Something Forever (24 page)

Chapter 3
3

2 Months
Later

Becky

“I could eat everything off this menu,” I said, feeling hunger pangs.

“Me, too,” Jenna added.
Jenna looked like the ideal pregnant woman. You couldn’t tell she was pregnant, except when you saw her stomach. Her face glowed with a flush of pretty pink, and you could tell how happy she was. As for me, my feet, my hands, and my face looked puffy, mostly from fluid retention.

“Well, I’ll be joining you all soon,” Nicole stated, looking at her menu.

There were no movements from the three of us, except for Nicole’s eyes flickering back and forth on the menu. We were waiting for her to clarify her comment, but she offered none.

“What did you say?” Kate asked after a long period of silence.

Nicole dropped her menu on the table. “I’m pregnant.”

“Oh my God. Congratulations,” the three of us squealed.

“When did you find out? When is the baby due? How? I mean, forget the how,” Kate snorted. She was rambling so fast she had no idea what she was asking.

“We haven’t announced it to our families
yet. So you’re the first. It’s only been two months. Our baby is due seven months from now, in June.”

“That’s awesome. We can have play dates,” I said.

“Did you have morning sickness?” Jenna asked.

“No. I’m hoping that I won’t get it.” Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “After seeing what you had to go through, I hope it never happens to me.”

Kate crossed her arms on the table and gazed at all of us. “I’m just glad that I won’t be the only one with a child. Now you’ll understand what if feels like to be a parent. I love Kristen and I wouldn’t want anything different, but it can get crazy frustrating at times. But at the same time, there’s a lot of joy and wonderful memories you wouldn’t trade for anything.”

When the waitress came by, we ordered our food and drinks.

“How are you feeling?” Nicole gazed at me. “We’re praying everyday that your baby and you are safe.”

“
Thank you. I’m tired and bloated.” I looked at my hands. “But I’m thankful that I’ve been steady. My kidneys are functioning, but not to their full capacity, and my blood pressures have been normal. I’ve been very lucky. I just need to hang in there for another month and a half.” Suddenly, my body flushed with warmth. I took a sip of my water, hoping it would help me cool down.

When
the waitress came back with our food, we ate and held small conversations about Jenna’s honeymoon, the baby shower Nicole and Kate were hosting at Jenna’s house, and what items to register for.

“Isn’t this strange
?” I asked, looking at my friends. “We used to talk about the guys we were we dating, our jobs, and our sex lives. But now...we’re taking about marriages and having babies.”

“We’re
at that age,” Jenna sighed. “And pretty soon, we’ll hang out at our kids’ birthday parties, graduations, and I hate to bring up the morbid topic, but funerals as well.”

“The circle of life,” Nicole added. “It’s never ending.”

“I’m just glad that we have good friends to share all of the happiness, and even the sadness, because the sadness isn’t so bad when you have friends to talk to,” I said, talking another bite of my big, fat, juicy hamburger. It oozed with a satisfying sensation. The warmth that spread so quickly in my body disappeared. Maybe I just needed to eat more, but I wasn’t as hungry as I was with the first bite.

“
It sure isn’t.” Jenna smiled at me, then at Nicole and Kate.

“Let’s make a toast,” I suggested, lift
ing up my glass of water. “Not the kind you would eat.” We all laughed, recalling Matthew’s words. I laughed lightly and said, “Sorry. I had to say it. Anyway, here’s to Nicole being pregnant, having safe deliveries, and our lifetime friendship.”

With
a clink, we toasted. After Jenna placed her glass down, she got up. I immediately knew what she was up to. Not wanting her to pay for the bill, I followed after her. “Jenna. What are you doing? I told you I got this.”

Jenna turned
to me and looked surprised. “How do...Becky. No. I’ll get it.”

“It’s too late, Jenna. I already gave the waitress my credit card
the second I walked in the door.”

“No you didn’t,” she argued, opening her purse.

“Want to find out?” I challenged with a smirk. “I didn’t bring my purse up here, did I?” My expression faded into a scared one when the room started to spin. Everything around me seemed to move in slow motion. Hot and cold feelings alternated quickly, flashing through my body. The sudden change of temperature hit me fast and hard. My heart was pumping in overdrive, and it got worse when I felt like I was losing my breath.

“Jenna.” I tried to get her attention, but I didn’t know if she heard my
desperate call for help. All I could think of at that moment was my baby and Matthew. Oh God. Please don’t let anything bad happen. When I felt myself losing control of my muscles and the day started to turn to night, I knew I was in big trouble.

Jenna

I got worried when Becky’s smile disappeared so quickly. Did I say something to offend her? But I knew that wasn’t it. “Becky, are you okay?”

When she didn’t answer, I thought
maybe she was in deep thought at first, but she was showing signs of stress. Her eyes were staring into space and her face suddenly lost color. Becky mouthed a word, but no sound escaped her.

