She squeezed her eyes shut, in anticipation of the lightning bolt no doubt about to strikeherdown.
‘I’m going to have a baby,’shesaid.
2
‘Wow!’saidKaty.
As Annabel entered the living room, she felt her cheeks start to redden. Was that wow in a good way? Or wow as in bad? It had been so long since she’d hit the town, she didn’t have a clue what constituted the perfect Saturday night outfit these days. And while it felt good being all dressed up for a change, standing there in full make-up, a pair of high heels and tightly fitted black dress, she couldn’t help but think she might have gone a bit overthetop.
‘You’re sure you don’t think it’stoomuch?’
‘Annabel,’ Katy replied. ‘You lookamazing.’
Although reassuring to hear, Annabel still couldn’t relax. Embarking on a new chapter in life felt way scarier than it did exciting. Moreover, she knew if she thought about the evening ahead too much, she was in danger ofbackingout.
Still, with her attire concerns out of the way, at least she could now have a proper go at tackling her nerves. The first glass of wine might not have done the trick on the anxiety front, but Annabel was sure as dammit that the second one would. She indicated to the open bottle of red sat on the coffee table. ‘Drink?’ sheasked.
Katy shook her head. ‘I’m driving remember. And besides, one of us has to make sure you don’t make a complete fool ofyourself.’
Any other time and Annabel would have appreciated the honesty. But while the two of them had been friends long enough for her to know that Katy didn’t mean any malice, on this occasion a bit of support wouldn’t have gone amiss. This was a huge step she was about to take, by far the biggest since Tom’s death. And not only that, it wasn’t as if she’d simply sprung this on her; Katy had known about her plans for ages, giving her more than ample time to get her headaroundthem.
‘Spoil sport,’ said Annabel, reaching for the bottle. ‘You don’t mind if I do though, do you? Dutch courage and all that.’ She poured herself one hell of a measure, managing to drink half of it down inonego.
‘Annabel!’
‘What?’ she replied. Meeting her friend’s horror with feigned innocence, the look on Katy’s face told her she was having noneofit.
‘I really don’t think you should be doing this,’shesaid.
‘Drinking alcohol, you mean?’ asked Annabel. ‘Or going out on the pull?’ She knew she sounded glib, but someone had to try and lift the atmosphere. A girls’ night out was meant to be funafterall.
Katy rolled her eyes, clearly still not in thejokingmood.
‘Oh come on, lighten up. You’re the one who kept saying I shouldmoveon.’
‘Yes, but notlikethis.’
Feeling at a loss, Annabel took a seat on the sofa and poured herself another, more acceptably sized glass of wine. This time making sure to just sip it, she wished she was braver, that she had the guts to cut Katy loose for the night, absolving her best friend of her best friend duties. Regardless of any previous discussions, Katy obviously still thought she was losing the plot. But even with her bravado, Annabel couldn’t quite bring herself to go it alone. Instead, she found herself yet again trying to explain herself. She needed her friend to know this wasn’t some half-baked idea she’d come up with simply for the sakeofit.
‘We talked about having kids,’ she said. ‘Tom wanted to start trying from day one but I kept puttingitoff.’
‘I remember,’ said Katy, with a smile. ‘What was it he usedtosay?’
Annabel began to smile too. ‘Something about the world needing a few more little Annabels and Toms running around theplace.’
She thought back to when they first married. At the time, she might not have agreed with Tom on the baby front, but that hadn’t stopped them jumping into bed whenever they got the chance. Even now, she could hear the laughter in her husband’s voice as he joked about there being a knack to this pregnancy malarkey. Trying to keep a straight face, he often suggested they could do with the practice for when Annabel did feel ready to take the plunge. As if either of them needed the excuse. The two of them never could get enough of eachother.
‘It wasn’t that I didn’t want children,’ she carried on. ‘I just thought we needed to be a bit more secure first. I mean, we had the mortgage on thisplace.’
Annabel looked around the room, recalling how happy they were at buying their first home together. In his excitement, Tom didn’t just carry her over the threshold. He carried her over each and every doorway in the house, both downstairs and up, only listening to her pleas to be put down once they had gotten to the bedroom. What she’d give to be able to turn back theclock.
‘Plus, we were trying to set up the business,’ she continued. ‘I kept insisting we had time on our side.’ She drank another mouthful of wine. ‘How wrong can a girlbe,eh?’
‘You weren’t to know. Noonewas.’
‘That doesn’t stop me wishing I’d listened to him though,doesit?’
‘But why now?’ asked Katy. ‘Bringing up a family is difficult enough without doing it onyourown.’
