Page 35 of My Secret Snowflake
“No. But if she gossips…”
Sebastian shrugs. “How interested can anyone in the building be? It would be most exciting for my family. My parents would be thrilled if I were married and having a baby. Unfortunately, neither my sister nor I are dating.”
I say, “I can’t believe you just let your neighbor think I was pregnant.”
Sebastian grins. “You have to admit that her shocked expression was pretty priceless.”
“But what are you going to tell your mom?”
“My mom will get a kick out of it. I don’t think she likes Mrs. P. much anyway. How old are your sister’s kids? What we need to do next is borrow one of them and ride the elevator in my building.”
I laugh. “My sister would be grateful for the babysitting, but we’d probably have to borrow all three.”
“Great, we can just tell Mrs. P. that you have children from a previous marriage but that my mom is delighted by all the grandchildren.”
I laugh.
“And what happens when you meet your real wife?” I stumble over the wordsreal wife. “And then she runs into Mrs. Pinok, who tells her about your prior pregnant wife.”
Sebastian stares at me. “That’s quite a scenario you came up with there on the fly. I don’t think we need to worry about that. I’m not planning on getting married anytime soon. And I’ll figure out something to tell Mrs. P. before that happens. Do you feel better now?”
“Yes,” I say.
Sebastian bites his lip. “I’ll tell her we were doing market research as a fake dating couple for a Hallmark-style romantic comedy Dream is producing.”
“Okay,” I say slowly. “There’s a lot to unpack in how quickly you came up with that. And how do you know about Hallmark romantic comedies?”
Sebastian shakes his head. “Why does everyone always ask me that? My mom watches them. I bet Mrs. P. does too, even if she would never admit to it.”
Sebastian reaches out and tucks down my collar. “So, you’re heading off to your sister’s now? I can’t persuade you to grab a cup of hot chocolate as a thank-you?”
As I reach up to smooth my collar, our hands touch, and that shiver of awareness jolts me again.
And then I hear myself saying, “Do you want to stop by my sister’s party? It’s at my parents’ bar. It’s only a few stops away.”
No. No. This is not a good idea. But we’re friends.
“Sure, I’d love to drop by. It’s generous of you to dress as a pregnant woman for your sister. You have two sisters?"
“And a brother. My older sister said she wants to drink and she doesn’t want to be pregnant again, ever, even fake.”
We stand at the corner, waiting for the light to change.
“What about you? Any siblings?”
“My younger sister Annabelle,” he says. “Let me just call my mom and warn her I told Mrs. Pinok my wife is pregnant.”
As Sebastian calls his mom, we cross the street so we’re now in Union Square Park. It’s already dusk at 4:30, and the metal benches sit empty by the forlorn patches of grass. Across the street is an imposing building with columns that probably used to house a bank. But what’s most distinctive about 44 Union Square is the glass dome on top, which is supposed to represent a turtle. It looks just like my pregnant belly.
Sebastian smiles at me as he chats to his mom. “Hi, Mom. I’m at Baby Love to pick up a gift for my Secret Snowflake. Anyway, Iris, one of Lily’s friends, agreed to do the store scavenger hunt with me, and she’s dressed as a pregnant woman. And Mrs. Pinok saw us. So I said Iris was my wife, and now she thinks you have a grandchild on the way.”
His eyes light up. I wish I could hear his mother’s reaction.
We walk towards the subway entrance, the glowing green ball on top of the pole indicating it’s open. Sebastian pulls his coat tighter.
“Yes, I may have let her think that.” He explains his market research cover idea. “Iris is fun. She works at Dream with me. She’s in cybersecurity.” He stops at the top of the staircase leading down into the entrance. “Okay, Mom, I have to go. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. We’re entering the subway.”
His mother says something more on the phone.
