Chapter 2 #3
“I’ve got three nieces and two nephews. Lots of practice.
” Jenny snuggled the baby in close, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo and lotion.
She’d once expected to be a young mother but had long ago accepted that she probably wouldn’t have children.
That was another thing that had been taken from her on a cloudless September day.
Maddie returned, carrying a huge bowl, a baguette and a bag.
“What did you make?” Syd asked.
“A big salad and some spinach dip.”
“That sounds so good,” Syd said with a sigh. “I’m going to gain thirty pounds from this surgery if you guys keep bringing food over.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Jenny said with a smile for Syd.
Syd stuck out her tongue at Jenny, and then Hailey stuck her tongue out and made raspberry noises that had both women laughing.
“What’re you two teaching my daughter?” Maddie asked when she came in to sit with them.
“Things she needs to know,” Jenny said, keeping her hands on Hailey as the baby pulled herself up to the coffee table.
“Uh-oh,” Syd said, “she’s cruising.”
“Yeah,” Maddie said. “That started this weekend.”
This was said without Maddie’s usual enthusiasm for all things involving her family. Jenny exchanged glances with Sydney.
“What’s wrong, Maddie?” Syd asked.
“What? Nothing.”
“Come on,” Syd said. “It’s us. We know you better than that.”
“Nothing’s wrong. Really. Do you want something to eat yet? The others should be here soon.”
“Maddie…”
“It’s ridiculous in light of what you’re going through. It doesn’t even count as a problem.” Despite her words, Maddie’s eyes filled, and she turned her full focus on Hailey.
“Tell us what’s wrong,” Jenny said. “You might feel better.”
“It’s stupid, and I feel foolish for even being upset about it.”
“Tell us anyway,” Syd said. She and Maddie had been friends since a summer job scooping ice cream during high school.
“I thought I was pregnant. In fact, I was sure I was pregnant. And I’m not. See what I mean? What do I have to be weepy about? I have two perfectly healthy kids, and neither Mac nor I wanted to be pregnant again yet, so it doesn’t count as an actual problem.”
“Sure, it does,” Syd said. “You’re sad that something you thought was happening isn’t.”
Maddie closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s crazy to be upset about not getting something you didn’t even really want in the first place.”
“I think I actually followed that,” Jenny said.
“Mamamamamama,” Hailey said, chewing on her fist as she teetered on new legs.
“Mama is here.” Maddie reached for her daughter and hugged her close, despite Hailey’s efforts to get free.
Laura McCarthy poked her head in the door. “Is this where the party is?”
“Come in,” Syd said.
Laura stepped through the door, followed by her fiancé, Owen Lawry, who carried Laura’s five-month-old son, Holden, in a car seat. “He’s not staying,” she said, using her thumb to point to Owen. “He wouldn’t let me drive myself or carry Holden, so I had no choice but to let him bring me over.”
“We’re glad you’re here,” Jenny said, “no matter how you got here.”
“She forgot to mention she’s been sick all morning,” Owen said.
“Okay, too bad you gotta go now, honey,” Laura said, her hand on Owen’s chest as she steered him backward toward the door. She let him kiss her before she sent him out the door and shut it behind him. “He’s driving me batshit crazy.”
“He’s worried about you,” Syd said. “We all are.”
“I’m pregnant,” Laura said, “not dying. Although sometimes I feel like I might be dying.”
“That’s got to be so miserable,” Jenny said, keeping an eye on Maddie, who was still wrestling with her emotions.
“I’m sorry,” Laura said to Syd in particular. “I don’t mean to be bitching about being pregnant in front of you.”
“You’re bitching about the sickness, not the pregnancy,” Syd said.
One of the things Jenny loved best about Sydney was her endless empathy toward others, even after losing her husband and children so tragically.
“What’s wrong, Maddie?” Laura asked.
Jenny watched Maddie wipe tears off her cheeks.
“Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. I’m a hormonal mess today.”
“And she’s a little disappointed, I think,” Syd said.
Maddie shrugged. “Maybe a little.”
“Oh,” Laura said, “so you’re not pregnant?”
“Apparently not.”
“I thought you didn’t want to be,” Laura said, her brows knitting with confusion.
“I didn’t want to be.” Maddie sniffled as Hailey patted her face. “Until I wasn’t.”
“You know that’s seriously messed up, don’t you?” Laura asked.
“Yes! I get it. Believe me. Mac was having a total meltdown at the thought of me being pregnant again before we were ready to even talk about another baby. He’ll be thrilled to hear it was a false alarm.
” Maddie wiped the tears off her face. “Anyway, enough about me. Let’s talk about Syd and how she’s going to be the next one to get pregnant. ”
“Don’t jinx me,” Syd said with a teasing grin.
“I’m so sorry,” Maddie said, breaking down again. She handed Hailey to Jenny and got up to leave the room.
Holding the baby, Jenny started to get up from the floor, but Syd held up a hand to stop her. “Allow me.”
“Do you need a hand up?” Jenny asked.
“Nope. I’ve got it.” Sydney moved slowly, but she rose to her feet and followed Maddie into the kitchen.
“I’ve never seen Maddie like that,” Jenny said to Laura. “She’s always so upbeat.”
“I know. It’s not like her.”
Stephanie, Abby and Grace came in, carrying covered dishes and bringing laughter and noise and chaos, which required Jenny’s full attention as she tried to steer them away from the kitchen to give Maddie some privacy.
“What’s going on?” Abby asked.
“Maddie’s having a rough day,” Jenny replied. “Syd is with her.”
“Hope everything is okay.”
“I think it will be.”
They arranged all the food on the dining room table next to the paper plates, napkins and plastic forks Sydney had provided. As they filled their plates, talk turned to their friend Janey Cantrell, who’d recently delivered her son two months premature in an emergency C-section.