"I know you want to see me mom, and I want to see you too", I say, but it's not exactly super true.
I did love my mom a lot. But in terms of seeing her lately since I've been pregnant… it's really just adding more stress on me because I can sense her disapproval of me and Cappie's whole situation.
I'm on the phone with her outside of one of CRU's libraries. I had come here to help Katherine study for a test and my mom had called. I'd taken the call but then got some extremely dirty looks from the librarian for doing so, so I'd come outside where I pacing back and forth to keep warm. It was the evening and already dark, and I could see my breath in the cold air.
"Really? Because you seem very happy to just hole up with that… guy all weekend. I don't even know what to call him Casey! I can't call him your boyfriend, should I call him your roommate? Your friend?", she says, arguing, and I knew this was her way of not so subtly digging into the fact that she thought what I was doing with Cappie was insane.
"You could just call him my baby's father. Or better yet, you could use his name since you seem to always avoid it", I groan, not really caring about how she felt about this. Me and Cappie had been working really well lately, especially since I'd opened up more to him about how I'd felt about him in my first trimester, about how I was happy to be doing this with him. So I wasn't going to let my mom ruin this.
"I'm just going to tell the relatives at thanksgiving that he's your boyfriend, I don't care", she settles with a huff.
"That's fine", I roll my eyes. "Tell them he's my husband for all I care".
"That's quite sassy young lady!", She scolds me.
"Sorry", I sigh. "And I'm sorry about thanksgiving. I'm just way more comfortable here where my doctor is and where Cappie is. I don't really feel like driving all the way to Minnesota to go to Aunt Cindy's".
"You could fly", she suggests.
"At seven months pregnant?", I scoff. "Yeah, no way. Call Rusty, maybe he'll go".
"I already did and he said he's too busy with his current project in school", She says like it's no big deal.
"I bet you didn't give him the fifth degree about that excuse", I scoff, shaking my head with a slight laugh, having known I should've expected this.
Rusty was her golden boy who could do no wrong and I was just the daughter that she had to shamefully tell all our relatives at Thanksgiving dinner about how I got knocked up at college.
"Fine Casey, I suppose it is a lot of work to get to Minnesota while you're very pregnant. I know when I had you and Rusty, when I got to the seventh month I barely wanted to move", She sighs, finally showing me some empathy.
"Exactly!", I laugh.
"I just was hoping you could come so that you could break the news to your grandma and grandpa since you know how religious they are", She sighs.
"Just don't tell them then, who cares", I shrug.
"They're my parents Casey! I have to let them know they're gonna be great grandparents", She says like I'm crazy.
"Well I'm sorry… just tell them I'm married and that the baby was planned", I offer as a solution.
"I'm not gonna lie Casey!", She refutes like I'm insane.
"Mom, I'm outside and it's really cold so… can we talk later? I'll email you some recent pictures of my bump and the latest 3D sonogram so you and dad can see it, okay?", I tell her.
"Okay, that would be good, you know we'd love to see those. And you're outside? In mid November? What the hell are you doing Casey? It's 8 o'clock at night", She sounds worried, not to mention angry.
"Don't worry mom, I have a coat on, I'm just at the library with my friend and they won't let me talk in there. The librarian is running a pretty tight ship", I laugh. "But I'm gonna go home soon, so don't worry about me".
"Alright", She sighs. "And that boy you're with, he's being respectful with you since you moved in together?"
"Cappie?", I scoff. "Yeah he's always respectful".
"Good", she says but I can still sense her uneasiness. "I just feel weird knowing you're living with a boy".
I laugh at her then. I never told her that we were just about living together last year in the second semester. I was pretty much sleeping over with Cappie at KT every night, had my own drawer in his room with my stuff.
"Mom, Cappie and me have known each other for a really long time now and we get along great. Everything is going fine", I pause then before speaking. "We have separate bedrooms… it's all very responsible".
I leave out the fact that those separate bedrooms are not exactly being used and that I can't even remember how many times we'd hooked up since I'd come back here. Maybe 7? I wasn't sure. But I definitely wasn't doing to tell my mom about that.
"Well alright, it doesn't make sense to me but as long as you're happy", She comes to that conclusion which makes me grin and relax for the first time this conversation.
