27. Abby
Abby
A week after the Rios fiasco, I’m at my baby shower. My family flew in, and even after months of feeling the baby kick, seeing my belly all round in front of me, and reconnecting my love with Clay, I still feel like all this is a dream.
“You can thank me anytime,” Marissa says as I pop another pretzel in my mouth.
“Oh really?” I laugh at her humbleness.
“Yes, this is all because of me.” I swear she’s standing a little taller. Is her nose sticking up in the air?
“Get over yourself.” I snort. “You know Clay and Rios got in a huge fight, right?”
“Rios did that to himself. I had an innocent plan in place. Rios did himself dirty, not me,” she says.
“Also, your little plan to get Clay all hot and bothered got you knocked up. I mean, your egg and his angry swimmers were on a mission that night.” She laughs and begins to saunter off, a little too proud of herself. I can’t help the eye roll.
“Also, my painting looks amazing in this apartment. It brings the whole place together,” she tells me before joining everyone else.
I wish I could be mad at her, but she’s been my ride or die, and I absolutely love her through thick and thin. So much has happened since that lunch with her in Los Angeles on that rainy day and that paint night. It’s hard to believe how quickly life can change.
I’m going to be a mother. I’m going to be welcoming a child in what could be a matter of days.
Most would have had a baby shower at this point, but I kept resisting it.
I didn’t really want a baby shower. My mother, along with Clay’s, thought I wasn’t going to give in, but I finally did at the last moment.
It might sound strange to some, but after years of trying to get pregnant, my focus shifted once I found out I was pregnant.
I realized I just wanted to treasure my inner circle.
I wanted to savor these moments. Much like it wasn’t about the baby announcement, the social media post, or the little outfits, it isn’t about the games, the little foods we serve, or the party favors.
I want to sit and talk with my friends. I want to take pictures with my friends and family.
I want to soak up this time with them while they’re here visiting with me.
I don’t want to just have my girlfriends here and ignore their partners.
I want my brother here, mostly so he can stare at my baby’s father like he hung the moon.
He is one hundred percent hanging off every word Clay is saying right now, and I want to savor that when I look back on today.
From what I hear Mary say about Clay’s father, life is absolutely too precious and fleeting to get caught up on the little things that won’t matter later.
I want to enjoy her laughter as she watches her sons argue over who the baby will love more because she won’t know who the father is versus the uncle.
I love hearing Kennedy tell everyone about her winter wedding while Samara jumps up and down about how pretty her best friend will be in a white gown.
This is what life is about, not the little details that so many, including myself, get caught up in. I am choosing to live this life in the present because I have already walked away from it once before.
My dad walks up to my side and brings his arm around me.
I lay my head on his shoulder and breathe him in.
He still smells like the cologne he wore when I was a little girl coming home from preschool.
I can still close my eyes and remember bouncing on his knee, giggling as I begged him not to let me fall off.
“I can’t believe you’re gonna be a mama, Abigail.” He kisses my chestnut hair.
“Believe me, Daddy, I’m shocked each time I wake up and see this mountain of a belly.” I pat my stomach as the baby does summersaults from the pastry-induced sugar rush she got a few minutes ago.
“Still keeping those lips sealed on the name?” My dad looks down at me, and I smile.
“Oh, I almost let that slip. Clay would have been none too pleased with that pregnancy brain slip-up on my part.” I laugh.
“So close.” He snaps his fingers, then looks over at River and does a quick shake of the head.
“You have a bet going, don’t you?” I ask him, squinting at my former brother-in-law.
“What, me? Never.” He places his hand on his chest as if that’s completely out of character for him.
“Sure, Dad,” I say, sipping my water.
He laughs as he hugs me tighter. I soak in the people around me, knowing any minute, everything about my life is going to change in the best way, and my little girl is going to bring a little more life to each piece of it.
Clay
I’m grabbing more waters to put out on the counter when Frankie finds me to say goodbye.
“Dude, I’m so glad you’re back with my sister. There are no words to describe the relief I’m feeling.” He’s smiling from ear to ear.
It’s only then it dawns on me that I haven’t really had a true conversation with Abby about being completely back together with her. Maybe that should be something we do before we have the baby.
“I heard you took the divorce pretty badly,” I say as I put the waters down on the counter.
“I may have had a bit of a temper tantrum.” He brings his index and thumb together and laughs.
“But seriously, man, I’m happy for you two.
You’re going to be the best parents. I mean that.
” He hugs me and says his goodbyes. They’ll be in town for a few more days.
He’s got some work to do in Boston before they head back, so I can grab a beer with him and River and Ashton before he heads back to New York.
The party starts to dwindle, and my mom is helping Abby get the last few gifts put away in the nursery.
We didn’t register for much because we already bought a majority of the bigger items. Her parents wanted to gift some of the bedroom sets, and my mother had purchased some other items for the baby, so we simply asked for clothes and other essentials.
This was about togetherness and making memories, especially being this close to the due date.
I loved the idea of just gathering for the sake of being with our loved ones.
My brother comes around the corner with a bag that says, “World’s Best Uncle” across the front.
“Super subtle, Riv,” I tell him.
“I know, right?” he says, his smile taking over his face.
My brother seems to be ecstatic in the role of uncle, and it’s really special to share this with him.
We missed out with our dad, being so young when he died.