“Becky!” I reached for her just in time and s
topped her from collapsing to the floor. My tone caused a lot of attention. Nicole and Kate must have heard me, too. They were on the floor next to us.

“Call the ambul
ance,” I shouted at the waitress standing over us. I didn’t give her a chance to ask questions. I was so scared. I didn’t know what else to do or how to help Becca. With my trembling hands, I made sure her head that was resting on my leg was supported. Please don’t let anything happen to the both of them, I prayed to myself. “Hang in there, Becky,” I pleaded, moving the strands of hair away from her face, then holding onto her hand. Feeling her hand so cold, I started to massage it. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had to do something. I was going out of my mind.

The store man
ager dashed to us. “We’ve called the ambulance. Is she breathing?”

“Yes.”
It was the first thing I’d checked for, to see her chest rise and fall. “How long will it take them?”

“They said five minutes or less.”

“Okay.” I could feel my eyes dampened with tears as I reached into my purse. “Call Matthew and Max.” I handed the phone to Nicole or Kate. I didn’t know whom exactly. I didn’t want to take my eyes off Becky. I was too afraid that her condition would worsen if I did. “Everything is going to be fine.” I had to let her know that, hoping that she could hear me. I also wanted her to know that I was right there. Realizing I had a cardigan on, I took it off and placed it on her.

“Matthew is on his way,” Nicole said.

“No,” I snapped. I didn’t mean to. “Tell him to meet us at the hospital. By the time he gets here, we’ll be gone. Did you get ahold of Max?”

“No. He’s in a meeting, but the secretary said she’ll let him know.”

Five minutes weren’t that long, but it felt like forever, especially because we were desperate. I released a long breath when the sound of the siren rang loudly. Thank God! When the sound stopped, I knew they were just outside. The rush of cool air brushed my face when the door opened. Fall had kicked in. Though it wasn’t that cold, my senses were heightened from being in panic mode.

“Ma’am, you need to move over so we can help your friend
.” The gentleman helped me up. “Was she injured?”

“No. I caught
her just in time.”

“Good. How many months is she?”

“She’s due in a little over a month. We’re due around the same time.”

I saw the other two men placing Becky on the stretcher.
It ripped my heart to see her with a breathing mask on and so still.

“Have you notified her family?”

“Yes.” I realized at that moment that I didn’t call her parents, but I would wait and ask Becky or Matthew. I also wanted to tell him that I was her family, too. I was her best friend, her sister, her everything, just like she was mine.

“Is this your sweater?” He placed it in front of me.

“Yes, thank you.”

“We’ll take care of her from here,
ma’am. You did a great job.”

The gentleman was sweet and polite. As I watched the stretcher go up the ramp, tears fell down my cheek. I had to hold it together and be strong for her. There were no guarantees in life, but there was hope
, and that was what I needed to hold on to.

Nicole and Kate placed their arms around me as we watch
ed the ambulance take off.

“I have Becky’s purse,” Nicole said. “I can drive us to
the hospital. Did Becky drive here?”

“Yes. I’ll speak to the restaur
ant manager about allowing her car to be parked here over night. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I can drive to the hospital.”

“Okay, we’ll meet you there,” Kate confirmed. “Don’t worry, Jenna. Becky is stubborn. She won’t let anything happen to the both of them, but we’ll still pray.”

After I gave them both a hug, I went inside.

Chapter 3
4

Matthew

When
I heard Nicole’s voice on Jenna’s phone, I immediately knew something had happened to Becca. Blood drained out of me before she could complete her sentence by telling me her name. I was pissed off at myself for not being there for her. We were at the tail end of the pregnancy; I should have forced her to stay home.

I hat
ed going to the hospital. It was where everything bad happened in my life. All I could do was pray that my Becca was safe. If something happened to our baby, we would be devastated, but we would get through it. We could adopt. Many people did it.

After inha
ling a deep breath, I entered. Becca’s eyes grew wide with happiness to see me as tears streamed down her face. She looked so worried and fragile. “Becca.” I reached over carefully and hugged her with a sigh of relief.

“Everything is fine,” she started to say when I released her
, “don’t worry.” Her tears kept coming. I pulled out some Kleenex and wiped them for her. “I was so scared...so scared that I’d lost our baby. They need to do more tests, but the doctor said the baby’s heart rate was strong. He even showed me on the ultrasound.”

I held her hand as she told me the rest. “The doctor will come by to explain everything to you. He wants to talk to you, too. He told me that I’m going to be on bed rest and will most likely
have a cesarean. He’s hoping that the baby will hold on till at least two weeks prior to the due date, so I need to be on bed rest for about a month. He’s going to let me know what dates are available.”

I
kissed Becca’s hand. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’m going to take care of you. I’m also going to hire someone when I have to go into the office. I can do most of the work from home, but I’ll have to go in for meetings. We have the New York Fashion Show to get ready for, but I won’t be going.”

