Chapter Seven
Meadow
I still can't believe Colton is River's new guidance counselor and that I ended up getting sick when I saw him. I'm not one to embarrass easily, but I'm not sure I've ever been more mortified in my life. That was definitely not what I had in mind for when—if—I ran into Colt again.
I had been feeling off all morning, but I brushed it off. With River being back at school and me seeing people from all walks of life for work, it's not hard to pick up a random bug. I decided to push through and keep my meeting with Ms. Sanchez since I felt much better after I had eaten lunch, but the minute I saw Colton, my stomach flipped and not in a good way.
I got River and myself home safely, then passed out on the couch for a few hours. When I woke, River wasn't home. I found her note, in which she let me know she went to the shop to help with admin stuff and reschedule some appointments for me. I also had texts from Wren and Daphne, telling me to take the weekend off. Wren even threatened to pull the boss card out if I decided to be stubborn.
As much as I wanted to argue that I was fine to come in, my body was telling me a different story. I continued to get sick on and off all Saturday, in between my frequent naps. The only blessing was that I wasn’t running a fever.
River stayed away most of the day, much to my relief. The last thing I need is for her to get whatever this is. I hate it when my girl's sick, and I would feel even worse if she was ill because of me.
It's Sunday morning, and I'm having a lazy start to my day. Coffee sounds heavenly, but I'm not sure if my stomach can handle it. I'm just deciding whether it's worth the effort to get out of bed to make some when River walks into my room and curls up beside me.
"How are you feeling?" Her brows are furrowed.
I hate that she's worried about me. Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, I give her a reassuring smile. "I feel much better after resting the past few days."
"Really? Because, no offense, you look rough, Mom." River smirks as I over-dramatically gasp at her.
"Oh, how you wound me, daughter."
"Do you think you're up for brunch? Wren and Daphne want to check on you before opening for the day."
"I think brunch sounds wonderful, but, uh…" I can't remember the last time I went to the store, and I know I don't have any animal products other than eggs stashed for visits like this, so I'm not sure how good of a brunch spread I can pull off.
"Don't worry. I told them you haven't been to the store in ages, so we don't have any meat products here. Wren said they'd grab food from the diner on their way."
"Great. When are they coming?"
"In about half an hour, so you might want to work on that." River gestures towards my whole body as she rolls away from me, avoiding my hand when I try to swat her. A sweet giggle spills from her lips.
"Brat!" I call out as she hurries from my room.
Rolling out of bed, I have to brace myself as a bout of dizziness takes over. Maybe being laid up for two days and barely eating has left me weaker than I imagined. As carefully as I can, I make my way to my attached bathroom and hop into the shower, making quick work of it.
In no time at all, I'm dressed and impatiently waiting for my best friends to arrive. Even though I saw them a few days ago, it feels like ages. I don't know how we used to go without seeing each other for months on end.
Wren and Daphne are my soul sisters through and through. We might be opposites in every way, but that just makes us that much more perfect for each other. We respect our differences and celebrate them. I'm so grateful to have found them, and to have built our little family and watched it grow now that they've each found their partners.
For a minute, Colt flashes through my mind, but I brush the thought of him away when the front door bursts open.
"Hey, bitches!"
"Really, Wren?" I chide as Daphne rolls her eyes behind her, a soft smile on her face .
"Hi." River darts out from the hallway and grabs the drinks from Wren as we make our way to the kitchen.
It’s loud as Wren and I greet each other. Daphne and River sit back to watch the show. We catch up on the shop, and I reassure them I'm feeling better as we dive into the delicious food from the diner. River is more reserved than usual, almost as if she's nervous, but I don't want to make her uncomfortable, so I make a mental note to check in with her after the girls leave.
Taking a bite of food, I can't fight the moan that spills from my lips. I'm ravenous after not eating much the past few days. It isn't until I notice them all staring at me that I feel self-conscious about my love affair with my meal.
"Oh, for fuck's sake," Wren erupts, startling all of us.
"Wren—" Daphne looks nervous now, and I'm starting to wonder what is going on.
"Are we just going to act like she's not eating bacon and having the best orgasm of her life?" Wren gestures towards me.
Startled, I look down at my hand and blink several times at the piece of bacon I'm holding. When the hell did I pick that up, and why does it taste so fucking good? I haven't eaten meat in … I can't even remember how long. I don't even know why I would've grabbed it.
I'm still staring at my food when River slides a box towards me across the table. Looking at it, then at her, my eyes go wide.
