Chapter 16 - The Second Baby Shower
Three years after the first baby shower, June became pregnant.
When she told me, I laughed until I cried.
Then she said, “You're planning the shower.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Tessa.”
“I have trauma involving balloon arches.”
She laughed.
We eventually held it in my backyard.
Same pergola.
Same patio.
Different memories.
As I hung decorations, I realized something extraordinary.
The place no longer belonged to that terrible afternoon.
Children had played here.
Birthdays had happened here.
Christmas lights had been hung here.
Nathan had proposed here quietly one autumn evening after Evelyn went to sleep.
No audience.
No photographer.
No elaborate speech.
Just a ring and one question.
“Would you like to keep building this life with me?”
I had said yes.
Now, during June's shower, Lorraine arrived carrying a gift.
Gavin came separately later to pick up Evelyn.
Our lives had become complicated but functional.
He saw my engagement ring.
For a moment, sadness crossed his face.
Then he nodded.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
And that was all.
No jealousy.
No scene.
Sometimes growth isn't dramatic.
Sometimes it is simply choosing not to create another wound.
But that afternoon, Evelyn overheard something.
And that night she asked the question I had always known would eventually come.
May you like
“Mommy, why doesn't Daddy live here?”
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