Page 69 of Wreckage of Us
She pulls me into another hug. “And how’s my little grandbaby?” She always asks about the baby right after she checks on my own health.
“The baby is fine, too,” I put both hands on my belly. It’s bigger every day, but not as big as I’ve seen other women.
That reminds me that I am due for a checkup. At the last one I had a month ago, I went by myself. I told Dylan I just had a regular checkup and didn’t want him in the examination room with me. Malone drove me to the hospital. I wasn’t ready to have Dylan with me in there, and then I felt guilty for not asking him to come with me.
“Is my son treating you well?” Arlene continues her gentle interrogation.
“He is,” I nod at her, loving the gentle smiles she gives me in return. Forging a friendship with me has been Arlene’s personal mission since we met, and especially after learning about me being pregnant. Seeing that my parents have both passed, I have to admit that I relish in all the attention she’s showering me with.
“I was looking at baby stuff online,” she announces.
“Oh,” I move from one foot to the other, unsure of what else to say. My mind is a bit scrambled at the moment, so focused on Dylan, I can’t process much else. Why do I have a feeling something bad is going to happen today?
“I wanted to show you,” Arlene continues, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil concerning her son. “I wasn’t sure what you have planned as far as a crib and all that…”
“Oh,” I am completely lost now. “I haven’t looked at anything yet. I was waiting…”
“For this mess to end, I’m sure,” Arlene senses my hesitation and finishes my thought.
“Well, yeah,” I chuckle nervously.
She grabs my hands and holds on tightly. “Let me do this for you, for the baby,” she begs.
“Okay,” I agree. I got a hole in my budget right now, and I don’t want to count on Dylan for my finances. Whether I like it or not, I will have to go back to work at some point.
With that, Arlene pulls me in the spacious living area of Mr. Stewart’s home. I briefly wonder about how Emily is doing with all these changes. I don’t even know if she’s met her father’s girlfriend yet, if she likes her. She hasn’t shared anything with me since I took my leave of absence from the hospital.
I sit on the comfortable couch where Arlene has a laptop set up, and for the next few hours, we scroll through baby furniture, clothes and all sorts of other things.
“Jesus, look at the time,” Arlene gasps some almost five hours later.
“Oh my god,” I feel my heart beating faster. “I hope Dylan is okay.”
“Why shouldn’t he be?” Arlene eyes me suspiciously.
“No reason,” I shrug apologetically since I didn’t mean to scare her. “I’ve just had this gut feeling all day long that something bad is going to happen, and…”
“Say no more,” Arlene stops me. “I truly believe in that.”
“You do?”
“Every single time my gut warned me about a certain situation, something bad did happen,” she tells me with a serious face that only helps to scare me more.
“I… I… I…” Damn, I’m starting to stutter again. “I want to call Dylan,” I finally spit out, then dive for my bag and look for my cell phone. I am so relieved to see a couple of texts from him.
“He’s saying for me to go home,” I grin like a fool, already anticipating my night with him. I hope he’s rested. “Can Malone take me?” I look at his mom in question.
“Oh, I got a message from him, too,” she announces as she’s looking at the screen of her own cell phone. “He’s home, waiting for us. I should call Jon first.”
She taps on the screen, then brings it to her ear, smiling at me while waiting for Mr. Stewart to answer.
“He’s not answering, I’ll leave him a message,” she whispers my way. “Jon, I’ll be at Dylan’s. Come there when you’re done with your day.” With that, she hangs up. “I’ll grab us some dinner on our way home.”
I gather all my stuff, surprised to realize that with all the baby talk, I forgot all about my blog and the work I wanted to put into it while sitting here today.
“Don’t we need Malone?” I ask when we get into Mr. Stewart’s garage, and Arlene stops in front of a luxury SUV.
“Nah, we’ll be fine just going to your house. Besides,” she pats her bag, “I got my gun with me. It’s loaded and I am not afraid to use it.”
