Page 70 of Here You Are

Me: You just asked me to come over an hour ago, and I declined due to nausea and disinterest.

Grass Daddy AKA Baby Daddy: I know. Just checking to see if your status has changed. I’m obsessed with you.

Me: Thank you for being obsessed with me. I promise to come over tomorrow night and not be nauseous. Wishful thinking. I’m manifesting success.

Grass Daddy AKA Baby Daddy: I’m manifesting a boner thinking about it.

It took less than twenty-four hours for Taylen to spill the beans to Widow Jenkins.

How did I know WJ found out? I’d say it was the moment she busted through my door with no advanced warning, stomped up to me, and pointed at my abdomen. I was working, but it became clear rather quickly that work was no longer a priority.

“Are you shitting me right now?” she demanded.

“Whatever do you mean, Emilia?” I responded, going for a sweet, demure pregnant lady so she wouldn’t be mean to me.

“YOU’RE PREGNANT! AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME! I found out from a toddler!”

“Hey, you need to settle down so you don’t upset the baby. What did she say?”

“She said. “I’m going to be a big sister, so I'm NOT the baby anymore.”

I smiled to myself, because that’s adorable.

“Spill it right now, before I scream,” she screamed.

“Okay, okay. Yes, I’m pregnant. It wasn’t planned, obviously, and we just told his kids yesterday. No one else even knows except Ben, my sister, and the girls. I was going to tell you eventually. Probably.”

“When are you even due?” she asked.

“April.”

“APRIL! That's hardly any time to plan a baby shower. Are you and Ben going to get married? Or will this be a bastard child you're bringing into the world?”

“Rude. We are still figuring things out. As of right now, we know we want to be together, and we’re having a baby. The rest we will figure out. It’s still pretty new.”

“I’ll say. I’m going home to do the math, or you can just spare me the effort and tell me when this happened.”

“I think I’ll let you do the math.”

She harumphed at me and then, in a shocking twist of events, bent down to give me a hug. Widow Jenkins is about as snuggly as a cactus on most days. Of all of the shocking things that have happened in the last couple of months, this really threw me.

She pulls back, and I can see some tears in her eyes. She whispers, “I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt.”

“You’re going with Aunt, huh? Not an honorary grandmother?”

“I’m too young to be a grandmother.”

This earns her some serious side-eye from me. WJ never had children. If she did, she would most likely be a grandma several times over at this point.

“I’ll let you get back to work. And whenever you want to thank me for setting you two up, I’ll be ready to listen. I hope this is a lesson to you that the life decisions I make on your behalf are well thought out, and you should quit trying to fight me on everything,” she says as she walks out the door.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the whole day at Ben’s house with the girls. We baked and made a special meal. We opened presents and read Christmas books. It was just how I pictured a family would spend a special holiday together. We even invited Cora over for supper. The girls are obsessed with her, and she seems to be weakening in her resolve to abstain from developing a positive relationship with any child. Ben and the girls got me a rocking chair for the baby’s room as a Christmas gift, which brought me to tears.

After the girls were asleep, Ben and I worked together to clean up some of the mess from the day. I planned to stay the night and had been doing so occasionally to start working on the adjustment of living together. It was going great, and I was feeling very at home with all of them. I actually was feeling excited to move in and be a part of this family. Brooklyn was still having ups and downs with the situation, but there have been more good days than bad. We had to realize that with her age, she was also dealing with a lot of teenage hormones, grief, and huge changes. It was quite normal for her to get agitated by something one of us said and find a door to slam. We learned not to follow her, let her have her space, and she usually resurfaced in a couple of hours with a better attitude. Baby steps with the teenager.

As we were finishing up, Ben grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug. I felt him take a deep breath.

“I need to say something,” he said gently in my ear. “Today brought up a lot of big emotions for me. Spending time together, like a real family. I could see our future, and I’m so excited for us. But, I’m nervous. We have talked a lot about logistics, and we have a plan, but you haven’t really told me how you feel. I’m nervous you don’t feel the same way.”