Life As We Know It

It has been a month since meeting with John and we have gotten together many times since. The conversations have become less awkward and more natural.

“Are you almost ready?” James asks.

“Yeah, two minutes” I say as I put on my necklace from him and my beautiful diamond earrings from him for my birthday. I slip on my wedges and smooth out my sundress before making my way downstairs.

“You look beautiful” He says and gives me a kiss.

“You look hot, like usual” I say and look at him in his dark blue polo and khaki shorts. It is date night and we are dropping off Austin at Marc and Vero’s on the way to the restaurant. They had a great honeymoon from what Vero told me.

“So, is this lockout thing going to happen?” I ask

“Looks like it” he says

“I’m sorry” I say and give his hand a squeeze.

We are right in the middle of dinner when his phone starts ringing. He looks at it and his eyes get wide before answering it as fast as her can. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he say and I am on edge. “Oh, okay. Yeah we can get him, we are leaving now” he says and signals to the waiter that we need the check. “Yeah see you soon man” he says and hangs up.

“What’s wrong?” I ask

“Vero is throwing up and Marc can’t take care of both of them” he says and I exhale but feel bad for Vero. He pays for the meal and we leave as soon as we can. In the car I get a text message from Vero.

‘Hey, can you do me a huge favor and not tell Marc or James?’ she asks

‘Sure’

‘Can you stop at the drug store and get a pregnancy test for me? Please, I love you!’

‘You owe me so much’ I say before asking James to make a stop.

“What do you need?” he asks

“Um, Vero asked me to pick up a few things” I say and when he tries to get out of the car I stop him “I will be two minutes, just stay here” I say before running into the store and buying the tests. We get to their house and I ask Marc where Vero is.

“She is upstairs” he says and I make my way to their bedroom with the bag in my hand.

“Hey, so I got two different kinds” I say and hand her the bag.

“Thank you so much, I owe you so big” she says before going into the bathroom.

“Do you want me to stay?” I ask

“Would you?” she asks sounding nervous.

“Of course”

She comes out a few minutes later with a watch and sits on the bed with me. We sit in silence until the 5 minutes are up.

“I can’t look” she says and puts into my hand. After reading the directions I look at the stick to see a little pink plus sigh.

“You’re pregnant” I say and I see the biggest smile form on her face.

“Really?” she asks and I hand her the stick. “Oh my god, I’m pregnant. Marc is going to be so happy”

“You guys are going to make amazing parents” I say and hug her with tears in my eyes.

“Thank you” she says and then there is a knock on the door,

“Everything okay?” Marc asks from the other side.

“Fine, everything’s fine” Vero says and hustles to clean everything up. “I don’t want him to know yet” she whispers to me and hands me back the bag of unused tests.

“Thank you for watching Austin” I say as I open the door to find Marc. “We will see our way out” I say and make my way downstairs to James. “Okay, let’s go”

“She doesn’t need that?” he asks pointing to the bag.

“No she got what she needed” I say and we make our way home.

After getting home and moving a sleeping Austin from his car seat to his crib and getting him changed, I put the extra tests in the bottom drawer of my bathroom cabinets. We slipped into bed soon after and watched TV for a while.

“Well I am sad our night got cut short” James says and squeezes me tighter.

“Yeah me too” I say

“Marc was freaking out because he didn’t know what to do. She was throwing up and Austin was crying, he was so torn on the phone.”

“Aw, poor guy” I say thinking about what he will do when this happens in the future with his own child.

“You are quiet” he says

“Yeah, I’m tired” I lie and turn on to my side to shut the light off.

“Or are you hiding something?” he asks and spoons me.

“Not hiding anything, just tired” I say and relax in his arms. “Goodnight”

“Night” he says not believing me.

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It has been a couple of days since our date and James is acting really weird. After breakfast he quickly comes into the kitchen and announces that he has made plan and is going out. When I ask him where he is going he just says out then leaves. It is now dinner time and he hasn’t even called or texted so I text him.

‘Hey, coming home soon?’ I ask

‘Grabbing a drink with Paulie and won’t be back till later’

‘Okay, see you later’ I write back not knowing what is going on. That is the first night since the season has ended that I had dinner and went to bed alone, and I don’t really like it.

Middle of the night I get woken up and at first I think it is Austin until I hear my phone ringing. I look and see it is James and it is also 2:30 am.

“Hello?”

“Hey Lex, its Paul. Um can you come pick me and James up he is super drunk and I can’t drive either.”