We will never get that back with him, but we can give my daughter the best relationship possible with the people we consider family, and I know she will have the most amazing uncle in River. He loves hard and with his whole heart.
“Did you get the baby a special gift?” I ask him, pointing at the bag.
“No. This one is for you, man.” He smiles, his dimples popping out. My brother is the most considerate guy I know, and I wish everyone in life had someone like this they could call?—
“You absolute shit!” I tell River as I look inside the gift bag. “No fucking way. I don’t want this.”
“Yes, you do,” he says, nodding his head vigorously. “I think it should be a tradition we pass down.”
Horrified, I look up at him. “You want me to give this to my fucking daughter?”
“Ew, no, you lunatic! Like a tradition we give our friends, you sick fuck!” He smacks me upside the head.
I hand the bag back over to him, trying to return it.
“Nope, I’ve deemed it bad luck to give it back, and now you have to keep it and do exactly what I did with it.” He throws his hands up, not accepting the bag as I chase him into the kitchen with it.
Kennedy walks in with Abby and my mom. “What’s going on in here?” Kennedy asks.
I throw the bag behind my back. “What? No, nothing!” I yell an octave too high.
“What’s behind your back, son?” my mom asks.
“Ma, nothing.”
“Clay, what do you have behind your back?” Abby asks, rubbing her belly.
River looks over at me, his eyes pleading for me to keep my trap shut.
“River gave me his dirty underwear.” Why in the fuck did I just say that?
All three women wrinkle their noses, and River looks at me like I’ve got shit for brains. I internally roll my eyes at the stupidity of the lie I just told, and River looks like he’s going to fall over with the laughter he’s trying to contain. Fucker.
They decide to leave us be, and the minute they’re out of earshot, he whisper-yells, “My fucking underwear? What the fuck, Clay? Haven’t I taught you anything?”
“I panicked, okay?” I bring the bag up in his face, and he glares at me.
I shove the bag in the back of the pantry, hoping Abby doesn’t go looking for it and consider it forgotten for now. I can’t deal with this nonsense right now.
Sitting outside on the balcony, the warmth of the season is just right.
“Today was perfect, wasn’t it?” Abby says as she closes her eyes and rests her head on my shoulder.
“Yeah, I think so. The baby shower was exactly what you wanted, baby?” I ask, kissing the top of her head.
“Mmhm.” She sighs. “You know what would make this even more epic though? A foot rub.” She then proceeds to readjust herself and pushes her swollen feet over to me so I can massage them.
She’s getting closer to her due date, which has brought on the sausage-toe phase of pregnancy. Her words, not mine.
“I like the color you chose. This bright color can be seen from space, I think.” I chuckle as she wiggles her toes with the neon pink toenail polish.
“Don’t make fun of my toes.” She laughs, keeping her eyes closed, but her smile widens.
“You know, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I say, pressing my thumb deeper into her muscles, and she moans.
“Okay, I’m all ears. But speak fast because I might fall asleep.”
“My lease is up soon. I sort of need to make a decision.” My eyes are fixed on her for a reaction.
I’ve been avoiding this conversation, a little hesitant due to the way Abby has been trying to find her footing since moving back from Boston. I just want to make sure she is comfortable along the way.
“Oh yeah? And what do you want?” she asks.
“I think it’s pretty obvious what I want.
But I don’t want to leave any room for interpretation.
I want you. I want us, as a family, under one roof.
I want to wake up with you in my arms. I want to hold our daughter in the middle of the night when she cries, not as a part-time father.
” In no way do I want to be visiting. I want to be with her, at some point as her husband, if she will have me.
“I would like that too.” She sits up and moves her hand up my neck and onto my cheek. “I think it’s time you go grab your stuff and bring it here… permanently. Come home, Clay.”
I cup her face in my hands and kiss her. “I love you, Abby.”
“I love you too,” she says. “I can’t wait to—ugh.” She looks down, panicked. “Oh my god!”
“What?” I have no idea what’s going on.
“Either I peed myself, or my water broke,” she admits and then stands. “I’m going to go check in the bathroom.”
She gives me no time to say anything and rushes off to the restroom. I sit there for a second, sort of stunned in silence. What just happened? Should I be doing something?
Soon, Abby is yelling from inside, “Clay, it’s my water.” Which isn’t surprising because Abby doesn’t just pee on herself.
I snap out of it and hop up from the patio furniture.
I run inside and grab our hospital bag. Once I pull that out of the front closet, I grab my phone.
“I’ll text your parents, brother, and my family. Anyone else?”
“Yes, text Marissa!” she shouts. “She’s still in town.”
I frantically pull out my phone and get to texting everyone. One full text thread will have to do. My phone is going to be going off tonight, but I don’t even care anymore.
As I’m about to text, I see movement in the hallway. I walk toward the bedroom doorway and see Abby in our en-suite bathroom. She’s staring at herself, a contraption on her head.
“What the hell are you doing, Abby?” I can’t help but ask.
“What do you think? I’m getting the heatless curlers in. I told you, I want to have my hair ready, like Kennedy showed me.” She looks over at me like I’ve gone mad.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now, woman!” I yell.
My future sister-in-law is not going to hear the end of this. I cannot believe Abby is in labor and she’s worried about curling her hair right now thanks to Kennedy and her weird hair obsession.
I walk away and return to the task of texting our friends and family.
Here goes nothing:
Clay
It’s go time!