Who Loves You, Pretty Baby

Mums to Be and Mary

Mary had arrived, we had put the finishing touches on everything and she had moved her car to the back of the barn away from the driveway, In fact, all the guests had been instructed to park behind the barn but none of them had yet arrived. Instead, Mary and I stood here in the kitchen together, each of us with a champagne flute in hand admiring our completed project. We had strategically arranged fifty champagne flutes on either side of the beautiful cake. “To you an’ me. ‘Cause we throw the best of parties!” Mary said, raising her glass to mine. We both laughed at one another and couldn’t help but put our arms around each other.

 “Oh, you shoulda’ heard Chrissie belly-achin’ about driving all the way out to Surrey today. I told her she hasn’t yet seen your completed house and that she needs to get her arse out here!” Mary giggled.

 “Yeah, and Veronica! She kept telling me she was too busy with Robbie to come out today. I told her to give him to John and to get out here. It seems neither of them have any idea what to expect!” I said happily.

 “They are going to flip out. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces! You told the guests to park behind the barn, right?” Mary reminded me.

 “Sure did. That way, when Chrissie and Veronica get here, they won’t see a single car!” Mary and I snickered at how damn clever we were. The barn wasn’t actually a barn. Yes, it looked like a barn but Roger and I had designed it for his cars. There were seven nesting peacefully inside it. We had done it right, overhead fluorescent lighting, heated, concrete floors and lots space for storage and tools. Inside, were two Ferraris, an Aston Martin, a Bentley, a Mazerati, a Rolls Royce and a modified racing Mazda. It was a regular car museum in there. All seven of them had their own spaces within the garage and the massive concrete pad behind the garage was perfect to pull them out onto. In fact, Roger and I had the driveway of the house re-poured to go from the main gates at the road, to circle in front of the house and attach to the concrete pad at both sides of the barn. There would never be a reason for any wheels to touch the grass. The wide sliding doors on both sides of the barn allowed for the cars to be taken out of either side. The barn was situated close to our fenced in property behind it. Roger and I were truly blessed to live in our own private piece of country paradise.

 “Hey is uh…is this difficult for you?” I asked of Mary. “This baby shower?” Mary shook her head.

 “No, course not. Why would it be?” she questioned, taking another drink of champagne.

 “I just thought…losing the baby and all. I mean, I realize it’s been nearly a year since it happened…but…still. I just of that for you sometimes.” I confessed.

 “I thought about it several times after it happened. And I’ve thought about how you saved my life that night. At first I didn’t think I was grievin’ properly…bein’ more upset about nearly dyin’ than losin’ the baby.” Mary looked to the floor. “But, then I realized that that was quite silly because there is no wrong way to grieve.” She shook her head again. “Lyd, I’ve been so, so excited for Chrissie and Veronica. It’s not hard on me at all. It’s just one of those things that happen in life and…I don’t really think about it anymore. It’s been an honor to be a part Veronica and Chrissie’s blessing.” She smiled at me and I knew it was so sincere. “Oh…by the way. I um…I need to ask you something. You’ve been on the pill a long time, right?” Mary asked as she took a cigarette I offered her.

 “Oh, yes.” I answered her as we hung out in the kitchen waiting on our first guests to arrive.

 “Well, I’m thinkin’ of…getting back on the pill myself.” Mary grinned at me.

 “Excuse me?” was my reaction. I couldn’t hide my smile. Mary started laughing.

 “Okay…now…don’t tell anyone anything yet. But…the other night. Freddie and I…we had been drinking a lot of wine and…we slept together.” Mary said softly. I squealed a bit.