She pulls back and looks me in the face. “Thank you,” she whispers. “I really needed to hear that.”
I tuck a curl behind her ear. “I will tell you that as often as you need, okay? I meant it before when I said that we’d handle whatever. We’ll handle this too. When we get back home, I’ll give Sanderson a call. His wife just had a baby. They can give us tips on the best doctors in the area, and we can start making a plan. This is good news. And now we need to go tell all our friends so they can celebrate with us.”
She smiles and wipes her cheeks, running her ring fingers under her eyelids. “You’re right. It is good news. A doctor recommendation would be nice, because I feel so lost, and I don’t have any friends with babies to ask for help.” She settles her hands in her lap and looks at me with affection clear on her face. “I love you. I’m glad you’re happy.”
I give her one last brief kiss. “Of course I’m happy. I have you. Everything else is just gravy.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Matt
Chris and Megan don’t arrive until about twenty minutes after the rest of us, and when they do, Chris bursts through the door holding a champagne bottle aloft. “It’s time to celebrate!” he declares.
Everyone just kind of stares at him for a beat, then Megan giggles and steps under his raised arm, her face flushed and smiling. “I’m pregnant,” she announces clearly into the silence. “I just told Chris, and as you can see, he’s a little excited.”
A beat of silence greets her announcement, and then the room erupts in gasps and congratulations. Abby makes a beeline for Megan and gives her a big hug, and Lance steps up to slap Chris on the shoulder.
Chris is all smiles as he accepts Lance’s congratulations and then turns to me when I approach, hand extended. “Congrats, man. That’s awesome. I’m happy for you guys.”
“Thanks, man.” Chris pumps my hand a few times and hands off the champagne bottle to Lance, who leads the way to the kitchen. I trail behind them, watching from the doorway as Lance pulls down a variety of glasses—a couple of champagne flutes and the rest regular drinking glasses.
“Here.” Chris sets down another green glass bottle on the counter. “This one’s for Megan. Or anyone who just doesn’t want champagne.”
“Nice,” Lance says as he proceeds to open the champagne.
Abby puts a hand on my shoulder and scootches past me with a smile, quickly stepping close to Lance and picking up one of the champagne glasses just as he’s about to pull the cork. “Here, let me,” she says, positioning the glass under the neck of the bottle and expertly catching the bubbles that cascade out.
Lance tilts his head toward Chris. “That’s for him. Megan’s getting the other flute with sparkling cider. Then we’ll use the other glasses for the rest of us.”
“Then we’ll have a toast,” I say as Abby hands Chris the glass.
I help pass around the champagne and sparkling cider and stand in the middle of the room, my glass held aloft. “To Chris and Megan and their new baby.”
Echoes of, “To Chris and Megan,” and, “Cheers!” ring out as we all sip our drinks, then everyone settles back into conversations, taking turns flocking around the lucky couple.
I stand off to the side and watch, content to let the conversation flow around me at this point, honestly kinda shocked by the fact that they’re the first ones to get pregnant.
Not that I think they’ll be bad parents. On the contrary, I’m sure they’ll be great. I just never really pictured Chris as a dad. I guess some part of me still sees him as the playboy, almost-college-dropout that he was when we lived together, even though he pulled up his grades and graduated and has been with Megan for years.
My money was on Abby, personally. They’re the only ones of us who’ve actually tied the knot, after all. They’re both out of school, Lance has a stable job with good benefits, and Abby freelances. Though for what I’m hoping for, it’s good that it’s not Lance and Abby. No way would he leave his job if she were pregnant.
Mostly it’s just a shock that any one of us is having a kid in the foreseeable future. It’s bonkers. I still feel like the same twenty year old I was when we moved into this house. But I’m not. I have a degree, a long-term girlfriend who lives with me, my own business …
Speaking of business, I turn and see Lance heading for my spot holding up the wall. He lifts his chin in a gesture of greeting. “Crazy, isn’t it?” he says.
I nod. “I was just thinking the exact same thing.”
“Good for them, though. They both seem excited about it, even if it wasn’t planned.”
That revelation has me turning to face him directly. “I wondered about that.”
Lance shrugs, once again looking over our group of friends scattered around his living room, jackets and ties discarded, shoes off, relaxed and happy. “Things happen, y’know? It’s good, though. They’ll be fine, and that kid will be spoiled rotten.”
Laughing, I agree. “And have a bohemian streak a mile wide.”
Turning back to me, Lance lifts an eyebrow. “What about you? Any Matt Juniors on the horizon?”
This time my laugh is more spluttering shock. “No. Not unless it happens like it did for them. Hannah’s getting her feet under her at a new job. I’m looking to hire a new marketing person and keep expanding my business. Now’s not the best time to add a baby to the mix. Speaking of …”
Lance looks down at the glass of champagne in his hand, turning it back and forth a few times before draining
