Forever, Plus One - страница 15

Typically of Amy, Emily found herself being dragged into the most high-end, luxurious children’s store imaginable. It was all beech wood shelving and pastel-colored walls, hundred-dollar quilts and thousand-dollar christening gifts. It stocked everything from clothes and gadgets to baby furniture and ornaments.

“Amy, you can’t get me a gift from here,” Emily protested, glancing about her at all the beautiful items.

“Why not?” Amy retorted. “My best friend is having a baby. I can spoil you as much as I want. Now do you want something practical like a stroller or something lavish like this organic eco-friendly pacifier? Ooh look!” Amy cried, becoming instantly distracted and hurrying over to another shelf. “Biodegradable diapers.” She grabbed a packet and began reading off the back. “Hypo-allergenic materials. Rainforest alliance certified. Low toxins. No dyes.”

Emily felt a little overwhelmed by the choices available to her. She hadn’t even begun to think about toxins or allergens. She’d hardly even thought about diapers and pacifiers! She’d only just begun to wrap her head around the fact a baby the size of a raspberry was currently growing inside of her.

“How much stuff is this baby going to need?” Emily said, suddenly feeling anxious.

Amy looked at her friend, concerned. “Don’t start freaking out.”

“But I haven’t even begun to work it all out,” Emily replied, hearing her own voice rising with panic.

Amy sprung into action. She scooped an arm around Emily’s shoulder and led her to a plush Scandinavian-style nursing armchair – that cost $1,400 dollars, Emily read on the sign – and sat her down.

“Let’s make a list,” Amy said. She perched on the matching charcoal footstool opposite Emily and looked up. “There’s nothing like a list for clearing the mind.”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t need a list,” she said with a resigned giggle. “I’m just having a moment. It’s all so new and strange and… unexpected.”

“It wasn’t planned then?” Amy asked, curiously. “The baby, I mean?”

“Nope,” Emily confessed. “But if I did conceive on our honeymoon like we all seem to think, then it must have been the night before Daniel told me he wanted to start trying for a baby.” She chewed her lip, remembering how Daniel had booked the entire lighthouse restaurant in order to broach the subject in a beautiful and romantic way, and how terribly that moment had ended for them when she suddenly got cold feet. “Right before I told him I wasn’t ready.”

“Oh…” Amy said, wrinkling her nose. Her voice softened. “You didn’t want this to happen?”

“I did,” Emily said. “I changed my mind a couple of weeks later. I just needed some time to let it sink in. But I must have already been pregnant by then so I wonder if it was just the hormones changing my mind subliminally. And I think the damage was done by that point, for Daniel, I mean. He seemed glad when I told him I’d changed my mind again but I wonder whether he kept hold of a bit of resentment.”

“The pregnancy isn’t quite as happy a surprise for him as it is for you?” Amy asked.

Emily shrugged. She became aware of all the fears she’d been bottling up. “I was the more reticent but now that it’s here it feels so perfect and right. But Daniel just seems stressed. Like there’s something he’s not telling me. I was wondering if it was something to do with how much he missed out on Chantelle’s start in life. But he’s being typical Daniel about it. Not saying a word. Leaving me to speculate.”