it wasn’t unheard of for me to give the floor to someone else if I had other plans or didn’t feel well or whatever. I had informed Piper of my “condition,” as she liked to call my pregnancy, when I was on a break earlier today, and she insisted on taking over tonight. All I had to do was show up, eat snacks, and let people fawn all over me—her words, not mine. After the day I had, I must admit, her plan sounded great. Food, friends, and fawning. The three Fs were just what I needed for a successfully distracting evening.
I hadn’t called Jake and he hadn’t called me. I guess this was us giving each other “space.” We hadn’t broken up, but it felt like a breakup. I mean, something was broken, and it felt like my heart . . . also my gag reflex and my abilities to hold down food or not almost burst into random tears at the slightest provocation. In other words, I was headed well into pregnant hot mess territory. I was also a mess for other reasons, but I refused to think about those tonight.
I swung my SUV into Piper’s driveway and honked the horn. She peeped her head out her side window and held up a finger—not the mean one, the hold-on-a-second one. I turned my radio up and bopped along to the beat as I waited. The music forced my mood to swing to good and I decided to roll with it.
I was so into it, I jumped when Piper poked her head into the car, then got in. “Hey, girlie. How’s the uterus?” She laughed.
“Great. I’m not that far along. I only have the invisible symptoms, so people are gonna think I’m nuts and not know why. Later on, it will all make sense.” I steepled my fingers together, evil villain style and cackled out a laugh.
“Yep, you’re just as weird pregnant as I remembered,” she teased.
“You look different. What’s with the almost everyday clothes, Piper?” She was in high-waisted jeans and a cropped purple sweater. Spiked heeled boots, a leather bomber jacket, and her newly sleek bobbed hair completed the look. I, however, was wearing my favorite Uggs with a pink tie-dyed Sherpa loungewear set, skating the line between trendy and slovenly comfort.
“Time for a new look,” she answered. “Honestly, it was getting to be a chore to do the hair every day.”
I adjusted my messy ponytail with a grimace. “Uh, totally.”
“You’re adorable. Chill.” The lights of the early evening street lamps flooded the interior of my car as we headed to the shop.
“Thanks for being so—thank you for being my friend.” I sniffled while wiping tears from my eyes.
“Are you okay?”
I waved my hand around as another mood captured me. “Yeah, it’s just been an entire day. I don’t know what to think about Jake. I’m afraid I ruined everything. But then I think maybe I should be alone for a while anyway.”
“If you really think about it, you’ve been alone for years. Being married doesn’t make you not alone. If you want Jake, and he wants you, then get after it.”
“Huh. I’ll have to think about that. You may have a point.” I pulled into a spot, shut the engine off and contemplated what she said.
“May have a point? I’m full of points, most of which are good ones.”
“Very true. Let’s go inside. I need to start eating my feelings.”
“Good plan. I pulled together a last minute ‘Pregnant Violet’ theme. Better get prepared for all your faves. Don’t worry, I didn’t spill the beans. I just suggested dishes for the potluck table is all.”
“I’m not worried. I know you can keep a secret.” I got out and preceded her down the sidewalk.
“And listen. Between the two of us, Jake will love you forever. Trust me, you can’t ruin anything when it comes to him.”
“I have a lot of things to say about that statement. Like ‘Oh really?’ or ‘I hope so,’ and ‘Why haven’t you told me this before?’ Also, ‘What the heck are you even talking about?’ and ‘Nuh-uh.’”
Her lips quirked up in a smile. “Is that it?” I nodded. “Well, I have a lot of answers. Most of which are obvious if you think about it. But it’s book club time, so we’ll get into all of it later.”
“Hey, Vi!” Most of the book clubbers—which consisted of most of my family, extended and immediate, my stay-at-home mom emergency baristas, plus a few loyal customers—greeted