by Cleo Jones
Zoë’s silence spoke for itself.
“What are you going to do?” Aniyah questioned.
Zoë knew Aniyah was referring to Audrey and the very delicate condition she was in as well, but she didn’t bother commenting on it. She was already well aware of what a ratchet situation she’d gotten herself into. The very last thing she needed right now was a lecture. “I don’t know,” she said instead. “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
“I figured,” Aniyah said. “I just don’t want you thinking you don’t have any other options but to go through with this. We live in a post-Roe v. Wade world. Besides, every woman’s entitled to one good fuck up.”
Zoë gave her friend a disapproving look. “You know how I feel about that,” she reminded her. “I’d never judge you for your life choices. You know that. That’s just…it’s not for me.”
Aniyah looked momentarily wounded by Zoë’s words, but she was quick to recover. “Of course,” she said. “I mean, it’s not like you’re not equipped to handle this. You’re not a teenager like I was. You’d be fine with a kid.”
“You think?” Zoë questioned, obviously skeptical.
“Of course,” Aniyah replied. “And Nate—”
“Nate’s got enough problems as it is,” Zoë interrupted. “I’m not about to be his next one.”
Chapter eighteen
“It’ll be fine,” Zoë reassured herself, exhaling a deep sigh when she realized she didn’t sound all that confident. She was standing in front of her bathroom mirror refreshing her make-up for Aniyah’s rehearsal dinner, but her eyes kept darting down to her stomach. The chiffon blouse she was wearing did its part in disguising her slight bloatedness, but pretty soon no amount of silk in the world would be that forgiving.
Zoë would have been a liar if she didn’t acknowledge that part of her reluctance in attending this dinner had to do with Nate. After a long day of work and trying to fight off the many symptoms of her condition, she simply wasn’t in the mood for a night full of awkwardness. Which was why it came as a huge relief when she entered the ornate banquet hall where the dinner was being held to find him nowhere in sight.
Zoë stood back and took a moment to study her surroundings. The tables in the center of the room were packed with guests immersing themselves in high-priced hors d'oeuvres, and the sound of clanking wine glasses seemed to echo off the walls. Zoë breathed out a silent sigh of relief when she was sure Nate was nowhere to be found amongst the crowd. Holding her head high, she stepped forward from the shadows and settled into the empty chair beside Aniyah as she worked at catching up with the conversation.
“The food looks great,” Zoë spoke up when she noticed Aniyah eyeing her for an explanation for her tardiness. “I’m glad to see you went with my recommendation and got Endive to cater. Tia would kill me if she knew I was saying this, but they’re the best.”
“They really are,” a robust woman Zoë didn’t recognize spoke up from the other side of the table. “I got them to cater my rehearsal party as well. Best thousand I ever spent.”
Zoë smiled at her as she spread a fine layer of butter on a piece of garlic bread and bit into it. High-carb foods were just about the only thing she could stomach these days, but if this pregnancy had taught her anything, it was that her cravings could change at any given moment.
Zoë looked across the table in acknowledgment of the other guests as Aniyah and Caleb made the introductions. It never ceased to amaze her that they’d been together since their freshman year of college and still managed to make things work. She wasn’t bitter, at least she didn’t think she was, but she couldn’t act like she hadn’t hoped for a similar outcome for her and Nate.
Zoë grimaced at her internal dialogue. She knew she shouldn’t have been making the comparison. She and Nate weren’t Aniyah and Caleb. They were different people entirely, and it was ridiculous of her to expect their lives to follow the same path. Sometimes things just happened, and there wasn’t any rhyme or reason for it. Zoë couldn’t deny that when she had the proof sprouting to life beneath her blouse.
Just as Zoë was putting an end to her pity party, the door to the banquet hall swung open and Aniyah jumped up to greet whoever was about to saunter through it.
“Sorry we’re late,” Audrey said as she entered. “Traffic was terrible. I guess there’s some big sporting event going on?”
“Yeah, it’s just the Super Bowl, no big deal,” Nate said in a sarcastic tone. His expression, however, gave way to the fact that he hadn’t had a goodnight’s sleep in weeks.
“Oh…well…you know I don’t follow sports,” Audrey said, taking a seat beside him at the table. “Anyways, this spread looks amazing. Aniyah, you and Caleb have really outdone yourselves here.”
“Thanks, but Zoë’s actually the one you should be giving the accolades to,” Aniyah said, nodding at her friend. “She got me a discount with this great caterer.”
Audrey glanced over at Zoë and was quick to change the subject. “I actually tried to make crepes like these for Nate and I a couple days ago,” she said, beginning to serve herself. “It didn’t go all that smoothly though. In fact…I almost set his kitchen on fire. Who knew cooking was so complex?”
Caleb looked over at Nate and started laughing. “You didn’t tell me that when we were at the bar the other day,” he said, nudging him in the side.
