False Pretenses

Chapter 20

"Violet!"

Who...? What...? I... Sleep...

"Oi! Violet?"

Why am I shaking? Is this an earthquake?

"Lemme sleep..." I mumbled and turned away from the source of disturbance.

"Violet! Get up!"

The voice was definitely a girl's. Who was this treacherous human, disrupting my sleep? Bad human!

"No! It's Saturday!" I tried to say but it came out muffled.

"Gosh Vi! Get up you lazy ßitch! I've got big news!"

Wait a minute... I knew this woman!

"What the fuçk are you doing in my apartment Nora?" I asked before sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I checked the clock.

"Its 8:40! I need sleep!" I rubbed my eyes again. The world seemed hazy.

"Get up and going. I'm waiting in the kitchen. Get your ass in the shower and be ready in ten minutes. We have a lot to do. Chop chop! " She chirped and left.

I knew better than to go back to bed.

Twenty minutes later I was standing in the kitchen, completely ready and sipping on a cup of tea.

"You gave me a spare key, remember dufus?" Nora said obnoxiously while munching on pistachio nut cookies.

"God why do I have so many spare keys?"

"Huh?"

"So. I'm here, all prepped. What's the big news?" I rested my elbows on the counter.

She inhaled deeply, her face red and glowing with whatever she was holding back from me.

"Celia is pregnant." She whispered.

"You mean your sister Cecilia?" I widened my eyes.

She nodded exuberantly.

And the next thing I know, we were hugging and squealing.

"This is great news! Oh my god! How far along is she? When is she due? Oh my god! Is it a girl or a boy? How is Greg handling it? He must be so happy. They must be so happy!" I squealed in delight.

"They are!" She said with obvious joy before her expression turned serious. "She's six months along..."

"Six months? Wow! I- wait." I scrunched my eyebrows, "Why am I hearing about this now?" I frowned.

"You're not the only one. She hid it from everyone except Greg, of course."

"Why...?" I was confused and annoyed.

"You know about the miscarriage."

"That was two years ago!"

"Exactly. They've been married for four years Vi. Soon to be five and with no kids! As far as I know, they were trying for months. After the miscarriage and the endless failed tries, they were about to give up and go for adoption when suddenly," she threw up her hands in the air, "Celia started throwing up! This is a blessing for them. Cecilia's words, not mine. Call it superstition but she hid it until she was sure nothing could go wrong. She hid from me too. Me! Her own sister!" Nora burst out in anger.

"Hey, hey. Its okay. She did what she thought was the best for her and her child. Mothers can go a little overboard you know..." I tried to sympathize.

"And nobody knows it better than me! Ciao signore!"

Gus stood in the middle of my living room with two boxes of pizza in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other looking like the fine italian specimen he was.