Page 93 of This Memory
Brystol quickly pulled out her phone and looked at the calendar. “Fourteen weeks.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I’m fourteen…almost fifteen weeks. I think I just felt the baby, but everything I read says it’s around week sixteen.”
“What did it feel like?”
She turned in her seat to face me and smiled. “I don’t know if this happens to guys, but sometimes when you reach over and take my hand when I’m not expecting it, my stomach flutters.”
I grinned. “Yes, it happens to me. Feel it in my chest sometimes too.”
“Yes!” she said with a bounce. “I just felt that for no reason. I mean, you didn’t touch me or look at me just now. Do you think it was the baby?”
“It might have been.”
“But it’s too early,” she argued.
“Not from what I’ve read.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she grinned. “You’ve been reading up on pregnancy, huh?”
I took her hand in mine. “Yes, because the woman I love was generous enough to offer to carry her best friend’s baby. So I want to know what’s happening with her so I can help in any way that I can.”
Brystol started to blink rapidly and, after a few moments, whispered, “Damn it, Gavin.”
Turning away, she started to cry.
“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”
Brystol wiped her tears away and let out a breath. “It’s just…I don’t want this to come off the wrong way because I don’t regret my decision about carrying this baby for Evelyn and Denny, but a small part of me wishes my first pregnancy was…”
Her words trailed off, and I took her hand in mine. “I get it.”
She looked up at me. “You do?”
I nodded.
“You don’t think that makes me a bad person, do you?”
Letting out a soft laugh, I shook my head. “Far from it. You’re human, Bry. Your body is going through a lot of changes. I think it’s normal for you to experience these types of feelings.”
It was her turn to nod. “I can’t help wondering what it would have been like if I’d gotten pregnant with…well… Withourbaby. And I know it’s too soon in our relationship to even think something like that. But I hope this doesn’t takeaway from our experience when the time comes. I mean,ifthe time comes.”
Lifting her hand to my mouth, I softly brushed a kiss against her warm skin. “The timewillcome someday, and no, this won’t take anything away from that. What you’re doing is amazing, and I’m one hundred percent on board helping you with this. We are going to make thebestuncle and aunt. This kid’s going to be so lucky.”
Brystol laughed. “Shewillbe lucky.”
“Do you think it will be a girl?” I asked.
Shrugging, she replied, “I don’t know. I just keep calling the baby she!”
“Question though. Do you tell Evelyn you felt the baby?”
Her smile slipped before it appeared once again, smaller. Sweeter. “Yes. Even though she can’t physically experience it, she should know when things like this happen.”
“Agreed.”
“So,” Brystol said, letting out a quick breath. “Let’s get to that festival and see what crafts our future mother-to-be made.”
