“Cam?” I heard my sister’s voice call from the hallway, then her shoes clicked on the tile floor. “What are you doing?” Ellie asked.
“I’m doing the best I can. Ok? I know that I’m messing up, but I’m trying.”
“What? Why are you in here alone, crying?”
“No reason.” I looked at my reflection in the glass door and dragged my fingers under my eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Morgan and Kaya just got here, and they wanted to say hello.” Ellie looked at me. “Are you sure you’re…”
“I need to go find them!” I told her brightly. “The last time I saw Morgan, César was pulling his bike off a flagpole!”
“What?” she asked, but I hurried away. If I stayed for another second with my sister, I would have broken down in someone else’s kitchen.
“So, this was why you moved out!” Kaya said when I walked back into the living room, and I gave her a hug. She patted me. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything to me and Morgan.”
“Yeah, I didn’t tell…wait a minute.” I picked up her hand from my tummy. “Did you forget to wear your engagement ring, or is something else going on?” I asked.
“Denny and I broke up,” she said. “He was really upset when I dumped him. But I realized that my feelings went another way.”
I stared as she grabbed Morgan and hugged him to her side. He fit neatly under her pit.
“You guys?” I squeaked. “Are you serious? No, of course you’re serious! I mean, I’m so happy for you!” I said, trying to cover my astonishment. “That’s wonderful. And so convenient, too.”
“That’s what I said! I have a much easier time of getting his rent now,” Kaya agreed. She talked a little about the rising electric bill and then went off to get something to eat.
“Really, Morgs?” I asked skeptically. He frowned, so I quickly added, “I mean, wow, this is great!”
“We’re actually really happy,” he told me. “I couldn’t wait around any longer for you.”
“Ha. But I have to tell you, I didn’t see this coming.”
“I guess all our fighting was just sexual tension,” Morgan explained. I tried hard not to make my “I’m going to puke” face.
“So, how did you two get together?” I asked.
“The usual way,” he said, smiling. “I fell getting out of the shower and screamed, she came to pick me up and saw me naked, she lifted me onto the sink and we went at it.”
“You were sitting up on the sink and you guys did it?” I tried to picture it, confused by the positioning. “How did that work physically?” Morgan opened his mouth to explain but I held up my hand. “You know, never mind, it’s none of my business!” I said quickly. “I’m just glad that it did work. Somehow.”
“What?” Morgan leaned forward. “I have tinnitus in my ears. I’ve been exposed to some loud, close noises lately.”
I thought of Kaya shrieking through sex. Jesus and Mary.
“We still have an open room at the cottage, if you want to come back,” he told me. “You and the baby. I got Kaya to keep the heat at sixty-three and that one extra degree really makes a difference.”
“Thanks, but I’m good.” I smiled at him. “I appreciate the offer.”
“I’m just saying, if things don’t work out with the Woodsmen guy, you have a place to go,” Morgan told me.
I leaned forward and hugged him. “That’s very sweet. Thank you.”
“Morgan!” Kaya said loudly, and he stepped away.
“The old ball and chain calls,” he said, grinning from ear to ear. “I love her. I’m a lucky guy.”
It seemed like plenty of people were happily settling for each other. I stared off into space for a while before realizing that César was right in front of me.
“You look like you just saw a car crash,” he said.
“Morgan and Kaya got together,” I said. “He told me something about them in the bathroom, and I was imagining it. It was a bad idea.”
“The two of them, really?” He turned as one of his aunts called to us. “Ready to open presents?” he asked me. “The guests all want to see.”
The million people at the party had brought a million gifts. I opened and César opened and we admired everything, and Ellie kept a careful list for thank-you notes. There were piles of tiny onesies, tiny socks, tiny hats, tiny books, tiny toys, and tiny everything.
“Thank you,” I said, again and again. Everyone was so generous, even some of my friends who probably couldn’t have told a baby from a hole in the ground, and would have been more interested in a hole. “Thank you.” My voice wavered.
“You ok?” César murmured.
“It’s all so small,” I tried to explain. The baby would be so tiny. She’d be helpless, and I’d be trying to feed her from my breasts. I had gotten a pump from Ana and Gael, a really nice one according to Valeria, so I could go back to work. I’d have to take it with me and go full bovine in my office, if I even had an office. Because I was also starting a new job…holy shit. I held on to César’s hand on my shoulder, gripping his fingers tightly.
“Open this next!” My friend Sedona put a bag on my lap that read “Happy 21st” on the front with pictures of alcohol bottles. “I’m upcycling my gift wrap,” she explained, but I didn’t think that was what the word meant.
“What is this?” I asked her as I pulled out a silver DVD that said “birth” on it in marker.
“The title gives it away. It’s a recording of my big sister giving birth to my nephew!” Sedona said, smiling. “I thought you might want to see, before it happens to you. The whole thing took forty-six hours so obviously, this is just the highlights. Can you believe that? Forty-six hours of pain and labor?” she marveled, and pointed to the disc. “They get a really good close-up