"Thanks mom. I'll talk to you soon. Tell dad I said hi. Okay bye!", I say and she says goodbye too.
I sigh of relief knowing I can finally go back inside.
I walk back to the table where Katherine is studying to see her laying her head down on her book.
"Katherine?", I walk up to her.
She was asleep.
I poke her shoulder and her eyes blink up and down until she comes to.
"Oh sorry about that Casey", she says sleepily. "I was just resting my eyes, I wasn't sleeping, I swear".
She looks at me, ashamed.
"It's okay", I nod, feeling bad for her.
If I was being honest Katherine looked a bit rough tonight. For the first time since I've known her she was actually wearing sweatpants. And she had huge dark circles under her eyes, her hair in a messy bun resembling a birds nest atop her head.
"You know… maybe you should take a break, go get some sleep", I look at her, trying to help her out.
"It's just…", She breaks down then, laying back in her chair and putting her hands over her face. "Law school is really hard Casey. Really hard".
I've never seen her like this.
"Aw Katherine, it's okay. You're smart, and determined. I think you just need a little break", I sit down beside her. "How about I drive you home and you just go to sleep?"
"Okay", she nods up and down, staring off into the distance. I'm pretty sure she hadn't slept in two days. "You know Casey, you should count yourself lucky you got pregnant and couldn't go to law school".
I laugh then and shake my head.
"Yeah okay Katherine", I scoff. "I don't know that I'd call myself lucky but…."
"You don't have billions of chapters of legal jargon to learn and get ingrained into your head by tomorrow morning", She complains, looking like she's going to cry now.
"Here, Katherine. Let's get you home", I put my arm around her, getting her up and we pack up her book bag and then walk out of the library.
I'd picked her up and driven us both here so I had to drive her home anyway, we're just going a little earlier than she'd planned but I knew she really needed this.
We're in my car now and I pull out of the parking lot.
"You know what ZBZ… bring me to Kappa Tau", I look over to see her smile.
"Really?", I give her a look. "I'm not sure if you'll get much sleep there".
"I need something else before I sleep", She says, not her usual self right now.
"Oh…", I nod uncomfortably. "Got it".
"You know my relationship with Beaver is kind of what's taking a toll on my studying, on my usual routine. Before I met him I was getting up at 6am and going to sleep at 1am, it was all very militant. But very efficient for me", Katherine says.
"Katherine that doesn't sound that healthy, that's like... no sleep", I give her a look.
"Well now that I've met Beaver, he's just completely brought something crazy out in me. I slept in until 11am on the weekend Casey. 11!", She shakes her head like it's crazy. "I'm like some kind of girl gone wild".
"Yeah… totally", I nod awkwardly. "Well alright. To the KT house it is. I'm pretty sure Cappie's there too right now".
"How cool is it that we're best friends and we're dating best friends", She grins, looking out the window. "This is better than 12 year old Katherine could've ever dreamed of. I used to eat lunch with the teachers. And now I can double date with the coolest people at CRU, it's crazy to me".
I laugh along with her.
"Again, not dating. But yes, I see what you mean", I nod with a smile. "I'm happy we're friends too Katherine".
I smile over to the passenger seat.
Eventually I pull up to the KT house and we get out, Katherine running up the driveway to the front door excitedly. I hang back behind her, not making myself run at this point in my pregnancy even if someone was chasing me with a knife.
Beaver answers the door and him and Katherine are immediately making out. When I make it up to the steps I wait for them to stop but they don't.
"Guys?", I try to interrupt them. "Can we just go inside? You can resume whatever this… is in there".
I'm cold and I want to get in and see Cappie.
"Oh sorry Casey", Katherine giggles. "Walter let's get out of the cold silly!"
We get inside finally, the house warm.
"Cappie! Your baby mama is here!", Beaver calls out and Cappie walks into the living room then from the room with their pool table.
"Oh hey Case!", he lights up. "I didn't expect you to stop by".
He comes over to give me a quick hug and when we pull away we look at Beaver and Katherine groping each other. I meet Cap's eyes, us both looking grossed out.
"Yeah uh… I was just dropping Katherine off here and then thought I would come in and see you too", I explain and he nods with a smile.
"Walter!", Katherine finally pulls away from Beaver. "Stop for a second, we're being rude!"
