Page 32 of The Baby
Instead I said, “Nothing.”
I started the truck pulled out onto the empty road and took this girl with the full suitcase, fried car and bruised face to Long ValleyRanch.
* * *
Jake
Ileanedagainst the doorway of our living room, all of our friends gathered there now instead of throughout the house. As Ellie had called everyone into the room for her big announcement. Some still had plates of food on their laps. Second helpings. Some hadthirds.
Everything had been laid out buffet style, so people were still scavenging, which made Ellie beam with pride. Her goal had been to fill bellies to make them look as bigashers.
Which I didn’t imagine was physically possible with a single meal, as hers wasprettybig.
She clinked on her champagne glass filled with sparkling water to get everyone’s attention. Conversations hushed to whispers until finally everyone wasquiet.
“Hey everybody, okay here is deal. I didn’t just ask you all here for Thanksgiving dinner, although given the look of that turkey carcass I would say it was a success. Actually Jake and I wanted to take this occasion to tell you all… well… we’re havingababy!”
She patted her six-month baby bump… which really looked more like a basketball at thispoint.
A few people laughed. I heard Howard say it was about time. And Mrs. Petty got up and walked over to her, patting her on the arm, saying, “Yes, dear we all knew. LateJanuary?”
“Early February,” Ellietoldher.
“That’s lovely. Now should we see about putting outthepies?”
Ellie nodded and then the conversation started upagain.
It was, in a word, anti-climatic.
Mrs. Petty declared the pies would be served in the kitchen and a few people got up to follow her, most likely fearing there wouldn’t be enough to go around. Although if you asked me we had all the pies in all the land and would neverrunout.
The men rolling by either gave me a chin up or a pat on the shoulder in silent congratulations. All of the women strolling by told me to take care of their girl. That was withoutquestion.
Finally, Ellie came over to me, with her lips in a pout. Which always made me think of blow jobs, which was not a good thing to be thinking of on Thanksgiving with a house full of people, so I opened my arms and brought her in close so she could rest her chin on myshoulder.
“Everyone knew,didn’tthey?”
“Yep. You’ve got the equivalent of a beach ball under your shirt. It’s prettyobvious.”
“I look like an assdon’tI?”
“A little bit.” I huffed out a laugh. “But you know folks. They’ll come to understand this was your way of coping. Everyone is happy for you. You know that too,don’tyou?”
She nodded against me. “I’m pregnant,” she saidagain.
“Yep.”
“We’re havingababy.”
A baby. Not thebword.
“Yep,” I said even as hugged hertighter.
“We should think about names. I think… if it’s a boy… I want to name him Jackson Talley Jr. after the greatest manIknow.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. She was talking names. She was thinking about the sex. In that moment, I knew it. The fear, while maybe not gone, had lost the battleoverher.
Once again Ellie had triumphed. I should have known that eventually she would. Because she was strongest woman I had everknown.
