Tiffany:
I had told Natalie to start without us. I expected to find them half way through their Thai food. Instead, I found Natalie crying and Enzo staring out into space. He looked in complete shock. “That doesn’t look promising,” Harry said, pointing to the couple we barely recognized in the booth. I had never seen them upset before. They always seemed so happy together.
“Hey, guys,” I said softly.
Natalie snapped her head up and instantly started wiping away tears. “Hey. The food just got here. We ordered a bunch of stuff. Figured we’d all share.” She had smudged her blue eyeliner, and I knew if she was aware she’d be rather upset.
“Yeah, everything looks good. Um, Nat, do you want to come with me to the bathroom? I have a girl emergency.”
She glanced at Enzo, but he was still staring at whatever vision we could not see. I actually felt bad leaving Harry with him when he was in some sort of weird trance. “Yeah, okay.” She got up and walked past me, making a beeline for the ladies room. I shrugged at Harry and mouthed “be right back” then followed her.
No one was in the bathroom, and I was grateful. “Hey? What’s going on?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing.” She waved me off. “Lover’s quarrel. How are you and Harry?” She flashed her signature smile at me, and I placed my hands on her waist and guided her toward the mirror. “Hey! What are you doing, silly?”
“Look!” I pointed at her reflection, and when Natalie—perfect, poised, Natalie—saw her state of disarray, the streaked mascara, the pink nose and swollen eyes, her smile vanished, and she grabbed onto the sink. For a moment, I thought she might faint.
“Nat, are you all right?”
She turned around and flung her arms around me. “Oh, Tiff… I’m pregnant!”
The fear poured out of her as her quiet tears soon turned into hearty sobs. Not sure what to do, I held her and let her cry. Natalie was one of the most responsible people I knew. So I knew this was not something she had planned. She was a month away from graduation and excited to get back into the acting game. She had been in a few commercials but was anxiously waiting for her big break, and now I knew she felt her future would be put on hold.
“It’s going to be all right,” I said, rubbing her back and trying my best to soothe her mind.
“How could you possibly say that? How? You had everything and one day bam! Your life was forced into a different direction. I thought you would understand more than anyone.” She was sobbing harder now. There was a small bench. I led her over to it and sat her down.
“I do understand expecting your life to go a certain way, Nat. And I know right now you must be so scared. How do you feel?”
“Really sick.” She sniffed back a few tears and wiped her eyes. “I’ve been nauseous all week. And my head really hurts. I found out for sure today, and I was going to cancel our plans, but I felt suddenly really trapped, ya know? So I thought, well, let’s get through the day, and maybe you guys could distract me from the truth. But then I didn’t order a drink, and Enzo asked why.”
“Wait. Did you tell him right before we showed up?”
“Yes. I didn’t mean to. Like I said, I wanted one more night where no one knew, and I planned on telling Enzo when we were alone, not in a crowded restaurant.”
I knew if Brit were here she’d throw in a “way to be a drama queen” to try and get her to laugh, but I wasn’t Brit, and so I put my arm around her and let her cry it out. We sat there quietly for a few minutes until finally, Natalie drew in a shaky breath. “I love Enzo so much. When we met, I thought he was the wrong guy for me in every way possible, but he turned out to be everything I never knew I wanted. I can’t picture my life without him. I want to marry him and have a family. But I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I didn’t even get a chance to see what the world is like out there.”
I laid my hand on top of hers and tried to be delicate with my next sentence. “I mean this in the most loving way imaginable, Nat…”
“I already know what you’re going to say. That I have a choice.” She rolled her eyes.
“You do. We don’t live in the seventeenth century.”
“I don’t.” Her words were firm. “It’s Enzo’s. How could I get rid of any part of him?”
There was so much pain and love all twisted together in that statement. I wondered how I would feel if I were unexpectedly carrying Harry’s baby. Placing a name to the fetus certainly complicated the matter. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ll be an amazing mom.”
She wiped at her eyes. “You really think so?”
“Yeah, you just said the most selfless thing imaginable. Isn’t that what moms do? Put everyone else before themselves?”
“You’re right. Who would have thought I would be so maternal.” She laughed for the first time, and I gave her a hug.
“What did Enzo say?”
“Nothing. He stared at his food. And I started crying, and then you guys showed up.”
“So, you don’t even know his reaction yet? His thoughts? And Harry is out there with him, and aside from the carnival, those two have never really met?”
“Yeah. All of that.” Natalie stood. “I guess we should go back out there. We don’t have to sit through dinner or anything. I won’t subject you guys to any further awkward encounters. This night is already pretty unorthodox.” Natalie went over to the sink and washed away the mascara. She dug through her purse and touched up her makeup, then turned to face me, forcing a smile that could not mask her anxiety. “On with the show?”
I nodded and took her hand. Together, we walked out, prepared to face the guys. I expected to find Enzo still in zombie mode, and Harry critiquing the food that was probably cold by now. But instead, we found an empty table. Natalie looked shattered, her worries transparent. I searched the restaurant, hoping to find the guys, and breathed a sigh of relief when I spotted Harry at the bar. Enzo must have come out of his coma for he was talking to Harry, who was listening attentively, hands in his pockets, leaning against the bar. He seemed rather relaxed.
“Look, they’re having a drink,” I said, assuming Enzo was having a drink and Harry was having a soda. But when we walked over to them, there were two empty shot glasses beside them on the bar. Before I could question Harry, Enzo jumped off his stool, stepping past me and over to Natalie. His eyes were filled with concern.
“Nat, can we go outside and talk?” Natalie nodded, and the two walked silently outside. I could see from the window that Natalie was crying again.
“Intense night,” Harry said.
I glanced at the empty shot glass and nodded in agreement. “So… I guess he told you?”
