Chapter 34
Ivy
It had been over two weeks since Ivy had been at Cleo’s house for the impromptu pizza party, and they had managed to meet for drinks a few more times.
Last weekend they had gone to lunch at a new bistro that had opened over the summer, to rave reviews, for being a relaxed location to eat and hang out. It didn’t disappoint.
They had gotten closer over the past month than Ivy had ever dreamed possible. Their late-night text messages had changed to video calls, where they would spend hours talking with each other.
Cleo had been busy with a demanding client and had needed to work at home some nights, which gave Ivy the perfect opportunity to work on her franchise plans, and the training schedules for the winter menu and accompanying foam art.
She made her way into Lucas and Gabby’s house, kicked off her Chucks and hung up her jacket, before making her way through to the kitchen. Gabby was sitting on one of the stools at the island while Lucas was walking toward his wife with a smirk and his eyebrows raised.
“Don’t even start, none of us need the mental scarring of me seeing what’s planned in your head come to life,” Ivy warned Lucas, making both he and Gabby jump.
“Fun sponge,” Gabby murmured as she narrowed her eyes at Ivy, though the smirk she was desperately fighting on her lips said otherwise.
“You can’t blame me for not wanting to see mom and dad getting mushy, nobody wants to see that,” Ivy laughed as Lucas grabbed the dishcloth off the counter and whipped it against her thigh. “Ow!”
“You deserve worse for blocking me, and for called us mom and dad!” he grumbled. “Speaking of,” Lucas glanced at Gabby, “we have some news.” The smile on their faces said it all.
“No!” Ivy gasped.
“Yeah,” Lucas chuckled.
“No!” Ivy gasped again, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Yeah!” Gabby laughed as tears ran down her face.
“You guys, that’s amazing news! I’m so happy for you!” Ivy flung her arms around both their shoulders and pulled them in for a hug.
“If you have a girl, Ivy is a really great name, just putting it out there,” she said, as tears now also streaked her grinning cheeks. “When did you find out? How far along are you? When are you due?” She looked between them expectantly.
Lucas gazed lovingly at Gabby, in the same way he did on their wedding day as he spoke, “Well, we found out this morning, it was a bit of a surprise, as it turns out she’s actually already four months along!”
“What?!” Ivy gasped again.
“Yeah, exactly!” Gabby said, still in shock.
“I’d been sick a couple of times, but not even once a month and not always in the mornings.
I still had my periods but not as heavy, so I didn’t suspect a thing!
We went to the doctor last week for our annual physicals and they rang this morning with the results and told me then.
I sent him straight out for tests, he came back with seven, and they all say the same thing!
” she shook her head, not believing the news.
“Holy...” Ivy breathed out. “I mean, wow!”
“I know, right?!” Lucas grinned, proud as punch.
“How do you feel? Other than shocked,” Ivy asked, as she sat down on the stool beside Gabby and reached out to hold her hands while Lucas couldn’t take his eyes off his wife.
“Honestly? So happy, I can’t believe it’s finally happened,” she grinned through her tears at Lucas.
“We’ve been trying for a while, it just hadn’t happened yet, you know? But now?! Ivy, I didn’t know I could be so happy!” Lucas said, holding Gabby’s other hand and leaning in to kiss her.
“Well,” Ivy started, “I’m guessing movie night is out the window, but how about I make us some dinner and you two go and relax and be all, couple-y, and I’ll give you shout when it’s ready, ok?”
“Thanks Ivy,” Gabby said as she gave Ivy another hug before she got up to leave the room.
An hour later they all sat back down around the island to loaded potato skins with cheese, bacon, scallions and mushrooms.
“Has Cleo been able to help you with your search for your property yet?” Lucas asked.
“She’s found a few listings that I had passed over just because they didn’t look like what I wanted, but she explained how the changes needed to each would work, and they looked like real possibilities after that.
I’m going to view two of them over the weekend with her so she can help walk me through the changes while physically being in the space.
Then, it’s just a matter of seeing what’s still available, and if the location will work,” Ivy said.
“She’s been great.” Ivy felt her voice soften as she thought about the way Cleo had helped her, and how patient she had been explaining everything to her.
“She seems to be,” Gabby gave Lucas a knowing look. “Is she great enough for you to open up to her fully, do you think?” She watched as Ivy felt her breath catch.
“I want her to be,” Ivy said in little over a whisper, that she wondered if the others heard her or not.
“Ivy,” Lucas reached over for her hand, “I know we’ve not met her yet, and that’s absolutely fine.
We know we’ll both get our chance to give her the you-hurt-her-and-we-hurt-you talk soon enough.
” He smirked at that, while noticing the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks with what he had to say next.
“But if you’re in this, really in this, you have to tell her.
You can’t be in a relationship and hold such a large piece of yourself back. ”
“He’s right, you know,” Gabby added, placing her hand gently on Ivy’s back as the tears started to silently make their way down Ivy’s cheeks for a very different reason than they were just a few minutes earlier.
“The fact you’ve made it this far without it being brought up already is, impressive, really, but you can’t avoid it forever.
Trust me, you know I know these things.” Gabby pulled Ivy in for a hug, and Ivy let her.
“I know, I just didn’t want to add anything dark to our happy little bubble,” Ivy admitted sadly.
Later that night, Ivy lay in bed watching a movie on her tablet. She tried everything to occupy her mind since she got home from Lucas and Gabby’s house two hours ago, but nothing was working.
The conversation they’d had kept playing over and over in her mind. She knew they were right. If she wanted to build a future with Cleo, then she had to trust her with her heart. No matter how shattered it had been so very long ago.
It wasn’t one to have over the phone, it had to be in person. She reached over to her nightstand and picked up her phone to message Cleo.
Ivy: Hey gorgeous, I know we have those viewings on Saturday, but do you want to come back to mine for dinner after? XO
She had barely sat her phone down on the bed before a new message came through from Cleo that simply said:
Cleo: I’d love to XO