Chapter 46

I got up early for work. I knew I wouldn’t be seeing Calvin till tomorrow. He had business to take care of in the next town, so he’d be busy there. His parents, however, did invite Janelle and I over for lunch. We picked a spot not too far from my workplace, so it would be easier for me. I finished making my bed, adding all the pillows back in their place. I now only slept with two pillows: one for my head and the big one to lay comfortably on my side.

I picked up my phone and saw a message from Calvin Cartwright.

“Good morning, Lils,” he had texted me. I smiled at the sight of the text. This had now become a regular thing—texting each other, checking in on each other, and such.

“Good morning, Calvin. Slept well?” I asked in return. I walked to the window, a smile on my face as I opened the curtains.

“I did and you? Did they kick you awake again?” he then replied.

“Luckily, no. I was able to sleep throughout the whole night,” I sent back.

“That’s great,” he typed and sent, then continued to type. “Hope you have a great day at work. I have to go attend a meeting now,” he added with a heart at the end of the text.

“Good luck on your meeting, and thank you,” I sent it lastly with a kiss emoji.

I went to the kitchen, straight for the fridge, and took out my overnight oats to devour. I paced around the house while eating my breakfast, picking out my outfit and packing my laptop back into my bag. I got dressed for work. Wearing professional and comfortable clothes as a pregnant lady sure was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I drove myself to work. The moment I was seated at my desk, the work kept coming in. I now realized just how hard my parents were working all these years to provide the life they gave me. I could also see why they didn’t want me in this branch of the working world. I, of course, loved it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t difficult. It was a little harder than I thought it would be, but I was also handling all this while being pregnant.

We’ve seen a boost in business since Calvin and I officially came out with the pregnancy, which was a good thing, but at the same time, we didn’t want Calvin to think too much of it or the public to accuse us of using the Cartwright name.

I worked till the very last second of my lunch break then got up, took my bag with me, and made my way to the cafe Chris and Amira had picked out. Calvin once took me out there, and it was quite nice and private. Chris and Amira usually rented out half the place they’d be eating at only because they wanted their privacy, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that again for our lunch. I was partly nervous to have lunch with those two without Calvin, but luckily, I still had Janelle with me.

I arrived at the cafe, and it was quite empty, as expected. Only a few people were seated—for the rest there were signs with reservations written on it. I spotted Chris and Amira, and just as I stepped in, Janelle followed right behind me. I greeted her, and we hugged a little awkwardly then went to join Chris and Amira.

“Hello, you two.” Amira got up to hug us both. She wasn’t this friendly in the beginning, and Janelle too had mentioned it. It was like the two had warmed up over time. Janelle also said she had never seen Calvin this relaxed and happy before. With Calvin’s parents, I understood where it was coming from—the baby, their first grandchild. I knew that because my parents were just the same. But for Calvin, I had no idea why he was acting this way… Or maybe I did know but now I just refused to accept it.

“So, Janelle, Lily, how are you two feeling?” Amira asked and handed us the menu. I already knew what I’d be having. They had the best chicken sandwich that came with some chips. I only looked through the menu to choose a drink to have.

“I’m doing okay. I’m just glad the others are in town to help with James,” Janelle admitted, but I knew deep down she was missing Cameron. Everyone knew that, and everyone knew they couldn’t help with that.

“Understandable, and you?” Chris looked over at me.

“I’m doing good. I’m looking forward to maternity leave along with having this baby out of me,” I admitted, rubbing my stomach. It wasn’t meant in a negative way.

“Excited to meet them?” Amira asked.

“Very, but also nervous,” I laughed awkwardly.

“Mm-hmm, I was like that too with our first.” She sighed at the thought.

“What was it like when Calvin came?” I asked. At this point, I listened to every woman’s experience, just to gather as much information as possible, but I knew ultimately everyone had their own unique experience.

“Calvin wasn’t our first child… We had struggles to get children of our own at first. Four years before Calvin, we finally conceived, and everything went well, even giving birth a boy, Cerill,” Amira spoke very timidly. I was quite surprised to hear about this and tried being as sympathetic as possible.

“Oh I didn’t know he had a brother,” I said truthfully.

“He did, but they never got to meet each other. When Cerill was around two years old, he got very sick and wasn’t able to be healed. He passed away two months after we found out,” Chris replied, a wave of sadness flashing over his face.

“I’m so, so sorry for your loss.” I couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like for them. Even my own parents had struggled to have kids.

“It was a difficult time for us. On top of that, we got pregnant with Calvin while grieving, and we were scared to have him, scared we’d fail him too, but in the end, he ended up saving us from what we were in.” Amira sighed and closed the menu.

“So that’s why you never had another?” Janelle asked.

“The struggle. Calvin and Cerill were both a blessing,” Chris confirmed.

“Have you and Calvin given much thought about how many you want?” Amira then turned to me, and my eyes widened.

“We’re still discussing that. For now, we’ve decided one is good though.” I smiled, running my fingers through my hair.

“I understand,” she said.

“Well, let’s place our orders and hopefully start talking about some more mood lifting topics,” Chris tried to lighten the mood.

I nodded in agreement. When the waitress came, everyone placed their order, and the waitress reread it for us before heading into the kitchen.

“I do wonder how you and Calvin will parent together if you won’t live close by.” Amira looked over at me. Oh no, was this going to be one of those conversations? She was smart to not have Calvin around. He’d have an answer ready to go.

“Not to forget how he’s also helping to look after James and making sure Janelle has everything,” Chris added, looking over at Janelle who smiled awkwardly.

“Oh, about that. My parents and Chloe and Levi will all stay in town. I haven’t spoken to Calvin about this yet, but I think he can go now. He has his own child to worry about, and the four others will be of great help when it comes to the kids,” Janelle said, which surprised me, as this was the first I’d heard of it. Of course, this made it a bit more difficult for me to answer; however, I could now make something up on the spot.

“Oh really?” I asked, to confirm.

“Yeah, I finally caved in and asked for the help I needed,” Janelle admitted. I could tell she wanted to be as independent as possible, but one thing I learned in this life was to make use of the help and opportunities that you’re offered. Some people are dying to have what you have, so I try to make use of it as much as possible.

“That’s great, and I’m sure Calvin will always be open to help you. As are we, whenever you need it,” Amira smiled happily. “Both of you.” She then also looked at me.

“Now, what will the plan be?” Chris asked.

“I think we still want to live separately but see each other as much as possible. Perhaps, over time, we’ll sleep over at each other’s places until we find we’re ready to live together as parents of the baby,” I tried answering as mature sounding as possible.

“That sounds amazing. I just hope I get to visit as much as possible,” Amira said.

“Of course, you both will. It will probably be crowded, though. This little one has many people who want to meet them.” I laughed. Just like that, we continued to lunch together and spoke mostly about everything but our pregnancies, which was nice for once.