So, there's a tropical storm coming and I have ample time to write...which means...a quick update for you lovely readers!
Enjoy...
"Charlie!" Trevor said, standing up as his girlfriend made her way into the restaurant for lunch. Despite trying to cancel their plans, Charlie was unable to get out of meeting his sister over a meal the next day. So she sucked it up, got ready, and decided she would tell Trevor about the pregnancy after lunch when they had a moment alone.
"Hi!" she said, a little timidly, but still with a smile. She observed another woman with long, dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes stand up and make her way towards her. "I'm Charlie," she began, sticking her hand out.
"Tessa," the other woman said, pushing aside the hand and pulling Charlie in for a light, quick hug. "I've heard so much about you! So glad to finally meet you in person."
"Same here," Charlie responded, before turning to Trevor to greet him as well.
"Hi there," he said, leaning down to kiss her before pulling her chair out and getting them all settled in the corner table to the little Greek place they agreed upon. Charlie immediately reached for her water, downing half the glass before trying to shove her current crisis down and focus on the moment.
"So, Trevor tells me you are a sports writer?" Tessa asked, leaning over the table a bit in great interest.
"Somewhat," she said with a chuckle. "I free-lance right now. Independent contracts. Start the US Open in a week and then I'll likely pick up some work around college football."
"That just sounds so exciting," the other woman said. "The sports world needs more females."
"For sure," Charlie agreed, before relaxing just a bit. She still had to talk to Trevor, but she felt oddly at ease around Tessa and was now confident she could enjoy herself before dropping the bomb.
"Okay, ladies," Trevor said, interrupting what appeared to be a growing friendship. "Let's order, because I'm starving."
Half an hour later, the trio was munching on different sauces with toasted pita and laughing as if they had known each other for years. Tessa was charming Charlie with stories of Trevor getting in trouble growing up, and Trevor was trying to counteract it but failing miserably. They were having so much fun Charlie almost forgot about the fact that she was pregnant. That was, until the waitress came over with the entrees and she smelled the olives.
"Oh god," she whispered as her entire face turned green.
"Charlie?" Trevor asked, almost alarmed at how quickly her demeanor changed. Charlie shook her head and took off towards the bathroom, leaving a stunned couple of siblings and waitress behind. Watching Trevor begin to stand up, Tessa thought maybe Charlie needed a minute and patted his arm.
"Just let her be for a sec, big brother," she said with a smile. "Let me go peek in on her, okay?"
"I don't know," Trevor said. "She barely knows you."
"Yeah, but I have the right body parts," the woman said and took off before her brother could argue. She briskly made her way through the crowd and down the back hallway, before approaching a few individual bathroom doors. Listening carefully she could hear the sound of someone throwing up behind the second door, so she gently knocked and called out to Charlie. She heard the lock click, signaling she could enter, and slipped in remembering to re-lock the door behind her. She took one look at her brother's girlfriend and immediately knew what was going on. The girl was pale, shaking, and had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Hey, Charlie," Tessa said softly, running a paper towel under the water then sitting down next to her and wiping her face. "It's okay. Feeling a little better?"
"I think so, yeah," Charlie responded meekly, but wouldn't make eye contact. "I'm so sorry. This is embarrassing."
"Don't be silly," the girl admonished. "I'm a nurse, I've seen worse."
Charlie just smiled, finally looking up, and immediately felt at ease with the somewhat older woman next to her. Tessa looked just like Trevor with long dark brown hair and blue eyes. She wasn't quite as tall, but still taller than Charlie, and had a relatively thin build. She knew from Trevor's talk about her that the woman was in her mid-30's, but she looked much younger.
"Does Trevor know?" Tessa asked with a knowing and compassionate look about her. Charlie dropped her eyes and shook her head softly.
"Not yet," she said. "I just took the test last night…"
"Ah," Tessa said, a look of realization coming over her face. "No wonder you didn't want to do this lunch thing today. Trevor just thought it was because you got nervous about me."
"Yeah," Charlie said with a little laugh. "I'm not big on new people, but it was more of a 'I don't wanna throw up on his sister' kind of thing."