Katherine still can't stop the way she giggles like a schoolgirl, but she's pushed Beaver's hands off of her for now.
"Hello Cappie", Katherine nods at him. "Nice to see you".
"Hey Katherine", Cappie looks up and down at her appearance, a little surprised at the level of dishevelment she's sporting when she usually looked like an American Girl Doll. "You look… nice tonight".
"Cap", Beaver looks over at him, upset. "Hands off, okay?"
I scoff then at the thought that Beaver thinks Cappie is hitting on Katherine, unable to stifle in the giggle that leaves my mouth.
"Oh don't worry Beav. I know she's your girlfriend", Cappie laughs. "And I'm not on the market".
Cappie looks to me awkwardly with a shrug, thinking the same thing as me about those two.
"Well!", I break the awkwardness. "Katherine really needs to get some sleep, so I trust you'll let her sleep in your bed Beav? And try to keep the other guys' noise at bay alright? She has a big test tomorrow".
"You're so sweet to think of me Casey", Katherine smiles at me. "You're like a mom already".
"Well", I sigh. "I'm just looking out for you because I know you're a little… sleep deprived and gonna regret it tomorrow if you don't get some rest".
"You're right about that mom thing", Beaver looks to Katherine with a laugh. "You sound like my mom. It's almost like she's here in the room with me!"
I put my hands on my hips giving them a look.
"Am not!", I argue.
"My mom does that exact stance when she's mad at me!", Beaver laughs.
I look to Cappie, annoyed, to maybe back me up.
But all he doesn't is grin with a laugh.
"Sorry Case, I'm not gonna fight them on this", He shrugs and pulls me back into his arms, his hands wrapping around to touch the side of my bump.
"I'm still a young, cool mom then, okay?", I argue with them. "I don't want to be like my mom".
"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you how your phone call with her went?", Katherine asks me.
"Ugh", I groan. "It was fine".
"Your mom called?", Cappie asks and I turn around to look at him.
"Yeah she wanted me to come over for thanksgiving", I shake my head with a huff. "In Minnesota. So I said no and she wasn't the happiest about it but I'm not about to drive all the way to Minnesota. By Thanksgiving I'll be over 7 months pregnant, no way in hell is that happening".
"I agree, plus we'll all have a good time here", Cappie smiles.
"Yeah everyone is more than welcome to come to our KT Thanksgiving celebrations", Beaver smiles.
"Is the menu the same as last year?", I scrunch up my nose, giving Cap and Beav a downcast look.
"Hey, we never claimed to be a five star restaurant", Cappie laughs and then smiles at me. "Don't worry we'll get whatever takeout food you want".
"Okay", I nod. "I'm happy then".
"Perfect", Cappie smiles. "Well anyways Case, you wanna head home?"
"It's only nine o'clock and we didn't finish our pool game", Beaver whines.
"Beav we already played a couple times", Cappie laughs. "Besides you've got Katherine here to keep you company".
"Yeah sorry Beav, I go to sleep pretty early now", I shrug. "Because apparently I'm already acting like everyone's mom".
I give them a look and then sling my purse over my shoulder and do up my coat while Cappie grabs his.
"Oh and Katherine!", I look to her. "My baby shower is on Saturday if you can make it. At 1 o'clock at ZBZ".
"I wouldn't miss it for the world Casey… even if I'm losing studying time by the minute", She says worriedly.
"If you can't make it I understand, but we'd love to have you. You don't have to get me a present though, you already got me such… awesome stuff", I give her a smile and then look over to catch Cappie's eye.
"I'll be there ZBZ. Will there be vegetarian options?"
"Yeah, for sure", I nod. "Sounds good, see you there!"
"Okay Goodnight guys", Cappie waves to them and Beaver bids Cappie goodbye begrudgingly.
"So your mom was really okay with you not going to your family's place for Thanksgiving?", Cappie asks as we're curled up in my bed.
"I mean she wasn't thrilled, she really laid into me at first about it", I sigh. "Mostly because now she has to tell my whole family that I'm pregnant instead of me telling them in person. Which I can say I'm pretty happy I don't have to do".
We I laugh slightly.
"My grandparents are pretty religious and traditional", I explain to Cappie. "So the me being 22 of it all isn't a problem whatsoever, it's more the not married part".
"Oh gotcha", Cappie nods. "Well you could just lie to them and say that we're married".
