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“HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW what to do with Matt Junior.” Poppy chattered as she made the turn Lacey indicated, toward the hospital. “He’s going to be the reason I retire at thirty, swear to God. And does his mama do anything about it? Not one thing. I think she’s overwhelmed because she has so many kids to keep track of, but Matt is just running wild.”
Poppy had talked about her class, and in particular the incorrigible Matt Dunfry Junior, almost the whole ride up. Matt, and her principal with her grand ideas, and the weekly meetings that were more inservice than meetings, and Lacey was feeling pretty bad about dragging her to San Angelo on a school night for birthing classes.
She should have just taken the classes online, but she’d wanted to be more involved than that.
She practically rolled out of the car once Poppy found a parking spot, then shook her hands out to her side as she stood outside the hospital meeting room where the first birthing class was to be held. Poppy rubbed her back lightly.
“What’s wrong? You can do this.”
She knew she could. She was worried about the pain, of course, about the whole labor thing. She was worried about going into a room in front of strangers and admitting she didn't have the baby’s father supporting her. She was forever grateful to Poppy for coming with her. Her dad had offered, but him accompanying her would be even more embarrassing than not having the baby’s father. Plus, some things should remain a mystery between father and daughter.
So yeah, she was chickening out.
Poppy hooked her hand through Lacey’s arm. “Let’s go.”
Lacey’s heart leapt, hoping Poppy had read her mind and they were going to escape. But no, Poppy dragged her into the room. The space was open, with chairs set in a semicircle, and posters depicting the stages of childbirth pinned to the walls.
“Avoiding the class doesn't mean you’re going to avoid the birth. You can do this.”
The instructor, a woman about her dad’s age, welcomed them when they walked in. “Hi, I’m Alicia, your coach tonight.”
“Hi, I’m Lacey Davila, and this is my coach, Poppy.”
“Oh, how nice. Are you a...couple?”
“No, we’ve just been friends since high school. The dad is....overseas.”
“Oh, I know that’s hard. Welcome, have a seat, make yourself comfortable. We’re still waiting on two more couples.”
Lacey found a spot in the semi-circle of chairs and led the way to it, far enough away from the other couples—one couple older, maybe mid-forties, the other three couples maybe her age or a little older.
Couples. She had expected as much, but she’d never felt more alone. What was she going to do? She wanted to go into that delivery room as informed as possible. And they also would show her how to take care of babies. Yes she was a nurse, but she hadn’t taken care of babies in a long time.
But today was the introductory class. She looked around. Two of the couples seemed further along in their pregnancies, two didn't look as advanced.
Finally the other two couples came in and found their spot. One couple seemed very friendly, the other more private, and Lacey found herself drawn to that couple more, since she was feeling the same.
But of course the first thing the instructor Alicia wanted to do was have them all introduce themselves. The gregarious couple started, of course. This was their third pregnancy, though their second ended in a miscarriage.
“Our rainbow baby,” the mother, Dorien, said with a madonna-like smile, circling her hand over her belly.
A sharply drawn breath came from the woman beside Lacey, and Lacey looked over to see the woman tearing up, her hand in front of her mouth.
“I’m so sorry,” the woman said. “Everything’s making me cry these days. Everything.”
“Everything made you cry before you were pregnant,” her husband said, his tone fond. “We’re Jason and Olivia. First baby. High school sweethearts. It’s a girl.”
“Okay, we skipped this one. You said you’re friends?” Alicia pointed to Poppy and Lacey.
“Yes, since elementary school.” Lacey didn't want to go into the details of her relationship with Jesse, so she stuck with, “The father is deployed, and Poppy is going to be my coach.”
“Well, thank him for his service, especially since it’s keeping him away from the birth of his child. That’s wonderful to have a friend so good to you.”
“It is. We live in Broken Wheel, so we have quite a drive for the class.”
“You do. I’m glad you could make it. First baby?”
Lacey nodded and resisted the urge to circle her belly like Dorien had done. “Babies. Twins.”
Everyone exclaimed over that, and Alicia nodded. Of course, as the coach, she’d known about that, since she was going to have to address Lacey’s delivery a little differently.