Tessa just started laughing at that and put her arm around Charlie. "You're funny, lady. I'm glad my brother has you. He loves you lots, girl."
"I love him too," Charlie whispered. "I just…didn't expect this right now."
"I know," she said. "Listen, I'll head back and get rid of any and all traces of olives. Then fake a phone call, so you and Trevor can have a little bit to talk okay?"
"You don't have to do that…" Charlie said, wondering if having Tessa at the table would make the news easier to reveal. But she just patted her hand and shook her head.
"Nah," she said. "You gotta tell him. Then, we can all sit down and figure out what to do together, okay? You're not alone, Charlie."
"You okay?" Trevor asked, moving to take Charlie's hand and give her a once over. Tessa had just excused herself, giving the couple a moment alone and Trevor was itching to see what was really bothering her. Charlie just gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Yeah," she said softly. "But hi." She leaned up to kiss him quickly and then pulled back, not wanting to really PDA at the restaurant despite them being in the back corner.
"Something's up," he said, as if he could read every thought in her head at the moment. Charlie took a deep breath and decided to just rip the band-aid.
"I'm pregnant," she said, looking up into his eyes and watching them widen in realization that she was very, very serious.
"You're…we're…what?" He asked, still searching her eyes and gripping her hands tightly as a small smile began to spread across his face.
"Yes, we are," she said, still whispering and still not smiling, but a tad relieved that he was not freaking out.
"Oh…my god," was the only phrase Charlie heard before Trevor had cupped her face and pulled her to him for a deeper than necessary public kiss. When she finally broke away for some air, she noticed the look in Trevor's eyes had softened and was almost emotional. "You're pregnant. You are gonna have a baby. My baby. My Charlie is gonna have my baby."
"Trevor…" she breathed out, overwhelmed with just how excited he was in that moment while she was petrified.
"I love you," he said placing little kisses all over her face. "I love you so much."
"I love you too," she whispered and tried to fake a smile, but all that came out was a little sob as her tears began to flow down her face yet again. Trevor's face fell a little at the emotion he saw, but he didn't let go of her.
"Talk to me…" he said, searching her features for the cause of her pain. "Are you not happy?"
"It's not that," she said softly, running her fingers along the palms of his hands as she collected her thoughts. "I'm just…scared. I can barely take care of myself right now. So this was just, a little bit of a shock."
"I get it," he said, finally coming out of the cloud momentarily and realizing that he may be elated, but she was terrified. "But…I'm here. You won't be doing this alone. We can finally move in together, baby. This is perfect."
"But…" Charlie said, all of a sudden beginning to feel the room spin around her. "Trevor, slow down."
As much as he was trying to pay attention to his girlfriend's emotions, the man was so excited that he was going to be a father that he failed to see the building panic in Charlie's face. "This will be perfect. I can work from home when I need to, and we can pick out furniture. Maybe get a two bedroom? Same building of course, so you'll be near your parents…"
Charlie was no longer hearing what he was saying. All she could do was close her eyes and swallow, trying not to throw up and pass out in that very moment. Finally having enough, she opened her eyes and reached out to grasp his forearms.
"Stop," she said loudly, gaining the attention of a few nearby patrons. "Just…stop."
"What?" He asked, concerned that she was mad all of a sudden. He couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling in that moment and why she wasn't at least a little excited about this development.
"I just…I can't do this right now," she said in a whisper before grabbing her purse, ripping her hands from Trevor's and quickly walking out of the restaurant. Trevor, not expecting the quick departure, sat in a stunned silence. He must have been frozen longer than he thought, because Tessa came back in and softly put her hand on her shoulder.
"I saw her take off," she said. "What happened? Where did she go?"
"I…" Trevor said, shaking his head a bit and searching his brain for the answer. "I have no idea…"
"That was surprisingly good," Ed said as he put his plate on the coffee table and leaned back, pulling Olivia with him. They had been enjoying a quiet lunch, in which she had convinced him to try tomato sandwiches on toast. He originally scoffed at the idea.
"Tomatoes go on a sandwich, with something else. Like meat," he had said and she just laughed at him. Now as they cuddled against each other, the midday news finally ending on the television in front of them, Ed was more than happy she had forced him to try the concoction.