“Yeah. It sort of fell out of his mouth. I think he was saying it more to himself than to me. I figured he needed a drink.”
“I can see that.” I didn’t know how I felt about any of this. I was still processing that one of my best friends was pregnant, and then my boyfriend, who is a recovering addict, just casually had a shot. I picked up the shot glass and took a sniff. The smell was unmistakable. Jack Daniels. I put it back, hearing how it smacked against the table. “I understand he was upset, and you were… I don’t know what you were doing, being supportive? Which is great. I mean, yeah, get to know my friends, but I never expected you to do a shot with him.” I couldn’t even hide the disgust in my voice.
Harry burst out laughing, which was the last reaction I expected. Was this how he acted when he drank?
“It’s not funny, Harry. It’s upsetting.”
He rolled his eyes, grabbed my face, and kissed me. Okay, Harry with some alcohol in him was definitely aggressive. Maybe this is what my friends had been so concerned about? He parted my lips with his tongue, and I was about to push him away and give him a piece of my mind when I realized something.
Plucking my mouth away, I looked at the mischievous blue eyes that shone back at me from behind his glasses. “You don’t taste like bourbon.”
“No, I don’t taste like bourbon. I wonder why?” He raised one brow in a perfect arch and crossed his arms.
I glanced at the empty glasses. “Enzo had two shots.”
“Enzo had two shots,” he repeated.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” I shook my head and breathed a sigh of relief. “Between what Nat just told me and seeing you with the empty glass in front of you… I jumped to conclusions. I was wrong to assume. Forgive me?”
“I’m not mad, Tiff. In fact, I’m a little relieved that you took it so seriously. I’d be upset if I had taken the shot and you dismissed it.”
“So, we’re okay?”
Harry gave me a kiss on the forehead and pulled me into his arms. “We’re more than okay.”
I closed my eyes and breathed him in. He was the antidote to all my worries. Opening my eyes, I looked out the window. Enzo and Natalie were forehead to forehead. She was crying, but smiling. Enzo kissed her, and I squeezed Harry tighter. “I think they’ll be okay, too.”
Over the next few weeks, Natalie’s pregnancy had infiltrated my relationship. Every time things started to heat up, Harry would slam the breaks and do something lame, like put on the cooking channel. The seductive guy who had me pinned against the wall the week before, whispering all the things he wanted to do to me had gone back into hiding, and I couldn’t coax him back out.
“Harry, is everything all right?” I asked one day when the frustration got the best of me.
“Yeah, why?”
“We were making out, and as soon as I put my hand under your shirt, you jumped off me, mumbling something about a recipe you wanted to learn.”
Harry adjusted his glasses. “Truth?”
I tucked my legs in and sat up straighter on the couch. “Always.”
“It took me a long time to get to where I am with you. And Natalie and Enzo… they sort of remind me that nothing is guaranteed. I am terrified of taking your future away, of bursting the perfect bubble we’ve been existing in.” He took a deep breath and went to speak again, but I placed my finger to his lips.
“Stop talking. Take a breath. Enjoy the ride.” I ran my fingers through his hair. “You overthink everything. It must get tiring.”
Harry relaxed against me. “It’s exhausting.”
“How did she get pregnant?” I asked while examining my hair for split ends.
Brit looked up from tuning her guitar. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought they taught you this is junior high. When a guy and a girl like each other…”
I tossed a pillow at her head. “I’m being serious. I thought Nat was on the pill.”
“She was. I assume she stopped taking it when she found out. But who knows. She could have missed one. It’s easy to mess up. Maybe she spent a night at his place and forgot to pack them. It happens. We’re all human.”
“How has she been? I haven’t really seen her around.”
“Not good. She’s been pretty sick. I know she’s been staying at his place more. I think it’s hard for her to be around us.”
“But she’s been going to class right?”
“Yeah, she only skipped to see the doctor. Don’t worry. Nat wouldn’t put her graduation in jeopardy. Besides, she only has a few weeks left.”
Hearing Brit say those words out loud caused a lump to form in my throat. It meant she only had a few weeks left, too.
“You okay? You look really pale.”
“I can’t believe how quickly everything changed. It’s going to be weird not having you here.”
Brit’s eyes softened, and she pulled her gaze away. “I know. Four years ago I never thought I’d fit in, and now…” She looked around the room. “Now this place is home. Do you think you’ll move in?”
“I put in an application. It’ll be nice to come home and see life. Becca is always with Jade.”
“Do you blame her? Jade has a single. Besides, I didn’t think you guys were close.”
“We’re not, but it’s not because I don’t like her. It’s because I never see her.”
Brit laughed. “Yeah, when Natalie first got serious with Enzo, it was strange to have her out so much. I may have even missed her, but don’t tell her I said that. She’ll make it into a thing where I have a heart that grew or something.”
“Stop. You love her.”
“I do.” Brit sighed. “And I’m worried about her. I mean, I know she’ll be a great mom. I just don’t know if mentally she’s prepared. Everything is about to change for her. Last night she was crying her eyes out because she realized she won’t be able to wear her bridesmaids dress at Kristen’s wedding.”
“I hadn’t even thought about that. I’m sure they could put a panel in or something.”
“Honestly, between us, she hasn’t told Kris yet, but she’s going to back out of the bridal party.”
“But why? Kris won’t care.”
“She’s afraid she’ll draw attention away from Kristen. It’s her day, and she doesn’t want people distracted by the baby bump. The wedding is in August. She’ll be really showing by then.”
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Natalie not wanting the attention on her.”
“Yeah, I may have to change her pledge name. Drama Queen feels like a person we used to know.”
“See? She’s proof that people can change.” I crossed my arms, feeling justified for staying by Harry through the ups and downs.
“I guess, but this is one case where I wish she didn’t have to change.”