Michaela
“Goddammit, I look pregnant!”
Rosa scrunched her nose. “Well...there's something I need to tell you.”
I pressed my fingers into my temples. “I don’t want him to see the bump before I tell him.”
“Men are dumb. If he notices a bump, he’ll probably assume you just had a big taco.”
I laughed and flopped down on my bed. “That was oddly specific.”
“I know how you feel about tacos.” She sat next to me, poking my mini-bump. “Just wear jeans and a T-shirt. It’s not like you’re trying to impress this guy.”
I wasn’t trying to impress Mo, and the spiteful voice in my head said I should show up wearing pajamas with my middle fingers pointing up as my accessories. But, as much as it pained me, I just couldn’t walk in there looking like a hag. He had texted me the address of a penthouse in Manhattan, saying some record exec had invited him to a small party there.
“All my jeans are getting too tight. I had to do the hairband trick for the button today.”
In the ten days since my ultrasound, my body had changed. It was as if once I’d acknowledged the presence of the being in my womb, it felt free to make itself known. I had a full-time bump now—albeit still pretty small—and my boobs had grown a cup size.
Rosa popped up from my bed. “I have an adorable dress you can wear. Be right back.” She darted out of my guest house, skating past the pool into the main house. My stomach fluttered with nerves and apprehension. I had no clue how Mo would take the news, and I really didn’t know how it would feel seeing him. He’d been done with me for a long time, but I…
No. I was done with him too, at least romantically. I’d have to be friendly with him as the father of my child, but that was all.
Rosa returned with a dress that looked like a sack attached to spaghetti straps, waving it around in front of me. “I know it doesn’t look like much on the hanger, but try it on anyway.”
I slipped the hot pink cotton over my head and looked in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of my door. The dress only hit mid-thigh, but hung loose on my frame. When I turned sideways, my bump was hidden under the fabric.
“It’s short,” I said.
“Your legs are hot. Show them off. Make him drool and regret ever letting you go.”
I turn from side to side in the mirror. “Are you sure this is okay?”
“You look amazing, Mic.” She smoothed her hands over my curls. “You’re so brave, girl. Gonna be the best mama ever.”
We hugged each other fiercely before she patted my bum, told me to put on some lipstick, and wished me luck.
I found the address easily and pulled into the attached parking garage.
Me:I’m here. I just parked. Coming up in a minute.
Mo:Cool.
Oh, so we were playing the unaffected game. Well, I knew that one…I just wasn’t great at it. My hand shook as I added another swipe of plum gloss to my lips. Someone knocked on my car window, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
It was only Craig.
I opened the door into him and climbed out. “Fancy seeing you here, Craig.”
He cleared his throat, looking down on me. “It’s Mac, ma’am.”
I patted his suited chest, and he stiffened, which made me smile. Craig was so serious.
“Look, I know it’s an asshole thing to call you by something other than your name, so I won’t do it anymore if you don’t want me to. But I’m having kind of a weird, terrifying day, and calling you Craig, even in my head, is making me laugh.”
He exhaled through his nose, a tiny bit of tension leaking out of him. “You can call me Craig if it makes you happy, ma’am.”
His pinched expression told me it pained him to say that, but the offer was so sweet, I beamed at him. “Thanks, Mac.”