That Baby (11 page)

“Chelsea,” I say, “if you and Joey are excited about it. Your families will be too.”

“And I’m sorry I yelled in the middle of your news. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Seriously, it’s okay. Just think of how fun it will be to be pregnant together.”

“It will be nice,” she says.
 

“Come on. Let’s go downstairs.”

We go back down to the family room, where everyone congratulates us both.
 

Once the excitement dies down and everyone starts watching the game again, I notice Joey fidgeting. Chelsea isn’t sitting by him, she’s over by Lori with her knees pulled up on the couch. She almost looks scared.
 

I can understand why. This pregnancy business is scary stuff.
 

Emotions. Body changes.
 

When another round of commercials starts to play, Joey stands up in front of the TV, blocking everyone’s view.
 

“This isn’t how I planned to do it,” he says. “I was going to do it later tonight, all romantic-like. Candles. Hotel suite. But I think you need to hear me say this in front of everyone.” He holds his hand out. “Chelsea, please, come here.”

Lori half pushes her up off the couch.
 

When Chelsea joins him in front of the TV, she says, “What are you doing?”

Joey takes both her hands in his. “We've had a long history of almosts.
Almost
kissed.
Almost
dated.
Almost
were single at the same time. When I pulled you in the bathroom this past New Year's Eve, I told you I didn't want
almost
anymore. That you needed to kiss the guy you should be with for the rest of the year. What I should have said was
for the rest of your life
right then, because that’s how I felt. And I don't want you to feel like we're almost pregnant just because it happened so fast. I want to tell everyone that you’re having my baby. There are going to be no more almosts for us. Chelsea, sweetie, I want you to marry me. Almost as much as I love you.”

Chelsea is crying and so am I, because Joey, my goofy, perpetually horny, childhood friend looks sincerely happy.

He bends down on one knee and pulls out a ring box. “Chelsea, will you marry me?”
 

“You got a ring?” she asks, shocked.
 

“Yes,” he says.
 

As he opens it, Chelsea starts shaking. “It's beautiful. You picked this out by yourself?”

He smiles at Danny and Phillip. “I got a little advice from a few friends, but yeah.”

When he slides the ring on her finger, I notice that he's starting to sweat.
 

“You haven't answered me yet,” he says nervously.

She throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes, Joey! Yes!”

I smack Phillip playfully. “You knew?”

“I thought he was going to propose tonight at the hotel. Been a pretty exciting Super Bowl, huh?”
 

After Joey and Chelsea stop kissing, Lori asks, “So when are you due, Chelsea? You and Jade have to be due about the same time.”

“October the fourth,” she says.

“And I’m due on the first. In case you all didn’t notice, the numbers on our shirts are our due date.”

Chelsea runs over to me. “I’m sorry I ruined your announcement. The way you told everyone was so adorable.” She stares at her sparkly new ring and gets tears in her eyes again.
 

I glance at the close game on the TV and decide it’s just not that important.
 

“You need to come with Lori and me,” I say, dragging her upstairs.

“What are we doing?” Lori asks.

“We need to do something and she needs the practice.”

“Practice for what?” Chelsea asks.
 

I grab a taper candle off my mom’s dining room hutch and hand it to her. “Practice passing your candle. I'm your sorority big sister, and there's no way I'm missing out completely.”

She grins. “Is there an I’m-engaged-and-knocked-up version of this?”

“No,” Lori says. “You’ll announce the engagement first. The rest of it is no one’s business.”

“He just told me he wants to get married soon,” Chelsea says. “I’m throwing up every morning. I have a full load of classes. Sorority. How am I going to plan a wedding?”

“We'll help you,” Lori says, lighting the candle and humming. “Pinned,” she says passing it to me.
 

It doesn't take long for us to pass the candle three times and for Chelsea to blow it out.
 

“Now, show us the pose,” I tease.

“What pose?” she asks, looking confused.

Lori and I dramatically put our rings out to be admired, causing Chelsea to giggle.

“The pose of the happy, newly engaged girl, what else?” I tell her.
 

She mimics us, laughing, as Lori says, “This will be the question you will hear over and over. So, Chelsea, have you set a date?”

Chelsea laughs again. “No, but I was thinking my parents have that beach house in Florida.”

“Spring break heaven,” I say. “We had fun, didn't we? What an epic road trip. Then the guys showed up.”

“That was one of our
almosts
,” Chelsea admits. “We were alone on the beach, both a bit drunk. But he had a girlfriend. Even though I was kinda mad at the time, looking back, it's good to know he didn't cheat on her. He's a good guy, right?”
 

“Yeah.” I hug her. “He's a really good guy.”

“So, what do you think? The beach in Florida? A few good friends?”

“Have you told your families?” Lori asks.

“Not yet. I’ve been too busy freaking out. Can I tell you both a secret?”

“Yeah,” Lori and I reply.

“When I was in high school, I got pregnant and had a D&C. I know it was the right choice for me then, but I’ve always felt guilty and I’ve been so afraid that, when it came time for me to want a baby, I wouldn't get pregnant. Like I would be punished or something. So even though I was shocked, I am happy it happened.”

Phillip wanders upstairs looking for me. “What's going on up here?” He sees the candle and smiles.
 
“Looks like I need to serenade you,” he says then launches into one of their frat songs.
 

His deep, sexy voice makes me melt.

I know that I’m so incredibly lucky.
 

And I say a little prayer that I won’t be moody or emotional during my pregnancy.
 

When we clean up after the game, Mrs. D and Mrs. Mac tell us, “The pregnant women get to go sit down and put up their feet. We've got this.”

