We spend the rest of the day shopping. Neither of us could resist it. We’ve spent some time looking at baby stuff before but never bought much, because we didn’t know if it should be pink or blue and we didn’t want to end up with a room full of yellow. And even though there’s still a chance it could be a boy, I think Andrew is more convinced than before that it’s a girl, so I go along with it and let myself believe it, too. But he still won’t let me buy much!
“Just wait,” he insists when I go for the next girlie outfit in the newborn section. “You know my mom’s planning a baby shower, right?”
“Yeah, but we can get a few more things now.” I put the outfit in the cart anyway.
Andrew looks into the cart and then back at me with his lips pursed in contemplation. “I think you’ve surpassed a few, babe.”
He’s right. I’ve tossed about ninety dollars’ worth of clothes in the basket already. Oh well, if anything, if it turns out to be a boy I can exchange it all later.
And that’s how the rest of the day goes until we stop by his mother’s house to give her the news.
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Marna says, pulling me into a hug. “I thought for sure it’d be a boy!”
My hands slide away from Marna’s arms, and I sit at the kitchen table with Andrew while Marna heads to the fridge. She pulls out a tea pitcher and starts preparing us a glass.
“Baby shower will be in February,” Marna says from the bar. “I’ve already got everything planned out. All you have to do is show up.” She beams at me and puts the tea pitcher away.
“Thank you,” I say.
She sets a glass down in front of each of us and then pulls out the empty chair.
I really do miss home. But I love it here, too, and Marna is like another mom to me. I haven’t been able to bring myself to tell Andrew yet about how much I miss my mom and Natalie, just having a friend to talk to. You can be in love with the greatest guy on the planet—and in fact, I am—but it doesn’t mean it won’t be somewhat difficult not having other friends. I’ve met one girl my age here, Alana, who lives upstairs with her husband, but I just haven’t been able to click with her on any kind of level. I think if I’m already making up lies to keep from going somewhere with her when she calls, then clicking with her at all might never happen.
But I really think my secret sadness and missing home and all that is because of the pregnancy. My hormones are all out of whack. And I think it also has a lot to do with worrying. I worry about everything now. I mean, I did a lot of that before I met Andrew, but now that I’m pregnant, my worries have multiplied: Will the baby be healthy? Will I be a good mother? Did I screw up my life by … I’m doing it again. Fuck. I’m a horrible person. Every time that thought crosses my mind it makes me feel so guilty. I love our baby and I wouldn’t change the way things are if I could, but I can’t help but wonder if I … if we messed up by getting pregnant too soon.
“Camryn?” I hear Andrew’s voice and I snap out of my deep thoughts. “Are you all right?”
I force a believable smile. “Yeah, I’m good. Was just daydreaming—y’know, I prefer purple over pink.”
“I got to name her,” Andrew says, “so you can choose whatever colors you want.” He encloses my hand underneath his on the table. It makes me smile just to know that he cares about any of this stuff at all.
Marna pulls her glass away from her lips and sets it on the table in front of her.
“Oh?” she asks intrigued. “You’ve already picked out a name?”
Andrew nods. “Lily Marybeth. Camryn’s middle name is Marybeth. She should be named after her mom.”
Oh my God, he just melted my heart. I don’t deserve him.
Marna smiles over at me, her face full of happiness and every other emotion imaginable that someone like Andrew’s mother could possess. Not only did her son beat his illness and come back strong from the brink of death, but now she has a granddaughter on the way.
“Well, it’s a beautiful name,” she says. “I thought Aidan and Michelle would be first, but life’s full of surprises.” Something about the way she said that seemed to have a hidden meaning and Andrew notices.
“Something going on with Aidan and Michelle?” Andrew asks, taking a quick sip of his tea.
“Just part of being married,” she answers. “I’ve never seen a marriage without some kind of struggles, and they’ve been together for a long time.”
“How long?” I ask.
“Married only five years,” Marna says. “But they’ve been together for about nine, I believe.” She nods as she thinks about it further, satisfied with her memory.
“It’s probably just Aidan,” Andrew says. “I wouldn’t wanna be married to him.” He laughs.
“Yeah, that would be weird,” I say, wrinkling my nose at him.
“Well, Michelle won’t be able to make the baby shower,” Marna says. “She has a few conferences she has to attend in December, and it just doesn’t fit with her schedule, especially since she’s so far away. But she’ll probably send the best gifts out of everyone.” She smiles sweetly over at me.
I acknowledge her and take another sip, but my mind is wandering again and I can’t stop it. All I can think about is what she said a few comments back, about never knowing of a marriage without struggles. And I slip right back into worry mode.
“Your birthday is December the eighth, right, Camryn?”
I blink back into the moment. “Oh … yes. The big twenty-one.”
“Well, looks like I have a birthday party to plan, too, then.”
“Oh, no, you don’t need to do that.”
She waves away my plea as if it’s ridiculous, and Andrew just sits back with that dopey grin on his face.
I give in because I know with Marna there’s no use trying.
We head home after an hour, and it’s already dark out. I’m so tired from running around all day and from the Lily excitement.
Lily. I can’t believe I’m going to be a mom. A smile spreads across my face as I step into the living room. I drop my purse on the coffee table and plop down on the center cushion of the couch, kicking my shoes off. But before too long, Andrew is sitting down next to me with that knowing look on his beautiful face.
I could fool Marna, but I should’ve known better than to think I could fool him.
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About the Author
J. A. Redmerski, a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas, with her three children, two cats, and a Maltese. She is a lover of television and books that push boundaries, and is a huge fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
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Also by J. A. Redmerski
The Edge of Never
The Edge of Always
Killing Sarai
Reviving Izabel
Dirty Eden
The Mayfair Moon
Kindred
The Ballad of Aramei
Copyright
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
Copyright © J.A. Redmerski 2014
Cover photograph © Claudio Marinesco
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014
J.A. Redmerski asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The nam
es, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9781455555048
Ebook Edition © February 2014 ISBN: 9780007581122
Version: 2014-01-28
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J. A. Redmerski, Song of the Fireflies
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