Page 16 of Resolution
I don’t even make it through security at PDX before I hear her scream of excitement. She pounces on me like paparazzi looking for their next big break. I whirl to the sound of her voice and make my way over to her. Her brown, curly hair and dark-rimmed glasses make her appear to have a bigger personality than ever. As she weaves through the crowd, her hair bobs and springs into action, taking on a life of its own as she hightails it directly toward me. I don’t even get a word of greeting out before I’m being squeezed like a vise.
“Sam, I’m so excited for you!” Lexi exclaims. “I’ve missed you so much.”
I manage to say, “You, too,” before she pulls back and studies me further.
“Love looks great on you. You’re simply glowing.” She eyes me up and down and stops on my left hand, a telling smile pulls at her lips. I know what’s coming next. “Okay, show me the ring!”
I can’t contain my excitement. I eagerly show off the perfect ring Enzo picked out. I love how our past, present, and future is symbolized. I gush over the details as I tell Lexi as much. Once she’s done ogling my ring, we make our way to baggage claim.
Lexi and I spend the time catching up as we wait for the luggage to funnel onto the conveyer belt. She tells me about some of our clients’ needs, and I tell her more about Germany. She insists we take the afternoon off and go to lunch before my kids get home.
Once we settle into a booth at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Lexi orders her usual margarita. Her jaw nearly drops to the floor when I don’t follow suit, sticking with water. She doesn’t say anything, but I can tell her wheels are spinning.Maybe she will buy my jet lag excuse? Highly doubtful.
Just as I take a huge bite of my chicken enchilada, her silence breaks. “Okay, so what’s the plan for when Enzo returns?”
“What do you mean?” I play being obtuse for a moment, trying to see where she’s going with this.
“Where’s he going to live? When will you get married?” Lexi eyes me dubiously in that knowing look, only a best friend can give. “You know… all the deets!”
“Well…” I swallow, then rush to say, “We’re getting married, he’s moving in, and we’re having babies.” Once I finish, I take another bite of the mouthwatering food before me. For some reason, I’m starving. The fact that it keeps me occupied while I wait for her reaction to the bombs I’ve just delivered, doesn’t hurt either.
“When’s the wedding?” she asks, but then gasps as if she has just inhaled all of the air from the room. “Baby… did you say, baby?”
Hmmm… Is it getting hot in here?I squirm a little as I slowly finish chewing and take a long drink of water.
“You misheard me,” I say with as little emotion as I can muster. I love catching Lexi off guard, and this will be priceless. “We’re getting married soon after he returns.”
“Um, I swear I heard you saybaby…” she trails off, appearing as if she’s replaying the scene in her head over and over again.
“Well, I didn’t,” I calmly state. I wait until she’s looking at me directly in the eyes and her curly hair has stopped bobbing with excitement. “I saidbabies,” I whisper.
Her jaw drops almost to the table. She starts to talk, gets out a muffled sound, then clamps her mouth shut again.God, it’s taking all my inner strength not to laugh at her reaction.Like a fish out of water, a rattled Lexi’s something to be seen.
“I’m pregnant with twins. Apparently, I got pregnant before he left, and he has super sperm.” Her eyes nearly bug out and I lose my composure by bursting into laughter. “Oh My God, Lex, I’m going to be a mother at thirty-nine years old! Can you believe it?”
“But you tried for years with Devin! I thought you couldn’t get pregnant?”
“Me, too,” I sigh. “Like I said, super sperm.”
“Have you told the kids?”
“No, we’re waiting until Enzo comes home to do it in person. They apparently knew he was going to propose before he left for Germany, so we thought one change, for now, is good enough. He proposed before we even knew what was wrong with me.”
“Wrong with you, what do you mean?” she asks with confusion.
I launch into the story about being sick for days and not being able to hold anything down. She soon becomes just as smitten with Enzo as I am when I tell her how amazing he was at taking care of me. She can’t believe he proposed in the hospital and that he had been carrying the ring around the entire time I’d been there. We both agree Enzo’s amazing. Soon, we are talking about wedding plans, and the best friend that she is, insists on helping with anything I need. I’m so lucky to have a friend like her.
When the alarm goes off the next morning, I have to drag myself out of bed. The kids all have school, so I know I have to get up to help them.Those are the perks of being a mom. I have no idea if it’s the jet lag or the pregnancy, but I certainly don’t want to get up, and I’m clearly dragging this morning.
I reach out to check my phone. Sure enough, there’s a text from Enzo. A smile immediately forms on my face, as my day just got better. We had spoken last night, but he’s heading out on a mission at some point today.
Enzo:Morning, beautiful. I’m heading out. Will call or text when I can. I’ll have to be radio silent for a while though, so don’t worry. Take pictures of the babies and know that I love you all. Counting the days until I see you again! (Kiss emoji)
My heart swoons at how thoughtful he is. I can’t help but squeeze the phone to my chest tightly and wish it were him in person. I take a moment to look through some of our photos together from my trip. I select one, making it the background for my phone.
As soon as I’m dressed, I pull out my phone again. I lift up my shirt and snap a side profile of my belly in the mirror. I’m not one to take selfies like this, or at all for that matter, but for Enzo, I’ll do just about anything. I text the picture to him.
Me:I miss you like crazy. One day closer. Be safe. Love, us