"That's what I said", I smirk at him, finding it funny that we thought the same thing. "My mom told me she's not lying to her parents though so she's gonna have to lay the truth on them I guess, which will be her funeral".
"My whole family is pretty relaxed about the whole traditional thing… actually pretty relaxed about anything to be honest. But I have no grandparents left, and no aunts or uncles I really know very well so I don't have to break the news to anyone else", Cappie shrugs.
I turn my mouth at him then into a slight frown.
"Your parents aren't gonna be around for Thanksgiving I'm guessing?", I ask.
"Yeah my mom is at an outdoor protest against eating turkey the whole weekend, and my dads in Austin, so we won't see each other either", Cap shrugs, his parents having started living seperate lives since they split up.
It really doesn't seem to bother Cappie but I still feel kind of bad for him that they never really check up on him. As much as my mom could annoy me at least I knew that I was on her mind often.
I guess that's why he had such a hard time ever wanting to leave here. The KT house was the longest he'd ever lived anywhere, and the guys were sort of the first real family he's experienced.
"I'm sorry you don't really have family Cap. I mean besides your parents", I say.
He grins at me and then pulls me into him gently.
"That's what I keep telling you though… I do have family now", He smiles as he speaks and I turn over onto my other side so I can burrow into his body, spooning. Once I settle against him, his hand travels down to my bump.
"You're right Cap", I smile and then yawn, drowsy. "When she's old enough we can create our own traditions together on the holidays. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter and Halloween…"
I feel giddy just thinking about it. I really liked the fact that I could create something with Cappie and be that family for him forever because he deserved it.
"I think she approves of that, I can feel her kicking against my hand", Cappie laughs, loving when she kicks for him.
I giggle at him then.
"You know she's always kicking me hard like this at night, it's like she knows that it's time for me to go to sleep and just wants to annoy me", I laugh.
"She's a troublemaker already", Cappie sighs jokingly. "I'm sorry Case, pretty sure it's hereditary".
"Well if so and she's a mini you, then I'm really in for it", I laugh.
"Hey c'mon you love me!", Cappie says jokingly but then both of us go silent, me not knowing what to say and him realizing what he'd just said.
I did love him, obviously.
Well it was obvious to me. I guess probably not so obvious to him though.
"Sorry", he shakes his head, immediate regret rushing through him. "Not what I meant. I meant that you like me".
"Yeah…", I nod, unsure what to do or say, wanting to maybe just blurt out that I loved him. Because I think he would say it back.
Would he?
"Anyways, you should get some sleep, only one day till your baby shower", He says and shifts on his pillow, his moving around jiggling me with him in our spooning position.
I turn then so I can actually look at him. I catch his blue eyes off guard, his not expecting what I do next.
I pull him in to kiss me, his hand still on my belly, the baby still moving around underneath it.
When we part he seems to look at me in confusion, happy confusion though, as he scoffs slightly.
"I do like you Cap", I say and then give him a playful grin. "And if she's anything like you I'll be happy".
He looks at me softly then, a shy smile taking over his face in a blush and he nods and pulls me in to give me a quick squeeze.
"Thanks Case", He says quietly against me as I turn back over.
And we fall asleep like that.
"Ash!", I beam when I walk into the ZBZ house.
I lean in to hug a slightly flustered Ashleigh.
"Is that her? Try to stall her!", I hear a voice, Betsy's, coming from the other room.
I pull away from Ashleigh to look at her confusedly.
"So uh… we're a little off schedule", Ash gives me an awkward smile.
"I swear to god Jessica! You blow like one balloon up every 5 minutes. Why don't you actually put your mouth to good use for once!", I hear Rebecca's voice.
"Rebecca!", Abby says.
"Oh c'mon, we've all heard the rumours!", Rebecca argues.
I look back at Ash after listening to that argument, trying to stifle in a laugh.
"Oh wow…", I trail off and then finally let a laugh out. "Sounds like typical Rebecca".
"Yeah, everyone is going kind of crazy. You don't even want to walk into the kitchen… Dale went insane because we didn't have red food coloring to make pink icing", Ash explains.
"Aw I feel bad, I don't want everyone fussing over me", I frown at Ashleigh. "I really don't even need a baby shower".
