Page 36 of Shining Pearls
After the holidays sped by in a blur, the seemingly-interminable, long Maine winter set in. Between the short days, the rising layers of snow, the bitter cold, and my ever-growing belly, I found myself wanting to be quite lazy. Dean took it upon himself to take care of me by walking me safely to and from work, attending Lamaze classes with me, and making sure I ate regularly––although I rarely forgot a meal.
He was my near-constant companion as I tried to mentally prepare for the arrival of my baby. We worked together to turn Aunt Mimi’s long-neglected sewing room into an adorable nursery with a fun jungle theme. Dean’s drawing skills came in handy as we turned the walls into a silly, smiling-animal dance party.
Aunt Mimi regularly expressed her excitement over the impending arrival of my bundle of joy. I worried that having a crying baby in her house might be too much of a disruption to the older woman’s quiet home life, but she insisted that we were both welcome to live with her as long as we liked.
She and Dean were my family. Soon, that tight-knit little group would be growing by one tiny human, and I couldn’t wait to meet the newest member.
Although I only got to see sweet Hannah at her swimming lessons, I also loved her like family. Since she would be my baby’s older half-sister, I guess that sort-of made us family––in a strange, rather uncomfortable sense.
Oddly enough, my only female friend was Claire. She and I had taken to chatting after Hannah’s swim lessons, and even meeting for caffeine-free herbal tea at the diner while Hannah was busy with her beginning karate classes.
Claire and I commiserated over the challenges of pregnancy during a bitter-cold Maine winter, our growing bodies that seemed to change by the day, and constant cravings for odd foods like out-of-season peach cobbler, hard-to-find chocolate-covered strawberries or strange-sounding chocolate-banana-peanut-butter milkshakes. The only topic we avoided discussing with each other like the plague was the father of our babies. We hadn’t yet found a way to move past the awkwardness of him being the same person, despite our tentative, blossoming friendship.
My pregnancy was a few weeks more advanced than Claire’s, so it was likely that I would give birth first. She had been through the ordeal before, so I turned to her for guidance and support.
“Delivering a baby isn’t as bad as everyone tries to tell you,” she assured me. “Your body instinctively knows how to do it, even if your brain doesn’t.”
“I suppose,” I answered, still feeling frightened half-to-death about it. Tilting forward in the booth seat as far as my huge stomach would allow to whisper across the table at her, I asked, “What if I can’t do it?”
“You can and you will. Plus, you’ll get a beautiful, precious baby for your effort,” she promised, sounding fully confident in my ability to handle this. “Besides, won’t it be nice to get rid of these ridiculous, swollen cankles?”
Claire awkwardly maneuvered her body around in the booth to lift her leg up to the table. Sure enough, her ankles were puffed up so much that her calf didn’t taper down at all before reaching her foot.
I chuckled at the bold move before tilting around to try to lift my foot up to the table. I was only partially successful, thanks to my enormous belly, but we both had a good laugh at my efforts. Finally, I gave up and settled for stretching it out on the red pleather of my booth’s cushion.
Aunt Mimi chose that moment to stop by to refill our water glasses from a pitcher. “Do you mind not sprawling out all over the table, I’m trying to run a respectable dining establishment here.”
Even though I knew she was just teasing us, I tossed a crinkle-cut fry in her direction. She was already bustling back towards the kitchen, so my half-hearted attempt to respond to her ribbing failed miserably. Staring at the fry on the floor, I said to Claire, “Normally, I would pick that up, but it’s so hard for me to bend over right now, I would pay someone ten dollars to do it for me.”
We both burst out with laughter over the ridiculous truth to that statement. Just then, Dean ambled up to our table. His eyes were twinkling as he smiled down at me. “You look like you’re having fun.”
I nodded, knowing that he was glad that I had found a girlfriend in Claire. My guess was that he also enjoyed knowing how uncomfortable and squirmy our new camaraderie must make Alex.
Pointing at the fry, I asked Dean, “Will you please pick that up for me before someone steps on it and smushes it into the tile?”
Dean readily complied and wadded the discarded fry into a napkin. Leaning down and grinning at me, he held out a hand and said, “I believe you owe me ten dollars.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Oh, you heard that?”
He nodded before saying, “I’ll settle for a kiss on the cheek.” He bent down and pointed to the area where he wanted his payment made. Tilting up, I pressed my lips to his cheek.
Dean dramatically covered his heart with his hand and said, “Payment in full. I got the deal of the century with that transaction.”
With that, he was gone, and Claire and I were left smiling and shaking our heads at each other over the silly man.
“You two are great together,” Claire said.
I nodded my agreement. “Yes, Dean has been a wonderful friend to me since I arrived in town.”
“Just a friend?” Claire quirked a brow at me, practically daring me to deny feeling anything more than friendship for Dean.
“Mm-hmm,” I nodded, even as I wondered why everyone assumed that we were romantically linked.
Claire gave me a puzzled expression. “Why is that? Dean is gorgeous, smart, sweet, and obviously madly in love with you. What is holding you back?”
I shifted in my seat, feeling like she was putting me on the spot. My initial reaction had been that I couldn’t have feelings for Dean because I’d given my heart to Alex. Alex wasn’t mine, though. His heart, mind, body, and soul belonged to Claire, and that realization––difficult as it was to accept––was finally starting to sink in to my thick skull.
Deep down, I knew it wasn’t Alex that was keeping me from exploring something more with Dean. Claire was looking at me expectantly, so I waved a hand in the general area of my stomach and said, “I come with a huge amount of baggage.”
