Stevie watched the lights of the wing of the plane illuminate the dark outside. Everything was quiet. Sheryl was sleeping next to her and she couldn't see anyone else moving from her vantage point at the rear of the plane.
Jeez, my back. She shifted once again in her seat before resigning herself to getting up and stretching her legs. As she padded in her bare feet along the aisle, she glanced into the seats for any signs of life. Everyone was sleeping. It was lonely being the only nightbird sometimes. She looked over to the left as she thought she saw Karen stir, knocking something to her right with her hip. As she looked down she saw Lindsey jolting awake - she'd nudged his elbow.
He looked up groggily to see what had happened, pulling off his headphones.
"Sorry! Sorry, go back to sleep." She was already moving away as she whispered.
"Hey."
He grabbed her hand.
"You need sleep! Shhh..."
"No, no, it's fine," he rubbed his eyes with his other hand. "I want to talk to you."
He nodded to the empty seat across from him and she paused before sitting in it. He smiled sleepily.
"Everything ok?"
"Yeah...I didn't get chance to talk to you earlier - congratulations! That's absolutely incredible news."
"Thank you. We're...yes, we're excited. It's starting to sink in now."
"So the scan went ok? Nothing to worry about?"
"No. I have a photo in my purse -" she looked towards her seat before shrugging. "I'll show you later."
"So it's your..."
"My egg, yes. It wasn't how we were going to do it originally but it's actually worked out perfectly. We both already feel so bonded to the baby."
"It's really mind blowing. Modern science, huh? I can't believe you didn't tell me. Like, I mean it's not like it was a surprise, right?"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why would I have told you?"
"I dunno," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just thought we told each other stuff like this. I told you Kit and me were thinking of having another."
She smiled wryly and rested her chin in her hand.
"Well, you told me that Kristen wanted another band-aid baby and you didn't. Then you compromised and had the baby."
"That's a pretty black and white way of looking at it. Jesus, Steves. I'm trying to be nice here."
She looked at him. He looked tired. Tired in that newborn parent way, but also...tired of the eternal sparring with her. She was too.
"I'm sorry. I'm just so used to having my guard up around you. I didn't mean to be rude...I know it's not as straightforward as that." She chewed her cheek. "I had to go through a whole process to decide this was what I wanted, too."
"Really?"
"Yeah...I'd spent so long convincing myself I wasn't going to be a mom that when she asked first of all my knee-jerk reaction was no. Then last year happened..." she held her hands up and shook her head. "It changes you."
As she dropped her hand back onto the armrest, he reached across the aisle and took it. She felt his warmth, but something was strange. She couldn't put her finger on what.
"I really thought I'd lost you that night."
He looked into her eyes and the strange feeling swelled. It was as though she was having an out of body experience. She could see what was happening, but felt somehow detached from it.