"No!", Ash whines. "Case you deserve a good baby shower, we're just a little behind schedule".
I see Rusty walk out of the dining room then, looking agitated.
"Rusty?", I question, wondering what he's doing here.
"Oh hey Case", He shakes his head. "For the love of god, do not go in the kitchen".
"Yeah I heard", I laugh.
"Dale called me over here to bring him red food coloring and then just used me as his punching bag for a solid half hour", Rusty sighs. "Anyways I guess I'll be going".
"Wait!", I stop him. "Why don't you stay?"
"Stay?", he looks around. "Isn't this like… a girl thing?"
"Well kinda but you're my brother and my friend and I want you to be here", I give him a smile.
"Yeah?", Rusty smirks slightly.
"Yeah I think that would be fun too!", Ashleigh nods
"Okay cool, well I didn't have plans anyway", Rusty shrugs with a smile. "I didn't get you anything Case, but-"
"It's no problem", I cut him off. "I don't need gifts anyways".
"Good because I didn't get you one", Laura walks past and then gives me a smile. "Congrats Casey. You look like way huge".
"Oh… thanks Laura", I smile awkwardly.
"Hey Laura you may want to help Martha Stewart out in the kitchen, you know since he is basically your boyfriend", Rusty jokes with her.
"Hey!", Laura gives him a glare. "Not so loud geek".
Laura keeps walking into the living room, going to help out the girls I presume.
"Well come on in Case. We're almost ready I think", Ash smiles and walks me in to see the dining room filled with pink streamers and balloons, the tables draped in pink table cloths.
There's signs around the room saying things like "it's a girl" and "congratulations".
"Aw… you guys!", I look around at what they'd done. "I love it".
Rebecca and the other girls realize I'm walking into the room then and they look up from what they're doing.
"Dammit, is it 1 o'clock already?", Rebecca groans.
"It's okay Rebecca. This all looks amazing you guys, I can't thank you enough", I say, tears in my eyes.
The girls I know come over to all give me hugs then which is really nice since I missed them so much.
"It's so good to see you guys!", I beam. "And to the pledges that I don't know, thank you for helping put this party on, I'm Casey, and I hope to get to know you guys too".
Rebecca gets up from her seat then to come give me her own hug.
"Wow", Rebecca looks down at my belly. "You really do look like huge now. Hopefully you won't go into labour here. We are so not equipped to deal that".
I scoff at her and put my hands on my hips.
"Don't worry", I assure her. "I still have 2 months till my due date".
"Thank god", She sighs, looking me up and down still. "Cute outfit… for a pregnant girl".
I'm wearing a pink sweater dress since it's fairly cold outside, some silver jewelry, and some tall brown suede boots.
"Thanks… I think?", I laugh, never sure what Rebecca's intentions are. "I wore pink because I know that's the theme".
I see most of the other girls wearing at least one article of pink clothing too.
"And what's he doing here? Is he our waiter?", Rebecca gestures to Rusty.
"No Rebecca", I give her a slight glare. "He's a guest".
"And I have a name", Rusty gives her a look.
"Alright as long as you don't have too many more male guests, this is supposed to be a girls only thing", Rebecca crosses her arms.
"Don't worry, Cappie's at work", I give her a look.
"Aw Cappie actually trying to be a responsible father for you really makes me wanna throw up", She gives me a playful gag. "Sweet though".
Me, Rusty, and Ashleigh share a look as Rebecca goes off to yell at a pledge about her napkin folding skills.
"Is there anything I can do to help you guys get ready?", I ask Ash.
"Of course not Case, you're the guest of honour! Plus you're super pregnant, just take it easy. Here, we have a special chair for you!", Ash excitedly brings me over to the seat I usually always sat in when we lived here and at it there's a pink crown that says 'mom' on it.
"Here!", Ash pulls the chair out and then picks up the crown up and puts it on my head.
"Aw this is too cute Ash, I love it", I laugh.
"Oh hey I brought my camera over Ash, like you asked me too. This would be a perfect photo", Rusty looks at the two of us with a smile.
"Thanks Rusty! And yes! Snap one of us! You can put it in your scrapbook Case", Ashleigh puts her arm around me.
"Yeah I love it", I giggle and Rusty gets the photo.
