I nodded and accepted his explanation. I was certain he didn’t want his life back with his ex-wife, no matter what my mind wanted to tell me. She obviously elicits strong feelings in him, but I was relieved they weren’t emotions of desire.
Chapter 11
“Hey, over here,” Scott’s hand went up, flagging us down.
Within moments of sitting, Heather looked like she was going to burst. “I’ve been dying to tell you this all day, but wanted to wait until we got here where it’s quieter.”
“What’s up?” I asked, curious to hear what had her so excited.
“Well, Scott and I have some news,” she paused for barely a moment, “We’re having a baby!” The joy on her face gave away her excitement. Scott looked so proud, grinning ear to ear. “We didn’t want to say anything until we were sure everything was okay.”
“What? A baby, oh my gosh, that’s awesome!” I squealed with Heather, and then she filled us in on the details.
She wanted to make sure they didn’t have any problems before they shared the news, since they’d had a previous experience of losing a pregnancy early on. With everything going well, and her first trimester going smoothly, she was finally ready to spill the beans. She was all ready three months along.
We went into all of the details of her pregnancy, discussing things like did they think it was a boy or girl, were there any favorite names picked out, nursery ideas, and would she bottle or breastfeed, along with every other topic we could think of. We talked non-stop. Scott and Austin looked amused as we jumped from one topic to another, covering every bit of information we could think of.
I was happy for them; they’re such a strong couple and love each other so much. It was a cause to celebrate for sure. I just wished I wasn’t still stinging from my earlier fight with Austin. We enjoyed a couple of drinks while Heather stuck to juice, and we bathed in the idea of a new addition to their family. I knew Heather would be a great mom; she had a nurturing way about her.
She couldn’t stop smiling. “I was dying to say something earlier, but I had to wait,” she said again. “And the bowling alley was a little loud, but I figured I could finally tell you here.” She was apologetic she couldn’t tell me sooner, but I told her that was silly and not to even worry about it.
“I wanted to tell you, but Scott made me promise we’d wait until we got through the first trimester. You have no idea how many times I almost spilled the beans!”
Scott was beaming, proud as anything. His arm gently draped over Heather. “She’s going to be such a good mother,” he said leaning over and kissing Heather’s cheek. His face spoke of absolutely joy at the prospect of being a father.
I wondered if that would be me and Austin one day, or would trust issues pull us apart before we even got started. Would we see a future, or would he just be some guy I dated one time. I didn’t even know if he wanted a large family or small one. I mean, I assumed if we got married one day we’d have children. It just never seemed to be the topic of conversation, since we hadn’t gotten to “that point” in our relationship yet.
After a leisurely lunch we parted ways. Scott and Heather went off to do a little shopping, and Austin and I were heading back to my place. I hoped it was for a loving afternoon, and not for more fighting. I hated that we went at it earlier. It left me feeling weird and uncomfortable. It was our first squabble, and while it didn’t drag on and on, it still left me uneasy. I didn’t know if he was past it yet or not.
Getting in the car, I gently placed my hand on his arm, “Hey, are you okay?” I offered an olive branch, wanting to smooth over our earlier argument. As much as I hated what happened, I hated having this tension between us even more.
“Yeah, I’m sorry I exploded earlier. I overreacted. Listen, I’m going to have trust issues. I apologize whole heartedly for that, but it’s who I am.” He warned me of his trust issues early in our relationship, and I understood where they came from. It was just one of those things that I didn’t think would ever be an issue for us – until it was.
“And I’m really insecure, so if you can deal with that, I’ll tackle your trust issues. Is it a deal?” Dear goodness, do I have a lot of insecurities. If he knew how deep they ran, he’d probably run screaming in the other direction just to get away.
He smiled softly, “Deal.”
I leaned over and accepted the peck he was offering. It was still a quiet drive home, but at least I felt like our argument was officially over. The tension melted, but things weren’t back to normal yet. The atmosphere had changed between us that day. It was our first official fight and it felt bigger than it probably was.