“That’s because I was trying to forget,” Nate joked, but Audrey didn’t appear all too amused by the remark. One snide look from her was all it took to make him fall silent again. He'd learned how to pick his battles with her a long time ago.
Zoë rolled her eyes and tried her best to make herself invisible, but every few seconds she’d look up from her food to find Nate staring at her as though he was trying to read her mind.
“So how have you guys been?” Aniyah questioned once the conversation she was having with a few other guests began to taper off. “I feel like I haven’t heard from you in ages. Any ultrasound pictures to share?”
Nate hesitated. As asinine as it was, he hadn’t thought about that until now. Ever since Audrey broke the news about her pregnancy to him, he felt as though he’d been living in a sort of trance. He’d done the honorable thing by allowing her to move back home and live with him, but there wasn’t a single part of him that was anticipating parenthood with her. It struck him as the sort of gig you signed up for with the person you really loved, and Audrey most certainly was not that person to him.
When Audrey didn’t say anything, Nate glanced over at her and frowned when he noticed the anxious expression on her face. She looked as though she’d been cornered.
“Uh, not yet,” Audrey spoke up, fidgeting in her chair. “I…I haven’t had a chance to find a good ob-gyn here yet.”
Zoë perked up as soon as she heard that. Audrey had been living back in New Orleans for almost two month’s now. Any woman with even the least bit of concern for her unborn child would have secured a doctor here within the first few days.
Nate appeared just as at a loss as Zoë was. “That’s not good for the baby, is it?” he questioned, nodding at Audrey’s stomach.
Audrey’s unusually trim figure was one of the first things that had struck Zoë as suspect when she sauntered through the door, but she wrote it off as her still being pretty early in her pregnancy. Besides, it didn’t seem all that far-fetched that she’d be one of those annoying pregnant women who didn’t gain a pound.
Audrey waved away Nate’s statement as though it was nothing. It was obvious that she felt uncomfortable, and it didn’t take very long for that uncomfortableness to spread to everyone else on that end of the table.
Zoë sat in silence and stared down at her half eaten salad as she tried to understand what awful act she’d committed to deserve to be present for this. She was sure the conversation would only get more awkward, and a few seconds later, it did.
“Well I’m sure you’re both excited,” Aniyah said with an exaggerated smile. “Having
a kid is a huge deal.”
“Tell me about it,” Audrey said as she glanced over at Nate and squeezed his hand. “I’m not sure what I’d do without this guy right here. He’s been so supportive. I can’t help but pity women who are doomed to go through this alone.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call them doomed,” Aniyah spoke up, immediately jumping to Zoë's defense. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”
“I know that must sound terrible,” Audrey continued. “But come on. Every stable person I’ve ever known has had two parents in their lives.”
Zoë sighed and fought the urge to say something.
“Well that’s your opinion and that's fine,” Nate spoke up, stopping Audrey before she could dig her hole even deeper. “Just keep it to yourself, would you?”
“Oh please,” Audrey continued as if he hadn’t said a word. “It’s not like I'm wrong. Single parents just can't offer the same sense of structure to a child that a two parent household can.”
Zoë failed to contain a groan. Enough was enough. She couldn't bear witness to another second of this. “Aniyah,” she said as she stood up, wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Thanks for dinner, but I think I'm going to take off.”
Zoë was halfway out the door when Aniyah jumped up and hurried after her. “Hold up a second!” she called out to her, finally catching up with her in the parking lot.
“I’m fine,” Zoë said as she unlocked her car. “I just couldn't sit there and continue listening to that.”
Aniyah nodded in understanding and gave her friend a sympathetic look. “If it makes you feel any better, I highly doubt she’s really pregnant.”
“You picked up on that too?”
Aniyah rolled her eyes. “Please,” she said, waving a hand in the air. “She's even scrawnier than the last time we saw her. There's not a chance.”
Zoë was too exhausted to laugh, but she did manage a slight smile. “Should we tell Nate?” she questioned, hesitating with her key in the ignition.
“Nah,” Aniyah said, glancing back at the banquet hall and shaking her head. “He's a big boy. He'll figure it out eventually.”
Chapter nineteen
Zoë was in her office putting in some overtime when she heard her door open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps. When she swiveled around to see who was there, she found herself face to face with Nate.
“My mom said I could find you here,” Nate remarked, taking a cautious step towards Zoë’s desk and sliding up onto the edge of it. “I’ve never known you to work late.”
Zoë shrugged and glanced back at her computer screen. “Yeah, well, I’m a bit backed up thanks to the Super Bowl,” she explained. “It seemed like every business in town wanted a party catered for it, which means my other events ended up falling to the wayside.”
Zoë was fully aware that she was rambling, but she didn’t care. After the awkwardness that had ensued the previous night, she wasn’t even sure why Nate was here. The last thing she wanted to do was pounce on him for an explanation for Audrey’s behavior. His expression made it clear that he was drained enough as it was.
