Page 15 of Hot Life
“Hey!” Desmond jeered, but we were all laughing.
Cedric shook her hand. “Please, call me Cedric, and it would be an honor. I think we make a great team, and I learned a lot about natural birth methods today.”
“I’ll meet you guys outside,” I said a moment later to the guys. They were busy checking game scores on their phones as they agreed and headed out the door.
“Sonny, can I ask you something?”
She smiled. “Anything, dear.”
I took a deep breath. “You have kids, right? Did bringing in a baby…change anything with you and your partners? I’m worried that maybe it’s too much. I’m also worried that…” Here it was, the thing I had yet to voice to anyone. But Sonny seemed kind and knowledgeable and I’d never met another woman in a relationship similar to mine. “I’m worried that maybe I’m not enough for a baby.” The words sounded sharp, and a pang of guilt cut through me. What would she think of me now?
With kind, brown eyes, she reached out and placed two hands on my round belly. If it were anyone else, I would have been annoyed, but the gesture felt comforting coming from her. “Babies change everything.”
I knew it. That was it. I’d destroyed our family unit.
After a glance to my belly then up to my eyes, she continued. “You already know that love only grows, yes? You probably were like most people, at some point, thinking your heart was only big enough for one man. And then you found another and the love only grew. If anything, you’re more prepared than most in that regard.” She gave my hand a squeeze. “Your love isn’t like a pie, Dolly. It’s not something you cut and divide up. Your love is like the whole sky. Expansive, ever reaching, going on forever. Your family is enough. You are enough. Always.”
I swallowed, only then realizing the tears trickling down my cheeks. “Thank you,” was all I could muster. Sonny hugged me tightly and gave me her card, saying to call or text anytime.
And I would take her up on that many, many times in the years to come.
thirty weeks pregnant
BABY IS THE SIZE OF A FAMILY-SIZED BAG OF LUNATICS.
Chatter from the family room below me pulled me from my dreams. I’d become someone who needed at least one nap a day after doing absolutely nothing, so that was another fun pregnancy add-on. After Caroline’s dinner of Greek chicken and salad, I promptly passed out in a bundle of blankets on my bed. After dinner, if we were all home, we’d play a card game or watch a movie as a family. I was disappointed to have missed it. Yawning, I tiptoed down the hall to snoop on whatever they were discussing so fervently. Probably the intricacies of how a lowly hobbit could realistically get a ring to the fires of Mordor. That was a hot button conversation a few weeks ago. I’d expected something similar until my name was said. I paused outside the entryway, my eyes adjusting to the light. Desmond’s voice said, “I can put off my shoot. The owls are my easiest subjects. They don’t move much in the dark. It’s easy.”
Cedric argued. “I’ll take a week off from surgeries and stay with her. You have a deadline with those photos.”
The sound of pages flipping rippled through the air and Odette spoke. “We are booked with weddings and a business event for the next eight weekends. I know that’s pushing it close, but we can do our work here during the week and watch her. Someone just needs to be with her over the weekends.”
Caroline agreed and pondered. “Yes, that’s doable. But now I’m second-guessing. She’s full term at thirty-seven weeks. Shouldn’t we all be with her from that point onward?”
“Fuck, we have to take the dogs to the vet for shots next week too. It’s at the same time as Dolly’s prenatal appointment, and Ced or I like taking her out for dates after those.”
Anger rose in my veins. I clenched my fists. Were they seriously discussing a babysitting schedule for me? I stepped out from the doorway, crossing my arms.
“Uh, did you sleep well, beautiful?” Cedric asked cautiously. “We were just—"
“Babysitting me? You’ve all reached a new low. I can be alone; I’m a grown ass woman.”
Odette rolled her eyes. “That’s debatable.”
I shot her a glare so fierce she recoiled slightly.
“Chill the hell out, Odie,” Des chastised. “There’s no need to be an ass.”
“You’re all asses!” I screeched. “You’re literally sitting here arranging your lives around who’s going to watch me? I’m a pregnant person, not a potty-training puppy, for christ’s sake.”
“But you’re as cute as a puppy,” Desmond jeered, trying to be playful, but I wasn’t having it.
I picked up a throw pillow and chucked it at his head. “Yeah? Why don’t you combine appointments and just take me to the veterinarian with the dogs? Two for one care!”
Cedric stood, his tone soothing. “Dot, you know that’s not what we mean. We all just want to make sure someone is around in case you need anything.”
I stomped my foot, the anger still sharp. “If I need something, I’ll get it myself. You’ve all gone completely psycho!”
“God, Dolly, can you tone down the dramatics? Oh, everyone wants to care for me, woe is my life, so unfair,” Odette sniped, eliciting a look of outrage from her wife.