Chapter 7
The flight back to New York was uneventful. Ben sat next to her, smiling at his phone most of the way back. The brief conversation that they did have was about how he was planning on bringing Bebe out in 4 weeks to meet his family. How he thought that Bebe and Chloe would be good friends and that his father would enjoy her sense of dry humor. Amy nodded along, her hand protectively over her belly.
The following week went quickly. Amy had met with her councilor, a loud older woman and explained that she wanted to transfer back to California.
"Oh no, is something going on?" Mrs. Higgins asked. "Freshman jitters are normal and so is being homesick. Everything will get better soon." She reached across the table and took Amy's hand in hers.
"No, No. Hudson has been great. I really like New York. Being this far away from home just is not going to work out long term. The semester has been great but I need to get back to my son." Amy replied, smiling.
"Your son?" Mrs. Higgins asked.
"Yup. I figured it was in my file. I have a 3 year old son. He stayed back in california with his father. I thought that I would be able to travel back and forth enough to see him but that and other…. Situations have arisen and I need to go back," Amy explained, smiling a little bit, thinking about the little baby growing in her belly.
"Alright. I hope all goes well and I can get the transfer paperwork started." She began typing on her computer. "You should be all set at the end of the semester to transfer back. Can I help you with anything else?"
"Uh… yeah. Do you have a recommendation for an OB clinic around here?" Amy sheepishly asked.
"Oh. Oh! Yes." Mrs. Higgins began scribbling on a piece of paper. "Your other situation?" She asked as she wrote.
"Yeah. I'm not familiar with the area enough to find a clinic myself."
Mrs. Higgins reached over the table and handed her a piece of paper with the information of the clinic written on it.
"East River Women's Health Care. They delivered all my babies,25 odd years ago. Tell them Helen from Hudson sent you. I refer all the girls that get pregnant there."
"Thank you." Amy said as she turned to leave the office.
She opened the door and found Bebe sitting next to the door outside. Bebe raised her eyebrow and asked a quiet "Congrats?"
"So you did hear?" Amy nodded her head.
"I did. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying too. Mrs. Higgins is loud. So you're having another baby?" Bebe asked.
"I am. And heading back to California." Amy admitted.
Bebe turned to head into Mrs. Higgin's office.
"Hey-" Amy called after her. "Let me tell Ben, okay?"
"My lips are sealed. He's going to dinner with Adrian and Omar tonight."
Amy knew that Adrian and Omar were looking for apartments in New York but didn't realize that they were currently in the city. Word was going to get out soon enough. It was probably best if Adrian and Ben heard about the pregnancy from her.
Amy rounded the corner back to her apartment. The warm summer sun was shining down on her, making for a pleasant walk home. She had called the clinic and made an appointment in 2 weeks.
As she got closer to the door that led up to her apartment a cab pulled up and stopped in front of the building. Omar climbed out of the back seat, followed by Adrian.
"Oh this place is cute." Adrian complimented the historic building.
"Adrian?" Amy asked, a bit shocked to see Adrian infront of her apartment.
"Amy!" Adrian squealed, throwing her arms around Amy.
"Hi- it's good to see you Adrian." Amy said. "And you Omar."
"Hi Amy." Omar said. "This is a nice place."
"Thank you. Are you guys hear to see Ben?" Amy asked.
"Eh. Kinda sorta. He's still in class. We just wanted to check out the neighborhood before dinner." Adrian replied. "But… you could show us your place?"
"Uh… yeah. Come on." She unlocked the door and the couple followed her up to her apartment. This was a time as good as any to break the news to Adrain.
Adrian and Omar strolled around the apartment, admiring the place.
"You are so lucky to find this place. Finding a decent apartment in New York is hard." Adrian said, taking a seat on the couch. "Especially a two bedroom."
"Yeah. Mr. Boykowich is a very generous man." Omar said, taking a seat next to her.
"He is…" Amy sat in the chair facing them. "So I have something to tell you." She started.
