Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands

“Gabe, seriously…this is what baby showers are for. If you continue at this rate there will be no point in even having one and the invites have already been sent,” I laughed as we came back from a walk and there were boxes upon boxes waiting for us.

It had been this way since I told Gabe I was pregnant. He went overboard and was buying everything for the baby. I think he’s even outfitted the kid through the teen years. Gabe has also purchased anything and everything for me from cute maternity clothes to slippers, the special pregnancy pillows, all the books and anything I crave.

“I just can’t help it,” He smiled and kissed the side of my head. I opened the door and started helping Gabe move stuff in.

“Just light stuff, here,” He said handing me a light package.

I was lucky though. He let me do my thing and while his buying behavior and overall protectiveness would suggest otherwise. He was cool with me doing Yoga and working out and carrying things on my own. I was getting huge at this point and wasn’t supposed to lift a lot of heavy stuff.

I had a month left to go and then we’d have a little baby girl. Being pregnant has brought Gabe and me closer together. It’s a deeper connection. I’m having his baby; his little girl. I was surprised a shotgun hadn’t come in the mail yet.

He was already protective of her and pretty much had grounded her until she was 35 in his mind.

“You’ve been on the road. You see how shitty guys can be,” He rambled as we lay in bed after finding out the sex of the baby. I had left tour to take care of myself and waited for his return to find out the sex.

“But, the girls are just as bad…We’ll raise our daughter to respect herself,” I didn’t even glance up from my book.

“This kid is gonna be so good looking. We’re gonna have to fight the boys off of her,” He said seriously and kissed my belly.

“It’s not your fault you have such good looking parents,” He was talking my stomach, which at that point had just started to form. I was almost 5 months.

“But, remember, you cannot date until you’re 35. Thirty-five!”

“Gabe, relax,” I laughed.

“Our daughter will be fine. We’ll just set her up with Pete’s kid he just had. We’ll keep it all in the family,” I rolled my eyes and went back to my book.

“That’s a good idea!” He came back up to me on the bed.

“We can keep an eye on them…yes, very good. She’ll want an older guy anyway.”

“I can’t tell if you’re actually serious with all this non-sense or not. I’m hoping it’s all just sarcasm that I am missing, which would be odd because I’m the queen of sarcasm,” I set my book down and looked at him and then just moved to lay on his chest, he put his arms around me.

“Part of it is melodramatics and part of it is serious. She’s gonna be a handful,” He sighed.

“We’ll deal with it when it happens. I still have four months to go.”

“How many slings do I need?” I laughed as I opened the boxes.

“I thought you’d like that pattern. Are you mad?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? I just think you should take it easy. Let my girlfriends and our families have a part in this too,” I laughed.

“Okay, I’ll stop,” He smiled and shut the door behind him as he brought in the last box.

“Thank y-“ I started and then the baby kicked.

“You okay?” Gabe was at my side in an instant.

“She just kicked a little hard,” I took his hand and put it on my belly.

“I’ll never get tired or used to that feeling,” He kissed my stomach.

“I’m hungry.”

“What do you want? What can I get you?”

“Just some ice cream would be nice and maybe we can watch a movie in bed?”

“Go get comfortable. I’ll bring you some ice cream.”

“Soon this will be over, ugh!” I said sarcastically and went toward our bedroom.

“I’ll try and keep it up as much as possible!”

I went and stripped down and put on some leggings and a tank top and settled into bed.
We had been going non-stop all day today with errands. Gabe had just gotten back from tour yesterday and we had to drop stuff at the dry cleaners, check-in at his office, lunch with our family, stopped by to see Rob and then Meghan was coming over for dinner.

I hadn’t seen her in almost seven months. She got a job in Chicago and had moved out there to live. Meghan and Emily were planning my baby shower along with my mother, so she was coming into town for a week and a half to visit and to plan. This would also be the first time she’d be seeing Rob since she left as well. We were doing a Jack and Jill shower because we had a lot of guy friends that wanted to be a part of the shower as well. I think mainly because they never thought Gabe would settle down nor have a baby, but they were all so ecstatic about it all too.

