Chapter Seven #3
“Me neither.” Stevie grimaced and shook her head.
“And Claire is so obvious about keeping her away from me. Like I’m gonna jump on her or something if she’s not watching every minute.”
It was Stevie’s turn to nod. “She’s definitely being…weirdly possessive.”
“That’s why I wonder if they’re together.” She waited another beat, then added, “I heard them fighting.”
Stevie did look at her this time. “About?”
“Claire being too clingy, I think? Evie told her to back the fuck off. Direct quote.”
Stevie clenched her teeth. “Yikes.”
“Exactly.”
“I feel like I’d know if they were together. Like, somebody would’ve said something. Right?”
“You’d think, yeah.”
“And nobody has. If they are together, I don’t think any of us have been told that.”
“Huh.”
They sat quietly then, and Rowan was able to relax a bit, her blood stopped racing, and the throbbing had eased up.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Stevie’s voice was quiet, and again, she kept her gaze on the water, toward the horizon, so Rowan knew it was serious.
“Sure. Everything okay?”
Stevie nodded, and there was the ghost of a smile tugging the corners of her mouth up.
“I haven’t said anything because, well…” She cleared her throat.
“It falls into the window of things you’ve lost.” That was something Rowan appreciated about Stevie—her choice of words.
She never said Rowan forgot something. She said she lost it.
“But Sara and I, we’ve been trying to get pregnant. ”
Rowan gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth as she stared at her friend. “Seriously?”
Stevie nodded. “We’ve been trying for the past year and a half, and…” Finally, she turned and met Rowan’s eyes. “It worked.”
“Sara’s pregnant?”
“Sara’s pregnant.”
“Oh my God!” Rowan grabbed Stevie and hauled her into a hug, laughing and crying at the same time.
“This is amazing. Holy shit! You’re gonna be a mama!
How does it feel? How’s Sara? Is she feeling okay?
How far along is she? Is there a due date?
I’m gonna be an auntie!” The words tumbled out of her mouth in an endless stream, and Stevie laughed the whole time. Finally, they sat back up, apart.
“Let me see.” Stevie squinted at her and ticked off each answer on a finger as she went.
“I’m super excited, and also terrified. Sara has had some morning sickness, but so far, nothing too awful.
She’s nervous, but you know her: she’s always much more composed than anybody else in the room.
She’s about twelve weeks. We wanted to wait for most of the first trimester to go by before we told anybody.
She’s due in February, though the day has changed a couple times.
Somewhere in the middle of the month. And yes, you’re gonna be an auntie. We expect free babysitting for life.”
“You got it,” Rowan said, her smile so wide it was starting to ache. “This is incredible.” She tipped her head as she said, “I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Thanks. We’re gonna tell the group this week, but I wanted you to know first.”
Rowan put a hand on her chest. “I’m honored.”
“You’re my best friend.” Stevie cleared her throat. “I would’ve told you sooner, but I didn’t want to fuck with your memory recollection.”
Rowan nodded and sent up a little prayer that those memories would come back to her someday soon. It hurt that she couldn’t recall Stevie telling her about their decision to try. It was a major milestone in the life of her best friend, and she had no recollection of it at all.
After a moment, Stevie stood. “All right, I’m heading back. Gotta clean up our bedroom before Sara gets here. It looks like a laundry basket threw up in there. You coming?”
“I’m gonna sit here a bit longer,” Rowan said. “Enjoy the quiet.”
“And you’re good.”
Rowan glanced up at her, squinted against the sun. “Yes, Mom. I’m good.”
Stevie gasped and slapped both hands over her heart but then laughed. “I deserved that. But you know I’m just checking, right?”
“I do. And I appreciate you.”
“Good.” Stevie bent and popped a kiss on top of her head. “Catch you in a bit.” Then she dove smoothly into the water like an Olympic swimmer and Rowan watched her freestyle back to shore to get ready for her wife’s arrival—her pregnant wife’s arrival.
The sun was at an angle that made her squint, so she lifted a hand to shade her eyes, and that’s when she saw Evie. Standing on the deck of her own room, looking out at the water. Looking at Rowan on the floating dock.
At least she thought Evie was looking at her. It was hard to tell from this distance. As she stared and continued to squint, Evie lifted her hand off the railing and gave the smallest of waves, as if it was meant for only Rowan to see.
Was it for her?
Again, hard to tell, but Rowan did the same thing, lifted her hand just a little, no higher than her chest, and gave her fingers a wiggle.
Evie gazed downward, then back up, then went inside, and one question bounced around in Rowan’s head.
How long had she been standing there?