Page 23 of The Last Thing
I deflate a little. “Yeah. I know the feeling.”
Grabbing me by the arm, she drags me over to the couch and plops me down onto it before sitting down beside me.
“When did this happen? And who’s the father?”
“The day we all went to the Metros game. And the father is a guy.”
“That is usually how babies are made.”
“I met this guy at McGill’s, and we had this whirlwind night. It was all sexy and fun. We went to a carnival, he made me come on the Ferris wheel, then we went back to my place and fucked like rabbits. Now here I am.”
“Well, have you contacted him? If he tries to skip out on you, Mark and the boys will hunt him down. Then Kend and I will cut off his di?—”
I hold up my hand. “Oh my god. As much as I appreciate the sentiment, we didn’t exchange contact info or even last names. The name he gave me might’ve been fake. And I told him my name was Honey Badger or Hannah Banana. He decided to call me Hells Bells.”
Frannie laughs. “That actually tracks.”
“Anyway, other than a baby, the only souvenir I have from that night is a stuffed rabbit named Veranda.”
“Why?”
“It was a whole thing.” I wave my hand. “But unless I want to reverse image search the photo Justin took of him and hope I find a social media post of him looking pensive with the caption ‘thinking of my hot hookup’ I don’t think I’ll be finding this guy again.”
“Wow, if this wasn’t so insane, this might actually be romantic. Or be a romance in the making.”
“Mm.” All my playfulness wanes as my stomach sours.
Frannie runs her hand down my arm. “Hal?”
“Nauseous.” I groan. So far, this has been the worst part. I’ve always hated throwing up.
There’s a knock on her door right as I clutch my stomach.
“Go to the bathroom, I’ll be there in a second.”
I run down the hall as she answers the door. I don’t overhear any of the conversation because I’m too busy violently puking.
The front door closes again right as I’m rinsing my mouth out, so rather than wait for her, I make my way back to the living room, exhausted. Apparently, puking sucks the energy right out of you. That and growing a human.
“Who was that?” I ask as I sit down in the corner of her couch and grab a blanket.
She sits down next to me. “Oh, that was Wilson. The guy who lives downstairs and needs a nanny. He was going to say hello to you, but he and his daughter were heading to his mom’s for the day.”
“Probably for the better. I can meet him in the morning after I’ve had some sleep. And hopefully haven’t thrown up yet.”
“Are you going to tell him you’re pregnant?”
“That’s my plan. I know it’s early, but I figure… I’m good at being a nanny and there’s no reason I can’t keep doing it after I have a baby. Yeah, I’ll need a bit of a break, but even then, I could still keep an eye on his daughter, even if I’m not cooking and cleaning and stuff. It’s sort of the best of both worlds because I’ll still get to have my baby with me. Being right across the hall will make it easy. So yeah. I’d rather be up front with him because obviously I’m keeping the baby and if he’s not comfortable with that potential distraction slash complication in my life, then it’s better to handle it right away.”
“Look at you being mature. I’m so proud.”
“Yes, getting knocked up by a stranger I spent one night with and only exchanged nicknames with is my proudest moment.”
She sighs and pulls me into her arms. “I really missed you.”
I squeeze her back as tight as I can. “I missed you too.”
“So you’re really planning on staying in Ida? For good?”
