LISA
TWO YEARS LATER
"For crying out loud," I shout in frustration. "They measured me for this suit only three days ago."
"Aw, babe." Jennie looks up at me from the bed. "I'll give you a hand."
A hand? She gave me much more than a hand. It's for that very reason I seem to be gaining a full pound in body weight every other day.
Jennie rises and puts her hand on my protruding belly. "Are you nervous?" she asks. "Because you have that glow about you. If you ask me, Jieun's the one who should be worried, because there's no doubt you'll be outshining her tonight."
"You would say that and none of this is helping." I stare at Jennie's hand on my belly. "Why didn't I go for stretchy pants?"
"Because you're stubborn and you can't stand being told what to do, even if you're given the best advice ever." Jennie moves her thumb along my belly.
"It's the premiere party of my show. I can't wear stretchy pants." Up until now, I believed falling in love with my brother's wife would be the most irrational thing I'd ever do—but try being twenty-two weeks pregnant.
"Don't worry." Jennie looks me in the eye, then heads into the walk-in closet. "I had the designer send over something more appropriate for someone in their second trimester."
"You did?" I want to cry and kiss Jennie at the same time.
"Of course." She sticks her head out of the door. "How many times do I have to tell you that I have your back every step of the way?"
"A million would be good," I joke. "A billion would work as well." I hold out my hand to her. Jennie rushes in my direction. "Thank you for being three steps ahead all the time."
"It's my job and also my absolute pleasure." She quickly kisses me on the lips, then puts a hand on my belly again. "Is Little Miss excited about tonight's event?"
"If she is, she hasn't made it known." Even though it's been five months now, most days I still can't believe a new person is growing inside of me. Me. The person who, for the better part of her life, only had her own best interests at heart—who lived with her mother until she was almost thirty. I'm going to be a mother myself. Thank goodness I still have four months to prepare for actual motherhood—and that Jennie is going to be some sort of super-alpha mom. "She's probably going to be one of those jaded LA kids who turns away from the fake glitz of Hollywood," I say.
Jennie chuckles. "With you as her mother? I don't think so."
"Me? You mean you, obviously."
"Don't be silly, babe. Have you not noticed how casual I am about tonight's premiere? Lisa Manoban's going to be my baby mama. I'm no longer that easily impressed."
"Yeah right."
"Are you sure Jisoo and Chaeyoung aren't coming, though?" She flashes me a toothy grin. "I'd love to have another chat with Jisoo."
"You'll have to make do with Jieun."
"Is she bringing a date?"
"Jieun? A date?" I purse my lips. "With her you never know, but it would surprise me if she did." I've worked with Jieun for two years now and I'm still none the wiser about her personal life. She's approachable and friendly to a fault, but there's something ungraspable—something fundamentally unknowable—about her.
"We'll find out in…" Jennie checks her watch. "Oh, damn. We'd better get a move on, babe. With all your antics, you're making us late to your own premiere."
Kai and Bridget have flown in from Washington, without kids, for my big night. Mom and Nathan are there with bells on. Jieun hasn't brought a date. She has only invited her two best friends—the ones she seems to hang out with almost exclusively as far as I can tell. We just watched the first episode of the second season of our show together.
"Here you go, babe." Jennie hands me a colorful mocktail. Predictably, she has brought one for herself. Sometimes, I wish she'd take the edge off a little with a small glass of something—not a shot of tequila, of course—but there's no such thing as being casual about our pregnancy for Jennie. She stopped drinking on the same day I did. But I get it. The only thing she wants more than this baby is having carried it herself, but that was not an option.
We all hold up our glass.
"To Lisa," Mom says. "Can I go talk to Jieun now?"
"Mom, we've talked about this."
"I know, darling, but I just get so excited."
"Let her come to you," I whisper. "She will, eventually."
"Speaking of," Jennie says. "She's coming over right now."
Even though my part on the show is equal to Jieun's, she's still—and will always be—the bigger star.
"Oh, god, Lisa," she says. "I still can't believe you're going to have a baby."
Playing one of the main characters on a popular TV show didn't make planning for pregnancy easy—not that it ever is. Just ask Jennie. Ideally, I'd have been pregnant a month earlier, but there are some things that making TV will always come secondary to—although not according to some of the producers. But this is Hollywood and tweaks to the schedule can always be made.
Jieun pulls me away from the little group I'm standing in.
"I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you on another job well done. You were a real star this season, Lisa. I've had a front row seat at seeing you become better and better. Great stuff."
"Thanks, Jieun. That's so sweet of you."
"Eh, I have my moments," she says on a sigh. "God, I hate these things. It's lovely to have a moment with everyone who worked so hard all year, but I'm just so tired now." She gives me a once-over. "How are you even still standing? You're carrying another person around with you."
"I hate to state the obvious." I shoot her a grin.
"What? That you actually like parties?" Jieun's face has gone all serious.
"No, that I'm about twenty years younger than you. Although I do love a good party."
Jieun nods. "Rub it in."
"Just a heads-up, my mom's about to make a move on you. You can still escape if you want to."
"I always have time and energy for Mary. You know that." Jieun paints on a smile in that way that she has. It looks plenty genuine, yet there's still something contradictory about it that doesn't ring entirely true—not an issue she ever has when a director calls 'action'. Jieun Lee's one of the best actors in the biz.
While my mother is all over Jieun, Kai and Bridget walk up to Jennie and me.
"Can we talk for one quick sec?" Kai asks. He can be around Jennie and me without qualms now. Time and distance have worked their magic. And he's much happier now than he was at the end with Jennie. "We're only telling Mom and Nathan tomorrow. Obviously, I didn't want to steal your thunder tonight." He shoots me a wink. "But, um, Bridget and I are pregnant and we wanted you to be the first to know."
It must be because of the pregnancy hormones running through my veins, because instantly, my eyes fill with tears.
"Oh, god, Kai," Jennie says, her voice shaky. She holds her arms out for Bridget, my new sister-in-law, who I have no intention of taking from my brother. "Congratulations," Jennie whispers in Bridget's ear.
Gingerly, because he thinks I've become breakable just as much as Jennie does, Kai throws his arms around me. "You have no idea how happy I am," my brother says.
"I think I have a pretty good idea." There's plenty of space between us for me to, ostentatiously, rub a hand over my belly. "Congrats, bro."
"Two more little Manobans in the world," he says. "That can only be a good thing."
"We'll have to see about that."
"You're right. Our child could very well be a little troublemaker like her Aunt Lisa."
"You should be so lucky," I joke.
"True," my brother says, his eyes on me, a smile on his lips. "I should be so lucky."
Jennie slips her arm around my waist. "We should all be so lucky," she says.
THE END . . .