"Umm, River, do you need to tell me something? If you do, just know that whatever you say, I'll always support you."
With an exasperated sigh, River narrows her eyes as she pushes the unopened box closer to me. "I don't need to tell you anything. My virginity is firmly intact. You're pregnant, Mom. This is to confirm my hypothesis."
A panicked laugh spills from my lips. "Real funny. I think I would know if I were pregnant."
"One would think, but here we are." River raises her hand to cut me off, then starts counting her reasons on each finger. "You didn't have your period when I did, which isn't necessarily an issue, but along with everything else, it is. Your breasts have grown, you've been exhausted and sleeping more, you've been more emotional, you've been nauseous and vomiting, eating random things, and you’re acting like that bacon is the best thing you ever put in your mouth when you would normally turn your nose up at it.
"If you still don't believe me, then take the test. If I'm wrong, which I'm not, then I'm sorry. But when I'm right, then we're all here to help. And we'll be here when you tell Mr. Harding."
"Wh— How?"
"Genius, remember?" River smirks as she points at herself.
"Hey, punk. You've been holding out on us. You didn't tell us you had an idea of who the baby daddy is." Wren crosses her arms as she stares River down.
"I suspected, but Mom just confirmed it." River's smug smile is irritating enough to distract me from the panic racing through me.
Now that she's thrown everything out there, I'm sure she's right and I am pregnant. But how could I have let this happen, again ? At least, this time, I wasn't as completely reckless as when I conceived River. Although having sex when I was that close to my ovulation was stupid .
"Meadow, are you okay?" Daphne, who has been pretty silent up until this point, gently squeezes my hand to pull me from my spiral.
"Umm, I'm not sure, to tell you the truth. I'll be right back." I snatch the test off the table and head down the hall to my private bathroom to take it.
Doing some mental math, I figure that I'm probably close to three and a half months pregnant at this point. Running my hand over my belly, I turn to the side and take a better look at myself in the mirror. It might just be my eyes, but it almost looks like I have a bit of a baby bump already.
Taking a steadying breath, I snatch the box off the counter and open all three tests inside. I pee on each stick, put the lids on, wash my hands, and then open the bathroom door to find my best friends and daughter waiting anxiously in my room. Taking a step closer, Wren pulls me into her arms, where I'm quickly surrounded by Daphne and River.
"Whatever the test says, we've got this, okay?" Wren reassures.
"Hell yeah, we do. A baby!" Daphne gushes, her excitement filling me with joy and pushing my fears away.
"This baby is so lucky. They've got the best mom." River's sweet smile is my undoing.
I blubber as my family holds me together. I know what the tests will say, but having my sisters and daughter, I know this baby is going to be so loved.
A timer beeps from somewhere in our pile, making me laugh.
"What were you doing? Standing outside with your ear pressed against the door, listening to me?" I tease as Wren shuts off her alarm .
"Fuck yes, I was. Did you think I would miss the chance to see your reaction when you look at the results?"
Shaking my head, I turn towards the bathroom with them hot on my heels.
"Three? One wasn't good enough to confirm?" Wren teases.
"Well, scientifically speaking, it's always best to verify your results with multiple tests. I approve, Mom."
"Thanks, sweetie."
"Daph, can you record our reaction? Riv, I'd like you to look with me. The sticks are clean. I promise."
"Are you sure?" She looks hesitant but hopeful.
"Positive."
"Well, not yet, but we're about to find out."
I turn to sass Wren, but see she's already recording with one hand while the other holds Daphne's.
"Alright, Riv. On the count of three…" I reach for one of the pregnancy tests facing down and pass it to River, then grab one for myself. "One, two, three!"
"Pregnant!" we both yell at the same time.
River's grin is huge as she launches herself at me. Happy tears spill down my face as the reality that I will be bringing another life into the world slams into me. Hugging River tightly, I laugh when Wren's tiny frame—then Daphne's long, willowy one—joins our hug.
"We're going to have a baby!" I exhale as we all dissolve into laughter and tears of joy.
"Now that we know, can we maybe finish our brunch? All of a sudden I'm ravenous." As if to prove a point, my stomach rumbles loudly, sending us all into another fit of laughter .
We head out to the table, where we dive back into our food.
"It's still weird as fuck to see you moaning over bacon," Wren muses.
"Tell me about it. The only time I ever get to eat it is when we go out or I'm with you guys," River whines.
"Which is all the time, brat, so quit acting like I deprive you." I stick my tongue out at her.
"So, are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?" Wren waggles her eyebrows at me.
