Chapter 41
Grace
Bending forward, I brace my knees. Breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, doesn’t help the queasiness in my belly. People dodge around me as they roll up their yoga mats and file out of the room.
Isla’s red-painted toenails appear in my peripheral vision and I squint up at her. “Hey – you okay?” she asks running a hand back and forth across my back.
Waving off her concern, I straighten. “Yeah – I caught whatever it is Bella brought home from school last week. You know how these kids are – cuddly, little cesspits for disease and misery.” I laugh.
Isla scrunches up her nose at me. “Ah – don’t say that! I’ve just started toying with the idea of having a baby myself!” she confesses. “Seeing you with Sebastian and Sammie with Hannah, plus Lily on the verge of popping, got me feeling all motherly and nurturing.”
Both of my eyebrows dart up in surprise. “Oh my gosh! I’m so happy for you guys.” I pull her in for a hug. “You and Reuben would make awesome parents!”
She smiles widely. “Don’t get too excited,” she says as she runs her hand down her belly. “I haven’t even talked to him yet. I’m waiting for the right time. I don’t want to spring this on him, y’know?”
I quickly scoop up my yoga mat and then flash her a smile. I’ve been blessed with a son, a daughter and a husband who all love me. I’m grateful for that and I want my friend to have the same thing and more. “I’m sure it’ll happen,” I tell her. “Soon.”
“Yeah, it’ll happen.” Isla grins. “Walk with me. I wanna chat.” She drapes an arm around my shoulder and guides me to the staff break room.
I check the time on my watch. “I guess I have a few minutes. Daniel’s picking me up. Appointment with the specialist Lily keeps insisting that I see about my ‘fertility situation’.”
Now, that I’ve told my friends all the gory details about the night of Sebastian’s birth, we talk freely about it and I no longer feel like I’m carrying the weight of the world on my own. It’s liberating.
“That’s good,” my friend tells me. “So, you can get some closure. Some definitive answers.”
“You sound like Lily,” I laugh. She does, too.
“Tell me – how are things at home?” Her eyes are eager.
A little hop slides into my step when I think about the way life has been going over the past few weeks. “Things have been going so well, Isla. Daniel and me are finally on the same page and we’re communicating. We have sessions with Serenity every week. Plus, Sebastian is finally sleeping –”
“My gosh – I’m so happy for you,” she deadpans. “For a while there, you were drifting around like a Walking Dead character who happened to wander off set.”
“Isla!”
“Girl, I was worried about you!” We both laugh as we step into the break room. “How’s Bella adapting?”
I slide onto a plastic chair and Isla hands me a granola bar and a bottle of water. “She’s doing really well…She does have nightmares every now and then, and sometimes she gets really, really shy, but I love her so much. She’s like the pint-sized, female version of Daniel.”
“She’s got his nose.” Isla giggles.
“I know, right?” I take a swig of my water and I weave a bit, feeling woozy. “Anyway, she’s an angel and I’m so happy to have her in our little family.”
Isla clasps her hands over her heart. “Aww…”
“And did I tell you that she loves to cook? She made blueberry pancakes the other day. I barely had to intervene.” I beam proudly. “I think I’m going to have her as my little assistant on one of my upcoming cooking videos.”
“Look at you, putting the girl to work already!” Isla laughs and bites on her granola bar.
“Child labor laws don’t apply in my house. Everyone has to earn their keep. Even Sebastian goes to work. His job is emptying the dryer when the laundry is done. He loves it.”
“Haha! I bet.” When her laughter dies down, her face goes serious. “Actually there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?” I ask, leaning back in my chair and tugging on the waistband of my pants. All my clothes are so snug these days. I really need to lay off the cookies or else Daniel’s going to have to roll me down the stairs like a beer keg soon.
Isla suddenly looks agitated as she spins her water bottle around on the table in front of her. “We just found out that the person who’s been supplying cookies to Herbivore doesn’t actually make them from scratch in her home like she claimed to. The bitch buys cookies in bulk at Costco, reheats them in her oven and sells them to us at ten times the cost.”
My eyes bulge. “What?!”
“Yup,” Isla says with a sigh. “I need a new supplier. Stat!”
“I’m really sorry to hear that. People can be such dipshits!”
“I know…But I was wondering if you could do it?” She watches me with a pleading gaze.
I narrow my eyes at her and my stomach riots. “What?”
“Hun, I love your cooking. And all the girls do, too. I think that your baked goods would be a real hit if we got them into Herbivore. What do you say?”
“Isla, I’m speechless.”
“You don’t have to give me an answer right this minute. And besides you have to get to your doctor’s appointment…”
“Yeah, yeah!” I push my chair back and stand on weak knees. “Thank you so much for thinking of me.”
“Of course,” she says with a big grin. “We’re going to discuss the terms later on. Maybe if you have time next week you can whip up a meal for me and Reuben.”
“Sure! It’ll be a double date.”
She gives me a quick hug. “I’m sending you positive vibes for your appointment!” she says, disappearing into her office.
“Thank you!”
As I walk out to my minivan, I kind of want to do a jig.