Remy

Sitting at Jackson and Maggie Clay’s kitchen table was not how Remy had pictured this date ending.

But, in hindsight, if one goes skinny-dipping on someone else’s property, one is likely to get caught. She should have known this would happen.

And apparently if one gets caught by Jackson Clay, one ends up in the kitchen having coffee and homemade cookies.

“Thanks for everything, the towels, the hospitality,” Troy was saying, “and we’re so sorry for trespassing. And I guess, thanks for not shooting us.”

Jackson Clay shrugged and said, “It’s fine, we catch teenagers out there all the time. Doesn’t really bother me all that much, but I don’t want to encourage it in case somebody gets hurt. But it’s not every day we catch grownups fooling around out there.”

Remy blushed deeply and focused on taking a long drink of her coffee. It was good, and so were the homemade cookies.

Maggie, who looked to be beyond nine months pregnant, sat at the table next to her. Remy had seen her around town but had never actually spoken to her. This gave Remy an easy way to change the subject.

“Maggie, you look amazing. When is the baby due?”

Maggie looked shocked. “Wait a minute…I’m pregnant? Is that what this is?” She gestured to her stomach. “Oh my god, I thought I was really bloated from all this junk food I can’t stop eating. This explains so much now! The midnight muscle cramps, the Pop-Tart addiction alternating with bouts of nausea, the hemorrhoids…”

They all squirmed and eventually laughed as the petite woman continued her comic descriptions of her pregnancy woes.

Thank god they were done talking about being caught trespassing while naked and wet.

Then Jackson was beaming like he suddenly remembered how happy he was. “We were due yesterday, but the baby just wanted to keep us waiting a little bit longer, I guess.”

Maggie looked at Jackson, and the love Remy saw in their eyes as they gazed at each other was almost too much to witness. Maggie said, “Yep, it’s been a struggle to get this far, but we’re so excited to meet this little girl.”

“It’s a girl?” Remy asked. “That’s wonderful, I’m so happy for you! This is your first, right?”

“Yes, I hope so, seeing as I’m nearly 25.” She winked at Remy.

Before Remy could stop herself, she blurted out, “Yeah, I know it seems young, but I had Elliot when I was 17.”

Maggie looked mortified. Remy felt like shit. “No, don’t worry, it’s fine! It’s a fact. I was too young, everyone knew about it. I’m surprised you didn’t know, actually. Was it a mistake? Yes, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Maggie smiled at Remy and asked if she’d like to see the nursery.

Remy jumped at the chance to get away from scarfing down any more delicious cookies, and helped Maggie up out of her chair.

The nursery was yellow and teal, and totally not what Remy expected. The walls were decorated with large posters based on classic children’s book covers, from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to Harry Potter to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to Where the Sidewalk Ends. Maggie opened a drawer in the dresser and pulled out a pair of tiny pink socks, hat and sweater. “Can you handle how tiny and cute this is? My biological mom learned to knit in rehab. She hand-knitted a whole layette set. She’s over in Storm Lake in a retirement community now. Jackson has been amazing about taking care of her after everything that happened. I don’t know if you know, but I was raised here on this farm as a foster child.”

Remy nodded, vaguely recalling stories about the large group of foster kids on this farm north of town. “I think there were one or two of your foster siblings in my graduating class in 2003.”

“Yes, that would have been Devin. He’s raising cattle for one of our sisters’ genetics company about a few miles west of here.”

“I remember him, he was a handful,” Remy said, recalling frequent fistfights in the school hallways. Devin Halpert was usually in the mix.

Maggie laughed. “Yeah, he was, and now he’s answering to our sister Wynn, who is a serious ball-buster, so he’s keeping his nose clean these days.”

“I just hope my bio mom stays on this earth long enough to get to know the baby. Mama Jane will be coming home from Greece with her husband to help out around the place shortly after the baby is born. I’m so grateful. I can’t believe how lucky we all are.”

Remy smiled, but inside she was feeling just the tiniest bit jealous. Elliot had two great sets of grandparents, who had quickly rallied to support Remy and Ryan’s decision to marry and raise a baby when they were practically babies themselves. A new baby girl would be spoiled beyond compare. Boy or girl, it didn’t matter. Elliot would be such an awesome big brother, if only she could make that happen.