"This is so perfect", I smile excitedly. "I'm gonna make a few pages dedicated to the baby shower, that way she can see all the people who were waiting to her to show up".
"I love that", Ash grins. "You can label this photo 'mom with your godmother'".
"Hey you better take one with me too then Case, because I'm the godfather", Rusty boasts.
"Plus we were also the first two people to find out", Ash adds with Rusty agreeing.
"Okay you guys", I nod, the two of them amusing to me. "Come here Rus".
Rusty hands the camera to Ashleigh and she takes a picture of me and Rusty, Rusty putting his hand on my bump as Ash snaps the picture.
"Well Case I can be the designated photographer if you want? Get some pictures of everything", Rusty offers.
"That would be awesome!", I hug him. "Thanks".
"Of course", Rusty smiles.
Dale comes out in the dining room then and all of us go quiet, hoping we're not in for hurricane Dale.
"Alright everyone since Casey is going to be here soon, I suggest we all try to keep things prim and proper. And Rebecca let's not let her have any idea that you and I almost came to blows over the sandwiches", Dale announces, not realizing that I'm here.
"Dale-", Rusty starts.
"I don't want to hear it Mr. I can't frost a cupcake!", Dale silences him, cutting him off.
"Dale you're just lucky it didn't escalate further because we all know who would've won if it became physical. All I was saying is that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich isn't right for a baby shower!", Rebecca argues. "Plus what the hell are you talking about? Casey is right here".
Rebecca points to me.
"That's what I was trying to tell you", Rusty explains to him.
"Oh…", Dale gulps embarrassedly and then looks to me. "Well hello Casey. You look just absolutely glowing today. We're all getting along here, everything is going just splendidly".
I can tell Dale's obviously lying and it makes me laugh.
"It's okay Dale, really. No one needs to go crazy for me. I told Ash before, I would be happy to eat anything at this point in my pregnancy", I assure him.
"Well you're not going to get just anything", Dale smooths out his apron. "I've cooked up a great lunch that's gonna knock your socks off. With no help from a certain president".
Dale looks over to glare at Rebecca, who is seated in a chair rolling her eyes.
"Well thanks Dale", I smile. "I'm hungry… as usual".
"Perfect. Well now that I know you're here and everything appears to be ready out here in terms of decorations, the first course will be out in 5 minutes", He announces and then goes back to the kitchen.
I laugh at the whirlwind going on here. I missed it a lot here even though I had to admit I liked living with Cappie and finally having privacy with him at our place.
The doorbell rings then and I get up with Ash to go get it.
"Katherine!", I smile and see her staring back at me anxiously. "You made it".
"Of course ZBZ, I always stay true to my word. Is it over yet?", She looks at her watch nervously. "I feel like such a clown. It's 1:10, I never show up to an event late".
"You're only ten minutes late", I laugh. "You're good Katherine, don't worry. Come on in".
"Yeah Hi Katherine", Ashleigh greets her, the two of them never having really hung around much.
"Yeah hey Katherine!", Rusty echoes behind her.
"Oh my… I didn't expect to run into an ex lover here", Katherine says awkwardly.
"Oh it's okay Katherine… besides we only went on… maybe two dates right?", Rusty shrugs.
"Yes and now, in case you haven't heard, I'm dating one of your brothers. I mean… not in an incest way, more in a-", Katherine is gonna ramble on but Rusty stops her.
"Don't worry, I know what you mean", Rusty laughs. "It's nice to see you".
"You too. I love baby showers", She smiles. "I love babies in general. But I definitely need to make partner at a firm before I can even think about having one. I want two girls and a boy, I've already got it all planned out. First names and middle names, so long as they go with my husband's last name. Good thing for me, Boudreaux is a beautiful last name".
Katherine refers to Beaver's last name and me and Ash and Rusty stare at each other in surprise over Katherine's confession.
"Not to say that you having a baby young is a bad thing Casey", Katherine backtracks.
"Oh no, it's okay. I know what you mean Katherine", I wave it off. "I wish I could become partner at a law firm first too but… well surprises happen I guess".
I laugh awkwardly.
"It's not surprising really. Women in their early twenties have more ovulation days in their cycle than any other demographic", Katherine explains in her usual by the book way. "Meaning that even if you had sex just as many times a month as a woman in say, their mid thirties, you still have almost twice the chances of getting pregnant as her. Isn't that crazy?"