Becky nodded with a smile. It was the first time I
’d seen her so vulnerable. My Becca the firecracker was scared, and though I needed to be strong for the both of us, a part of me was, too.

“Should I call your parents?”

“No. Let’s see what happens. I don’t want to worry them. I’ll call them later.”

“Jenna, Max, Nicole, and Kate are waiting in the waiting room. Do you want to see them? You don’t have to if you need your rest.”

“I do. I think Jenna stopped my fall. It could have been worse.”

“
Yes, it could have, but it’s all good. Let’s be thankful for that.” I said those words more for me, because the thought of Becca hitting her head, or hurting any part of her body—or worse, something happening to our baby from the fall—was driving me insane. I had to think of something positive. “I’ll go get them.”

Becky

Matthew tried to hide that he was scared, but I could see right through him. Never had I seen him distraught before, except for the time he found out about Amber killing Tessa. I knew the reason why. He was most likely blaming himself for not being there. Although I hated the idea of being on bed rest for a month or so, I had to do it for the safety of our child and for me. At least this would force me to catch up with all of the submissions deadlines.

My friends didn’t know how to act around me when they first enter
ed the room. Their smile was plastered on their faces, somewhere between genuine and forced. When I let out a snort, they laughed with me.

“How are you feeling?” Jenna asked, standing in front of Max
, who offered a warm grin. “You gave us a big scare.”

“You had to make a big scene so Jenna
couldn’t pay the bill,” Nicole scolded playfully, narrowing an eyebrow at her.

“That was th
e plan.” I shrugged. “You know me. I like to win.”

“Next time, use a different tactic,” Kate added.
“We’re so relieved you’re fine.”

“I’ll make sure to do that. I’m not planning on doing this again.
” I glanced over to Matthew. After raking his hair back with a soft sigh, he finally took a seat. At least his serious face softened. He appeared a bit more relaxed than when he’d come in. Looked like Matthew and Max were either discussing work or me.

“What did the doctor say?” J
enna asked, rubbing my arm. “What happened to you?”

“My blood press
ure was too high,” I answered, feeling bad for causing all of this trouble.

“I didn’t call your parents. I didn’t—”

“I’m glad you didn’t. I’ll let them know what happened. My parents will be coming to visit soon. They want to see their grandbaby after all. Meanwhile, I’m going to need lots of visits from my dear friends. I’m stuck at home.” I frowned.

“Don’t think of it that way. It’ll be a great excuse to get together. Party at Becky’s,” Nicole said.

“Which place?” Jenna asked.

“It’ll have to b
e at my new place. The lease on the apartment where Jenna and I used to live ended several days ago.” Stupid pregnancy hormone was making my eyes teary, but that was my excuse. “You’ll have to excuse the mess, though. There are still unopened boxes.” I looked at Jenna when I said those words. It saddened me that the place where we made memories was a place of the past. There were a lot of happy and sad memories that were created there, memories that molded our friendship and made us the persons we had become.

Jenna took a deep breath and blinked rapidly as she smiled at me.
She was holding back her tears. We had a deep level of friendship that we didn’t have with Nicole and Kate. I loved them dearly, but Jenna and I had been through growing pain wars together. We cried. We laughed. We argued. Pretty soon we were going to be sisters-in-law. Pretty soon we were going to become mothers, whether we were ready or not.

“That sounds like a plan,” Nicole said.
“We should probably have the baby shower at your new house.”

“That might be a good idea.”

“Great. Let’s do that. It will work out perfectly. I’ll call our guests to let them that we’ve changed location. Kate and I just need to take care of a few things. And...oh, I informed everyone that we didn’t know the gender of both babies.”

“Okay
.” I yawned and closed my eyes a bit.

“
I think we should get going so you can get some rest.”

Nicole was right, but I would never ask my friends to leave. Suddenly, my eyes felt heavy and I was floating into a peaceful state of relaxation,
a peaceful state of relief that everything would be fine.

After
they left, Matthew took my hand. There was so much I wanted to tell him, but my eyes were closing and my body felt limp, hopefully drifting into a peaceful rest. “Matthew,” I mumbled. Matthew leaned closer to my mouth. My voice was hardly audible. I wasn’t even sure if he could hear me. “I’m ready.”

Matthew brushed his fingers through my hair, making me
even sleepier. The feel of his touch and the serene feeling he was producing from his actions were making me fall deeper. “After the baby is born and the doctor says all is good. I’ll be ready to officially be your wife.” I wasn’t sure if those words left my mouth, but for sure that was what I wanted to tell him. I figured I was successful even knowing my eyes were closed by now. Matthew pressed his lips on mine and I heard the sweetest sounds. “I love you, Becca.”

I love you, too. Those were the words I wanted to say, but I couldn’t. I was already knocked out.