Best of Me

Kat was in the middle of working, paper scattered all around her as she sat in the middle of her living room floor. She felt like a madwoman, working herself right into the ground. She needed rest, but she had deadlines coming up. She was so focused on work that her brain barely registered that her phone was blowing up. When her front door flew open and bounced off the wall, her heart stopped, and she flinched so hard it looked like she was having a seizure.

Whipping around, she spotted a very frantic looking blonde charging through the entrance. Val looked determined, terrified, and angry all at once. Kat feared for her life in that moment. Val remained quiet for a few moments, glancing around the apartment.

“Okay, so nothing looks out of place, except for the forest that’s surrounding you right now.” Val gestured to all the pieces of paper. Kat furrowed her eyebrows; she was completely confused as to what was going on and her heart was still pounding out of her chest.

“Val, are you okay?”

“When I call or text my pregnant best friend, I expect her to answer. Are you okay? Did something happen?” Val demanded, her worry only increasing. Kat closed her laptop and began to stack her notes together.

“Did something happen to indicate that I might not be okay?”

“You didn’t answer my calls or texts.” Val said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Kat picked up her phone and checked the texts that Val had left her. She rolled her eyes at the blonde.

“The beach. That’s what was so important?”

“Well, I need to know if you’re up for going this Friday. We haven’t been to the beach in a while and the guys wanted to go. I need to know how much food to bring.” Val shrugged her shoulders innocently. Kat laughed softly, unable to be upset with her friend for overreacting.

“I have my first 2nd trimester appointment that morning, but I’ll be down to go after.” Kat explained, pulling herself up from the floor and wandering into the kitchen for something to drink. She fixed herself a glass of sweet tea and started making herself a grilled cheese sandwich. Val followed behind her and sat herself at the breakfast bar, a sweet smile on her lips.

“Brian’s excited about going.” Val informed, accepting the glass of tea that Kat offered her. “He wants to hear the heartbeat again. Apparently, he couldn’t get enough of it when you had to go to the hospital.”

Kat smiled, “I know. He’s getting more excited, but I think he’s still really nervous.”

“Love, he is beyond excited, he just doesn’t want too ahead of himself. Something about being worried about something happening to the baby.”

“Well, I’m mostly in the clear. While something could happen, it’s not likely at this point.” Kat explained, fingers tapping against her stomach.

Val watched her for a moment, a thought coming to mind. “When are you planning on announcing it?”

Kat choked on her tea, coughing to clear her wind pipe. She hadn’t thought about announcing it. She told everyone that was important and that was enough. However, maybe Val had a good point. With Brian being in a famous band, and her being in his life, how long did she expect to hide her pregnancy from the world?

“I don’t know if I really want to announce it. I mean, Brian and I aren’t together, so it would be a little weird if we tell everyone we’re expecting a baby. Besides, it’s none of their business.”

“That’s very true, but you can’t hide it forever. Somebody, somewhere will see you, put things together, and blast it all over the internet. That’s how this works.”

Kat mulled it over, checking on her cooking sandwich. “Maybe we should just let it happen that way; let whatever is supposed to happen, happen.”

“That’s not such a bad idea as long as Brian’s okay with it.” Val paused, her fingers tapping together. “Matt brought up kids today.”

Kat’s eyes widened and she turned to give Val her full attention. It wasn’t much of a surprise; Matt and Val had been together forever, it only made sense for them to start talking about having kids at some point. Kat was just curious as to how Val felt about it.

“Yeah? How did that go?”

“It was sort of undefined. We both want kids, but we don’t know when we should start trying. Matt really wants to be a dad, and you being pregnant has given us some serious baby fever. We just don’t know how to go about the whole process.”

Kat pondered for a moment, taking in the new information and thinking of the best piece of advice for her friend. “Okay, so maybe don’t try, but don’t prevent it either. Let it happen when it’s supposed to. Oh, and start taking prenatal vitamins now, they’ll help. If you want, schedule a checkup just to make sure that everything is fine, but you’re healthy, so it’s not entirely necessary.”

“For someone who wasn’t trying to get pregnant, you know a lot about the whole process.” Val commented, impressed by the knowledge Kat possessed on the subject. The brunette shrugged her shoulders, pulling her food off the stove.

“I have googled everything humanly possible since I got pregnant. You’d be surprised at the shit that comes up. And not all of it is pleasant, I can tell you that. I am definitely getting the epidural when I give birth.”

Val and Kat continued to discuss the baby and all the preparation that needed to be done. Soon, Kat was going to have to start buying everything the baby would need. She was hesitant to get ahead of herself though. She didn’t know if she was having a boy or girl yet.

One thing was for sure, though. She didn’t have a lot of room to work with and the little room she did have would soon disappear. Kat decided that she would start looking for a bigger place to live before she became too exhausted to do anything.

“Oh! You know what would be really good for you? A dog.” Val exclaimed, an excited look crossing over her features. Kat’s face scrunched up in confusion, wondering where the hell that came from.

“Kat don’t give me that look. You were just telling me a few months ago that you wanted a dog.”

“I would love to have a dog, but I don’t think my landlord would be okay with it. They’re only okay with small dogs, and that’s not what I want.” Kat argued, causing Val to slump in her seat.

“Well, maybe once you start looking for a new place.”

It didn’t sound like the most terrible idea… “Maybe.”