"So... how was the baby doctor?" Parker asked over lo mein that night. She slipped it between a comment on the weather and a retelling of a story she heard on the radio that morning. It caught Auggie entirely off-guard.
"It was good," he managed. "Everybody's healthy."
"Good," she said, her voice pitched a little too high to convey actual happiness.
"You know, we haven't really talked much about this," Auggie said. "How are you...?"
"Feeling?" Parker supplied. "Um, honestly, I don't think it's hit me yet."
"Oh."
"I mean, it's big news," she said calmly. "You got another girl pregnant."
"She's not another girl," Auggie said gently.
"No, right, she's your best friend from work." Parker's voice was too calm, too amicable. Auggie sensed they were living in the calm before the storm- the brief period of understanding before his fiancee went ballistic. "Who you slept with."
"That was before."
"Before what?"
"Before you."
"How far along is she, Auggie?" Parker's voice retained an edge.
"Three and a half months."
"Wow. So right before me," Parker scoffed. "To the day, almost."
"Yeah. With 'almost' being the operative word."
"We just got engaged, Auggie. This is all supposed to be shiny and new, and now-"
"There's a baby coming in six months," Auggie sighed. "I get it, Parker. I am aware of the situation."
"So you see your baby mama every day at work, and then you come home to me. And that doesn't seem weird to you."
"It all seems really weird to me," Auggie said. They were nearing Raised Voices territory. "But what choice do I have?"
"Where I come from, women have options," Parker muttered.
"And where I come from, you respect what women do with those options," Auggie countered. "Annie's keeping the baby, Parker, whether I make the choice to be there or not. What kind of guy would I be if I just abandoned her?"
Parker sighed. "You're right. You're right, you're right, you're right."
"It doesn't sound like I wanna be right in this situation," Auggie sighed, hearing the building repressed anger in her voice.
"I think it's sinking in," she said.
"Let it out," Auggie resigned. "It's better to get all of this out in the open."
"You don't want that," Parker said softly.
"I really do," Auggie said.
She sighed, and set down her fork. "She is three and a half months along."
"Yeah."
"And to think I'd been rounding up how long we've known each other."
"I have too."
"Telling everyone four months, because I didn't want to deal with the fact that I was engaged after such a short period of time."
"Yeah."
"And now..."
"It looks like I cheated."
"It looks a hell of a lot like you cheated."
"I didn't cheat on you, Parker. I would never."
"This is our life, Auggie. Not an episode of Friends," hysteria crept into her voice. "We haven't even set a date- I doubt it'll be within the next six months. I'm going to be going into a marriage that immediately has a child. And I don't even get to be the mother."
"No one expects you to stay through something like this," Auggie said. "It's too much."
"What do you mean 'no one expects' me to stay?" Parker sounded offended, and hurt. "I am not some deadbeat, Auggie."
"I'm sorry. That came out wrong."
"Then what were you trying to say?"
"I'm saying that it's a huge responsibility. It's a huge sacrifice and compromise," he drew a breath. "I'm giving you an out."
She sighed deeply. "I don't want an out, Auggie. You asked me to level with you. I'm leveling. This isn't just about you being the stand-up guy. You're standing by Annie, and that's a sacrifice. And now I'm standing by you."
"And I appreciate it."
"But I'm not some instant stepmom."
"I'm not some instant father. But it's evolve or die out, here."
"I want to meet Annie," Parker said finally. "I'm in this, I wanna know our baby mama."
Auggie grinned. "All right."