Page 80 of Waiting on You

“We’re going to brunch.”

“And by we…”

“Me, you, and Kira.”

“And do I have a say in this?” I ask, giving her a hard time even though I’ll be going.

Nate and I were supposed to spend the day together, but at the last minute, he told me he had a bunch of work to get done, including some meetings, so he was going to be at the hotel. It’s the first time he’s chosen to workfrom the hotel instead of at my house in months—and on a Saturday, no less, when we usually don’t do any work on Saturdays. So, I was a bit taken aback, but since it’s his home away from home and I haven’t asked him to move in with me yet—and he was already set on leaving the moment he woke up—I didn’t argue.

“No,” Ana says through the line. “I’m on my way to you, and Kira is meeting us at the restaurant, so be ready in twenty minutes.”

“Jeez, a little warning would’ve been nice,” I mutter as I stand from my desk and head to my bedroom to get ready.

“See you soon,” Ana says before hanging up.

I send a text to Nate to let him know my plans, and he responds with:

Nate

Sounds good! I’m buried in work, so I probably won’t be able to come over until dinnertime anyway.

After throwing on a cute maternity shirt and jeans, paired with my ballet flats since I’m still on a no-heel kick, I take my prenatal vitamin and then head out to sit on my front porch while I wait for Ana to arrive. And while I wait, I scroll through thebaby namesapp I downloaded. It’s been two months since we found out we’re having a boy, but we can’t decide on a name. Joanne said she and Cary didn’t name any of her kids until she saw them, and then the name came to her.

When Ana pulls up, I lock the front door and then hop into her SUV. Okay, maybe I don’t quite hop…more like I slide in slowly since I’m twenty-nine weeks pregnant, but tomayto, tomahto.

“Look at you,” Ana says, glancing at me. “You’re glowing.”

“I am not.” I roll my eyes. “I’m sweating because I’m nearly the size of a small house and hot from the walk down the sidewalk since we’re in the dead of summer in Texas, but we can pretend I’m glowing if you’d like.”

“You’re not the size of a small house.” She laughs. “You’re pregnant and glowing.”

“Well, thanks. And thanks for the brunch invite. I feel like I never see either of you anymore.”

Sure, I see Ana at work, and we’ve gotten together for the occasional barbecue and book club meeting, but it feels like we’re all busy doing our own thing.

“I agree,” Ana says. “We’re going to need to schedule a weekly or biweekly girls’ lunch, so we don’t go too long without seeing each other. It’s like time just gets away from us.”

“Doesn’t it sometimes feel surreal? Not that long ago, we were living in London, our only worries being how to deal with our grump of a boss…”

“And now, I’m a wife and a mother of two, and you’ve got a baby on the way,” she finishes. “Life doesn’t stop—that’s for sure.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I agree, getting a bit emotional at the thought of how much has changed and all that willbe changing in the near future.

When we arrive at the restaurant, Kira is already seated at a table.

“Hey!” She gives Ana a hug and then attempts to give me one, but with both of us pregnant, it ends up being more like a side hug that makes us both laugh.

Ana has a seat next to Kira, and I sit across from her, all of us piling our purses on the empty chair next to me.

“How have you been feeling?” I ask Kira once we’ve ordered drinks.

“Good! Ryder and I had a 3D scan done since we couldn’t find out the gender at our twenty-week appointment, and it was so cool!”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Ana chides playfully. “Are you having a boy or a girl?”

“A boy!” Kira shrieks.

“Oh my God! Congrats!” Ana says, hugging her.

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