Page 5 of Not Until Her
“Plus, I want to hear your beautiful voice,” she adds, really pulling all the stops she’s got.
“It would be cruel of me to deprive you of my talent.”
“It would!” She yells it so loudly that I wince and pull the phone away from my ear.
“Okay, calm down over there. What are you wearing?” I ask.
“You know that blueish green dress? It’s the only one that fits me at the moment.”
I gasp. “Not the one with the tassels.”
“Yes, that very one. I refuse to go shopping for clothes that won’t fit me in a couple weeks.”
It’s a boho-chic nightmare. I fully believe Vic can pull off anything she wears, but… does anyone really pull off any clothing with tassels?“But you still have that black one from when you were pregnant with Eli, don’t you?”
I switch the phone to my other ear, grimacing. When you’re too stubborn to hold your phone in your hands, it kind of hurts to smush it against your ear with your shoulder. I find my common sense somewhere, shaking my head at myself and pressing the speaker button before setting it down on the counter.
“I wish I could still fit into it, but I never got this big with Eli. I’m honestly worried this girl is going to come out weighing fifteen pounds.”
I shudder at the thought. Dahlia was a little less than nine, and even that seemed impossible at the time.
“Then there goes any chance of us coordinating our outfits. What time am I picking you up?” I ask defeatedly.
I end up in a pair of emerald green woven pants, and a long sleeve black top with lace around the collar. One thing about me is that it’s always one or the other: big pants and a tight shirt or tight pants and a big shirt. Another thing about me is that I will religiously coordinate my outfits with whoever I’m with. I’m grateful that this is the outfit I came up with tonight, because I’m incredibly comfortable,andVic and I look super cute standing next to each other.
It better be warm inside this bar, because neither of us are dressed like we know it’s the middle of winter.
I’ve never been here before, which is surprising. Not that I make a habit of visiting many bars, but my girls and I had a phase. When Autumn was freshly twenty-one, we made sure she had the full experience.There wasn’t a single weekend for months where we weren’t getting drunk together.
Tall Glassis technically a town over, but that means very little when the towns are this small. We arrive less than ten minutes after I pick up Vic, to a brick building with an edgy blue neon sign.
“There are a lot of pregnant people here,” I whisper once we’re inside.
“She did invite everyone.”
“Is everyone in your yoga class pregnant?” I ask with a chuckle.
She looks at me sideways.
“That’s the whole point, babe. Prenatal yoga?”
Wow, okay. I missed that fact, but it makes sense.
“Then why the hell is this happening at abar of all places?”
She fully turns to look at me, a disbelieving look on her face.
“Where else would you host a karaoke night? Starbucks?”
I don’t think that’s a terrible idea. Why make it strictly a nighttime thing? Get my iced tea in the morning, a cake pop, and a show. All before work? Someone should make that happen.
I think a lot less people would complain about Monday mornings.
Or a lot more, depending on who’s doing the singing…
Okay, scratch that idea.
A woman approaches us with a smile that takes up most of her face. Her outfit actually looks eerily similar to my own, colors and all, except hers is complimented by a very large, round belly.