Page 24 of Andy

Guilt filled her. She felt weird about it, and didn’t really want to explain to everyone, but suddenly all the women were in the room with them. Heat washed over her face and she wanted to run.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Jessica asked as she took Mel’s hand. “You can tell us anything. Really. Is something the matter?”

“No…yes. You’re all going to think this is trivial…” She didn’t want to tell them, but she was upset and had been all day. She would need to go see her doctor if she dropped any more weight. The stress of the robbery, mixed with everything else, had distracted her. And when she was distracted, she forgot to eat. It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose, but food didn't enter her mind. Her hunger cues didn't tell her it was time to eat, so she didn't consume any food. Since she didn't eat, she didn't feel hungry later, and she forgot to eat. It was a vicious cycle.

Ava pulled her into a hug. “Hey, we’re all friends here. It’s okay. Whatever you say stays here.”

Mel shook her head. “It’s not bad. Andy already knows, well, not about this time. It’s just that I lost some weight, and I just figured it out today. I’m worried what you all will think when I’m drinking my Ensures and not alcohol.”

Rory moved to stand in front of her and put her hands on Mel’s shoulders. “Hey, there is no judgment. Not being able to gain weight can be just as destructive as not being able to lose it. It’s also serious. I served in the Navy long enough to have seen women and some men who couldn’t keep the weight on, and if they lost too much, it had devastating effects on their health.”

“Yeah, we won’t make fun of you for your weight, just like we don’t make fun of any of us for our weight struggles,” Ingrid said. “When I first met Bear, he told me that if he gains too much weight, it’s bad for him. So the guys may not look like it, but they struggle to maintain their weight, too.”

Ava snorted. “It’s awful how weight is seen as a moral judgment or an indicator of intelligence. I mean, I get that sometimes weight can have a negative impact on health, but we would never make fun of you for something like weight. If you need to drink a nutritional drink and not consume alcohol, we’re all cool with that.”

Tears filled Mel’s eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah, this really is a no-judgment zone,” Ingrid said.

“Mom!” one of the kids yelled, and Ava and Ingrid rolled their eyes.

“Sorry, gotta take this,” Ava said as she left the room.

Mel grabbed the drinks from her bag, and Jessica took two while she carried the other three into the kitchen and put them into the refrigerator.

“Now then, which do you want, pizza or hotdog?” Jessica asked.

“I’ll take a slice of pizza,” Mel said.

“Awesome. I love this pizza. It’s store-bought, but it’s from their deli section. They have the best sauce.”

“Oh, I have brownies, too,” Rory said.

The kids cheered, and Ingrid rolled her eyes. “You kids can have brownies after you finish with your hotdogs and veggie sticks.” Ingrid met her gaze. “Sorry for the eye-rolling. The kids are getting older and demanding. I love them, but they are driving me crazy this week. They want Bear to come home.”

“I bet that’s hard for them.”

“Oy,” Ava said as she stepped into the kitchen. “They are good kids, but they want their dad home. It’s a common theme with the military.”

“We use weekends like this to help manage the stress,” Jessica said. “These women are my lifeline when Jax is out of town. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since Sunday.”

Mel looked around and could tell these women really were friends and that they supported each other. Warmth filled her. Maybe this was just a unique set of people, but she really liked how nice they were to each other. She hadn’t experienced much of that growing up.

“Do you think they are almost done?” Mel asked.

The women all shrugged. “There is no way to know,” Ava said.

“No news is good news,” Jessica added.

“What if something happens?” Mel asked.

Ingrid poured herself a glass of wine. “We’ll get informed. Honestly, we try to stay away from the news cycles. It’s healthier that way. I know it means we ignore stuff that happens, but I just don’t have the brain power to take in all the trouble in the world plus worry about Bear.”

Ava grabbed a bag of chips and poured some onto a plate. “A few years ago, right after I started dating Wild, there was an explosion, and I was convinced he’d been killed. He hadn’t. The explosion wasn’t even in the country they were in. He was safe the whole time, and I blew everything out of proportion.”

“That must have been frightening.” Mel couldn’t imagine sitting at home thinking Andy had been hurt in some mission overseas. Watching the news would be hard. Not knowing was difficult, but seeing something bad happen and not knowing would be terrible.

She hoped Andy made it home safely. She knew there was a possibility he could really be hurt, or worse, but thinking of it had caused her to lose weight. Maybe she wasn’t doing so great on her own. These women inviting her into their group was a good thing. Andy would come home. She had to believe that.

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