"About the baby?" Adrian's eyes lit up, excited to reveal that she already knew Amy's secret.
Amy's eye widened. "W-what? H-how?" She stuttered over her words.
"How do I know anything?" Adrian played with Amy's shock.
"Grace." Amy said, putting together all the pieces.
"Kathleen told Grace, Grace told me." She explained
"And you told Ben?" Amy asked.
"No. I was going to, at dinner. He's been impossible to talk to since he met Bebe. He only wanted to go to dinner to show her off." Adrian laughed at her ex-husband.
"I'd like to tell him." Amy stated.
"Oh go ahead. I was only going to use it to get him to stop talking about Bebe. Oh! Please come to dinner with us. I want to see this." Adrian was all excited about her plan.
"Adrian!" Omar scolded. "This isn't a spectacle.- Amy, you are welcome to come to dinner with us if you want." Omar was an incredibly kind man.
"That might be nice. To have someone else there while I tell him." Amy responded. There was no reason for Ben to respond badly but Amy was still dreading telling him.
The afternoon flew by as Amy showed Adrian and Omar around the neighborhood that she had been living in for the last month. The tall building lined both sides of the streets, shops on every corner and bustling traffic. New York was beautiful and Amy was almost sad to leave.
"I'm honestly jealous, Amy." Adrian started, taking a seat next to Amy on the bench in the park. Omar was on the other side of the park, trying to feed the ducks.
"What?" Amy was dumbfounded. Adrian had never admitted to jealousy.
"Yeah. Your apartment is everything we are looking for. 2 bedrooms, great location, close to the college. It's a shame you are giving it up." Adrian explained. "Where are you going to live when you get back to California? Are you and Ricky going to live together again?" Adrian was always looking for any amount of drama.
"No. My mom stopped the sale on her house. I am moving back in there. We will split our time with John." Amy explained, a bit embarrassed to admit that she was moving back into her childhood home.
"That's probably for the best. A new baby and John in that tiny apartment? That would be tight." Adrian was right. There was barely enough when it was just the three of them.
Adrian took Amy's hand and turned to look at her.
"When I was pregnant with Mercy…" Adrian trailed off a bit. "You offered to be my friend. I know I'll be all the way across the country when you have this little baby… but I am always here for you." Adrian squeezed Amy's hand.
The tears welled up in Amy's eyes and she quickly wiped them away.
"Ah, hormones." Amy tried to muster up a laugh. "Thank you, Adrian." The young women embraced each other.
"So about that apartment…." Adrian started.
"Would you really want to live below Ben?" Amy asked.
"With Omar? In this neighborhood? I'd live with Ben." She joked.
"Live with me?" A voice came from behind them. The girls turned to look at scrawny Ben. He was dressed nice, business casual like usual. He was smiling at them, clearly having overheard the last part of their conversation.
"Just trying to get Amy to give me her apartment." Adrian explained.
"Give you her apartment? Amy, are you leaving?" Ben asked.
The blush creeped up on Amy's face and she felt herself begin to sweat.
"Y-yeah. I-i'm going b-back home." She stuttered.
Ben raised his eyebrow at her. He knew Amy well enough to know that she stuttered when she was lying. Amy took a deep breath and stood up to face Ben.
"I'm pregnant." She blurted out. "I'm going home because I'm pregnant."
Ben looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head.
"Oh wow." He started. "Oh wow." He said again.
He took a seat on the bench between Adrain and Amy.
"Ricky's?" Ben asked.
Adrian swatted him on the shoulder. "Of course, it's Ricky's."
"Of course. Uh… congratulations?" Ben said. "Hopefully everything goes well. Are you finishing out the semester?"
"I am. I'll finish out the summer semester and then transfer to the same college Ricky is at. They have free child care for all enrolled students. John is already going there and loves it. I can volunteer there on the days that I don't have classes." Amy explained her plan.
"That's great. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Ben offered.
"Thank you, Ben. And you, Adrian."