Everyone laughed, as I intended, but it wasn’t the kind of humor that made him the butt. He grinned at me and called, “Maybe,” as I put the mic back and worked my way back to my place at the table.
Rob hugged me to hide the fact that I was shaking. He held me until I had a grip on the nerves I’d hidden the best I could. “You did great,” he whispered.
Afterward, they piped in slow, romantic music. The party room was compact, not big enough for a DJ or a band, but the speakers were good. As others coupled up, Rob led me onto the floor, a surprise since I didn’t peg him as the dancing type. Yet he was graceful, light on his feet as we moved together; he was big enough to make me feel delicate and dainty in his arms.
“I could kill my mom,” I mumbled.
She was dancing on the other side of the room, trying to catch my eye. Sorry, she mouthed. A tap on Stuart’s shoulder, and they circled toward us until we were close enough to talk. I considered ignoring her, but that would be childish.
“Evelyn and Chris came up with the idea for speeches,” she whispered.
“And Randall added himself to the program,” Stuart put in.
Yeah, given the impression he made, I could picture that. No point in ruining their big night. I got through it. So I smiled at them. “It’s fine. I was just a little nervous.”
Understatement.
Mom flashed me a knowing look as Stuart said, “I appreciate everything you said about me. We don’t know each other very well, but I’m looking forward to changing that.”
“Me, too,” I said.
“You’ll have the chance in September,” Mom said. “Stuart just listed his house.”
“When is he moving in?”
“We’re getting married in September, so definitely then, if not before.”
It felt a little weird that she was telling me this instead of talking it over with me, but she had lived by herself for two years before I’d come back. I couldn’t expect her to consult me, like I’d be sticking around forever. Still, I didn’t know how I felt about living with Stuart. They were both watching me, a touch anxious, so I dug for a bright smile.
“I hope you don’t have any trouble selling your place,” I murmured. “And congratulations again.”
Only Rob spoke fluent enough Lauren to sense I needed to get away from them. He spun me into an ambitious maneuver in time to the upswing of the music, twirling me out and back in, and the movement separated us from the other two. My mom didn’t try to follow; she only rested her head on Stuart’s shoulder with a dreamy half smile.
“How do you feel about that?” Rob asked.
“Don’t know yet. I need some time to process.”
“Understandable. I can’t imagine my mom with anyone but my dad. Not that our situations are the same.”
“I know what you mean. But she’s definitely happy with him, and it’s not like I planned to live at home forever. I’d be an asshole if I pitched a fit over her finally having a life.”
He put his mouth close to my ear. “Doesn’t mean you want a close-up of newlywed bliss?”
Picturing that, I couldn’t help but grimace. “You make a sound point.”
“You could move in with me.”
Startled, I almost jerked out of his hold. “I could what now?”
“I’m serious. There’s plenty of room and I don’t need help with house payments.”
“I can’t mooch off you, Rob. I’d feel like a kept woman.”
He grinned. “Problem?”
“For my self-esteem, yeah. But if you let me buy groceries and pay utilities while you cover the mortgage, I might be okay with that.” Saying that, I waited for the panic to kick in, but for once, my brain was quiet. “Can I think about it? We don’t have to decide tonight.”
“Of course, beautiful. For you, there’s no limit on how long I’d wait.”
Stretching up, I kissed him. “Sweetness like that will get you underneath this red dress.”
He shifted his hand a touch lower, more on my hip than my waist. “I’m counting on it.”
That night, I made his secret, dirty fantasy come true.
* * *
A few weeks later, my phone rang in the middle of the night. I was at home because Rob had spent the evening with his parents; they’d wanted to talk about his dad’s condition, which I wasn’t supposed to know about. I groped for my cell, dropped it on the floor. “What?”
“It’s time. I need you to meet me at the hospital, Lauren.”
Oh, shit. “Krista?”
She moaned, breathing fast before she could reply. “You know someone else who’s having a baby?”
“I’ll be right there.”
Before heading out, I texted Rob, letting him know I’d be at the hospital with Krista for who knew how long. He didn’t reply, unsurprisingly; he was probably asleep.
I was a shambles when I ran into the emergency room. Krista and her mom were already there filling out paperwork. Red-faced and sweaty, Krista was hunched over in a wheelchair, looking like she might pass out. I ran over to her, kneeling beside her. Her hand clamped onto mine, and she nearly broke all my fingers.
“Contraction?”
Note to self: adopt. Or get a dog. Anything else.
Before long, they had us in a birthing room, which didn’t look a whole lot different from a regular one. I expected a whole lot more action, but after they checked her dilation, the nurse said, “Get her some ice chips. It could be a while.”
“But it really fucking hurts,” Krista snarled.
Her mom stroked the hair off her head, and she smacked her hand away. Krista snapped, “I don’t want you in here seeing this, Mom. Any viewing of my vagina is off-limits to close family relations.”
“Fine. Send Lauren if you need me later.” Janet seemed sad when she left, but it was unwise to agitate a woman in labor.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I got the ice. When I got back, the nurses were doing things to Krista. To the best of my recollection, nobody ever told me how slow babies came into the world. On TV, it was always done in half an hour, but I sat there sympathizing with Krista for ten hours before things progressed. They gave her some kind of medicine to speed up the process and made her walk around, and then the party finally got started. Four hours later, her daughter was born. At that point, I’d never been so exhausted in my life, and all I did was hold her hand, let her yell at me and feed her ice chips.