“Wow, that’s so fast,” I say, smiling at Jack. He smiles and shakes his head, looking over my shoulder at Asher.
“You get it?” Jack says, looking at Asher. I look at Asher, wondering what the heck he’s talking about. He pulls me close and kisses my temple.
“Alright, man. Send me the blueprints,” Asher says, standing. “Let me know when you get the permit and are gonna break ground.”
“I’ll call you later this week,” Jack says, putting all of his stuff back in his folder.
“Next weekend is Gran’s birthday. Everyone will be expecting you.” Asher changes the subject and reminds Jack of the upcoming celebration.
“I'm driving to Atlanta with Meg this week, but we should be back in time for the party unless her family convinces her to stick around through the weekend.”
“Bring her.”
“What?” Jack asks, shoving his folder under his arm and walking towards the front door.
“Bring Meg.”
“Bring Meg?” Jack repeats.
“Yeah, why not?” Asher shrugs like it’s no big deal.
“You hate Meg,” Jack says, looking at me. I shrug. I have no idea who Meg is or what her history is.
“No, I hated that Meg was a friend and she believed the bullshit that bitch fed her about having my baby. Then, I was pissed that she confronted me in front of people in town about abandoning Joan after I knocked her up without ever asking me about it first. To top it off, she told Joan where I lived, so when I got home from a public blow out with Meg in town, I had to deal with Joan sitting on my front porch waiting for me.” Wow, I didn’t like Meg very much right now either. How could you claim that someone is your friend then believe a stranger over them?
“So, you’re tellin’ me you’re over that shit?” Jack asks, looking like he understands why Asher was mad. I think anyone would understand why Asher was mad.
“No, I'm tellin’ you that I know it’s not easy to choose sides, and that I'm willing to work on my relationship with Meg so you don’t have to choose.”
Jack looked relieved. I could understand that. I'm sure it’s not easy loving two people who don’t get along. “Okay. We’ll be there for the party,” he says, opening the front door. “It was nice meeting you, November.”
“You too,” I say as the door closes behind him.
Once Asher locks the door, I yell, “We’re getting a pool!” And I launch myself at him.
“No, I'm getting summers full of you in nothing but a bikini,” he says, giving me the dimple.
“Ugh.” I scrunch up my nose. “I have never worn a bikini.”
“Well, you’re not getting in the pool without one.” He looks at the ceiling, smiles and looks back down at me. “I will make an exception for you if you’re in your birthday suit.”
“Of course, you will,” I say sarcastically. “How generous of you.” I shake my head. “Hey, what are you doing?” I screech from my now upside down position.
“I'm going to make sure your birthday suit still fits, baby.”
“Oh.” I smile as he carries me to the bedroom and shows me his birthday suit. Let’s just say that his fits him perfectly. I didn’t ask how mine fit, but I did note that he wasn’t complaining.
I couldn’t believe it. I looked at the calendar again, thinking that something had to be seriously wrong. But every time I counted, I came up with the same thing. I was not only late, I was L-A-T-E, as in three months of no period. I knew that my pants were fitting tighter, but I had also been eating like a pig. Now I knew the reason why I had been eating like a pig and the reason for my tightening clothes. If I was correct, I was about three months pregnant.
“Holy shit,” I whispered into the top of the desk where my head had landed with a loud thud, I was on the shot. I had been on the shot since I was sixteen and my mother forced me to get on birth control. She quickly found out I wasn’t very responsible with taking the pill, so she made my nanny take me to the hospital where they offered several different forms of birth control. I chose the shot only because I never had to think of it after I got it. Obviously, I didn’t think about anything. I didn’t think about my clothes becoming tighter. I didn’t think about feeling tired. I thought about nothing. If I hadn’t been planning on getting my shot prescription refilled, I wouldn’t have thought about the fact that I hadn’t had my period. I would have ended up on that show where the girl says, “I didn’t know I was pregnant until I felt the baby coming out of my vagina.”