28. Kate
Kate was glad Alexis and Sarah hadn’t suggested a barbecue restaurant as the location of their catch-up. Her stomach was behaving for now, but who knew when it would rebel again?
She met the women at an outdoor wine bar down on the edge of the river. They were already seated, and they ushered her over, smiling.
‘Come! Sit!’
Kate obliged. She still wasn’t used to having supportive female friends in her life. Not that she could really call Alexis and Sarah friends yet. She wanted to, but she wondered if they’d think she was being too presumptuous with the limited number of social interactions they’d had.
‘Hey,’ she said nervously.
There were two cocktails on the table. Alexis noticed Kate looking at them and nodded at them. ‘Would you like one?’
‘Ah, not yet. I might just have water for now.’ She fanned herself. ‘I had to walk a bit to get here, and it wore me out.’
‘All good. So, how have you been?’
‘Um, not bad. You?’
‘Good. Levi and I have been pretty busy with work, but it’s nice living with him.’
Kate wondered if this was just small talk, or if there was something Alexis wanted to say.
She sipped her water, wondering how to proceed with the conversation.
‘I want to apologise,’ Alexis said suddenly.
Kate’s eyes widened. ‘For what?’
‘That night at my place. I didn’t tell you Elias was coming, and it obviously caught you off guard. I’m sorry. It was my lame attempt at playing matchmaker. I’ll never do it again.’
Kate tried not to smile. ‘It’s fine. I’d actually forgotten about that night.’
Well, not the whole night. After all, it had been when she’d told Elias she was pregnant, but she had forgotten how they’d come to be in the same place together before that.
‘You’re not mad at me? I was so worried you were mad. I haven’t heard from either you or Elias since, so I thought I’d ruined any chance for us to be friends.’
‘No, no, I really have moved on.’
Alexis studied her for a moment longer before letting out a breath. ‘That’s a relief. So, we’re friends?’
Kate grinned. ‘Yes. We’re friends.’
‘And me too?’ Sarah asked. ‘Sorry, that sounded really needy, but I didn’t want to be left out.’
‘Of course. And I should apologise for leaving that dinner party so abruptly. I really wasn’t well, and I didn’t want to spend all night throwing up in your bathroom.’
Alexis waved her hand dismissively. ‘What’s a little puke between friends? I’ve lost count of the times Sarah and I have had to look after each other after a big night out. But you said you hadn’t been drinking that night. Did you figure out what was wrong?’
Um.
‘I…’ Damn it. What was she going to say? These women were being so lovely, but she didn’t want to reveal the news of the pregnancy yet.
A waiter came over. ‘Can I get you any snacks?’ she asked. ‘We have a cheese platter you could share?’
Kate wanted to kiss her. ‘Actually, that sounds good. Yes, please. And I’ll have a lemonade.’ She looked at Alexis and Sarah. ‘I want to take my time deciding a cocktail.’
The waiter nodded and left.
‘Did I make things awkward between you and Elias?’ Alexis asked.
‘Ah, no.’ She’d done that on her own.
Sarah patted Alexis on the hand. ‘She was so worried.’
‘Oh, please don’t be worried on my account.’
‘Do you mind me asking if you’re still in touch with him? Levi mentioned he’s a little concerned about him lately, and he hasn’t been able to reach him.’
Jeez. Why wasn’t Elias staying in touch with his brother? Shouldn’t he at least text him every now and again to avoid arousing suspicion? And now that they’d declared their friendship, Kate couldn’t deny everything, could she?
She looked away. ‘He’s… he’s actually staying at my place.’
‘What?’ Alexis and Sarah squeaked in unison. If it wasn’t such a stressful situation, it would be comical.
She sighed. She supposed if Levi was with Elias tonight, the truth would probably come out anyway. And while she knew there was a reason women waited to tell people about their pregnancy, she thought having these women aware of the situation if something went wrong might not be a bad thing.
‘You asked if I figured out why I was unwell. I did. It was morning sickness.’
Silence.
Kate looked at Alexis and Sarah, but their faces showed they hadn’t yet processed what she’d said.
And then suddenly, they did.
Alexis pressed her hands to her cheeks. ‘Wait! You’re pregnant? And…’
‘Yes. Elias is the father.’
‘Oh my God. How did this happen? And when?’
‘It was after his exhibition. The night I met you both.’
‘Wow,’ Sarah breathed.
‘So, I suppose you didn’t really need setting up after all,’ Alexis joked sheepishly.
‘Nope. And Elias didn’t know about the baby the night we went to your place. I told him afterwards.’
‘So you’re keeping it?’
Kate nodded.
‘And Elias is staying with you? Does that mean he’s onboard with the whole thing?’
‘More than I expected, actually.’
‘Aw, I love this for you guys,’ Sarah said. ‘I know it’s sudden and probably wasn’t what you planned, but I hope it all works out.’
‘Me too,’ Kate said.
‘Has the morning sickness been bad?’ Alexis asked.
‘Yeah. Really, really terrible. Like, I can barely keep anything down, terrible. Elias has been so sweet. I’m surprised he hasn’t run a mile after seeing me puke for days on end. And then he’s had to deal with Hugo…’ Kate trailed off. These women had no idea who Hugo was.
‘Who’s Hugo? An annoying ex?’
Kate figured she may as well just share the whole sordid story. Alexis was practically married to Elias’ brother, and Sarah was attached to one of his best friends, so they’d probably find out at some point anyway.
She told them of her original plan to do IVF and then how Hugo had shown up at her house and made a scene.
Sarah paled as Kate explained the boiling tea incident.
‘He was all right,’ Kate assured her. ‘I treated the burn right away. He won’t get a scar.’
‘It’s not that,’ she murmured. ‘It just reminds me of Casey.’
‘Casey?’ Kate asked, confused.
‘He was Sarah’s stalker,’ Alexis explained. ‘He’s in jail now, thank God, but he was a complete psycho.’
‘I’m sorry to hear you had a stalker,’ Kate said. ‘And I apologise for mentioning something that may have reminded you of him. I’ve known Hugo for a long time, and I’d never seen him misbehave until I told him about the pregnancy. And then of course, my sister told me all these red flags she’d noticed. I mean, she could have said something beforehand!’
‘I hope he doesn’t cause you any further trouble,’ Sarah said. ‘But promise me if he acts even remotely shady, you go straight to the police and get a restraining order.’
‘I promise I’ll be careful,’ Kate assured her.
The three were silent for a moment.
The waiter brought out the lemonade and cheese platter.
‘I guess you won’t be having one of those cocktails after all,’ Alexis teased. ‘Or the soft cheese.’
‘Yeah, I was trying to figure out how to get out of that one,’ Kate said weakly.
‘From now on, please don’t feel like you have to keep anything from us. You’re going to need your girlfriends as the pregnancy progresses. And obviously we haven’t had kids, but we’d probably understand some stuff better than the guys. So put us on speed dial, and don’t be afraid to get in touch for anything.’
Kate welled up. Which felt like the millionth time since she’d become pregnant.
‘Thank you.’
Sarah held up her glass. ‘To Kate and Elias’ gorgeous baby. Because you know a combination of those genes is going to be beautiful.’
Alexis held up her glass. ‘I second that.’
Kate clinked her lemonade with Sarah and Alexis’ cocktails. ‘You both are too kind.’
But she had to agree.
She couldn’t wait to see her baby.
He or she was going to be perfect.