Be With Me Now

During lunch I received a text from John explaining that his meeting with Pat was going to run a little longer than expected. He insisted I spend the rest of the day with Amber and then have her drop me off at the 8123 Office. I wasn’t so thrilled to hear this. John was finally home for my birthday for the first time in a couple of years. I wanted to spend the day with him. He said he had a date planned but wouldn’t tell me what we were doing. He just told me to dress nice and proceeded to add a little winky face.

After our little shopping spree at the Paradise Valley Mall, Amber and I drove back to my apartment where she was going to doll me up for tonight. I wasn’t much of a makeup guru whereas Amber was a pro. I stuck to the basics: eyeliner and mascara, occasionally lipstick and eyeshadow, but I never really ventured beyond that. My mom always told me that I had a ‘natural beauty’ and ‘didn’t need to wear all that crap on my face’. I believed her, of course.

As Amber worked her magic, I thought about John and how we were going to bring a child into the world this October. It brought a smile to my face, picturing him has a dad. He was great with kids so I knew he would be great with our little girl or boy. I officially decided I was going to tell him tonight. I was excited and nervous. Keeping it a secret from him had been so hard and I couldn’t wait to spill the beans.

“All done!” Amber exclaimed, bringing me out of my thoughts. She spun the chair around so I could look in the mirror.

“Amber,” I said astonished. “Amazing as always, thank you.” I stood up from my seat and gave her a hug.

“Of course! Gotta make you look extra beautiful so you can blow John away tonight,” She laughed.

“Well, you did a fantastic job.”

“I’m flattered.” Amber said, then made her way over to our shopping bags sitting on my bed and started rummaging through them. “Now, time to find something for you to wear. Nothing too tight, obviously. God, I still can’t believe you’re pregnant.”

“Tell me about it.” I walked over to my bed before plopping down. “I was just thinking about that, actually. I’ve decided that I’m going to tell him tonight. I can’t keep it from him anymore.”

Amber smiled and continued looking through the clothes spread out on my bed, setting a couple articles off to the side. “You still feeling nervous?”

“A little,” I admitted meekly. “But I’m ready and I can’t wait to see his reaction.”

“And I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it.” Amber chuckled, then threw some clothes at me. “I found what you can wear tonight. So get up, get dressed. I’ll search for a pair of shoes for you, then we’ll get this show on the road!”

I laughed at her enthusiasm and picked up the clothes before going into the bathroom to change. Amber had picked out a pair of black high waisted skinny jeans and a black striped sequin crop top. Nothing too fancy but not too casual either. Amber knew me well. After pulling the top over my head, I examined myself in the mirror. I turned to the side and placed my hand over my stomach. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to wear clothes like this.

And I was perfectly okay with that.

- - - - - -

We pulled up to 8123 around 7:30pm. As we got out of the car, I took note of all the other cars parked on the street. Odd. Before I could even realize, Amber started walking towards the side entrance in a hurry. Wondering why she didn’t just go through the front, I jogged a bit to catch up with her. When I finally did, she was opening the privacy fence door that lead to the backyard of the house the 8123 offices were located at.

“Amber would you slow down-”

“SURPRISE!”

I could have sworn I jumped 10 feet in the air. The backyard was decorated to perfection with string lights, streamers, and balloons. There was a bonfire lit in the center of the yard and a table was off to the side with a copious amount of snacks and beverages, alcoholic and nonalcoholic. Everyone from our group of friends were looking at me with big smiles on their faces. Finally, I saw John make his way towards me with an even bigger smile on his face.

“Happy Birthday, Eva,” He said as he grabbed me into a hug.

“John! You planned all of this?” I asked, looking up at him. I didn’t think I could smile any bigger than I already was.

“Guilty.”

“So the whole ‘having a meeting with Pat’ was just a lie so you could do this? You little shit!”

“No, the meeting was real. The text I sent you earlier was a lie so I could get the backyard set up.”

I grabbed John’s face and pulled him in for a kiss. “Thank you, John. I never expected it.”

“Anything for you,” He responded. “Now, I’m going to go get you a drink. Be right back.”

As soon as John left, Amber appeared out of nowhere. She had a shit eating grin on her face and two red solo cups in her hands. “So you were surprised huh?”

“Very much so,” I stated. “You knew John had this planned, didn’t you?”

“Yup. You don’t know how many times I almost told you today.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” I laughed. “John would have been so mad. Shit, Amber, he went to go get me a drink. What am I going to do? He’s going to get suspicious if I’m not drinking!”

“Whoa there, calm down. I got you covered.” Amber held out one of the cups she was holding. “Some lemonade. Just pretend there’s vodka in it.”

I took the cup from her just as John was approaching. He had a cup in his hand. As soon as he reached Amber and I, he took notice of the cup in my hand before frowning. “Aw, you already got a drink? I was only gone for like two minutes.”

Amber patted him on the back. “Sorry, Johno, I beat ya to it.” Amber wandered off, leaving John and I alone.

“Well, shit, what am I supposed to do with this one?”

I gave him a funny look. “Drink it, maybe?” I laughed.

“Can’t,” John said. “Someone has to be DD later, babe, and since it’s your birthday I don’t expect you to be. Now let’s go join the party, shall we?”

John grabbed my hand and led us towards the bonfire. I greeted everyone and thanked them for coming to celebrate my birthday. I sat down on one of the patio couches. John sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him. Everyone was gathered around the fire, laughing, drinking, and telling funny stories. Garrett had dared Pat to drink some concoction he whipped up, claiming he’d give him 50 bucks. We all had a good laugh when Pat took the first sip and made a disgusted face. He never liked alcohol and we all tried everything we could do get him to drink.

