October 30th
Rethink that.
Ainsley
“You look a little puffy. Are you retaining water?” Sammy asks me this morning. “You’re supposed to drop pounds when you eat healthy, don’t drink alcohol, and work out. Not look like you’ve been bingeing. Do you think you need to go to the doctor?”
“I’m fine.”
“Maybe it’s food allergies. Have you thought of cutting out—I don’t know—like sugar, or dairy, or gluten?”
“I’m having a hard time with sugar. I’ve been craving it, probably because I stopped drinking wine.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that could happen,” he says. “And are you still driving up to Lincoln today?”
“Yeah, I was planning to leave in a couple of hours,” I tell him.
“Hmm, you may want to rethink that. They are maybe supposed to get an ice storm. The news called it a two-faced storm. Like a bad best friend,” he hoots.
“Apparently, depending on its track, people on one side of the storm will get ice and snow, and the other side will get severe thunderstorms with hail and possible tornados. Lincoln is right on the line.”
“It seems awfully early for that,” I tell him.
To be honest, I’ve been nervous about going up there this weekend.
I’m twenty-four weeks now and most definitely showing.
I can hide it under baggy sweatshirts—and although Sammy just hinted about my weight gain, he hasn’t even once wondered if I could be pregnant.
But my relationship with Damon is much different, and he would notice.
In fact, even though it’s not the end of his season yet, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m going to have to tell him earlier than I thought.
It’s crazy, really, how my body has changed.
How growing a baby does that. It’s both beautifully amazing while equally terrifying.
But if there’s a storm … it would give him a little more time.
“I should probably call Damon,” I tell Sammy. “See what the weather up there is saying.”
“You definitely should. Did you know that one time, when I was a little kid, my parents were driving down I-70 between Lawrence and Kansas City and they could see not one, but two tornados in their rearview mirror? They were twins! Twin tornados.”
“What happened?!” I ask, my eyes wide. Because I can’t imagine having my child in the car and seeing something like that.
“My mom looked up the radar and saw they were supposed to go north, and she made my dad turn south, even though that’s not where they were heading to. It was a good call because those tornados ended up doing some damage in northern KC.”
“You were lucky.” I nod.
“And I’d like you to be lucky by staying home with me this weekend.
I’ll be a nervous wreck if you try to drive through that.
And you might go all the way up there, only for them to cancel the game.
And maybe even Halloween! I’m calling Damon,” he says, quickly picking up his phone and hitting a few buttons. “I need to hear this firsthand.”
I can’t help but laugh.
“Damon,” he says into his phone, then puts it on speaker so I can hear. “I’m glad I caught you. Tell me about this storm. I’m worried Ainsley is going to be stubborn and try to drive through that mess.”
“I was actually just going to call Ainsley about it,” Damon says.
“You’re on speaker,” Sammy tells him. “Say hi, Ainsley.”
“Hi, Ainsley,” I tease.
“Champ,” Damon says, making my heart melt with just one word.
“I agree with Sammy. I don’t want you driving up.
There’s even talk of postponing or rescheduling the game, depending which side of the storm we end up on.
If we get some snow, it wouldn’t be that bad, but thunderstorms can cause issues.
We certainly can’t play during severe weather. ”
“They are saying that fall and winter weather will be separated by just a few miles,” Sammy says, playing into the hype. He gives me a pointed look.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll spend Halloween with Sammy. Oh, the joy,” I say sarcastically.
“More like an Almond Joy,” Sammy says. “I’m going to buy all the candy.”
“Will you have trick-or-treaters at your apartment?” Damon asks.
“Well, if I have to lure a hot guy or two here,” Sammy replies, “candy might work.”
“And I think, on that note, I need to be getting back to my workout,” Damon says.
“Bye! Call me tonight!” I tell him before Sammy hangs up.
“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” Sammy says. “Maybe we should stop the ban on alcohol and drink tonight. I’ll even splurge for wine in a bottle.”
“I probably won’t, but I will pour for you. And I’ll even take care of dinner.”
“Hmm.” He seems to seriously think about this because he thinks he’s a better cook than I am. But I might purposely let him think that. “What would dinner consist of exactly? I’m not being critical, just need to pair the wine properly.”
“I think you know if I’m taking care of dinner on a night like tonight, when my plans have gotten all messed up, it means pizza will be involved,” I say with a laugh.
“A red wine it is then.”