Page 70 of The Backdraft
“Fuck! Archer!” she moaned, her body tightening around mine as I pumped into her over and over until I snapped and she screamed, the two of us plummeting over the edge together.
Darcy collapsed onto my shoulder, breathing heavily into my neck, and I held her tightly to me as I listened to the steady pounding of our hearts.
When the water grew cold, I carefully lifted her off me. “We’re going to need a redemption round. I finished far too fast.”
She leaned forward, her nose brushing mine. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get me pregnant.”
I watched as she got out of the tub. If she hadn’t been pregnant already, a crazy part of me thought she might’ve been right.
TWENTY NINE
DARCY
“Did you get a chance to look over the guest list I sent you?” Linnea asked. She had a floral notebook open, her dainty, impeccable handwriting scrawled all over it. The whole thing was entirely dedicated to the baby shower, which felt like overkill to me, but Linnea called it being organized. I didn’t see how a three-hour party needed this much planning, but it wasn’t my party, at least, not really.
I nodded, taking a sip of orange juice and stabbing a bite of pancake with my fork. “I did. It’s a lot of people—I don’t think I know half of the women on it.”
“Well, some of them are ladies from my book club. They’re all so excited for you!” my mom fessed up from my right.
In the three years I’d lived out here, my mom had only visited a handful of times, all of which were to attend something forLinnea. Of course, we’d all meet up for lunch and hangout while they were in town, but she’d never come to visit me specifically. It hadn’t occurred to us that she’d never seen my apartment until she and Linnea came over for dinner last night, and she had to ask where the bathroom was. I didn’t fault her for it, though. My mom didn’t love road trips, and I went home often enough that her coming all the way to me never seemed necessary, but I had to admit. It was nice having her in my world, sitting at my favorite brunch spot for me this time.
“You don’t have to know them to let them buy your baby things. I vote keep the guest list. Maybe add more,” Shayna added, sipping her mimosa, and I hated her a little bit for being able to have one. It looked delicious.
I shrugged, and took another bite of food. “Fair enough. Guest list looks great. What’s next?”
Linnea flipped to a different page in her color-tabbed notebook, and ran her pen down the list she’d made. I envied how organized and put together she was; the girl was efficient. “Next on the agenda is to finalize the menu.”
“Menu?” I asked. “What’s wrong with pizzas and salads?”
The expression on Linnea’s face was pure horror. “It’s a baby shower!”
“Well the baby loves pizza. Oh, and ice cream.” I grinned, knowing this would set her off, but also because I was completely serious. Why couldn’t pizza be baby shower food?
My mom jumped in like she always had anytime Linnea and I butted heads. “Lins, why don’t you and I do the menu? I’m gathering Darcy isn’t too particular?” Her voice rose up in question at the end.
“No, I’m not,” I answered, giving her a grateful smile. There wasn’t a whole lot that I cared about in regard to this party, mainly because it made me uncomfy. But I wasn’t so uncomfortable with the idea that I couldn’t acknowledge howhelpful it would be when it came to getting everything ready for this baby’s arrival. My sole request was that we not open presents there. I’d send personalized thank you notes after, but I couldn’t handle sitting there with everyone watching me while I said variations of “oh my gosh, it’s so cute” over and over again. Not to mention, my poker face was nonexistent should I get something that wasn’t “so cute.”
Mom shot me a wink, then turned to Linnea. “How about we talk about the games. That might be more up Darcy’s alley.”
“Oh, yeah! Let’s talk games!” Shayna chimed in excitedly. “Do a blind-folded baby food challenge! Players will have to guess the flavor.”
I laughed. “That’s a good one! I like that; write that down!” Linnea flipped to her purple tab and wrote it down.
“Oh, and what about a baby bottle chug? Way harder than it sounds and it looks ridiculous!” This is why Shayna was here. Aside from her obviously being my best friend, she knew how to make a baby shower, the tamest of all parties, fun.
“Yes. How many games do we need?” I asked.
“Well, since you’re not opening presents, you might want three or four,” Linnea answered.
I nodded. “Could we maybe do one game where people can give advice. Like write it on a diaper or something?” All three women stared at me, and I shrugged. “I’ll take any and all the help I can get.”
It was the truth. I was a couple days past the thirty-week mark, and reality had hit me full force. In about ten weeks, give or take some days, I’d be holding my baby in my arms. I’d be a mom. Archer would be a dad, and the man had done his research, a fact that I’d discovered over the past few weeks when I spied a copy ofWhat to Expect When You're Expectingon his desk. However, for as much as I loved books, I was also very aware that theycould only help me so much. If my mom’s book club friends had tips, tricks, advice, or secrets that could help me, I’d take them.
Linnea smiled. “I know the perfect game. You’re going to love it.”
My mom reached under the table, setting her hand on my knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. “You’re going to do great, Darcy girl,” she whispered.
Tears burned the back of my eyes, and I swallowed hard. “Thanks. Mom.”
