Those Memories
Chapter 1
In this story, all the MDBC Couples are together. Emma x Stewart, Jess x Darcy, Megan x Simon, Cassidy x Tristan and Becca x Zach are all couples.
Disclaimer: The Mother-Daughter Book Club and all its content belong to Heather Vogel Frederick.
Jess's POV
I'm trying to find my favorite book, Jane Eyre, I hear a loud voice come from the garage. "Jess!"
In another time, this might seem like a bad thing. It's like a scene in a horror movie, when the beautiful girl hears someone and figures it's someone she knows, but it's really a ghost. Or a monster. Right now, it's neither. It's just my gorgeous husband, Darcy Hawthorne. We're going meet with my old Mother-Daughter Book Club. He's nervous. Darcy always yells when he's nervous. It's just a reflex.
Why, you might ask? I'm pregnant. I'm only three months along, and the only people I've told are Darcy (duh, he's the baby's father, why wouldn't I tell him?) and his sister Emma (my best friend, and the baby's aunt). They're the only people I've told yet. We want to tell the book club tonight. That's why Darcy's nervous. I'm nervous, too, but not half as much. I've known Emma, Cassidy, Megan, Becca, and Sophie for years.
"Jess? Hello? I've been calling your name for five minutes?" Darcy calls again. His voice is firm, like the stubborn wind of a hurricane. That's Darcy for you, but I don't care. He's my dream guy, and I know that he's doing it because cares about me. He's just scared.
I don't take it personally, grabbing my purse, slipping on some comfortable shoes, and rushing out the door. "Coming, baby!" I yell. I can't see Darcy, but I know that he's smiling right now. I can feel it. I groan as I head out to the car. Pregnancy is not easy.
Darcy places his hands on my waist and says, "You know, you'll have to take it slow these next few months, Jess. Just calm down!" He's not reprimanding me, though. It's more like recommendation and caring. Darcy Hawthorne, ever the overprotective husband, refuses to let me do anything as we drive to Emma's house. He has to be the one to drive, to park, and to carry my copy of Jane Eyre as if it's suddenly turned to stone. He's acting really sweet, and I laugh, but he's not at all subtle. So much for not being obvious about my being pregnant.
Darcy and I are late, so we awkwardly shuffle into Emma's living room like a couple of middle-schoolers late for math class. I'm sure that no cares, since we've known each other for years. It's still awkward, though, and I can feel my stare harden. Am I being too obvious? Probably. Darcy tries to be subtle, so he just drapes his arm over my shoulder as we sit down.
Surprisingly, no one takes notice of our behavior, and Emma starts talking. "So, how is everybody?" she asks. I can feel Darcy tense up, because she knows. He tries to look away. I secretly grin, just because he's such a good husband.
Emma is seven months pregnant with her first child, and Stewart hovers over her day and night like a UFO. I know how she feels, since Darcy is the same way. She says that Stewart wants to name the baby Stewart Chadwick, Jr. if it's a boy, but she thinks that the baby should have an original name.
Emma's also ruled out the weird girl names Stewart came up with: Penelope, Estefania, and Calliope. "I love your mom, but the baby needs his or her own name, honey." Emma said when Stewart brought it up. I laughed when she told me about it on the phone.
Stewart sits up and says, "We're doing well. I still have my job as a writer at the Boston Post, and, as you know, Em's seven months pregnant. She's also working on her book at home, but it's been put off because of the pregnancy." Even though Stewart doesn't know about you-know-what, Darcy still keeps his deep brown eyes stern and stiff.
Becca and Zach smile. "We're doing well. Zach is a lawyer, and I'm an architect. Eric is good too, and so is the new baby." Says Becca. She cradles her son, Eric. He's fifteen months old, and has Becca's shade of blond hair and Zach's blue eyes. Becca's pregnant again, and is about two months along. She's hoping for a girl.
