Chapter Three The Migration Pattern of Some Stupid Squid #4
months, Abigail and I—” She says the words slowly, drawing things out. “—have been pursuing IVF treatments.”
In an instant, everything clicks for Owen. Why Kaitlyn suddenly started limiting her caffeine, claiming that she was having
trouble sleeping. Why she stopped eating sushi even though the Japanese restaurant down the street used to be her favorite
spot to grab dinner. No wonder Owen kept running out of the Band-Aids he uses to cover his injection sites, and he thought
his biohazard container kept filling up quicker than usual.
“Last week, I wasn’t feeling too hot. Had a lot of morning sickness,” Kaitlyn continues. “So we took a test.”
Owen remembers hearing her retching, but she’d waved him out of the bathroom, citing that she’d be fine, that it was “just
a touch of food poisoning.”
“A bunch of them, actually.” Kaitlyn’s smile is the brightest thing in the room, water behind her eyes as she holds her wife’s
hand and says the words: “And I’m pregnant.”
The room erupts in an instant, so much louder than any of their previous Rock Band sessions combined. Jacob is immediately on his feet, joining Kevin. Ravi and Hailey are cheering as Abigail hugs them. Owen
keeps himself planted on the couch as he wraps his best friend tight.
“Sorry, sorry!” Owen apologizes, wondering if he’s hugging her too hard, only for Jacob to wrap his arms around the both of them, pulling them into a bear hug.
“Ahh!” he screams, actual tears streaming down his face. “I’m so happy for you! I’m going to be an uncle!?!”
Owen grunts, caught in the crossfire of the hug as he desperately tries not to think about how close he is to Jacob, his tears
staining the front of Owen’s sweater.
“Okay, you can let me go now,” Kaitlyn pleads, and the attention shifts as Abigail breaks out all their emails and test forms,
done over the course of the last few months as they determined which eggs of Kaitlyn’s would be fertilized. “We went to my
OB-GYN after the test came out positive, just to be safe. And they confirmed it.”
Kaitlyn cups her stomach, Abigail wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in close. “We’re going to be moms.”
There’s nothing much to discern from the ultrasound pictures that Kaitlyn shows off; at least, nothing that Owen notices beyond
the hint of some shapes. He simply trusts Kaitlyn when she describes the bubble in the photo where apparently the embryo rests
inside of her.
“Wait,” Kevin interrupts after downing his second glass of cider. “So, what does this have to do with the cruise?”
Abigail looks to Kaitlyn. “Like we said, we’ve never taken a family vacation before. I mean, we always talked about it, but
something always came up.”
“Not true,” Hailey interrupts. “We had that weekend in Pacifica.”
“Yeah, where Kevin got sunstroke and every meal we ate was from the Taco Bell Cantina,” Ravi reminds her.
“Do you think the cruise ship will supply Baja Blast? Or do I have to bring my own?” Kevin asks.
“Anyway.” Abigail breezes past her brother. “We really wanted to do something special, celebrate this moment with most of you.” She shoots a quick look at Ravi and Hailey.
“You’ll understand soon enough,” Hailey reminds her. “Say goodbye to your social life.”
Kaitlyn continues, “We just thought it’d be a fun time. And we wanted to share this sort of last hurrah with everyone.”
“‘Last hurrah’ sounds like we’re dying,” Jacob says.
“Well, no. But Hailey and Ravi are busy with Pari, and I’m going to be working as much as I can before maternity leave. So
will Abby. Kev’s got school and Jacob’s overseas. And Owen’s got the shop.” Owen hates how he feels like the afterthought.
“We just thought it’d be nice, and we’ve never all traveled anywhere before.”
For a beat, Owen’s eyes meet Jacob’s. Owen looks away first.
It’s fine.
Cruise ships are big, and there are plenty of things on board that’ll keep Owen occupied. Sure, Owen might have to see Jacob
in the morning and at night as they’re winding down, but there’s no reason to think that he’ll be expected to spend any more
time than necessary with his ex. He should probably be more concerned with being away from home for that long. A whole week.
“Shouldn’t you guys be saving money?” Owen starts to ask. “We can’t ask to go on this trip, it’s not— Ow!” Owen winces from
where Kevin smacks his arm.
“You’re seriously going to have them refund our free cruise?” Kevin hisses, his whispering doing nothing to mask his words.
“It’s a lot of money!” Owen adds defensively.
“Money we planned to spend on you all for months, and have budgeted accordingly,” Abigail promises. “Listen, I’m not going to hear another word about the price or how we shouldn’t do this trip. We want to take a nice family vacation. So you’re all going to be fine with it and that’s that!”
Thankfully, that is the end of that. The night comes to an end shortly after, as dishes are gathered and everyone sits down to watch some awful
Lifetime movie about a stalker surgeon. And Owen does his best to convince himself that everything will be okay.
Because it has to be.
Because he needs to be.