"I told you," she said. "Light, filling, but still good."
"I should have never doubted you," he said with a smirk. "You are always right."
Olivia smiled and strained her neck to look up at him. "How do you not know that by now?"
"I'm a stubborn man, Liv, didn't you know this?"
"True," she agreed, settling her head back onto his chest and feeling him begin to run his fingers through her hair. "You are my stubborn man, and I love you."
"I love you too," he said, before delivering the line of the day. "Grandma…"
"Grandma…" she whispered with a little smile. "I know our baby girl is scared, but I can't help but be excited. At least a little bit…"
"I know, me too," he said, in an almost giddy whisper. "You think she will come around?"
"It's likely she will," Olivia said slowly, not wanting to crush her husband but wanting to make sure they stayed realistic. "But, Ed, she's been through a lot. And if she's not ready…"
"You really think she won't want this baby?" Ed asked, a little surprised that Olivia let her head go there. But the more he thought about he, the more he shouldn't be surprised.
"I just think maybe we should prepare, at least a little bit, for the possibility she won't come around…" Olivia pulled away slightly, so she could look at her husband, knowing that he would have a hard time with this. Ed was not religious at all, but he also had a very strong view of family and commitment. She knew he would respect whatever decision his daughter made, but might internally struggle.
"I know," he said, pressing his forehead against her's. "But I hope not…"
"Me too, babe," she said. "I think she will come around. And then…"
Olivia looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes as she kissed him quickly and pulled back, continuing her statement. "We…will be…grandparents."
"Damn," he said. "Are we old enough?"
"Well, obviously we are since it's happening," she said, meaning for it to be a joke but saw his face fall a little bit so Olivia chuckled, cupped his face, and kissed him again. "I'm kidding. We will be the youngest grandparents in New York City."
"That's more like it," he said and then narrowed his eyes at her, before diving in for a deeper kiss. "And I'm about to prove it to you. Right here on this couch…"
"Ed!" Olivia squealed as her husband pounced on top of her, moving his lips to her neck and sucking.
"I love that you're retired," he rasped out, still sucking at her. "I can leave whatever mark I want…"
It was pushing 8pm, and Trevor still hadn't heard from Charlie. He sent her a few texts and she responded for the last time around 4. Now he was pacing in her apartment, having let himself in feeling sick that she might be passed out or puking alone, but she wasn't there.
"She must be up at Ed and Olivia's," he said to himself, calling her phone one more time, before grabbing his keys and heading to the elevator. On his way up, he kept replaying their conversation earlier and he was feeling worse and worse. He should've slowed himself down and listened to how scared she was. He was older and hadn't been through anything like what she had faced.
"Dammit," he said to himself, the elevator still creeping up the five floors. As soon as the doors opened, he almost sprinted down the hall. He just wanted her in his arms so he could apologize and tell her to talk this through with him. He wanted to understand what she was feeling. Suddenly realizing Noah was likely asleep, he decided to shoot Olivia a text announcing his presence before softly knocking. Ed opened the door, looking a little flushed and out of breath. Trevor immediately turned red at the thought of what he just interrupted.
"Sorry," he stuttered. "I…well…I'm looking for Charlie?"
"Did you try her apartment?" Ed asked, a little annoyed at the intrusion but trying to calm himself down as Trevor looked upset.
"I've been there for the past two hours," he explained. "I assumed she was here. She isn't here?"
"Who is it, babe?" Olivia asked softly from the back of the apartment. Ed let Trevor in and turned on the lamp in the living room. "Oh, Trevor, hi. What's wrong?"
"Have you heard from Charlie?" he asked, his panic beginning to escalate.
"No," Olivia said, her eyes widening at the realization Charlie had not been with Trevor this entire time. "When did you last hear from her?"
"She took off at lunch," he said. "And I haven't heard from her since about 4, when she responded to my messages with 'okay'. I just assumed she was here."
"Fuck," Ed hissed, taking out his cellphone and punching Charlie's speed-dial in while Olivia frantically tried to text their daughter. "Pick up…please pick up."
Um...where's Charlie?
#Tuckson