Cassidy and Tristan walk in, and Cassidy tries to stifle a laugh, but it fails miserably. Tristan is wearing a flamenco-dancer red skating outfit. Its jacket is trimmed with black stripes going sideways and white polka dots. He looks like a fire hydrant that got a Dalmatian stuck to it.
His simple back shirt looks silly too. Instead of getting cut off straight, like most shirts do, this shirt looks like a large black triangle got attached to the hem, as if it's trying to shield Tristan's equally red pants. They're long and baggy and have white pockets with black speckles spattered onto them. Tristan looks down at the ground.
"Um…" Darcy says, trying to be polite. He's always well-mannered, and he loves joking around. He stares at Stewart, who's also trying not to laugh. Darcy presses his lips together and tries to act casual. At least there's something distracting everyone from my hidden pregnancy.
"It-It's interesting, isn't it?" asks Stewart. He glances at Emma.
"I can explain," says Tristan defensively.
"You'd better be able to." Whispers Zach to Becca.
Cassidy fingers the red cloth of Tristan's bright jacket. "Well, at least it's not spandex." She says, shrugging, thinking of a familiar blue spandex jumpsuit that Tristan wore one year.
That does it for Darcy and Stewart, along with Cassidy and Simon and everyone else in the room. Cassidy wipes her eyes and takes Tristan's red jacket, trying it on. She struts around the room, pretending to dance. Her arms flap like wings, and Cassidy shuffles her feet noisily like she's trying to skate.
Tristan laughs too, and explains about the outfit. "I have a skating competition, and the skating outfits got mixed up. Anyway, I had to practice in this one, because you're not allowed on the ice without a uniform. When Cassidy and I finished, there wasn't enough time to go home and change. That was the original plan, but we got caught up in traffic, so we were late." He takes his bulls-eye red jacket back from Cassidy.
Simon grins and says, "Talk about Fashion Faux Pas. Fashionista Jane would've definitely blogged this," Megan blushes, but she laughs too. Tristan dramatically frowns and crosses his arms.
However, he gives Cassidy his (ugly) jacket when she shivers, and everyone smiles. However, Cassidy throws his jacket back after realizing that she looks awful, and Simon adjusts it so it drapes over Tristan's face like a lampshade.
"Changing the topic," Tristan says, embarrassed. "How's everyone else?" Tristan shifts the jacket from his face to his body so he can be heard.
"We're good," says Megan. "Simon got a new job as a history professor at Boston College, and my fashion career is doing great. The baby's good too." Megan's daughter, Anna Claire Berkeley, is about four months old, and she's adorable.
Cassidy then speaks up. "Tristan and I are good. He's an ice dancer, still, and I ice dance and play hockey. Tristan is way too protective, though, since I'm five months pregnant. "
"How about you, Jess?" Emma prompts. Darcy throws her a thankful glance. He's such a good brother. He's an even better husband.
"We're good. I'm a professor at Dartmouth, and so is Darcy. I teach math, and he teaches history, though. It's really nice, because we get to see each other all the time. And…"
"And…?" ask Cassidy, Becca, and Megan. I'm nervous now, so I stare at Darcy and he motions at me to keep going. I can tell that he's tense, and his eyes look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"I'm pregnant." All my friends come up and try to hug me, but Emma comes first. We hug, and I feel calmer now that everyone knows. Darcy is next, and kisses my forehead lovingly. His eyes sparkle like before he was so scared, and I kiss his cheek.
"Hey, how come Emma gets to go first?" He asks accusingly. I can tell that Darcy is joking, though, because his smile is wide and peaceful.
"BFBB." I tell him, and hug Emma again. Then I hug Cassidy, and Megan, and Becca, along with their husbands.
"What, nothing for Uncle Stewart?" Stewart asks jokingly, and I hug him as well.
"Here you go, Uncle Stewart." I say, smiling.
He grins and hugs me.
When Stewart lets go, I see Darcy standing next to me. Darcy tugs my braid just the way he always has ever since I was six, and then he reaches down and takes my hand, just like the very first time he did in England.