“Thanks Paul, yeah text me the address and I will be there as soon as I can.” I say and hang up. I get some slippers on before getting Austin and grabbing my car keys. I drive to the address and find Paul and James in the parking lot waiting.

“Hey, thanks for coming” Paul says and hauls James with him to the backseat.

“I’m glad you called and not try to drive”

We get him strapped into the backseat and in our seats. Before I exit the parking lot James is passed out.

“So did James tell you why he is being so weird and has been avoiding me today?” I ask Paul straight out.

“We did talk” he say and stops talking.

“And can I know why?”

“Look, what you do with your body is your decision. Talk to James before you do anything drastic. It is his decision too” Paul says, leaving me behind like twenty steps.

“Okay? I will talk to him but I have no idea what you are talking about”

“I’m talking about the baby” he says as if it is obvious.

“What baby? Austin?”

“The baby inside of you. You are pregnant right?”

“No?” I say again like a question.

“He is such an idiot” he sighs and sinks into his seat. “James found a test”

“The unopened one in my bathroom drawer? And from that he thinks I’m pregnant?” I ask

“That seems to be the case” he says “So how are you going to tell him you know?”

“I think I am going to let him sweat it out a little” I say with a smirk on my face “It is the least I can do after he snooped”

“You are kind of evil, but I love it” Paul says as we turn into the neighborhood. Once we get both James and Austin to bed Paul walks home and I make my way to bed after setting out a bottle of water and pills.

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Waking up in the morning James is still asleep so I go down stairs to make breakfast. I can make hangover cure like no one else, so I make some eggs, toast, and bacon. I hear James coming downstairs and he is holding his head when he enters the kitchen.

“Morning. I’m going to be honest and tell you I have no memory of getting here last night”

“I didn’t think you would, I picked you guys up and brought you home”

“You are the best” he says and kisses my forehead. I guess he hasn’t remembered he is freaking out from yesterday. “Is this for me?” he asks pointing to the plate.

“Yeah”

“Are you going to eat?” now is the best time to mess with him.

“My stomach has been a little off” I say and see the color drain from his face. “Must be going around”

“Yeah must be” he says and starts eating.

All day I have been dropping little hints here and there and I can see they are taking their toll on him. By dinner I have decided I have had enough fun and tell him I’m not pregnant.

“Are you getting a beer?” I ask as we sit down for dinner.

“Yeah”

“Can you grab me one too?” I ask

“How about some water or juice?” he asks

“No a beer sounds good”

He comes to the table with two water bottles and sits down.

“I thought we were having beer?” I ask

“I don’t want one and you can’t” he says and freezes.

“And why can’t I?” I ask

“You can’t drink when you are pregnant and I won’t let you” he says “Not when it’s my baby”

“James, can I tell you something?”

“Of course”

“I’m not pregnant” I say and I see the confusion.

“But the tests and today you were sick and achy” he says trying to piece it together.

“The unopened tests you found in my drawer?” I say

“Yeah I found them”

“I know and today was a little payback for running away from me” I say “Good to know what you would do if I really was pregnant”

“I’m sorry I freaked but you have to see it from my side. Unmarried, dating for 5 months, already one baby in the house”

“I do see it but the fact that you didn’t even ask but just assumed then ran away, that hurt me”

“I’m sorry” he says and we eat in piece for a bit. “Vero’s pregnant” he says out of nowhere.

“What? How did you know?” I ask him

“We stopped on the way to their house, you went upstairs for a bit, then came down with the bag, and now you have tests” he says and I have to say I am impressed he figured it out. “I’m one of the smart jocks” he jokes.

“Yeah she is but she hasn’t told Marc yet, she is waiting for the right time. Shut up I was just impressed that you figured that out as a man.”

“Okay I will keep it to myself until he tells me” he says

“And then you are back to dumb” I say with an eye roll.

“What?”

“What if you just find out your wife is pregnant and you tell one of your friends just for him to say ‘Oh yeah, I knew’ How would you feel?” I ask

“Okay, I won’t tell him I know” he says

“Thank you” I say. “So it is safe to say, no baby talk for a long time”

“I will handle it much better when the time comes” he says

“When?” I ask with a small smile.

“I meant if! If the time comes” he says hastily.

“You are so cute when you are flustered” I say with a smile. “So we are good?”

“Yeah, we’re good” he says with a smile.

“Guess what Austin did yesterday when you were out”

“What?”

“He rolled over on his own” I say with a smile.

“He is growing up so fast. Soon he will be crawling, then it is all downhill” he says with a wink.

“I think we will manage” I say.