“Great, keep them occupied for me.” She smiled as she walked the opposite way.
Following behind them was another couple who walked over to Luke and hugged him. Luke looked over to where I was standing, and he motioned for me to come over to him.
“Lily, I would like you to meet my Aunt Rose and Uncle Matt.”
“My, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Aunt Rose said as she hugged me. “We’ve heard so much about you from Annie and Tom that we feel like we already know you.”
“It’s great to meet both of you.” I smiled.
Rose was Annie’s younger sister, and Matt was her husband. She was a cake decorator and owned a bakery in San Francisco, and he was a retired accountant who did the books for Rose’s bakery. As we were talking, Gretchen and Sam walked in.
“Hey, bro.” He smiled as he and Luke shook hands.
“Hi, Sam,” I said as he gave me a hug.
“Have you heard from Giselle yet?” I asked Gretchen with concern.
“I texted her and she said she’s fine—she’s...”
Before Gretchen could finish her sentence, Giselle and Lucky walked through the door. I put my hand on Luke’s shoulder, and he turned around. The four of us stood there and stared at them.
“We’re having a baby!” She smiled as she threw her hands in the air.
We stood there, unable to say anything, then Luke spoke the first words.
“Awesome.” He smiled as he hugged Giselle and high-fived Lucky.
Sam followed behind Luke and did the same as I looked at her and smiled. Gretchen, Giselle, and I walked over and sat down at a table.
“I couldn’t do it. I was lying down on the table with my feet in the stirrups. Lucky was holding my hand, and the doctor walked in and asked me if I was ready. I told him I was and then he went to check me, and I yelled, ‘stop.’ I looked at Lucky, told him that I couldn’t do it, and he said ‘please don’t.’ So, I sat up, got dressed, and the two of us went out to lunch and talked about what we’re going to do.”
“And what are you going to do?” Gretchen asked as she grabbed Giselle’s hand.
“Lucky and I are going to raise the baby together as friends, with some occasional sex thrown in.” She smiled.
“Is he moving in?”
“No, we’re not moving in together. We’re both going to keep our separate places fully furnished with all the things the baby needs.”
I leaned over and looped my arm around her neck. “If that’s what the two of you want, then I’m happy for you. I can’t tell you how glad I am that you didn’t go through with it.”
“I know you are, Lily, and I gave a lot of thought to what you said about your birth mother. By the way, nobody better cancel on Tuesday, because I want to hear all about it,” she said as she pointed her finger at me and Gretchen.
I felt two strong hands clasp my shoulders. As I looked up, Luke bent down and kissed me. “Come on, babe. There are a few people I want you to meet.”
After meeting all of Luke’s family and friends, Luke walked over and got up on the stage. As he positioned himself in front of the microphone, he held up his beer and yelled, “Welcome to Luke’s Bar and Grille!”
Everyone in the bar whistled and cheered as I stared at Luke’s smiling face. As he looked at me and winked, I held up my beer and blew him a kiss. His happiness is the only thing that matters to me, and I will do everything I can to make sure he stays that way.
***
The next couple of weeks, I barely saw Luke at all. He was at the bar from morning until night. If I wanted to see him, I would have to go to the bar. When he’d come home, he would quietly slip into bed and wrap his arms around me. We’d have dinner together at the bar every night, and he still tried to convince me to work there. He even went as far as to ask me if I would play the guitar and sing a few nights a week. I didn’t have to say a word; he could tell my thoughts on that just by the look on my face. I had Giselle and Gretchen over for dinner like we planned, and I told them everything about Mary. Charley cried almost every day at school because I was no longer her teacher. It had been a clusterfuck of a week, and certain emotions from my past were being stirred up. As I was sitting on the couch, feeling sorry for myself, a text message from Luke came through.
“Hey, babe. Why aren’t you here yet?”
I quickly responded. “I’m not coming to the bar tonight.”
“Why not? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Luke. I just want to stay home.”
“But I miss you, Lily.”
“Yeah, I miss you too, but you don’t seem to care about that.”
As I sat there and stared at my message to him, I couldn’t believe I had just said that. I didn’t know what was going on with me, and I just wanted to be left alone. When he didn’t respond, I threw my phone across the table. About twenty minutes later, the door opened. I turned around as Luke walked in, threw his keys on the counter, and stood in front of me.
“What the hell was that last text supposed to mean?”
I suppose I was looking for a fight, because I jumped up without hesitation and got in his face.
“It means exactly what I said.”
“What’s the matter with you?” he asked as he softly grabbed my arm when I started to walk away. “Don’t you dare walk away from me!”
I jerked my arm out of his grip. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do!”
“Babe, please tell me what’s going on with you, because right now, you’re not acting like yourself.”
“You want to know what’s wrong? Fine, I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I never see much of you anymore, and when I do, it’s always at the bar with everyone else. We barely eat together anymore, and we don’t go out. You spend every damn, fucking minute at that bar.”
“Watch your mouth, Lily.”
“Oh, and that’s another thing; you don’t get to tell me to watch my mouth, because I can talk anyway I want. I’m an adult, and if I want to scream FUCK to the world, then I fucking will!”