"Yeah… totally", I nod, a little uncomfortable that my sex life is getting brought up by her. "Except I think the woman in her thirties would probably be more ready for a baby than me".
I laugh slightly.
"Well hey, biologically, you're doing it right. In fact our prime probably would've been when we were 15 years old if we listened to what science tells us", Katherine points out and Ash looks to me awkwardly, Katherine never really having been her cup of tea.
"Technically that's true", Rusty agrees.
"Well, there's a brightside Case. At least you're not 15", Ash laughs.
"Yep", I nod with a nervous laugh.
When I was 15 I was entrenched in whether Joey and Pacey were ever going to get together on Dawson's Creek. I certainly wasn't thinking about babies, and definitely wasn't having sex. 15 year old me would be pretty surprised that I was having a baby this soon in life.
"Alright ladies, please take your seats!", I hear Dale's voice, luckily saving us from Katherine's awkward biology lesson.
"You can come sit by us Katherine", I offer to her since she didn't really know anyone else that well.
The four of us go over to our seats at our table, the other girls taking theirs too, as Dale brings out platters for each table.
"I'm gonna go help Dale guys", Rusty excuses himself.
"Oh Rus, tell Dale that Katherine's a vegetarian", I remind him.
"Okay you got it".
Once our table gets our mini quiches brought to us by Rusty I'm more than ready to eat.
"Careful guys, get one while you can, because Casey could eat this whole tray", Ash jokes to Katherine and Rusty who's just sitting down.
"These are so interesting. Like a tiny egg based pie, I don't think I've ever had one before", Katherine inspects the mini quiche and then puts some in her mouth, and I watch for her verdict. "Very tasty".
"Good", I laugh, with my mouth full.
Between course one and two, girls come over to continue to wish me luck and hear about the baby so far. I tell lots of them about the 3D ultrasound pictures, about how she kicks me and I swear sometimes I can see her footprint in my belly, about how happy I am that she's a girl, and so much more. I feel like I could talk about her for days and luckily the girls seem happy to listen.
When the little sandwiches come over, Dale has them on elaborate three tiered trays.
"I had to order these special, they're typically used at afternoon teas", Dale explains when he brings the sandwiches over to our table.
"Cool Dale, thanks for this, it looks amazing", I smile.
"Of course Casey", Dale blushes and goes off to keep bringing them out to the other tables.
Rusty is walking around the room taking pictures of different sets of people and then comes over to get one of me, Ash, and Katherine. An unlikely trio, but these are the two girls that I'd weirdly now come to call my best friends.
"Rus, take a break and try this turkey sandwich, it's so good", I tell him.
"Okay", he smiles and sits back in his spot.
"I can't wait for the cupcakes, oh my god", I moan and then feel the need to explain when I see their faces. "The baby likes sweet stuff a lot, more than half of what I eat is just baked goods".
They laugh at me then, me scarfing down all this food amusing the three of them.
"You eat very similarly to Walter", Katherine makes the observation.
"That alarms me slightly", I giggle. "Where is Beaver today? I half expected you to bring him with since you guys are kinda attached at the hip".
"Oh he's with your baby daddy", Katherine explains. "At Doblers. He goes there just about every shift Cappie's working, tries to get free drinks. He's such a jokester!"
Katherine blushes with a laugh and I can see Ash and Rusty share a knowing grin, the two of them becoming closer and closer lately.
"Oh that's cool", I laugh.
"So Ashleigh, are you seeing anyone right now?", Katherine asks her. "Because you know, me and Casey have our own bad boys, I'm sure we could hook you up with one too".
I scoff then at that, since Ash has never been the biggest fan of KT guys.
"Oh I'm not seeing anyone but… I don't know… I'll meet someone eventually. Most of the KT guys I know already", Ash shrugs.
I can't help but notice that if Ashleigh did make the leap with Rusty, he's a KT guy too. They really did seem to win us all over.
"Alright", Katherine nods. "Casey, I was thinking, for a good double date idea this time of year, me and Beaver thought you and Cappie might want to go ice skating?"
"Oh that sounds like fun", I smile. "But if we go I'll probably sit on the side. I feel like it's not worth it if I fall".