She was finally yanked out of her own thoughts when she realized Maggie had the shine of a tear in her eye. Remy went to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She barely knew Maggie Clay, but when a pregnant woman is crying in front of you, you do something.

“Oh my gosh. You must be exhausted! Troy and I need to leave so you can get some rest, is that it?”

Maggie shook her head and took the tissue that Remy had offered. “No, I’m just happy. I’m grateful and happy and sad at the same time.”

Remy listened.

“When Jack and I got married two years ago, I was already pregnant. We were so excited, we told everyone we knew, right after the wedding. It was the happiest I’d ever been in my life. But then I lost the baby. I was devastated. Jack took it really hard, too. I wanted to try again right away. Jack did not want me to go through another miscarriage and wanted to take me for testing and all kinds of stuff before trying again. But I knew it was just one of those things that happens. All the testing confirmed what I thought—it was a fluke thing. But he just could not get past it. It took a toll on our marriage, I’m not going to lie. I insisted we go to counseling, and he did not want to go to counseling.

“Finally, it was Mama Jane who got through to him. Nothing the doctors said to reassure him worked. But somehow Mama knew exactly what to say. And the very next day, we got pregnant with this little girl. But I do mourn that baby. Some people think it’s silly; it was less than eight weeks along. But it was still a part of us, you know?”

Remy was barely able to keep the lump out of her throat. She nodded. “Can I hug you?”

Maggie nodded. Remy couldn’t remember the last time she hugged another mom. Maybe never. She didn’t really have a lot of mom friends. Maggie had an entirely different energy than other people. Or perhaps, Remy was just open to it for the first time. She was lovely and warm and receptive and nonjudgmental and utterly, totally laid-back. Everything that Remy was not.

“So…what did your mom say to Jackson that made him change his mind?”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me. I asked Mama and she wouldn’t tell me either. She said, ‘That’s between Jackson and me and the ears in the trees.’”

Remy was shocked. “Oh my god, are you kidding me? I would never stop asking them to tell me what she said.”

Maggie shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a go-with-the-flow kind of gal. There are things I can’t explain and I’m OK with that. Like how pregnancy has somehow turned me into a domestic goddess. I literally cannot stop buying cookbooks. I told Jack I don’t know if it’s hormones or what, but you better enjoy this now while it lasts, because this could all come to an end as soon as this baby is out.”

Remy was thoroughly enjoying listening to Maggie talk. She had a calming effect.

“Speaking of evicting this baby, can I tell you a secret? The reason we happened to catch you all skinny-dipping in the spring tonight?”

Remy nodded, trying to push back the embarrassment she still felt at remembering waiting in the water while Jackson, basically a total stranger, brought them towels. “It’s your property, none of my business.”

“Well, I’m gonna tell you anyway. We were out there fooling around just like you two. With the added goal of encouraging this baby to come out. Sex is supposed to help with that.”

“I think I read an article about that. It’s fascinating,” Remy said. “Ryan and I were so young and dumb we were terrified of hurting the baby, doing stuff like that.”

Maggie blushed. “Well, I don’t know if it’s going to work or not, but it sure is fun trying! Plus, you know how much lighter you feel in the water? Makes acting like teenagers a lot easier and even more fun in this state. Lord knows once the baby arrives, it’ll be a while before we can act like teenagers again.”

Remy hesitated. “Can I tell you a secret now? Troy has me feeling like a teenager all over again. He is…”—and she couldn’t stop the dopey grin from spreading across her face—“…intense.”

“Yeah? How long have the two of you been dating?”

“I just met him on Monday.”

“That’s hot,” said Maggie.

“It really is! He and I had been exchanging pissy emails back and forth about baseball—Troy is Elliot’s youth league coach—before we even met. I was so pissed I showed up at his school to have it out with him on Tuesday. And ever since then, we haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other. I know, crazy, right?”

“It’s crazy romantic!”

Remy shook her head. “Or just crazy. I think we both need therapy.”

So, now they were two young women having a sex talk. Were they actually friends now? Remy decided yes, they were.