“I can’t wait to meet your mom,” Scott says, with a twinkle in hiseye.
“Hey Braddock! Aw, it’s good to see you. You’ve been getting somesun.”
He gets up to hug her and they have a long, warm embrace. This is the first time I’ve seen them together in a while. They have clearlybonded.
“I need to borrow Duffy for aminute.”
“She’s all yours. I can snowplow through the rest of thesemyself.”
“Ahhhh haaaaaahhhhh!” Maya takes my hand and leads me away, to my room. “You guys are so cute together,” she whispers, a little too loud, in myopinion.
“Shhh! We aren’ttogether.”
“You were seated at a table together. Calmdown.”
“How’s the venuelooking?”
“Almost done, the girls are finishing up. It looksbeautiful.”
We enter my room. I swear I can smell pepperoni, even though I stuffed my driving clothes deep inside a plastic bag and stuck that in my weekender bag. But I may behypersensitive.
“Oh God. Did you eat pepperoni inhere?”
“I’m disgusting.” She is hypersensitive too, due tohormones.
“I’m sure no one else can smell it. I smell everything now. Evenlove.”
“Oh shut up. How do youfeel?”
“Good. I’m excited. Sam is so cute. He keepscrying.”
“Oh. He’s so sweet.” I get a gift for Maya out of mybag.
“Oh, you didn’t have to get meanything.”
“Please. This is your bachelorette party gift. Imagine we’re in Vegas, at a male stripclub.”
“It’s how I always imagine us.” She unwraps the gift and pulls out the maternity lingerie. There’s a sexy lace-trimmed cotton nightie that’s also for nursing, as well as maternity pajamas that have dragons all over and it saysMother of Dragons. “Oh myGod.”
“How cool would it be if you give birth todragons?!”
“Oh my God I’m gonna be a pregnant Daenerys for Halloween! Genius! I love them, thank you! Sosweet.”
She gives me an elegant little gold box with a silver ribbon and bow and wildflowers tucked into the ribbons. “This is so pretty I couldshit.”
“Thanks.”
I open the box. In it, is a dainty rose gold necklace with a pendant of two intertwined open hearts. “It’s sopretty.”
She takes the necklace out of the box and unhooks the clasp. “This is a promise to you, that I will still be available to you when I’m married and when I’m a mother. We will always be linked. You will always be my best friend, okay? Remember that. I don’t ever want you to feel like you can’t reach out to me if you needme.”
Tears are squirting out of my eyes and snot is dripping from my nose. It has been that kind of day. I nod my head. “Thank you. I already miss having you around theapartment.”
“I miss you too, I really do.” She goes behind me and puts the necklace around my neck. “But I want you to be half of your own romantic coupling too. I can see that your heart has opened up. It’s beautiful. You just need to bebrave.”
I nod, weeping and making weird snorting and hiccuppingsounds.
She rubs my back. “There’s really nothing to be afraid of. Can you imagine how great it would be? Will be. The four of us hanging out all the time? We’ll be our kids’godparents!”