"Oh gosh you're right", She shakes her head. "Silly me, I didn't even think about how dangerous that would be while you're pregnant. Maybe we'll go to a Christmas market instead".
"They do have a lot of good food at those things", I say, thinking to myself. "I would be in".
"That's your determinate for going anywhere these days huh?", Rusty makes fun of me.
"Rusty talk to me when you're 7 months pregnant", I give him a look with a cross of my arms.
Rusty merely laughs with Ash joining in.
"Alright everyone. It's time for our last course this afternoon. Me and my assistant Rusty will be bringing the cupcakes out momentarily", Dale interrupts everyone's chatter to announce.
"I guess that's my cue", Rusty says with a laugh, getting up from his seat to go follow Dale off to the kitchen.
"So you're really dating Beaver then?", Ashleigh looks to Katherine, trying to make conversation.
Ash smiles at her but I can tell she's a little surprised.
"Yes, Casey and Cappie introduced us and it's just gone so amazingly well. He's very in tune to a woman's needs if you know when I mean", Katherine takes a sip of her lemonade while Ash gives me a look.
"Oh…. Look guys, cupcakes!", I try to break the awkward moment as Rusty drops a platter off with four cupcakes at our table.
"Don't worry Case, Dale has more in the back, since I'm assuming you're gonna be eating more than one", Rusty laughs.
I pick up a cupcake and put it onto my plate and then give him a look, rolling my eyes.
"I would take one home to Cappie", I shrug. "Or at least pretend to and then eat it in the car on the way home".
Rusty and Ashleigh look at me with a laugh and then Rusty goes back to help Dale.
"These are amazing", Katherine's already eating her cupcake, with a fork and knife of course.
"I'm also setting up a tea station!", Dale announces, bringing out tea bags and a kettle, with Rusty following behind him with the cups. Dale then looks to me. "Decaf, Casey, don't worry".
"Thanks Dale!", I say between bites of my cupcake, pink icing probably on my mouth.
"Ooh I just love tea!", Katherine smiles excitedly. "I'll go get us some ladies!"
"Thanks Katherine!", I give her a smile.
Ashleigh gives me a look then, once Katherine is gone.
"What?", I groan. "She's been really nice my whole pregnancy, and she's kind of dating one of Cappie's best friends now too, so I see her a lot".
"Ugh I know. I'm sorry, I just find her….", Ash searches for the word.
"I know she's a little odd, but she's actually super nice", I tell Ash. "And don't be jealous, you're still the godmother".
Ash smiles then.
"Sorry you're right Case. I shouldn't be so judgey. Beaver is hot, so I understand her there… just doesn't have a single working brain cell to save him but… if they're happy I should be too", Ash laughs.
"Well there are much smarter guys on campus. One even in KT", I give her a teasing look then, obviously referring to Rusty, and she rolls her eyes at me good naturedly.
"Just finish your cupcake", Ash shakes her head with a laugh and Katherine comes back to our table with three teacups.
"Alright everyone! Presents in five minutes in the living room!", Rebecca shouts, standing up from her chair.
"Aw you guys didn't have to!", I turn to say to the room, feeling awkward that the girls here are spending money on me when they really don't have to.
"Don't worry Casey, only a couple of us actually got you anything over twenty dollars", Rebecca says and then shoots a look at Betsy.
"I'm a little strapped for cash right now alright Rebecca?", Betsy sighs, leaning back in her chair.
"Betsy don't worry about it", I say right away. "Throwing me this party was enough, seriously. It means a lot".
I give her a big smile then.
"That goes for all of you guys, if you didn't get me anything I really don't mind at all. Just being here with you guys today is perfect! And means so much to me and the baby", I smile at them.
"The baby who still has no name?", Rebecca gives me a look and I give her a playful glare and she backs down. "Anyways the whole 'please don't spend money on me thing' is really endearing Case, but when you see what I got you you'll change your mind about the amazing things money can buy".
"Alright Rebecca", I laugh. "Give me a minute to find a second cupcake to eat and then I'll open it".
"See I knew you were gonna have a second one!", Rusty laughs as he pulls out his chair and sits down at our table again.
I give him a look and then grab his cupcake off his plate before he can stop me.
"Hey!", Rusty looks at me, annoyed.
"Mine now", I plop half of it in my mouth and give him a smug look.