The other couples were introduced, and just as Alicia began instruction, the door swung open. All eyes turned to see Beck hurry in.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” He waved to Alicia, and walked behind the semicircle to sit beside Lacey, on the other side from Poppy.
Everyone was silent as Lacey turned, open-mouthed, from Beck to Poppy, who shrugged.
“He wanted to be here,” Poppy whispered.
“And who’s this?”
“Another friend, Beck,” Lacey said, mortified. She did not want these people knowing her business. She wanted to snarl at Beck to ask what he was doing here, but she would wait. She was here for the babies, for her own peace of mind as she learned what she needed to do. She did not want to be in the middle of a drama.
“I came down from Midland,” he said. “Took longer than I thought.”
“You can never have too many friends,” Alicia said, though there was a furrow between her brows. “Should we be expecting anyone else?”
Lacey gave a pointed look to Poppy, who shook her head, though she seemed to find this all more humorous than Lacey did.
Alicia began the instruction, and Lacey focused on it, not on Beck sitting beside her. She was completely tense, not really wanting him to know all this about her, not really wanting him to think about her cervix or her vaginal canal or any of the other indignities that came with childbirth.
At the first break, she was the first out the door, moving faster than she had in months, motioning for them both to come with her.
“What are you doing here?” She demanded of Beck, turning on him when they were out the sliding door. Walking into the heat of the evening air was like walking into a wall.
“I wanted to be here for you, and Poppy let me know what time to get here. I’m sorry I was late and embarrassed you.”
“It’s not that. You know that if I’d wanted you to come, you could have asked me, right? What time and day? But you went behind my back and asked Poppy, right?”
His face flushed a little. “I want to be a part of this, Lacey. I thought we’d gotten to that point in our relationship.”
Her temper flared, and she wanted to point out they had barely kissed in their relationship, but just then one of the other couples walked out. Lacey couldn't remember her name, but the woman sat on the concrete bench nearby and fluttered her hand near her face.
“Stuffy in there.”
It wasn’t exactly cool out here, being late August, so Lacey just smiled and nodded, and drew Poppy and Beck down the sidewalk a little farther.
“Do you want me to go?” Beck asked softly.
“He came all this way,” Poppy inserted, of course taking his side.
“Oh, you and I are going to have a talk on the way home,” Lacey pointed to her friend. Then to Beck, “No, I’m not going to send you home, but I don't want you in the delivery room. It’s going to be hard enough, you know.”
“Lace, that’s why I want to be there. I want to take some of that from you.”
“I don't think anyone can take it from me. It’s all me, you know. This part. All me.” She pressed her hands to her temples, as if she could block out those thoughts.
“Lace, you’re going to be great. And we’re going to be there for you. Both of us, okay?” Poppy asked.
Lacey nodded slowly. What choice did she have? Beck leaving at the break would only cause more speculation. “We’ll talk about this more later,” she said, and led the way back in, stopping at the snack table to get a short bottle of water before resuming her seat.
She was almost able to relax during the rest of the class, as she learned about the stages of labor and what to expect.
“I’m sorry I didn't ask you,” Beck said as he walked them to their car after class. “I knew you’d say no, and I didn't want to hear it. But if you don't want me to come back, tell me, and I won’t.”
“I just don't see the point in you driving all this way, when you won’t be in the delivery room. You don't need to know this.”
He nodded, looking out over the parking lot, not meeting her gaze.
“Let me think about it, all right?” she asked with a sigh. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but if he’d asked her, she would have had time to think about it. “Will you be in town this weekend?”
“Yeah, but not until Sunday again.”
“You come all this way for one day?”
“Worth it,” he said with a smile, then inclined his head toward Poppy, sending her the silent message to get lost, before he curved his hand around Lacey’s jaw and dropped a kiss on her mouth. “Be safe going home.”
“You too,” she said, her eyes drifting open as she opened the passenger door of Poppy’s car.
And when Beck walked away, Lacey saw Poppy and Alicia staring at her.
Great. No scandal here.