Forever with You

We had a good lunch, chatting about nothing important, and Nick didn’t bring up his grandfather again. There was no mistaking the fact that even though Nick and I were attempting to bring our lives together, some things were still so very separate.

And it wasn’t just him.

It was me, too.

That night, I texted Roxy about Halloween at Mona’s, partly out of boredom, but mostly due to curiosity. She was most definitely dressing up, but she wouldn’t tell me what she was going as.

You shld come and see for urself! It will be fun!

I stared at Roxy’s text, and the humming excitement from earlier returned. It would be nice to get out and do something. Since I’d moved here, I hadn’t really done anything social except Sunday Fun-day, and the two times I’d gone to Mona’s. I was getting tired of seeing the inside of my apartment, but should I really go to a bar? I texted that question to Roxy.

Her response made me laugh. I didn’t suggest u come and get drunk. So why not? And a follow-up text pointed out that Avery had been in Mona’s after finding out she was pregnant. I had forgotten that, but I did remember Cam stood around her like her own personal bumper car if anyone got too close.

Yeah, why not? I still wasn’t too sure, so I decided to Google it, and then I immediately regretted doing so, because of opinions. Dear God, everyone had opinions. But the most hilarious thing I discovered, when typing out Is it okay for pregnant woman to go, Google autopopulated it as: Is it okay for pregnant woman to go to a haunted house.

What the what?

The consensus was that it was pretty much okay as long as it was safe. Mona’s didn’t allow smoking inside and the place wasn’t wild.

Early pregnancy must affect memory, because I ended up forgetting about it until Saturday evening. Handing out candy was a total bust since only a handful of kids lived in the condo and they piled into cars and drove into the city or to subdivisions. I found myself standing in front of my closet, holding a large bowl of candy. Mindlessly searching out boxes of Nerds, I debated my options. I could sit here and pig out on sugar or I could get my ass in a car and go hang out with people.

Being pregnant didn’t mean I needed to sequester myself.

And the anticipation brewing inside of me was another good reason to go. I wanted to see Nick because I . . . I actually missed him. With our opposite schedules and what was going on with his grandfather, it limited the time we could see each other. And it didn’t help that neither of us was real skilled when it came to the whole relationship business. We didn’t make plans to see each other like I imagined normal couples did.

I was going to change that.

Mind made up, I put the candy bowl on the counter, got changed, started toward the door, backtracked to grab a handful of Nerds for much needed sustenance for my sweet-pea-sized baby during my reentry into society.

Mona’s parking lot was the opposite of packed. For Halloween, I expected it to be busier, but I could count on both hands how many cars I saw. Grabbing my beaded clutch off the seat, I headed into the bar.

A few older guys were back at the pool tables, the sound of balls clanking off one another breaking up the low hum of music. My gaze swiveled to the bar. A lot of the stools were empty. As I walked forward, I saw that Calla was in town. Her long blond hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she was waitressing, if the apron was any indication. The white T-shirt and black shorts were vaguely familiar. It was the green sticker on her shirt that gave it away. I gri

Calla was dressed like Sookie Stackhouse.

Then I saw Roxy standing near her.

I burst out laughing. Her hair was hidden under a brown wig that looked like someone had taken a weed whacker to it, and her normally purple glasses were replaced with round, owlish-shaped ones. If the lightning mark drawn on her forehead with what appeared to be an eyebrow pencil wasn’t a dead giveaway, the black cloak and red and gold scarf was.

“Harry Potter?” I asked as I hopped up on an empty seat, placing the clutch in front of me. “You dressed up as Harry Potter?”

She gri

Calla leaned against the bar beside me. “We went with a book theme. Of course, we were the only two people who actually followed through.”

Remembering what Nick had said, I wasn’t surprised. “Can you even see with those glasses?”

“Barely,” Roxy chirped. “But it’s worth it.”

Reece walked past me, coming from the direction of the restrooms, dressed as a convict in a white and black striped outfit. Ironic. “It’s kind of weird that my girlfriend is now a prepubescent boy.”

“Only if you make it weird,” Roxy replied before turning her big-eyed stare on me. “Glad you decided to come out. Who are you dressed as?”

I glanced down at myself. “Um . . . a lazy college student?”

“Nice,” Reece replied, angling his body toward mine. “And I hear congratulations are in order.”

Nodding, I was surprised to feel my cheeks heat up as Calla bobbed her head. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “God, I’m lame. Congrats! You and Avery are going to have like baby twins. Though she’s a couple of months ahead of you.”

That wasn’t weird or anything if I thought about it. “Thank you,” I said, meaning it.

Reece gri

“Oh no. I’m not open for baby business any time soon.” Calla looked pointedly at Roxy. “Maybe it’s going to be a little Reece or Roxy Anders next.”

Reece nearly choked on his drink.

Shaking her head, Roxy wisely ignored both of them. “Soda or water?” she asked me.

“Do you have ginger ale?”

Calla clucked her tongue with sympathy. “Are you feeling nauseous?”

“Not right now, but I’ve been drinking so much of it, I think I’m addicted,” I explained.

She glanced at the door as two women roamed in. “How has your morning sickness been? I know Avery has been having a horrible time with it.”

“I’ve been lucky so far, because it hasn’t been too bad. My mom seems to think it will be like her.” The two women who came into the bar sat at one of the round tables in the center. They picked up laminated menus. “She had a fairly easy pregnancy.”

“I hope for your sake it is. The stuff Avery has been telling me makes me want to swear off pregnancy for life.” Calla shuddered. “With Cam traveling back and forth between Shepherd and D.C., he’s missing out on all the fun stuff.”

“He’s still playing soccer?” I asked.

She nodded as she glanced over at the women. “Be right back.”

As Calla hurried over to the customers, I glanced around the bar. Roxy placed a glass of iced ginger ale in front of me.

“Nick’s back in the kitchen,” Reece said, obviously reading my mind. “Does he know you’re here?”

“I didn’t tell him I was coming out.” I sipped the drink, loving how the fizzing bubbles burst across my tongue. “I kind of decided to come out last minute.”

Roxy frowned as she turned her attention to Reece. “Back up. Why would she need to tell him, Reece?”

Her boyfriend opened his mouth and then took a moment, appearing to consider what he was about to say so he didn’t dig himself a grave he couldn’t climb out of. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from gri

I was Nick’s girl? Suddenly I wanted to giggle.

Roxy did not appear amused. Her frown deepened. “And why would he need to know where she is?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe because . . . he cares?”

“Or maybe because he needs to realize that she’s a grown woman who doesn’t need to inform him of her coming and goings.”