Page 81 of The Notecard
I hear Dad’s words in my head as I go through one of the boxes in my flat. I’m looking for something in particular. A pile of notecards. The notecards I wrote but never gave to Meg. The notecards that were too over the top, too sentimental, not sentimental enough, and the notecards she has never heard. I find them, and then I get an empty notecard and a pen. I write one last notecard for Meg. Luckily, I didn’t pack my black suit because I didn’t want it to get ruined in a box and thought it would be better in my car. I quickly get changed, make myself look as presentable as I can for a massive romantic gesture, and get ready to go downstairs. I quickly scrawl a note for Mum and leave it on the floor of the flat. I open the door to my flat as Rob and Fee are about to knock on the door.
‘Woah, wait, what’s with the suit?’ says Rob.
‘Rob, Fee, hi,’ I say.
‘I’ll ask again, what’s with the suit?’ says Rob.
I take a deep breath.
‘I’m going to Meg’s sister's wedding to tell Meg that I love her.’
‘Blimey,’ says Rob.
‘That’s awesome,’ says Fee. ‘About time you grew some balls.’
‘I’m sorry to dash, but I have to go.’
‘Are we going to see you again?’ says Rob, suddenly realising that this is goodbye.
‘Next weekend probably,’ I say. ‘I’ll be back for Mum’s birthday bash. You’re invited.’
‘Oh, right,’ says Rob.
‘And you guys are coming to Nottingham the weekend after for a visit,’ I say.
‘Yes, of course,’ says Rob.
‘Then I think we have something planned in four weeks,’ says Fee.
‘Then it’s your birthday after that,’ I say to Rob.
‘So it’s basically not even a goodbye at all then,’ says Rob.
‘Not really,’ I say. ‘Okay, I have to go.’
‘Go get the girl!’ says Fee.
‘Thanks, Fee,’ I say, and I’m about to dash out and downstairs when I stop suddenly and turn to Rob. ‘Why are you smiling like that?’
‘Like what?’ says Rob, a huge smile on his face.
‘Like that. Like you have something to tell me and you aren’t telling me and instead you’re smiling at me because you know I’ll ask you what’s going on, and oh my god you’re pregnant, aren’t you?’
There’s a pause. A pregnant pause.
‘I’m so fucking pregnant,’ says Fee excitedly.
‘My testicles work!’ says Rob loudly, both arms in the air like he’s scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final.
‘I’m really happy for you, I am, and we’re going to talk about this later, I promise, in great detail, but right now…’
‘You need to go and get the girl,’ says Fee with a smile.
‘I need to go and get the girl,’ I say, and then I run downstairs to get Dotty.
I knock on Dotty’s door and she comes out and says she’s ready to go. I honestly don’t know why she’s coming, other than it was her idea. But she is and looks nice. She’s wearing a classic old lady's dress (probably bought for a wedding in 1990, yellow, with a matching yellow hat).
‘What do you think?’ says Dotty.
