I'll Be There

20 | dancing in the rain

"What about this one?" Olivia's eyes shot towards Jordan who returned her anxious look. They were desperate.

"Too salty," Simone scrunched her face at the chow mein her friend was offering.

"Babe, we ordered food from practically every take-out place in LA," Jordan sighed, gesturing towards the spread of cardboard and plastic containers on the coffee table. "There has to be something here you like."

"It's definitely not that," Simone retched as the aroma of greasy pizza infiltrated her nostrils.

"Oookay," Olivia swooped in and grabbed the slice from Jordan. "How about some ice cream?" Olivia asked hopefully as she pulled a piece of pepperoni from the gooey cheese and deposited it into her mouth.

"No," Simone let out slowly. "I don't want anything cold."

"Okay, babe," Olivia gave the soon-to-be mother a stern look. "You're going to have to help us out here. We can't read your mind."

"I don't know how to explain it. I'm craving something sweet, but also savory," she paused, scanning the table for anything that may help her out. "Like cheesy, but chocolatey, and maybe a hint of spicy, you know?"

"No I don't," Olivia shook her head sympathetically.

"First of all, that's disgusting," Jordan pitched in through a mouthful of pizza. He had helped himself to his own slice while his wife had been struggling to explain herself. "And second of all, that's disgusting."

"Don't act like you haven't eaten worse," Olivia rolled her neck, her glare landing on her brother.

"Don't act like you haven't eaten worse," Jordan scrunched his face, mimicking her words back at her.

Forgetting her friend's questionable appetite, Olivia turned her body fully towards Jordan. "You literally used to dunk pickles in Nutella up until high school."

"It had a certain twang to it." His tone defensive, Jordan pinched his fingers in front of her. "It was gourmet. You wouldn't understand."

"What is there to possibly understand," Olivia gaped at him, "it's nasty."

Simone settled back on the couch, drawing circles against her temples as the siblings took increasingly idiotic jabs at each other. She knew that once they started, there was no stopping them.

"Guys," Simone spoke up after ten minutes of the back and forth. Neither of them acknowledged her as the childish bickering carried on.

"GUYS!"

Her best friend and husband went silent as both their heads snapped in her direction, eyes wide at her sudden outburst.

"Hate to break this up, but hungry, pregnant woman here," she pointed at her stomach, trying to recenter the conversation.

"Shit, yeah, sorry," Olivia recovered first. She scanned the table before picking up a container of chicken noodle soup.

"No," Simone shook her head before Olivia had a chance to get near her. "I decided. I want ramen, and not that fancy kind you guys keep trying to force feed me. The fifteen cent kind."

"Really?" Jordan re-entered the discussion, "babe, we have so much food right here."

Having gone through this charade for the past three nights, he was over the pickiness and was on the verge of reverting back to salads and lean proteins. He had given up on trying to feed her healthy alternatives months ago.

"I said what I said," Simone shrugged, knowing neither of them would challenge her in her current state.

"Okay, we'll get that right over," Olivia plastered a fake smile on her face and began to collect the takeout containers to take to the kitchen.