Nate studied Zoë’s face as though it held the answer to a question he had yet to muster up the courage to ask. When she felt him staring, she glanced up from her work and raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to look back down at his hands.
“So I have some news,” Nate finally spoke up.
“Oh?” Zoë questioned, tapping her pen against a sheet of paper a few times to get it writing. She didn’t want to make it seem like she cared too much about what he had to say, but inside, she was bursting with anticipation.
“It turns out Audrey isn’t pregnant after all.”
And there it was.
Zoë stopped what she was doing and met eyes with Nate, holding his gaze for a few seconds before speaking. “So what tipped you off?” she questioned. “Her lack of symptoms, or that glass of wine she downed at dinner when she thought no one was looking?”
Nate hesitated as the previous night’s events replayed in his head. As was expected, he and Audrey had gotten into a blow out fight over her comments at Aniyah’s rehearsal dinner. Heated words were exchanged, glassware was thrown, and eventually it came out that her pregnancy was nothing more than a jealousy fueled ruse to keep from losing him.
Nate was livid. As soon as Audrey admitted to the lie, he snatched his spare key from her key ring and tossed her out of his life once and for all.
“Well I have some news too,” Zoë said after awhile. She knew this wasn’t exactly the ideal time to be breaking the news to him, but if the past few weeks had taught her anything, it was that there wasn’t any time like the present. “I’m pregnant. I mean…actually pregnant.”
Nate furrowed his brows as he attempted to process her words. Zoë halfway expected him to respond with anger, but she was surprised when he tore his gaze from her stomach and appeared completely complacent instead.
“You don’t have a ring on your finger,” Nate noted, nodding at her hand. “I’m guessing that means what I think it does?”
Zoë nodded at the implication. “Evan and I have been done and over with for weeks,” she clarified.
“So does that mean it’s not—”
“No,” Zoë interrupted. “We always used protection. Besides, my due date doesn’t align with the last time I was with him.”
“So it’s mine?”
Zoë’s failure to respond spoke for itself, confirming that which Nate already knew to be true. He stood up and made his way around to the other side of her desk, pulling her up against him before she could process what was happening.
Zoë’s breath hitched as Nate’s warm lips engulfed her own. When the need for air overcame her, she broke the embrace and stared deep into his eyes as she struggled to catch her breath.
“You’re not going to be alone in this,” Nate said, suddenly understanding the reason behind her quick dart from Aniyah’s rehearsal dinner. “I love you, and I’m going to love this baby.”
Tears blurred Zoë’s vision she stared up at him. His words were everything she’d been dying to hear, but she wasn’t naïve. She was well aware of the fact that children had a way of complicating things. She’d watched it happen with her parent’s after the unexpected birth of her sister during their retirement, and the last thing she wanted was for her and Nate to end up in the same boat as them.
Despite that, the glaring reality Zoë kept circling back to was that she simply couldn’t picture her future with anyone else. Nate had been witness to so many focal points throughout her life, and she simply couldn’t imagine him not being there to witness all their child’s first moments as well.
Zoë met eyes with Nate when she felt him brush a finger across her nose. It was a gesture he used to reel her back in anytime she got caught up in her thoughts, and it never ceased to do the trick. She gave him a coy smile before leaning in to kiss him again, and it was in that moment that she knew beyond any doubt that he was the man for her. She didn’t need a crystal ball to tell her how things would work out for them in the end. She was confident that as long as they put in the work, fate would handle the rest.
Epilogue
To say Audrey wasn’t thrilled to be back in New Orleans would have been an understatement. Her last encounter with the muggy city she grew up in had not been a kind one, and she found herself dreading every bit of familiarity she encountered as she hurried through the congested streets in search of the boutique she had a go-see at.
As soon as Audrey located the moss-covered building, she reached up and slid off her sunglasses to take a quick peek at herself in the glass. Much to her chagrin, her reflection was beginning to reveal her age, and she silently hoped the client she was meeting with would be more forgiving. She’d already been on four failed go-sees since she’d landed, and she couldn’t afford to blow this one too.
After giving herself a quick pep talk, Audrey set off towards the front of the large boutique in
search of the designer she was meeting with. It wasn’t until she’d been looking for a good 10 minutes that she found him fitting a customer in one of his many wedding dresses.
“Bonjour Jon!” she called out to him, making her presence known.
Jon, however, didn't appear all that thrilled to see her. He held up a hand to indicate that he was busy and slammed the dressing room door shut before Audrey could get a look at the woman insides face.
Audrey sighed and preoccupied herself by flipping through a few clothing racks. When she didn’t find anything she could afford given the current state of her trust fund, she gave up and slumped over to the discount racks instead.
Audrey stopped short, however, when she noticed an attractive man lingering near the front of the store. The way he was standing made it difficult for her to see his face, but she could make out the fact that he was at least 6’4 with a muscular physique, and that was more than enough to pique her interest.