Can’t Look Away

“How’s your papa doing?”

Sasha, who was topping off Cassie’s glass of lemonade, quirked a small smile before she plopped down into her own seat, taking a sip from her glass. It hadn’t been long. After her father’s collapse on what ought to have been her and Lionel’s wedding day, a couple of weeks had passed, and with Lionel having gone away for the night, Sasha had been quick to invite Cassie around, wanting her input of the next step that she and Lionel were to take.

They had talked about it a lot. Once they had been sure that her father was alright, their focus had quickly switched to the task of trying to find a new wedding date, but it had proven to be difficult. They didn’t want to wait for too long. Both of them were set on making things happen sooner rather than later, but they couldn’t decide how they wanted to do it. They had had plans, but things had changed, and their minds had changed slightly, too.

“He’s doing OK” Sasha mused “He got out of hospital a few days ago, so he’s been back at home, which he’s glad about. I am not so sure he’s enjoying my mother’s constant attention, but I think he’d take that over being stuck in hospital” she added.

Cassie smirked around the top of her glass. “How bad is Carina?” she asked.

“Overbearing” Sasha replied with a slight laugh “I mean, I took Arlo to see him earlier and she actually set a timer for how long we could stay and almost pushed us out of the door when it was up, but it’s only because she’s worried about him overdoing it. It was a scare that none of us saw coming, and so now she’s being extra cautious” she explained, her voice softening slightly.

Cassie smiled sympathetically, her hand reaching over to squeeze Sasha’s reassuringly.

Sasha smiled gently at the comfort, allowing a moment of quiet to pass between the two of them, before she shook her head, a gentle laugh falling out of her mouth. “I should be asking how you are” she said as though it was obvious “I mean, as both a midwife and your best friend, I feel like I should be checking in with you. Is everything alright?” she asked, her eyes slipping down towards Cassie’s stomach.

Cassie followed her stare, her cheeks flushing a gentle shade of pink, before she nodded her head gently. “Everything is good” she mused “I mean, I don’t love the nausea, and I keep craving strawberries so much that that is pretty much all that is in my fridge, but it’s good. I’m good, Aiden’s good, and most importantly, little peanut is good too” she added, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt bashfully.

“I still can’t quite believe that Arlo’s going to have a best friend so soon” Sasha mused, taking a sip from her glass.

“It came as a bit of a surprise to me and Aiden, too” Cassie admitted, her fingers lightly brushing over her stomach “But it feels right. I know that that’s such a clichéd thing to say, but...”

“I get it” Sasha interrupted with a shake of her head “It wasn’t that long ago that a certain someone convinced me to throw out the timetable I’d crafted for my life and try for a baby after a year of dating” she added, a fond smile on her face.

She knew what Cassie meant. When things had started moving forwards between her and Lionel, it’d tossed plans she had had made for years out of the window, and whilst she knew that she had hesitated perhaps more than she ought to have, she couldn’t deny that it’d always felt right. They’d always felt like a good fit.

Cassie’s lips quirked. “Your almost-husband” she quipped impishly.

Sasha rolled her eyes. “Don’t call him that” she mused “It makes it sound like he left me at the altar” she added.

“I mean, you almost left him there” Cassie retorted with a shrug “If I hadn’t called when I did...” she trailed off teasingly.

Sasha glared at her, something which caused Cassie to laugh before she shook her head, tracing the tip of her finger around the bottom of her glass. “Have you two thought about what you’re going to do now?” she asked tentatively after a moment of quiet. She didn’t want Sasha to think that she was trying to push her into thinking about a wedding so soon after her father’s illness.

Sasha, who’d been listening to Arlo’s stirring on the baby monitor, blinked a couple of times at the question before she slowly nodded her head. “We’ve talked a little” she confirmed “But neither of us is really sure what to do. We don’t want to wait for long, we’ve already done enough of that, but we also made a lot of plans that we liked. If we want to make plans, we’re going to have to wait again, and trying to find a good day for a wedding in Leo’s schedule isn’t exactly easy. He’s kind of busy most weekends” she added, rolling her eyes half-heartedly.

Cassie smiled. “You guys know that things will be pretty much the same after you’re married, right?” she asked.

Sasha nodded. “I know” she agreed “But I think it was something we were both looking forwards to. I mean, after all the hesitating I’ve done, and all the bumps we’ve hit, we were both looking forwards to it, and then it didn’t happen” she added, lifting her shoulders in a shrug.

Cassie watched her for a moment before she reached across the table again, prodding the engagement ring which sat on Sasha’s finger. “You’re going to marry him” she noted.

“Cassie...”

“You’re going to be his wife, Sasha” Cassie interrupted “And it doesn’t matter if it is in two days, two months or two years. You’re going to get married to that man, and we both know it” she insisted.

She could see that Sasha was anxious. She had been able to see it almost as soon as she had set foot into the house, and she wanted to assure her that things were going to work out. It’d been a blow. They had planned for a lot of things to go wrong, most of them revolving around Leila making a scene, but what had happened with Eddie had been sudden and unexpected, and it wasn’t a surprise to Cassie that it’d made Sasha worried. It would have been easy for Sasha to think that, with all the problems they’d had with her sister, it wasn’t going to work out.

Sasha rolled her eyes, a slightly sheepish smile tugging up one corner of her mouth. “I don’t know if I love that you know me as well as you do” she quipped.

“I just don’t want you to do what you normally do” Cassie replied “You’re a worrier, Sasha, too much of a worrier sometimes, and I want to be as clear as I can that you don’t need to worry about this. Leo adores you, Sasha, you know that” she insisted.

Sasha’s cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink before she nodded. “I know” she confirmed.

“Good” Cassie quipped “Now, when you do decide what you’re going to do next, I have just one request. I want to look the least pregnant I can, so either you do it now before the bump grows, or you wait for my baby to come along” she added.

Sasha laughed. “I’ll see what we can do” she agreed.