When the clock struck 9, I heard everyone start to sing “Happy Birthday” and saw Amber walking out of the house with a huge cake lit with candles. John stood up from his seat and motioned for me to follow him towards the table with all the snacks and drinks. Amber approached us and set the cake down on the table. When everyone finished singing, John whispered in my ear.

“Make a wish.”

I thought hard, then blew out the candles. Everyone started clapping and I had the biggest smile on my face. Amber handed me a knife and I cut the cake, dishing out pieces for everyone. It was red velvet; my favorite. After everyone finished eating their cake, the drinking and crazy antics continued. I was so happy to be surrounded by so many great people. I couldn’t imagine a life without them, especially John.

As it got later, I started getting tired. It was only 20 after midnight and I was ready to go home and pass out. I blamed it on the child growing inside me. John must have caught on that I was tired when I rested my head on his shoulder and yawned.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “You getting tired?”

I lifted my head up and looked at him. “Yes, but I don’t wanna leave yet. It’s still early.”

“I think everyone will be fine with us leaving. They’re all already way passt drunk. They probably wouldn’t even notice if we left.”

“Okay,” I yawned again. “Just let me go say bye to Amber real quick, then we can go.”

John pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Meet me at the car.”

I stood up from my seat and searched the yard for Amber. As soon as I spotted her, I started making my way towards her. She was in what looked like a heated discussion with Kennedy. They had a messy romantic history with each other that left Amber hurt more than I would have liked. As soon as I approached them, Kennedy left without a word.

“Hey,” I said cautiously. “What was that about?”

“Nothing,” Amber sighed. “Just Kennedy being Kennedy. What’s up?” I noticed her eyes looked a little glossy.

“Oh. Well I’m getting pretty tired, so John and I are going to head out. Are you going to be okay?”

“Yes,” she assured. “You go home, get some rest, and let me know how John takes the news.”

I pulled her in for a long hug and said quietly in her ear, “Ken will come to his senses some day, but just know that you don’t have to wait forever. You deserve better.”

“Thank you,” She responded quietly and pulled away from our hug. “See ya soon. And Happy Birthday again.”

“It’s not my birthday anymore,” I laughed. “But thanks.”

I made my way to the front and walked towards John’s white Jeep. I couldn’t wait to go home and sleep. When I got in the passenger seat, John started up the car and our drive to my apartment began. As soon as we entered my apartment I walked over to the couch and plopped down. John joined me on the couch and pulled me into his side.

“Did you have a good birthday?” He asked.

“Yes, thank you so much for planning everything. I had no idea.”

“You’re welcome, Eva. So, I know you said you were tired but I wanted to give you your present before we went to bed.”

My body perked up at the word ‘present’ and I sat up straight, looking at John. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black velvet box. I looked at it attentively as he handed it to me. I opened it and gasped. It was a ring. A very beautiful ring. There was a single round cut diamond in the center with smaller diamonds wrapped around it and some on the band.

“John…”

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not an engagement ring.”

“It looks a lot like an engagement ring,” I said quietly, admiring it.

“Hey.” John put his hand under my chin, prompting me to look at him. “I know how you feel about marriage and I wouldn’t bombard you like that and ask you to marry me when I know you don’t want to get married.”

It was true. I just didn’t believe in marriage and the whole concept was dumb to me; signing a piece of paper and binding yourself to someone forever when you never know if that ‘forever’ will last forever. Then having to go through a divorce and those can get messy. I loved John and he knew that. He was very understanding when we first talked about marriage with each other. I suppose my views on it came from watching my parents growing up. They’ve never gotten married and they’ve been together for 26 years.

“It’s a promise ring,” John explained.

“John-”

“Let me finish,” John cut me off. “Marriage isn’t a big deal to me either, you know that, but I feel like I owe it to you to make an official promise that I will be here for you and love you no matter what life throws our way. I love you so much and I just want you to know that I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”

I was speechless. My eyes were watering and my vision was blurry. I set the box down on the coffee table and grabbed John into a tight hug. I felt the exact same way about him. I couldn’t see myself with anyone else. When I pulled away John pressed a soft kiss to my lips and reached over to grab the box.

“Will you accept this ring, please? You don’t even have to wear it on your finger if you don’t want to. I can put it on a chain and you can wear it as a necklace.”

“No, I want to wear it on my finger. Right hand though, we don’t need people making a fuss and thinking we’re engaged,” I laughed.

“Okay,” John smiled and opened the box before pulling the ring out. He grabbed my right hand gently and placed it on my ring finger.

I examined my hand for a moment and then looked at John with a smile on my face. “It’s a beautiful ring, John. I hope you meant what you said though…” I trailed off.

“Of course I meant it, Ev. I wouldn’t say all that for shits and giggles. Why would you question that?”

This was it. I was going to just spit it out. No more keeping it a secret. “Because, I…”

“What?” John asked, sounding concerned.

I looked down at my lap before speaking, “I’m pregnant.”

Silence. All I got in return was silence. I was afraid to look up at him. When I finally did, John was staring at me with his mouth slightly ajar.

“You- You’re pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“You’re serious?”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t say that for shits and giggles, John.”

“I- Oh my God. I’m going to be a dad?”

“Yes-”

I was cut off my John pressing his lips against mine. He pulled away with the biggest smile on his face. I felt relieved. Obviously he was happy if he was smiling.

“You’re happy, right? I know it’s unexpected…”

“Yes, I’m so happy. This is good news,” John said and pulled me in for another hug. “I love you.”

All that worrying and being nervous was for nothing. Of course John was going to be happy. It’s just nice to have that reassurance.

“I love you too, John. Can we go to sleep now?” I asked and stood up. “I’m exhausted.”

John stood up and pulled on my hand, leading me towards my bedroom. “Yes we can, baby momma.”

I laughed and followed him. It’s safe to say we both fell asleep with smiles on our faces that night.