Page 72 of Sort of Seeing Someone

Ollie’s vintage one-bedroom apartment feels comfortable. It’s not at all what I pictured him living in, which was something spacious and sterile, like a lifestyle condo building with “goodHVAC” and lots of fancy amenities. Alas, he looks right at home as he mans the oven in his outdated kitchen, kept warm by a beastly brown radiator gently oozing heat in front of a big bay window facing the roaring Blue Line.

Honey-colored wood floors are all throughout his apartment. They creak when he walks from the fridge to the stove and back. I find it charming. He must be annoyed by it. As I sit back in the breakfast nook of the connected dining area and watch Ollie flip thepannkakor, it dawns on me that he is a triple threat: he can solve complex riddles, he can fix/build things, and he can, apparently, cook.

Just then, I receive an incoming call from Olivia, a reminder that my phone is not on silent.

“It’s my sister,” I announce, as if he would mind that I take it.

He gives me a wave, spatula in hand.

“Hello?” I say into the phone.

“Moonie,”Livsays back.

I wait for something to follow my name but hear nothing. I hold the phone in front of me to see if it disconnected. It didn’t.

“Liv? Hello? You there?”

“I’m clinically expecting.”

It takes me a moment to piece it together. I’ve never heard pregnancy described in that manner, but I’m not shocked about Liv’s word choices.

“Are you for real?”

“For real, for real,” Liv says. She goes on to talk a mile a minute. “I had my blood draw this morning and they called me thirty minutes later. My HCG is well within the normal pregnant range. I go back in a few days to make sure it’s climbing like it’s supposed to, but hey, I’ll take it for what it is right now: a positive pregnancy test—my first one ever.”

“Where are you now? Do you want me to meet up with you?”

In my peripheral, I notice Ollie pause a bit from whisking the pancake batter. I’m notreallygoing to leave him in the middle of our breakfast date, but it is nice to know he had a reaction that indicated he’d be disappointed if I did.

“No thanks. I’m on my way to CVS. I’m getting a pregnancy test.”

“I thought it’s already confirmed?” I ask.

“Yes, but I want to pee on a stick and see that second pink line with my own eyes. I want to hold it in my hands. I want to shove it in Ted’s face the second he’s home from work.”

“I love that for you,” I encourage her. “Does Nora know?”

“Not yet. I’ll call her next. Alright, I’m parking now. I gotta go. I’ll keep you posted on all-thingsbaby.”

I reiterate how happy I am for her and hang up.

Well how about that.

“What’s the good word?” Ollie asks.

“My sister is pregnant,” I say.

“That’s a very good word.”

“Very,” I reiterate.

He has no clue that more than joy for my sister, I’m overcome with an immense feeling of shock and satisfaction. My mom’s fertility crystal ritual is apparently high-octane. Nora and I are responsible for this. Or rather,I’mresponsible for this. Nora was just Brittany Mahomes jumping around in the skybox. I’m the one who touched downLiv’s new reality: motherhood.

I manifested a baby.

“More coffee?” Ollie asks, snapping me out of my holy-shit moment.

“Please,” I say, wrapping my cold fingers around the warm ceramic coffee cup.

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