"Umm, if you're going to talk about sex with Mr. Harding, please let me know so I can go to my room. I really like him and want to be able to still look him in the eye after this."
"We will save those details for when you're not around. Promise." I squeeze River's hand.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Great. Glad we straightened that out. Now, who is he?"
"His name is Colton Harding, and he's the new guidance counselor at River's high school, which I promise I did not know at the time of our…" I look wide-eyed at Wren, who snickers, as I try to keep my promise to my daughter.
"I get it. I know you wouldn't intentionally hook up with my guidance counselor. Well, unless you were, like, in love with him or something, but judging by the way you freaked out when you saw him, it's obvious you didn't know."
"How did you not know?" Daphne questions, her eyes darting back and forth between River and me.
"Can we talk about this at the shop later today? I want to respect River's wishes and… "
"Say no more." Wren holds up her hand. "But don't think you're getting out of giving us the dirty details since you've obviously been holding out on us."
"So, River. How's school going?" Daphne changes the subject, making me eternally grateful for the way she tries to put River's needs first.
"It's fine. The material is pretty easy, and the teachers aren't bad. Well, minus Mr. Hart. I'm pretty sure he's a narcissist."
"River!'
"What, Mom? His teaching is atrocious. He's my AP physics teacher, and I swear he adds extra steps and overcomplicates things when he has to explain things over, just to make himself look smarter, or the class bombs tests.
"I felt bad after the first test, when I broke his bell curve and everyone failed it, so I started challenging him in class and showing simplified ways to learn what he was teaching. He was not a fan and stopped calling on me or letting me talk."
"What the fuck? Do I need to go show this pencil dick—"
"Wren!"
"No, it's fine, Mom. One of the nicer girls in the class asked if I could give her my notes then she emailed them to the rest of the class. I've been doing that every week since then, and the class aced the last test. He was pissed but tried not to show it. And that's why I think he's a narcissist."
"Eh, you might be right there, sweetheart. But I still think you should tell someone about it, just so you don't face any negative repercussions. "
"I did. I told Mr. Harding. He's going to sit in on a few classes. Did you know he's like me?"
"What do you mean?"
"Child genius. He started high school early and graduated early, before heading off to MIT, where he got a degree in biomechanical engineering, but then he decided he could help more kids like us by becoming a guidance counselor. So, he went back to school for that.
"Anyway, he's going to pretend he's just trying to get a feel for his new school and teachers, to see if there's any way he can help them by observing their classes, but really, he'll be able to see through Mr. Hart's bullshit and call him out for being a crappy teacher."
"Huh. Well, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to talk to him about this and that you were able to come up with a solution."
"He's cool. If you were going to get knocked up by anyone, at least it's by someone who will understand me and not think I'm a freak." River's delivery is dry, like her humor, without a hint of a smile on her face, yet I know she's teasing me.
"River!" I admonish, but apparently, Wren finds this amusing as hell because she cackles beside me.
Even Daphne can't hold back her laughter. "I mean, she's got a point. As long as he's not a selfish prick, like River's sperm donor—"
"He wasn't a prick. We were just young, and he had a bright future in front of him," I defend.
"He was four years older than you and from a wealthy family. He could have at least made sure you were financially set before he ran for the hills." Wren glares me down as if challenging me to disagree .
"Maybe, but with money come stipulations that I didn't need or want. I think we managed just fine." My pride shines through as I cross my arms stubbornly, ready to go rounds with Wren.
"You did an amazing job, Meadow. Nobody would ever question that," Daphne assures, breaking the tension in the room.
"Anyway," River drawls, pulling all of our attention back to her. "Mr. Harding is going to be pumped for this. Don't ask me how I know because, for once, I don't have science to back it up. Just one of those gut feelings Mom's always going on about. Like, he's got a good aura or whatever."
"It's the best, to be honest. It's what drew me to him in the first place."
"Well, that's good, then." Daphne smiles encouragingly.
"So, when are you going to tell him?" Wren, always the busybody, nudges me.
"Today if he's available. If my estimations are right, I'm somewhere between three and four months pregnant. I need to get to a doctor as soon as possible, and I'd like for him to have the choice to experience this with me, seeing as the baby is also his."
"And this is why you're the best fucking mom and that baby is so lucky to be yours." Wren smiles with tears in her eyes.
We finish up the rest of our food and talk about how the future is going to change but how exciting it's going to be. Even though I didn't necessarily see myself having any more kids, I already love this little bean so damn much and can't wait to meet them. Here's to hoping Colton feels the same way when he comes over in a little bit.