“I miss you, too,” he finally says, his voice cracking. “So, so much,babe.”
“I thought you hated me,” I whisper.
“Of course, not.Never.” He pauses, apparently collecting himself. “Are you feeling any better today?”
My heart is physically aching. I want to reach through the phone line and kiss him and tell him I love him desperately. “Yeah,” I manage to reply. “I figured out Saltines and ice-cold ginger ale take the edge off my nausea a little bit.”
“Good.” He pauses. “So what are you up to today?” he asks softly.
Oh. We’re gonna have a routine conversation? We’re not gonna talk about his proposal or this past week? No talking about our feelings? Okay. I can do that. I clear my throat. “Well, I visited Colby in the hospital all morning. And now I’m meeting Sarah for lunch to go over wedding stuff. She and Jonas got back from Greece yesterday—oh, duh—you probably heard that from Jonas. But, anyway, since the wedding’s happening so soon—in just twenty-six little days, courtesy of your impatient brother—I pulled together some ideas for Sarah these past few days while she was finishing up her trip.”
“Yeah, I heard about that quick turnaround thing. Classic Jonas.”
“I guess some people in this world just, you know, reallywantto get married.”
Josh exhales.
Shit. I shouldn’t have said that. That was a decidedly terroristic thing to say. Shoot. “So, anyway,” I continue, trying to deflect attention from my apparently pathological need to strap bombs to my chest. “So now I’m sitting in a restaurant with a stack of bridal magazines, waiting for Sarah to arrive.”
“Are you gonna tell her about the pregnancy?”
“No. I think we should wait to tell Jonas and Sarah until after the wedding. They’ve got plenty to think about ’til then.”
“I agree.”
“Plus, you never know. It still might not stick. So, anyway, continuing with my exciting agenda for the day, after lunch, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment.”
“A doctor’s appointment? You mean for the baby?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have flown up for it.”
“Flown up for a doctor’s appointment?”
“It’s my kid, right?”
I bristle.
“Shit. That came out wrong. Kat, please don’t freak out. I meant, ‘Hey, it’s my kid, right?’Not,‘It’s my kid...right?’”
I can’t help but smile. “I know exactly what you meant. It’s okay. But, bee tee dubs, it’s your kid, Josh.”
“Yeah, I know that.” He pauses. “Well, the point I’m making is that I plan to be there for my kid, right from the start. Doctors appointments and everything. I’m gonna be a real father—not just a wallet. So tell me about appointments, please, and I’ll always try to make them.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. It didn’t occur to me to tell you about today’s appointment—we haven’t exactly been chatting each other’s ears off this week.” I clear my throat. “But I’ll be sure to tell you next time.”
“Please do.”
“I will.” There’s a beat. “So how’s your day going, Josh?”
“Fine. I’m just trying to finish this huge report. It’s the last thing I’ve got to do for Faraday & Sons and then I’m free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last. And the other thing I’mdoing is sitting here watching moving guys put all my shit into a humongous truck.”
“What?”
“Yeah, considering what’s going on with you and the baby and everything, I decided to move into my new house a couple weeks early,” Josh says.
My heart leaps. “Really? When will you be up here?”
