Page 42 of Travis

“I know. Gosh, I can’t help but look at them over and over again.”

“Yep, we should have just tied the knot today.” Liam teases. “It’s going to be hard to beat these babies.”

We’re using Liam’s laptop to view the photos, and his background screen is a large picture of him with one of his coworkers, while they were both away for work, before him and I got serious. He’s always said that that weekend with his work friend was the most fun he’s ever had, which is why he refuses to change the picture. It’s of him on a mechanical bull, holding a beer in his hand. He made it to six seconds on the thing before he fell off and puked. Every time I see that picture, I snort a laugh. Liam’s face is priceless.

“You want one of those things at the wedding, babe?” Liam jokes.

“A mechanical bull?” I laugh out loud. “Sure.” I walk away from him, as my phone is ringing from my purse on the console table.

“Are you serious?” he blurts, teasingly, like I’d ever agree to that.

“Get two.” I add, as I pick up the phone. It’s my sister. “Fuck.” I say.

“Great.” Liam mutters, knowing that it’s Cher. She’s the only one that gets a response like that.

“Hey.” I answer, somewhat tersely.

“Hey, guess what?” she gushes.

“What?” I say, adding mechanical excitement to my tone. It could be anything with her. She once sounded this excited because she had the perfect bikini wax done.

“I’m getting this kickass house! You should see it!” I can almost hear the words, ‘way better than yours’, because that’s right up her alley.

“Oh yeah? When did you put an offer in?”

“Well, I haven’t yet. It’s not up for sale. But I met this realtor and she said that she’d call me when it is and get me first dibs on it.”

“Does daddy know? Will he be able to front you the money for a down payment?”

“No, not yet. I’m thinking of telling him when I tell mama and daddy about the baby.”

I roll my eyes. Shrewd Cher, very shrewd. “When’s that going to be? Are you going to wait until your first trimester is over?”

“I don’t know yet.” She says, as if weighing the odds on when the best time is, and when that is, is when it’s poignant to screw as many people over as possible, namely me.

Two can play shrewd. “Mama probably knows already.”

She’s silent for a beat. “God, Hanna, you didn’t.”

“Of course not. Goodness.” My voice is low, just waiting for an in to get her to spill the beans as soon as possible. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

“I just meant that mama’s no fool. Something about the way a woman smells when she’s expecting.”

“Well, I haven’t been around mama enough for her to take a whiff, and I'd like to keep it from them for a little while longer.”

“How come? Aren’t you dying to tell everyone? Isn’t it exciting?” I goad, hoping that she’ll cave. But this is just too good.

“It is exciting, but I'm not sure how mama and daddy are going to react is all, what with me not being married.”

“You’re not divorced, Cher. It’s kind of hard to be married again if that hasn’t happened.”

She tuts. “I know that. I just don’t want mama and daddy going off on me for not being married before getting pregnant.”

“Are you going to get divorced?” I ask, seeing if I can piss her off by talking about her ex.

“Hell, I don’t know.” she says, irritated. “I’d like to worry about this baby first.”

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