*
The truck hit a huge pothole that sent Stacie bouncing out of her seat hard enough to jostle her spine and shake her out of the past. “That was a long time ago,” Stacie reminded herself. Before she knew that she was different from the other girls, and before she learned that she didn’t have to lose Josie just because she had Dee. The last year of High School was painful for her as she watched Dee and Josie pair off and spend more time together. Embarrassed and confused, Stacie had earned her “braniac” nickname twice over. She dove into her classes and took home straight A’s for the last two semesters. It was enough to get her a partial scholarship to go to a real college. UC Davis had a pre-med program and she had big plans for herself. Her last summer at home had been spent hitting as many rodeo’s and shows as she could, racking up quite a few wins running barrels. That let her sell the two barrel horses she had been training up for a hefty profit and gave her enough money to live on for a while until she could find some part time work near the campus.
Dee and Josie announced their engagement at the senior graduation party and when she came home for winter break, she found out why there was such a hurry. Bright summer days and shared laughter seemed a long way away by then, and Stacie had been keeping her distance. She genuinely liked Dee and she was happy that Josie was happy, but she still felt cheated of their last year together.
Josie hunted her down. Already as big as a house and struggling to get out of her car, Josie had showed up on her parents doorstep, all fired up and demanding to know why Stacie hadn’t told her she was home for Christmas. One awkward hug later and Stacie found herself wondering what all the fuss was about, too. It was just Josie, what was she afraid of? It wasn’t like it was so unusual, high school friends growing away from each other as their paths diverged into adulthood, right?
She stood there, hands stuffed in her jeans pockets and staring at the ground. She was wearing her favorite flannel shirt and kicking dirt like an eight year old caught stealing the neighbor’s fruit off their trees while Josie read her the riot act for being an idiot.
“I love you, Stace. You can’t escape from me that easily. Besides, who’s going to be this little girl’s Godmother?” she asked, rubbing her overly round belly lovingly.
“Godmother?” Stacie asked, her jaw dropping at the idea. Images of little old ladies in long gowns and wings, replete with magic wands came to mind. She looked down at herself. Tall, thin, and dressed in ratty jeans and a flannel shirt, her cowboy boots covered in questionable detritus from mucking the barn out earlier in the morning, she started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’ve never seen a fairy Godmother dressed like me before,” Stacie said, her laughter ending in a snort when she saw the look on Josie’s face. She started coughing.
“Huh? That’s a totally different thing.”
Stacie’s humor dried up instantly. She had been joking but the reality behind the joke wasn’t quite as funny. She wiped suddenly damp palms on her jeans and cleared her throat. She hadn’t been this nervous since her first job interview. Except that this was more significant than any job interview, wasn’t it? If it went well, she would be a part of Josie’s family forever and that made it the most important conversation in her life. “Uh, Josie? Before you set your heart on this, we need to talk.”
“Okaaayy,” Josie drew the word out, clearly confused at what was making Stacie so nervous.
“I’m thirsty. Orange Crush?” she asked, feeling the urge to run away.
“You’re stalling. Come on. Out with it,” Josie said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You look like a mom,” Stacie said, taking in the wide stance and stern gaze levelled at her.
“As long as it’s not my mom, I’m okay with that.” Josie grinned, then gave up the stiff arm approach. She reached behind her and rubbed her low back. “But I need to sit down for a while. This is hell on my back. I will take that Orange Crush, and don’t think I don’t remember you only drink that stuff when you need comfort food. Might as well grab the Oreo’s while you’re at it.”
Stacie bolted, running back into the house while Josie settled down on one of the chairs dotting the front porch. She popped the cap off of two bottles, grabbed a questionably aged bag of Oreo’s from the cabinet, and headed back out.
“Thanks,” Josie said, ignoring the cookies in favor of the Orange Crush. “You’re the only one I know who eats those things with soda.”
“Don’t care for milk.”
“And you’ve never told me why.” Josie raised an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t know. It’s like your drinking another animal’s breast milk. It’s just gross to me.” She tried very hard not to look down from Josie’s face. She had always been a small thing, but being pregnant had evidently helped her out in the chest department. She squeezed her eyes shut. She would not go there, she thought. She would not ogle her friend’s breasts, her very pregnant friend’s breasts at that. Ick.
“Okay. Thanks for ruining milk for me.” Josie made a gagging sound in her throat and stuck out her tongue, then snatched up an Oreo and popped it in her mouth. “Ew, stale.”
“Yeah, I think this is the bag I opened before I left for fall semester.”
Josie scrubbed the crumbs off her fingers and settled back