“This is crazy,” I say, perching on the living room sofa. “All of us pregnant at the same time.”

“So exciting, though,” Lori says, seemingly happy we are now in the pregnancy boat with her. Not only that, she’s an expert compared to us. “So how are you feeling?”

“I feel permanently hungover,” I admit.

“Ohmigosh,” Chelsea squeals, “me too!”

“I wish I could tell you it goes away in a few months,” Lori says, “and for some women it does, hasn’t for me though. I’m still sick most of the time. Although, now it’s all day instead of just in the morning.”

“They say one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage. Right now, even though it was a shock that I got pregnant, that’s what I’ve been worrying about the most,” Chelsea says quietly. “Every time I have a little cramp, I’m so scared.”

“Isn’t it weird, how protective we are of the pregnancy? Even though mine wasn’t planned. Even though I feel crappy. It’s like the most important thing ever,” I tell them.
 

“Speaking of that, Jade,” Lori says. “Just last week you were crying because you got your period. How are you pregnant? Did you go to the doctor?”

“It’s kind of crazy. When I was sick, I was freaking out because I didn’t want to be pregnant. But then, I got what I thought was my period and was super sad. That’s when we decided we’d start trying. But the next day, my period was gone and I didn’t know why. Then when Danny was cooking bacon and I got sick again, I started wondering. As soon as Phillip left for work on Monday, I took a pregnancy test and couldn’t even believe that it turned positive. I saw your OB-GYN that day. Turns out I just had some spotting.”

“That’s crazy,” she says. “How did you tell Phillip?”

“With the shirts. I wrapped his up and gave it to him, then showed him mine. He was pretty shocked. He just kept smiling and saying,
really?
What about you, Chels?”

“I told Joey I was late, so we did the test together. I was too afraid to look, so I watched him. First his eyes got huge then this wide grin took over his face. He turned the stick toward me, picked me up, hugged me, and said, we’re pregnant. I don’t know, but the fact he said
we’re
instead of
you’re
just made me so happy that I started bawling. I’m hoping my mom will be excited when she hears the news.”

“Joey’s family will be excited,” Mrs. Diamond says, sitting next to us. “His mother was telling me just the other day how much she likes you.”

“Really? So you don’t think they will be mad?”

“Although I didn’t scream and jump around like my friend over there,” she says, pointing to Mrs. Mac who is wiping down the kitchen counters. “My heart felt exactly the same. Your parents will be surprised, but they’ll be thrilled.”

Ashley and Cooper went back to their hotel as soon as the game was over. Now, Marcus and Madison come upstairs to leave, so I walk them to the door and say goodbye. As they’re pulling out of the driveway, I notice Danny sneaking back from his house.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing, just ran home to use the bathroom.”
 

“We have bathrooms here.”

“Had to take a shit,” he says but I know he’s lying.
 

The dads are outside on the deck smoking a cigar even though it’s fairly cold out.
 

Lori takes Chelsea and the moms over to see the nursery. The furniture she ordered the other day isn’t in yet, but the room has been painted a gorgeous shade of pale yellow, has crisp white trim, and murals of zoo animals hand painted across the walls. It’s adorable and I’m in love with the tall giraffes that will peek over the crib.
 

I creep down the stairs, knowing Danny is up to something.
 

I stop half way down and hear the guys discussing their lists of nevers.
 

I’ll never own a minivan,” Joey says.
 

“And I’ll never allow my kids to scream in a restaurant,” Phillip says.
 

“Or on an airplane,” Danny adds.
 

“I won’t go crazy buying stuff for a baby like my sister did,” Joey says. “All it needs is somewhere to sleep and some diapers.”

“And I won’t let a baby rule our lives. We’ll still be able to do everything we enjoy now, we’ll just be taking a baby along for the ride,” Danny says. “Lori is freaking out, but it’s just a baby. How hard can it be?”

“I know I’ll never say, when I was your age,” Phillip says. “Like my parents did.”

“Oh, I know,” Joey says. “I’ll never make them listen to oldies. I’ll stay up-to-date on music. I’ll never get a beer gut, because there’s always time for working out. Which serves a duel purpose. I’ll always be able to whoop my son’s ass. Keep him in line.”

They all laugh wholeheartedly.

“We’ll never stop doing Jell-O shots or Fireball.”

“No Dad clothes.”

“We’ll go to all the coolest concerts.”

“And find time to hit happy hour with our buddies.”

“It won’t ruin my golf game.”

“I know one that is absolutely non-negotiable,” Phillip says. “No child will
ever
eat in my car. Can you imagine French fries on the floor, little dirty fingerprints everywhere? No way. And we won’t allow toys sprawled across the house. They will stay in their rooms.”

“So to recap,” Danny says. “We will always be cool. We won’t let them ruin our shit. We’ll still be spontaneous, and they won’t affect our sex lives. And I vote for no curfews. They never made sense to me.”

“What if you have a daughter?” Phillip asks.
 

“Easy. She won’t have to worry about a curfew because I’ll never let her out of the house at night.”

“Because we know what happens at night,” Joey laughs.
 

“Yeah, you get drunk, hookup at weddings, and next thing you know you’re in a basement talking about how a baby isn’t going to change your life,” I tease, having slipped down the stairs without them noticing.
 

Danny jumps. “Shit! You scared me. Lori didn’t hear what we said, did she?”

“No, she’s showing everyone the nursery.”

He sighs with relief. “Boys,” he says seriously. “You have to be careful about what you say all the time. No matter what you say, she’ll give you that look. That look where she’s blaming you for getting her pregnant because whatever is ailing her is all your fault, even though she swears she’s happy she’s pregnant and happy you are the baby’s father.”