Page 82 of Such a Good Couple
‘Oh, how good of you to extend the invite.’ His words were steeped in sarcasm.
‘Conor, can you just not?’ Annie shook her head. ‘I realise I played this pretty badly. Things have been crazy. A lot happened in the summer. And even though I am happier than I ever thought possible, I’m also scared. Like …’ She lowered her eyes, speaking softly now. ‘I’m scared that it’ll all go away.’
Conor’s expression thawed. ‘Yeah, I get that …’ he said softly. ‘But don’t you think we should be … at least living together? I’m not being old-fashioned but maybe this could be what gets us back on track?Not,’ he raised his voice slightly as Annie began to protest, ‘in a “I only want to be with you cuz you’re pregnant now” way but in the way that things had become so hard between us because this thing wasn’t happening and now …it’s happened. Maybe we need to giveusa chance again? To be a family?’ He gazed at her, his eyes hopeful.
She felt a twinge of guilt. She didn’t know where to begin answering that so instead she leaned into the logistics.
‘The appointment is at 3 p.m. If you can’t get away from work, I’ll send pictures straight away, I promise, and no more booking appointments without making sure you can come.’
‘Right.’ He sighed, and Annie felt even worse.
‘Hey.’ She reached over to touch his arm. ‘We’ll still be doing this together, you know. This is our baby. We’ve been friends for a long time. Maybe this is not the worst setup ever, right?’
She smiled gently. Sure she’d been hurt by Conor, but she’d known him for two decades. She knew he was going to be an amazing father.
And maybe friends raising kids together could be the next evolution of the family unit? Why was Friend Love always downgraded, as though it was lesser than romantic love?
She thought of Rachel then. Everyone said raising kids took a village … Rachel would be a part of that village too.
Of course, a part of Annie knew that when it came to Rachel, she was never just going to be a random villager. It wasn’t Friend Love budding inside her along with little Beanie, but facing that meant facing a lot of knottier questions too, and more than anything, she didn’t want to lose Rachel.
In the waiting room of the ultrasound department of the maternity hospital, Annie kept catching herself staring at the other women and their gargantuan bellies.
Apparently reading her mind, Rachel leaned close. ‘I can’t wait till you have a big bump!’
‘Or a fuck-off gigantic one,’ Annie whispered back. She took out her phone and, pulling Rachel close, took a selfie of them to send to Slags For Life. She checked the time. Ten past three.The appointments were running behind and there was no sign of Conor yet, though he had said that he’d be coming.
‘Look at this one.’ Rachel nudged Annie, showing her the MyHome listing. ‘Three-bed in a newly built estate in Ballycourt! That’d be good, still on the tram line for us to get to work.’
Annie examined the pictures; it looked airy and minimalist with all mod cons, though it didn’t have the character Rachel’s cottage had.
Again, seeming to hear her thoughts, Rachel whispered, ‘We’d make it our own. It’d be a really good blank canvas. There’s a crèche in the estate for when you go back to work after mat leave!’
Annie drifted into an image of her and Rachel wheeling a buggy on a sunny morning next summer, dropping a baby to crèche and getting the tram to town.
‘Am I too late?’ Conor’s voice brought her back to the cramped waiting room.
‘They’re a little behind,’ Rachel said, as Conor budged in to sit beside Annie, giving Rachel only the most cursory nod.
As Annie handed the phone back to Rachel, he spied the screen. ‘House-hunting I see.’
His words were barbed but Rachel didn’t notice. ‘It’s hell out there,’ she said ruefully. ‘And I’m not exactly a big earner. I’m an artist. But we’ll find something.’ She gave Annie’s hand a squeeze.
‘Might make more sense for me and Annie to find something, don’t you think?’ came Conor’s retort.
Rachel’s eyes flicked to Annie, who tried to communicate silently and subtly:Ignore him. I in no way want that!
Annie was grateful when the nurse appeared in the door and called her name, though of course an issue immediately arose as all three of them stood.
‘Oh, we only allow one person to accompany Mum,’ thewoman said.
‘That’ll be me, then.’ Conor stepped forward.
Annie bit her lip and turned to Rachel. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘Don’t be,’ Rachel said softly. ‘It’s okay. I get it. Ireland’s obviously not ready for throuples to have babies.’
Annie grinned. Thethoughtof throupling with Conor was a specific kind of hell. Though what shape her family would take was uncertain. Annie followed Conor and the nurse down the hall towards the examination rooms. She was already imagining her and Rachel at crèche drop-offs together. What did that mean? Annie gazed at Conor’s back walking ahead of her. He’s the baby’s father. What were she and Rachel gonna do? Become sister-wives to him?Lol.
