Friend Locked (Salt Lake Pumas)

by Camellia Tate

  So if there was somebody new in the picture, maybe Dana would be happier. “He sent her roses to the studio,” Jessie informed me. “Isn’t that sweet? And definitely not a friend-type thing to do!”

  “I guess we’ll know for sure if he bakes her some cookies,” I teased.

  Walking through to the dining room where I’d set the table for dinner, I gave a small hum. “Are you deprived of roses? Do I need to send you flowers?” I had never actually sent Jessie flowers at work, but I had bought her some for the house. Maybe that didn’t count the same way since other people didn’t get to see her being romanced.

  “It’s nice, though,” I added when Jessie swatted my arm playfully. “Dana, I mean. She deserves someone who will send her flowers. The same way you deserve someone who will make you your favorite food,” I informed her nodding at the things I’d prepared.

  She beamed, helping herself to a taste straight from the pan, licking the sauce off her finger, and giving a satisfied sigh. “This is better than roses,” she said softly. “Roses are a good gesture when you don’t know someone very well yet. It shows that you’re thinking about them in a romantic way but it’s only temporary, so if they don’t really like roses they don’t have to keep them forever.”

  When Jessie explained it like that, it actually made sense!

  “But you’ve always known me well enough to do things that are especially for me! Besides, I still have those pink tulips you bought me when I moved in pressed in one of my scrapbooks.”

  I grinned at that. It was nice, the way we had made a whole set of new memories. Our friendship was still there, under everything, but now there were also so many more layers.

  Reaching for Jessie’s hand, I gave it a squeeze, before pulling her in closer against me so I could kiss her, too. “That’s because you’re low-key the most romantic person I know,” I teased.

  It was kind of true. Jessie was more romantic than I had really known as her best friend, but she wasn’t so romantic that it felt like I had to constantly work towards something. We had a nice sort of calm between us and I was sure that came from having been best friends for so long.

  “Anyway, maybe we should have Dana and her new boyfriend over for dinner or something? If the two of you have an evening free with the dance practice, or even after Christmas?”

  Jessie smiled, leaning against my arm as she hopped up into the seat at my counter. It made me frown slightly. The last time I could remember Jessie needing help onto a stool was when her leg had still been recovering. Now that it was strong again, and she was able to dance as well as she ever had, there was no reason for her to lean on me. Not that I minded, but I wondered if she was more tired than I’d realized. Dancing the lead was a lot of work!

  “I think after Christmas would be good,” Jessie agreed, reminding me that we’d been talking about Dana. “That gives them time to spend with just the two of them, you know? Meeting your girlfriend’s friends for the first time is a lot of pressure. Or so I’m told.” Jessie and I had known each other’s friends before we ever got together as a couple.

  She tilted her head, twisting towards me so she could lean against my shoulder. “Besides, I think we’ll have something else occupying our minds this Christmas.”

  “We already talked about this, we’re definitely not allowed to get a new dog,” I reminded her. It was somewhat of a joke. Jessie was much better than me at resisting just adopting dogs until they ate us out of home. We had discussed a small little dog but even that had been deemed probably too much.

  From behind us, Damson barked and I gave Jessie a grin. “I think he would also prefer we not get more dogs,” I laughed. While our dogs weren’t very jealous, giving attention to everyone could still sometimes be a bit challenging.

  Jessie’s lips twitched like she was trying not to laugh, her eyes sparkling at me as a dimple deepened at one corner of her mouth.

  “Not a new dog,” she promised, “but… how would you feel about a different new addition to the family?”

  “Wha--”

  I didn’t even manage to finish the word before what Jessie was implying struck me.

  A new addition to the family.

  “Are you serious?!” I exclaimed, my eyes widening. From the way Jessie grinned at me, I was pretty certain she wasn’t about to suggest we get a cat. “Oh my God! Are you really?” I asked, my arms going out to hug Jessie, her legs wrapping around my waist when I picked her up in my excitement.

  Her breath ghosted across my ear as she giggled, the sound making me feel warm all the way through. “Yes, really, I took the test this morning!” She pulled back a little, enough that I could see the way her whole face had lit up.

  “You’re going to be such an amazing dad,” she said softly and, wow, the word hit me right in the center of my chest. I was going to be a dad. Not just to dogs, but to a real human baby!

  A baby that was currently growing in Jessie. My arms softened around her, cradling her more carefully.

  “And you’re going to be an amazing mom,” I told her easily, before shaking my head. “Fuck! A baby!” And then my eyes widened. “I probably shouldn’t swear.” Thankfully the baby inside Jessie was too small to understand me swearing yet. I could learn to stop by the time he or she was born.

  This was... such a great Christmas present.

  I told Jessie as much, making her laugh. “My parents are going to be thrilled,” I smiled. “Everyone will be thrilled! The team! I have to tell the team! When can we start telling everyone? It’s too early yet?” I knew that there was some ‘acceptable’ timeframe, so I wouldn’t rush to text everyone just yet.

  “Can we tell the dogs?” I asked conspiratorially.

  Jessie laughed, letting me put her back down on her seat. I kept my arm around her, not wanting to give up the contact just yet. I gazed down, trying to work out if she looked any different than she had that morning.

  But she’d been pregnant this morning, too. We just hadn’t known about it!

  She hummed, looking down at the dogs around my feet. “Do you think we can trust them not to tell?” she asked, laughter in her eyes.

  That was an important question and I glanced over my shoulder at where Damson was still watching us. “I think we could risk it,” I decided. “I mean, they do deserve to know about their human sibling.” I had no idea how the dogs would react to a baby, but I assumed they would be excited about yet another human.

  Having Jessie move in had been very exciting for the dogs, so I was sure they’d feel the same about a baby.

  “We’re going to have a real human baby!” I informed Jessie. Then, I frowned. “How are we going to decide if they should learn hockey or dancing? Can they do both?”

  Jessie laughed, leaning in to press a kiss against my lips. She did hesitate, then, giving my question some serious thought. I appreciated that about Jessie. I always gave her questions thought, and I liked that she’d learned to do the same for me.

  “They can do both,” she decided, “until they’re old enough to tell us they prefer one or the other. Or something else.” It was hard to imagine that our child wouldn’t love either hockey or dancing. But then, my hockey obsession certainly hadn’t come from either of my parents, so we would have to be open to the possibility.

  With a smile, Jessie helped herself to a forkful of the pasta I’d made for her. “Maybe we’ll have a little ice dancer,” she suggested. “That kind of combines both our hobbies.”

  “So like an ice skater?” I asked with a thoughtful hum. “I suppose that’s okay.” Then, I gave Jessie a grin. It was definitely too early to decide exactly what our very freshly baked baby would do, but the fact that we could talk about it was exciting.

  “You’re a great best friend,” I proclaimed. “You make me very happy every day.” And Jessie really did. Her being my best friend had been pretty amazing: knowing each other since we were ten, sharing a birthday.

  But her being so much more than my best friend was even m
ore amazing. Whatever I had worried about was long gone now and instead all I had was this utter feeling of content.

  Jessie was my best friend.

  Jessie was going to be the mom to my baby.

  Jessie was my everything and I couldn’t possibly ask for more.

  Other books by Camellia Tate

  Salt Lake Pumas Series

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