Meghan had gotten a promotion at her work and moved to Chicago. Meg tried to get Rob to come with her and he could work with the Angel and King’s there, but after a blowout fight they decided to go their separate ways. Meg really wanted the job and Rob just had his job to do here. There were no real negotiations to split the time or anything like that either. Meghan was a bit selfish and wanted the job and to advance her career and I knew she struggled with her decision every day. She really loved Rob and vice versa. I really wanted her to come back to New York for selfish reasons and so that her and Rob could be together again – they just belonged together. I was a little nervous to see the interactions between them, but I was sure they’d keep it together for the sake of the shower.

“Are we all set for dinner tonight?” I asked Gabe as he came into the bedroom.

“I ordered everything and will pick it up in a few hours.”

We had ordered dinner because we knew today was going to be hectic. It was going to be good either way and I was excited to have a companion in the house. Emily and I were of course still very close, but I see her nearly every day. This was going to be good to catch up with Meg.

“You’re still okay with her staying here, right?” I said taking the ice cream from Gabe as he settled in next to me.

“Of course. What happened with her and Rob is their business.”

“I know, but you didn’t really like her for a bit after it all went down. I just want to make sure everything is calm around here,” I twisted to lay Gabe, but still remain somewhat in a sitting position. It was very difficult to find a comfortable position these days.

“I know. I just am going to let it be their business. We don’t know the real story, they were both pretty secretive.” Gabe put his arm around me and rubbed my arm.

“I know, that was really weird and they were both so nice about the other one. I hope it’s not weird at the shower. I don’t think it will be, but I worry it’s gonna be hard for both of them,” I said eating my ice cream and I turned on the TV.

“They’re adults. They’ll suck it up.”

“Ooh, love Anchorman!” I said as I flipped through the channels.

“Speaking of sucking it up, save some ice cream for me!” He opened his mouth for me to feed him.

“That’s why we each need our own pint of ice cream!” I fed him a spoonful and we settled in to finish watching the rest of “Anchorman.”

“I’m gonna go and get the food and pick up Meg from the train station and then we’ll be right back!” Gabe said after the movie ended. I was half unconscious.

“Okay, thank you for doing that,” I smiled up at him.

“Of course. Take a nap and we’ll wake you when we get back.” He kissed my forehead and then left.

I sprawled out on the bed laying across it. It was good to have Gabe back with me. He was cutting it down to the wire and I knew he worried everyday he was on the road that he’d miss the birth, but he made it home with time to spare. I was right on schedule.

“Here you go,” I heard Meghan say from the kitchen. I looked at the clock; I had been asleep for about an hour. They must have just gotten back.

“Thanks. I’m gonna heat it back up and then check on Sadler. She was exhausted.” I heard Gabe say and I heard the oven door open and shut. I stretched and yawned and rolled over.

“Hey Gabe, can I talk to you about something? Before you wake Sadler?” Meg sounded really nervous. I just sat on the bed and tried to listen.

“Uh, sure, of course. Is everything okay?”

“I know you’re not my biggest fan after everything that happened with Rob,” She was pacing I could hear her feet on the floor. She was really nervous then, it was a rare thing for her.

“Listen, whatever happened between you two is exactly that – between you two. I love you and Rob,” Gabe laughed a bit. He was always good at making people feel at ease.

“I just…I want you to know what happened because I just feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick. I’m the one that left my fiancé for a job. ‘That Meghan is one selfish bitch,’ right?” She mocked what she thought Gabe was thinking.

“Meg, you don’t have to explain yourself to me, okay?” He was genuinely trying to ease the tension and be the bigger person. I was proud.

“I know I don’t, but I want to. We made a pact to make it seem mutual. It was my idea,” She laughed and she had stopped pacing.

“I thought it would be nice of me to try and not totally expose his commitment issues. He knew I applied for the promotion in Chicago…It wasn’t a surprise at all. The only surprise was from him,” Her voice cracked. Gabe didn’t make a sound.

“He was going to switch with the resident DJ in Chicago because as it happened he was looking to make a move to New York. I mean, if that wasn’t a sign…Anyway, he was excited about the possibility and then I got it. I got the job. I went home and told him and he was happy for me or at least I thought,” She was crying and I heard Gabe walking – his footsteps were much harder. I was sure he was comforting her.

