Forever (This #5) (38 page)

Sam came into town about an hour ago. I have the perfect way to tell Bradley tomorrow about the baby, but he’s been parked on the couch all day, so I’ve not been able to hide the camera I plan to use to record the moment.

When I get up to go to the bathroom, I use the opportunity to summon my sister. “Sam!”

“Yeah?”

“Can you come here a minute?” I peek down the hall. Bradley is unfazed. In fact, I’m not even sure he cares we’re in the same house as him. Men and their football.

“Be right there.” She comes down the hall, her eyebrows crumpled. “What’s up?”

I pull her into her room and shut the door. “I need to get the camcorder set up for tomorrow morning, but he will. Not. Move.”

She smiles. “Have him go get us food. What are you craving?”

I stick my tongue out and pretend to vomit. “Nothing. Everything sounds disgusting. Ginger snaps have become my manna.”

“What if I run to the store to get stuff to bake cookies, but forget something on purpose, and we send him back out. The stores are still open for another hour or two, right?”

“Baking. It fixes everything?”

She nods. “That’s the idea.”

“Joe got your message. Something about a bunch of fuck yous and asshole.” She giggles. “Have you spoken to him?”

She shakes her head. “He’s been giving me the silent treatment. Honestly, I’m so furious with him, I could scream. He’s acting like a child.”

“Men. I think he’s missing you.” I plop down on the bed.

“What makes you say that?” she asks, a little too eager. “I mean, he’s ignoring me.”

“Maybe he’s not. Maybe he’s waiting until you get back here for Christmas so he can sweep you off your feet.”

She bursts out laughing. “This is not a chick flick or romance novel. If it were, he would have been waiting in my apartment five hundred hours ago. Your two week prediction was horribly wrong, by the way.”

I shrug. “I’m sorry. But I’ve seen him. He’s looked like crap most days. And by crap, I mean bloodshot eyes. And I should add rank smells. I’m not sure he’s showering much. The only medicine for him is you, I think.” I hug a pillow as Sam starts to pace back and forth. “So, about Bradley. You gonna go buy cookies or am I? Please say you will because this bed is so comfortable, I could sleep for the rest of the night right here.”

She grabs my arm and pulls me. “No. Get up. You are not sleeping in my bed tonight, even if it is technically your bed.”

I toss the pillow behind me and stand. “I’m so tired of being tired.”

“I’ll go to the store. But you can’t fall asleep before I get back. You have like fifteen hours to hold it together before your husband finds out you’re with child.” She does some weird hand gesture. “At that point, he’ll be doting on you constantly. You won’t have to do anything. Don’t blow it tonight.”

“You’re right. I’m going to go clean for tomorrow. That’ll keep me busy.”

She smiles. “Your house is immaculate already. What are you gonna clean? The baseboards?”

I shrug. “Maybe I’ll just cook whatever doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to puke all over it.”

“Sounds appetizing. I could bring home take-out.”

I point to her. “Yes. Chinese actually doesn’t sound disgusting surprisingly enough.”

“Chinese it is. Too bad you can’t have wine. How have you managed to get away with that around him?”

“I told him I was considering his proposition of making a baby, and it’s not good to drink when you’re trying.”

Sam’s brows rise. “Smart, baby sister.”

“Not bad, huh?”

“Okay.” She kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Dang it.” I exaggerate my words and speak them extra loudly. “Bradley.”

“Yeah?” He’s still on the couch, watching some game.

“We’re out of milk. Can you run to the store to get us more?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” I hold the empty jug up to where he can see it.

“There was like a quarter of a gallon in there earlier.”

“I had to use it for casseroles.” Then I poured the rest of it down the drain. “Now, I don’t have any for my baking.”

“Can it wait? This game’s almost over.”

“The stores are gonna close soon, and what if they’re out?” Okay, I do feel sort of bad for letting the milk slide down the drain in order to get him to go to the store so now he’s going to miss the ending of the game he’s been watching for hours.

“Can’t Sam go back out?”

Oh no. We didn’t even think about that as an option. Sam rushes to the bathroom. “I’m not feeling so well. Can you please go?”

He gets up, but his eyes never leave the television. “Yeah. I’m going. Do you need anything else?”

Geez. Just you to leave already
, but I don’t say that. “I don’t think so. I’ll call if I forgot something.”

He kisses me on the cheek. “This is true love, you know?”

“I know. Thanks for sacrificing the ending of your game.”

He shakes his head. “Not the game. Going to the store at the last minute on Christmas Eve. That place is gonna be a madhouse.”

“Ha. I can think of a few ways I can reward you later.”

He smirks. “You’ve been asleep every night by about eight o’clock. I’ll hold you to it. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sweets.”

It’s Christmas Eve. I haven’t been drinking caffeine since I found out I was pregnant, but maybe one cup won’t kill me. “I won’t be asleep that early tonight. You have my word.”

He splays his hand against the small of my back and pulls me close to where I can feel all of him. “Chaos can’t wait.” He leans down and kisses me, then walks away. I can’t help but giggle.

When he’s gone, I run to the bathroom and knock. “Hey, that was brilliant. Worked like a charm. You can come out now.”

Sam opens the door and wipes her mouth and nose. My eyes widen. “You were really sick?”

She nods. “I took a test yesterday.”

I cover my mouth and squeal. “Are you serious? We’re pregnant at the same time?”

Her lips curve up a little. “We better go set that up before he gets back.”

“Wait. Is it Ryan’s? Does he know?”

She shakes her head. “It’s Joe’s. Ryan and I couldn’t get on the same schedule last month. The one time we had a chance, I chose to sleep. The day before I was with Joe actually.”

“Oh.” Dang. And he’s not speaking to her. “What are you gonna do? How are you going to go to school, be pregnant, then have a baby?”

A tear drips down her cheek. “I don’t know. What I do know is I can’t talk about it without crying, so let’s not discuss it, please. Where’s that camcorder?”

We walk back in the living room, and I take it from a drawer I’d been hiding it in. “These things are going to be obsolete in a few years. Our kids aren’t going to know what they are.”

She kinda laughs. “They already are obsolete.” She props it up behind the garland on the mantle and makes a little hole for it. “Go over there by the tree so I can see if it catches you.”

Doing as I’m told, I pull my phone from my pocket. Ever since I saw Joe watch her leave the hospital, I’ve kept my mouth closed and not meddled, but enough is enough of this ridiculousness. They’re both pitiful without each other. Sam turns around and messes with the camera, and I snap a picture of her.

“I just texted Joe to come over.”

She whips her head around. “Gabby!”

“What? He’ll be here in five minutes.”

“You didn’t?”

“I didn’t.” I burst out laughing. “I did text him a picture of you.”

“The camcorder is set. I could beat you.”

I smile. “You won’t, though, because I’m pregnant and vulnerable. Speaking of which, will one cup of coffee hurt the baby?”

She shakes her head. “I doubt it.”

The sound of the garage opening causes my body to swirl with anticipation.

“So,” Sam says. “Did he happen to write you back? Or is he giving you the silent treatment too?”

The phone dings. “Is that him?” She rushes to my side as I open the text.

Joe
:

She’s beautiful. I hope she’s happy. She deserves to be.

Gabby
:

She’s not. Miserable is the word I’d use to describe her. She misses you.

Joe
:

I miss her.

Gabby
:

Then fix it.

When I glance at Sam, her eyes are filled with tears. “Stupid hormones,” she mutters, as Bradley walks through the back door with the milk we didn’t really need.