stretch my hand out to where it lay on the nightstand. I sat up, maneuvering around my bulging stomach, and read the message.

“Fuck!”

All my friends knew I was pregnant. Of course, they didn’t know who the father was, and I wasn’t talking. Thankfully, neither was Olivia. No one else seemed to know Zach and I had hooked up, and I’d insisted on Olivia not telling him, so he still didn’t know I was pregnant. I wanted him to find out from me first, but I hadn't been able to sum up the courage to even answer his calls and messages.

The message was from Sasha, asking me to go to a group get-together, something I’d been waiting for since the news started to spread that I was pregnant.

“I’m not interested in going,” I murmured as I sent a quick text back.

I barely put the phone down when it rang. I winced, knowing who it was, but picked up the call anyway.

“What do you mean you aren’t coming?” Sasha said. She was a little loud, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear a bit. “It’s been a while since we all met up. Please come, Scarlett?”

I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm. I wasn’t sure if she was still on a high from getting married or just her being her usual self.

“The last time we got together was before your wedding, wasn’t it? So whose fault is it we haven’t been able to meet up?”

“You were all at the wedding,” she complained. “Then Donny and I had our honeymoon after that, and we got busy catching up with what we’d missed at work. There was no better time to meet up, and there probably won’t be for a while. This was the only time where I could catch everyone free, so if not today, then we’ll have to wait for the holidays.”

I sighed and slumped back into my bed. I wasn’t exactly avoiding my friends, but I’d been doing a good job of explaining very little when it came to the pregnancy. Knowing my friends, I knew this get-together was an excuse for them to question me about my life choices.

There was nothing wrong with being curious, and I cared for all of my friends, but sometimes I would have liked to keep some things private. Not that they would force me to answer, but I was often told I was an open book. If they happened to ask the wrong question and I couldn’t control my expression, I’d let them know something I wasn’t ready for them to know unwittingly.

“Would you please just come?” she pleaded.

“Sasha, you know my condition. I’d much rather go to sleep.”

“So you’d pass up a free meal?”

The mention of food made me pause. My appetite had grown quite a bit in the past several months. I was saving up cash for when I went on maternity leave, so I was incredibly tempted to say yes if only for the food.

When I didn't reply, Sasha realized I was thinking about her offer, and she laughed.

“Sure, Sasha,” I finally said. “I’ll be there. Tell me where.”

She squealed in happiness, before giving me the directions I needed.

“I’ll see you in an hour?”

“Sure,” I said.

As I hung up I saw the time and was surprised to see it was well past eleven. I’d be meeting them for lunch, but I decided to get up and fix myself something to eat in the meantime. I all but dragged myself out of bed and to my kitchen. I didn’t have much in, just some cereal and fruit, and was suddenly so much more thankful that I would be meeting my friends later.

After eating, I had a shower and got dressed. With my stomach getting larger by the second, I’d had to get a new closet to accommodate it. Olivia had helped. I picked something easy, a dress I slipped on over my head, paired with a sweater for the chill. I thought about asking Olivia to accompany me but decided I didn't need to bother her.

The front of the restaurant was made up of red brick and large glass windows. It was a favorite of the group since some of us had been coming to the place with our own families long before we all met in college.

I walked through the door, smoothing a hand over the front of my dress and my bulging stomach self-consciously. My friends were easy to spot, they sat at the largest table in the room, and it already looked crowded even without me there. For a moment, I got cold feet. I would have turned and run away if Sasha hadn’t picked that moment to look up. She’d probably been keeping an eye out for me, and her face lit up when she caught sight of me. She waved at me, catching everyone’s attention.

The action made more than just people from our table turn my way, and I felt my face warm in a flush as I hurried over. Olivia was there already, and she stood up to meet me as I drew close, pulling me into a quick hug before pulling my chair out for me.

“So glad you could make it, Scarlett,” Sasha said, followed by likewise happy greetings from everyone else. “Well, that’s everyone, so I guess we’re ready to order.”

Donny, seated by her side, as he should be, nodded and raised his hand to call a waiter.

“Don't tell me you guys waited for me?” I said with a disapproving look, aimed mostly at Sasha.