Wicked Game

Chapter 11

   A few days after the very upsetting baby shower, Jemima was once again invited to her sister's home, this time for a dinner. She had passed her angry stage of it all and had now gone over to anxious and sad. The way up to North Harrow felt longer than it ever had before. Jemima tried to ignore it, but the whole day, the huge lump in her chest had been burning and swelling, making it hurt with every breath she took. The logical, still reasonable, part of her brain knew there wasn't really anything there. But it had not managed to convince all of her and she felt like the lump was going to explode with every movement she made.

She had been through this before. She was used to handling it, when it was just about stupid things. But even though the actions that caused this lump was probably the most stupid she'd ever been herself, it didn't feel like a stupid problem. It felt like it was the end of the world.

Jemima arrived at Georgie and Ben's house half an hour after she was expected, which wasn't like her at all. Georgie looked surprised when she opened the door.

"Hi, sweetie," she greeted Jemima and let her in. Sometimes Jemima suspected that her sister actually knew her better than she did herself and to prove that, Georgie, out of nowhere gave her a huge, warm hug, which lasted just a little bit longer than if it would have just been a hello-hug. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Jemima mumbled, knowing fully well that Georgie wouldn't believe that for a second. But her sister still knew her boundaries and didn't ask any further questions. Jemima put on a happier face, (like she was going to fool anyone) and said in a cheerful voice:

"How are you? And how's my little niece or nephew, that is soon going to come out and be the most gorgeous and brilliant baby the world's ever seen?" She said that last bit, entirely directed at Georgie's big bump and leaned down to give it a kiss.

Some people might think that was a weird thing to do, so casually. But Georgie was the only person Jemima had ever felt completely comfortable to show that kind of physical, sisterly love to, and when the bump came along, he or she was also included.

Ben came out of the kitchen, looking a bit dishevelled and sweaty, probably from standing by the stove, cooking. He gave Jemima a big hug and pressed a piece of some sort of bread into her mouth, without warning her. It was lukewarm and when she bit into it, noticed there was melted cheese and sundried tomatoes in the middle of it.

"Ben, that's amazing!" she shouted, mouth full and holding her hand in front of it, so it wouldn't go everywhere.

"Well, thank you," he said, in an overly pompous voice, while he took her coat off her shoulders and hung it up by the door. "The food is just ready and I'm starving, so come on."

The dinner went by and Jemima managed to hold a decent conversation of small talk and probably seem okay. She reasoned that maybe Georgie would think it was just her usual anxiety, the one that she can handle and that, in some circumstances, just went away when she was in good company, thinking about something else.

But it turned out, that wasn't the case. After the dessert, Georgie was washing the dishes and Jemima helped her dry it, with a towel that got soaked through by the second plate. Georgie stopped, with her hands in the dishwater, looked at Jemima and asked in a worried voice:

"Mimes, what's going on?"

Jemima only had to take one look at her sister and couldn't keep it together any longer. The tears burst out of her with force and she had to bend over to be able to breathe. Georgie dropped a glass in the sink with a splash and hurried over to Jemima. She pulled her up so she could properly hold her, but even then, the bump got between them, making it quite an awkward hug.