Something Blue - Emily Giffin [104]
I grinned and told him it was an excellent plan. "Now open your gift!" I said, handing him his package.
He opened it with exuberance, tearing off the paper, tossing it aside, and holding up the leather messenger bag I had found to replace his tattered nylon one. My only splurge in weeks. I could tell he loved it, because he immediately went to his room and brought out his old bag, unloading his papers and folders and transferring them to his new one. He swung it over his shoulder, then adjusted the strap slightly. "It's awesome," he said. "I look like a real novelist now."
He had begun to make a lot of comments like this lately. I could tell he felt anxious about the progress—or lack of progress—he was making on his book.
"Still having writer's block?" I asked sympathetically.
"Yeah. I feel like Snoopy stuck on that one line: 'It was a dark and stormy night.'"
I laughed and reassured him that surely all great authors struggled with occasional writer's block, and that I knew he'd make some good headway in the new year.
"Thanks, Darce. I appreciate that," he said sincerely.
Then we curled up under a big blanket on the couch and watched a video of It's a Wonderful Life. Right around the part where the uncle accidentally gives the envelope of money to Mr. Potter, Ethan hit the pause button and asked if he could fast-forward to the end. "I can't stand this part. It's too frustrating."
I agreed. As we watched the grim scenes blur forward, I couldn't help thinking about my own life—specifically the rift with my mother. She had not contacted me once since I had sent her the note from London. I firmly believed that the ball was in her court, but by the end of the movie, as we watched the happy family scene where George Bailey's youngest daughter says, "Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings," I decided to let go of my pride and call home.
Ethan was supportive of the idea, so I nervously dialed up my home in Indy. As the phone rang, I almost hung up, but grabbed Ethan's hand instead. My mom answered after five or six rings.
"Hi, Mom," I said, feeling scared and small.
She said my name icily and then silence floated over the wires. My mother was a champion grudge holder. I thought of my own grudge against Rachel, figuring that you didn't get these things from strangers.
"Did I interrupt dinner?" I asked.
"Not really. We were just finishing. Jeremy and Lauren are here."
"Oh," I said. "How are their wedding plans coming?"
"Just fine."
I waited for her to ask how I was, whether I was still in London. When she didn't, I offered it up awkwardly. "I'm still here in London… You got my note, right?"
She said that she already knew I was in London, even before receiving the note, as she had run into Annalise's mother at the mall. She added that it had been embarrassing to hear of my whereabouts from someone else, which I thought was a petty point to raise given the fact that I had written her a note, and that I had been the one to phone her first. But I didn't let this deter me from telling her how sorry I was for disappointing her. I told her that it was understandable how shocked she had been upon my news. That no mother would want her daughter to get pregnant so fast on the heels of a broken engagement to another man. I also told her that she was right about Marcus. "He was a big jerk, Mom. I'm not with him at all anymore. I see now that you just wanted what was best for me."
Ethan squeezed my hand and nodded, as if to say, "Keep going. You're doing great."
I swallowed, took a deep breath, and said, "So anyway, I had an ultrasound here in London… and I found out what I'm having."
"A girl?"
"No. Not a girl. I thought it would be a girl too. But it's not a girl."
"So a boy then? That's great," she said emotionlessly.
"Well, yes. But… it's actually… two boys. I'm having twins. Identical twin boys! Isn't that just the most craziest thing ever?"
In my mind, I could hear Rachel instructing me that it's either