Читать книгу The Baby Diaries - Sam Binnie - Страница 18

We were in bed last night when I suddenly rolled over.

Me: Oh my GOD!

Thom: [half asleep] What? What’s happened?

Me: Zoe’s pregnant too!

Thom: [mumbling] I don’t know who Zoe is, but I’m very pleased.

I let him get back to sleep, but stayed up for ages trying to work out her possible dates. Surely if she’d seen me twig about her pregnancy at our wedding but hadn’t told us, she wouldn’t have been more than three months? So that meant … she was at the very most three months ahead of me? I was so excited that I called her this morning, to ask if she wanted to catch up. She’s been away working in New York with her nightmare boss, horrible celeb photographer (and Jacki’s alleged new love) Pedro, since just after our wedding, so I’ve had no chance to see her, but heard from Jim that she and her boyfriend Zac had just got home again recently. She didn’t pick up when I called, but left a return message for me later to meet her at a Goth pub off Tottenham Court Road after work tonight, if I was free. I was so pleased to be seeing her, I didn’t really think twice about the strange espionage nature of the set-up, particularly since I already knew about her pregnancy. And it was nice to see her, as she came into the pub and rushed straight over to give me a hug. I beamed at her.

Me: So how have you been?

Zoe: Well, I have a little news.

Me: [laughing] Oh, I know your news.

Zoe: Nope. This news. [holding out her hand, with slim wedding band]

Me: Oh, you two did it! Congratulations!

Zoe: Thank you! I didn’t want to talk to you on the phone because I knew I’d give it away. I’m so happy.

Me: Please, tell me all about it.

It seems that, because it was such a long stay in the US, her super-handsome American boyfriend Zac stayed out there too, and her parents and sister came to visit for a week in the middle. With Zac’s family living right around the corner, they figured it was an opportunity they may not get again for a while; the day before, Zoe asked Pedro for an extended lunch hour and that was that. Only – and this is the most surprising bit of the whole story – somehow Pedro found out what she was doing, and not only cancelled their whole afternoon schedule, but followed them to City Hall, swept both families off to a top restaurant, paid for everything and took photos the whole time.

Me: But he took it out of your wages, right? Or he had you deported that night? What was his punchline?

Zoe: If he’s got one, I’m still waiting. He’s been … he’s been human, Kiki. Believe me, I’m as baffled as you are, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. Oh! Do you know – he wouldn’t let me travel economy, either way? He upgraded me to First Class, saying it wouldn’t be good for the baby.

Me: And how was First Class?

Zoe: It was very good for the baby.

Me: Ah. Speaking of which.

Zoe: Ye-ee-es?

Me: Zo, I’m slightly knocked up. I don’t know what to do.

Zoe: [biting back a woop] OK, let’s take this step by step. Can I ask if it was planned?

Me: No. Yes. No, I mean yes you can ask, and no, yes, it was and wasn’t planned. It was planned at the time, but it was a one-night error which we realised in the morning. It really isn’t planned. I haven’t thought about how it would fit in with my promotion, or how we’ll look after it, or how we’ll afford it, or what we’ll do with it. What am I going to do with a baby?

Zoe: Right, and how pregnant do you think you are?

Me: Entirely.

Zoe: And in weeks?

Me: Maybe … eleven? It’s all fairly approximate at the moment.

Zoe: And have you seen a doctor or had any scans?

Me: Yes doctor, no scans. Day after tomorrow.

Zoe: And how’s Thom?

Me: He’s pleased, I think, but worried about me. He’s OK.

Zoe: How are you feeling? I’ve just been talking the whole time and not even asking about you.

Me: Ugh. I don’t know how I am. I feel sick almost all the time, although actually that’s improving. I don’t know what to think about this, but I don’t know how to think about anything else.

Zoe: Everything makes you think of it, and nothing feels real?

Me: Exactly.

Zoe: This one wasn’t exactly planned either. Well, it wasn’t a full accident, but we were just … trying it. Seeing how it played out. And it’s worked out brilliantly, so far. If it helps you at all, Kiki, I was so freaked out when our plan actually worked. Hugely freaked out. I couldn’t speak for three days.

Me: And then?

Zoe: [shrugs] Then I could.

She said she realised that this was something happening to both of them, and it would be a hell of a lot more manageable if she shared it all with Zac. She didn’t want to be alone, and she didn’t want him to feel alone either, and if they loved each other enough to marry in the face of Pedro’s insistence on twenty-hour working days, they could certainly manage growing a baby together. We stayed for a couple of hours, nursing our non-alcoholic cocktails, then were both so wiped out that I was home by 9, although I agreed to keep her posted with our scan results.

I think she’s right. I need to share this properly with Thom, not carry it all on my own and keep him at a distance. And I’m so glad to be going through this with a friend, too. And she might be only a month or so ahead of me, if my dates are right.