“Anyway, I came home the next day and he told me that the DJ position had been filled in Chicago the kid couldn’t wait and filled it so he could come to New York. He said he was going to try and find something else to do while he was out there. I mean, we even set him up with an office for I-Surrender there…I told him if he didn’t want to move, if he didn’t think we could do it then I wouldn’t apply. He assured me he wanted this and to be with me, but he’s so afraid of commitment. I wasn’t asking him to marry me then or saying we had to get married when we moved. We could continue living together just as we were,” She sobbed.

“So, Rob found a way out of going with you because he was afraid of committing?” Gabe asked almost astonished.

“Pretty much, yes. He pretended to look for something and things were fine until two days before I was supposed to drive across the country with my entire life. Rob decided that was the best time to tell me that he just didn’t want to leave New York and that his life was here, which is understandable, but then it seemed like he had me apply to get rid of me…”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Gabe assured her.

“It seems that way though doesn’t it?”

“It would seem that way…” Gabe said nervously.

“I didn’t want to make him look like an asshole and I wanted to preserve some of my dignity since this was the second time he chickened out on committing and I still loved him. That’s why I came up with the idea to make it sound like it was a mutual thing,” She laughed sniffing back her tears.

“Well, it didn’t work. I still thought you both were assholes,” Gabe teased.

“Can’t get anything by you now can I?” She laughed again.

“I just wanted you to know the story because for some reason it’s been eating away at me that you may hate me.”

“It’s only because I’m with Sadler, otherwise you probably could care less! But, I was a little angry at you for hurting my friend, but you’d be the same way. I could never hate you. You’ve become too good of a friend and you’re like the sister I never had at times,” Gabe said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, but he was totally telling the truth.

“You’re like the brother I never wanted.”

“Thanks. Your secret is safe with me, okay?”

“Let’s wake that pregnant lady up!” I heard Meg start down the hall. I rolled as quickly as I could back onto the bed and closed my eyes.

“Sadie?” She asked in a low voice.

“Mmmm,” I murmured in my best sleep act.

“It’s Meghan, wake up and come give me a hug,” She said turning on the light.

I pretended to adjust my eyes to the light and I smiled at her.

“Give me a second. I’m a little large,” I laughed and rolled myself up and then off the bed.

“Large? Sadler, you are barely pregnant. You’re like the cutest and tiniest pregnant babe I’ve ever seen,” She said as we hugged each other.

“Thank you. I mean I feel good. I haven’t really been overeating. I’m in the range of normal weight gain, so that’s something,” I laughed.

“You look gorgeous. I love the pregnancy glow and it suits you well,” Meg just stared at me. It was so good to see her and so sad at the same time. I wanted to tell her that I knew, but it didn’t matter. I supported her when I didn’t know and I support her now even more.

“Hello, little one,” Meg ran her hands over my belly. “It’s your aunt Meghan; the cool one. You’ll know who I am right away. I’m sure Emily’s talked to you too. She’s the crazy one,” Meg laughed and looked up at me.

“I still can’t believe you’re having a baby. I always knew you would, of course, but you know what I mean. I’m glad you are though and really happy it’s Gabe’s. He’s a great guy,” Meghan smiled and gave me another hug.

“I can’t believe I’m pregnant either. We swore Emily would be pregnant first,” I laughed. “She was the more promiscuous one out of the three of us. And I’m very lucky to have Gabe and that all my friends like him,” I squeezed her as tight as my stomach would allow.

“Let’s get you fed mama,” Meg took my hand and we went out into the kitchen.

Gabe had set the table and was just pulling the food out of the oven. I fell in love with him again when he looked at me. I was lucky to have a guy that was so good to my friends.

“Smells good!” I went and kissed Gabe quickly and then helped bring the trays to the table.

“You guys really could have fed me crackers and I would have been fine. I mean you’re letting me stay with you. I should be the one cooking you dinner!” Meg took the trays from me and brought them to the table.

“I’m pregnant not disabled!” I sighed and walked to the table.

We all sat down and dug into the food. I felt at ease and happy to have Meghan and Gabe with me. I just smiled at them as we ate and talked. It was strange to me that very soon this all would be changing and there would be another person at the table very soon.