A Dance of Life

62

I'm ruffling through my wardrobe, wondering what I'm going to wear for dinner when Diana rushes into the room, a wide grin on her face.

"You have to come see this!" she squeals, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "The Macy's parade is on!"

"I'm currently having an existential crisis, D," I moan.

She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "Seriously, Triple-A?"

"Okay, no, but I'm having a crisis nonetheless," I tsk. "I'm meeting my in-laws for the first time today, I don't want to give them a bad impression. Pregnant or not, I should still look presentable."

"What are you guys still doing?" Pat says as she enters the room. "I thought you were calling Annelise."

"I was," Diana huffs, gesturing to the trepidation on my face.

"I don't know what to wear," I pout at her.

I've been extra emotional since she arrived on Saturday, knowing she'll eventually have to go back. But I can't keep crying so I try to focus on the present.

"Do you think they know? Or do you think that they think Nathan and I had premarital sex?" I murmur, chewing on my lip.

"Is that what you're nervous about? What they're going to think of you?" Diana asks, leaning a closed wardrobe door.

I walk to my bed and sit, running a hand down my face. "I guess it fundamentally comes down to what they think of me."

They exchange one of their 'time for a pep talk' looks and Diana moves toward me, sitting on the bed as well, while Pat walks to the wardrobe.

"Well, I think it's more important that Nathan has accepted you. Plus, don't you remember him saying he consulted his parents before proposing? That means they approve, Triple-A."

"Yeah," Pat agrees, pulling out a beige maxi skirt. "And I've met them, they're good people."

"You've met them? Why didn't you tell me?" I say, the nerves plateauing.

She shrugs and pairs the skirt with a lycra button-up white shirt. "This is cute and screams Fall."

"Screams?"

"Says very assertively," she laughs as she walks to the couch and lays them down. "I met them in passing. They were at the mall with Nathan and he introduced us. He kinda looks like his dad but has his mom's eyes."

"I know all that," I whine, "I've spoken to them on video calls with Nathan but in person ... that's a whole different ball game."

"Speaking of balls," Diana says, poking my arm. "The boys said they're going to change the channel to the NFL if we don't come back soon."

"You guys go, I think I'll just say here," I sigh dramatically, bringing my hand to my forehead.

"No way," Pat scoffs, pulling me to my feet. She pauses and examines me, squinting a little. "Your belly looks different."

"Yeah," I reply, looking at it as well. "It's called engagement, I believe, when they drop lower to the pelvis in preparation for birth. It happened a couple of days ago."

"Ooh, that's so exciting," she says, giving a little dance before pulling me towards the door.

"It's also painful," I say under my breath, grabbing Diana's hand and bringing her along the ride.

"Alrighty," Pat smiles when we get to the living room, "is there anything else we need from the store? You guys could go while we take care of the turkey?"