6
LAUREN
Desiree slipped back into Harleigh’s living room, walking on tiptoes before dropping down onto the couch.
“Alright,” she said with a big sigh. “The baby is finally sleeping, which means I get approximately thirteen minutes of time to relax.”
Harleigh and I laughed.
“You have that down very precisely,” I said.
“You learn,” Harleigh said, commiserating with the other mother. “But what I’m amused by is that you’re talking about relaxing like you’ve forgotten you have a toddler still playing right here.”
Desiree looked over at the large area of the living room we blocked off with gates to create a play area for the little ones. She let out a short laugh.
“Living that mom-of-two life,” she said. “Anytime one of them is asleep, it’s easy street. You know, I didn’t use to think that going from one child to two could really be all that difficult. I mean, it is just one more child. If you’ve already had a child, you kind of already know what to expect and what to do, so it shouldn’t be so challenging to just add on another one. Now I know just how very naïve I really was. I’m redoing everything I just did with the first one but feel like I somehow forgot how to do it, while also learning this new phase with the toddler.”
Harleigh nodded. “That’s one of the big upsides to having twins. You get through the rough patches with both at the same time rather than overcoming it with one only to turn around and do it again with another one.”
“I had a friend in high school who had nine siblings,” Harleigh said. “They were all a year or less apart. One right after the other. I can’t even imagine.”
“That mother is superwoman,” Desiree said. “Nothing is better than my babies, but I can’t even begin to wrap my head around taking care of that many of them at the same time. I would worry myself into oblivion.”
We laughed again, and Harleigh stood. “Alright, since we’re all relaxing, I’m going to get some snacks. Be right back.”
She disappeared into the kitchen, and I looked over at the children playing. It was still amazing to me how quickly my world had expanded. Harleigh and I had been best friends for years, but it was just the two of us. We were just doing our best to navigate adult life in our small town, working together at the diner and imagining what life was going to be like in the future.
Now that future was right in front of us. At least, it was for Harleigh. In what seemed like an instant, we’d found a third for our friendship in Desiree, each of them had their husbands, and we were surrounded by children. There were some moments when it was still unbelievable.
And far more moments when it underscored how much I was still waiting and wondering when it was going to be my turn for life to start.
“Lauren? Hello? Where’d you go?”
I looked up and saw Desiree and Harleigh both staring at me. Harleigh was holding a glass of iced tea out to me, and Desiree had a plate of cheese and crackers sitting in her lap. Both looked vaguely concerned, and I wondered how long I had been just staring at the children, drifting off into my own thoughts.
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah. I’m here. Sorry.”
I shook my head to clear the fog away and took the glass from Harleigh. Desiree unloaded some of the crackers and cheese onto a smaller plate on the table in front of her, then handed the larger plate over to Harleigh.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking at me with her eyebrows knitted together. “You look like there’s something bothering you.”
We’d been sitting around catching up and just talking about life, and I had purposely tried to avoid mentioning my run-ins with my ex. We didn’t get to get together and just hang out nearly as often as I would like to, so I didn’t want to take up any of the time with drama. Especially considering everything both of these women had been through over the last couple of years.
But they were looking at me with questions in their eyes, and I knew I couldn’t avoid telling them what was on my mind.
“Ashton showed up again,” I said.
“At the diner?” Desiree asked.
“Yes. He just won’t leave me alone. He keeps showing up and just sitting there.”
Harleigh and Desiree exchanged glances. Harleigh took a sip of her tea and shrugged.
“Well, the diner does have really good food,” she said. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence. It is a small town, after all. There aren’t but so many places to get a good, simple lunch.”
“I know that,” I said. “But he comes in and purposely sits in my section every single time. He only comes in when the hostess isn’t seating people so he can make sure that he picks a table in my section. I would think you of all people can understand what that feels like.”