16. Libby
Libby
It had been a week since Libby found out she was pregnant, and she and Jacob hadn’t been able to resolve what they were going to do with their lives.
It’s not that she was hard-and-fast on not having their baby in their content.
It was that she didn’t know what would happen if she didn’t think about the possibility that their baby would grow up and be upset that her entire life had been put on display, that her parents had made that choice for her without knowing what kind of person she would end up being and how the adult version of her might care.
Libby knew, too, that Jacob would never use their baby as a prop.
She wished she’d never said that out loud, because it had wounded him, the idea that she would ever think him capable of using their child as a strategic way to “level up” their careers.
He was already so in love with their little bean and sang to Libby’s belly every morning when they woke up and every night before they fell asleep.
Being a mother was hard, and Libby hadn’t really even gotten started yet!
It actually helped her see her own parents in a new light.
Maybe Vera and Dave had partied so hard with their high school friends not only because they needed to let off steam, but also because clinging to that fragment of the past was a way to hold on to a time in their lives when things were simpler, not complicated by the massive responsibility of raising children.
Still, Libby needed to figure out what to do next.
There had been an uncomfortable tension between her and Jacob all week, even as they wrapped up work in the Maldives and flew to Japan to begin their next gig for a food tour company.
It hadn’t helped that the first shoot they’d had to do in Tokyo was a sushi-making class, and since Libby didn’t want anyone to know that she was pregnant, she’d needed to fake-eat the raw fish for the video and then lie to their hosts that she wasn’t hungry.
Jacob had had to consume both their portions of sushi so they didn’t insult their chefs’ hospitality.
So while Jacob was out shooting a promo for “The Ultimate Sumo Experience” tour, which included a wrestling lesson followed by chanko nabe, the heavy stew eaten by sumo wrestlers for weight gain, Libby called Talia.
Maybe her sister, being in tech, would have another perspective on kids’ online privacy that could help Libby decide what to do.
“Libby! Hi, wow, what a surprise!” The video camera was on, and Talia was in her apartment, hopping around in a silk blouse and skirt while trying to pull on sheer tights. “Where in the world are you right now?”
“Tokyo,” Libby said. “But what the hell is going on over there? Is that really you? I don’t know that I’ve seen you dressed up since, what, your high school graduation?”
Talia stuck out her tongue. “Ha ha, very funny.”
“Okay, but seriously. You’re in a skirt. And tights. Where are you goi— Oh my god, do you have a date? Please, please tell me the answer is yes. I won’t believe it, because you’re always too busy working and you don’t have time to date, but I want to believe it.”
Talia made a face at the tights she was still struggling with, then yanked them off and threw them over her shoulder onto her bed.
“Whose idea was it to make tights trendy again?” She laughed.
“But yes, I really do have a date tonight. Well, I’m going to one of those singles mixers, where we all mill around and possibly meet our soulmate but mostly just make the owners of the bar rich from all the overpriced drinks we buy. ”
Libby smiled. “I’m happy you’re putting yourself out there, Sis.”
“Thank you! But that’s not why you called.”
“No… I wanted to pick your brain about something.”
“Of course!”
But as Libby watched Talia running around her apartment, looking for shoes and her purse and earrings, she knew this wasn’t the right moment for the conversation.
She wanted to enjoy telling her sister she was going to be an aunt.
She wanted to have enough time to debate the problem of balancing her child’s privacy with the business that she and Jacob had built.
And she didn’t want to weigh down Talia’s excitement at finally going out.
“You know what? Let’s schedule a time to chat,” Libby said.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” Talia said, stopping her nonstop movement to stand right in front of the camera. “Please, I’m all ears.”
“No, honestly, don’t worry about it. You go have fun! We’ll catch up another day—soon.”
“Are you sure?” Talia asked.
Libby gave her sister her best smile, the kind she’d practiced and perfected over years of photo shoots.
Was it disingenuous if you were genuinely faking for the other person’s best interests?