Trying to Get Over You Page 12

  “I believe you. I know you’re not like that.”

  Our buzzer went off. We hopped up off the bench to go inside.

  We both ordered without looking at the menu. We always got the same thing: chicken quesadillas for me and chicken enchiladas for him.

  Our food arrived a little while later and we were munching on chips and queso when I noticed the girl from earlier at a table nearby, watching us. Since she didn’t really know Cooper, I was sure she didn’t have a clue who or what I was to him. “Your friend from earlier can’t quit looking our way.” I told him.

  “Please don’t call her that. I wish I could make her go away.”

  “Well, maybe we could give her a little show.” I knew it was completely wrong but I couldn’t stop myself.

  He raised an eyebrow at my comment. “A show? How?”

  I grabbed his hand. “I don’t know. Maybe we can make her think you aren’t available. Why don’t you come over and sit beside me?”

  In the blink of an eye, he was up, out of his seat, and sitting next to me. I snuggled in close to him, trying not to smell him. I thought I might enjoy what we were about to do a little too much.

  Oh, well. It was my birthday.

  I grabbed a chip, then scooped up some queso. I placed the chip at Cooper’s lips. He took the whole thing into his mouth. He finished chewing, swallowed, then leaned to my ear and whispered, “You are so adorable. You know that, right?”

  I simply smiled and repeated my process of placing a queso-laden chip near his mouth. He took it from me again, but this time, he grabbed my hand, holding it still. I looked at our hands in time to see him lick and suck the excess queso from my fingers. Oh my gosh, it felt amazing.

  I glanced at the girl. She was full-on scowling at us. I leaned to Cooper’s ear. “She is pissed.” I whispered.

  “Good. I intend to make this little scenario real again one day.”

  I pulled back and shook my head at him. “Cooper, let’s not talk about that. It’s my birthday. I want it to be a happy day.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. Can’t say I’m not enjoying this, though.”

  We kept up the show for the girl’s benefit. I think she quit watching midway through our lunch, but neither Cooper nor I stopped. I think we both wanted to live in a bubble of the past for a while. Spending time with him was the best birthday gift I could have received.

  On the way back to my apartment, I felt as if the drive was going by too fast.

  “So, do you have big plans for tonight?” Cooper asked.

  “I don’t have any plans. Being pregnant and all, I can’t do what most people do on their twenty-first birthday.”

  “You were never big on getting drunk, anyway. I think I’ve seen you drink maybe three times. I always loved knowing that my girlfriend wasn’t the one who was going to make a fool of herself. You were just the fun girlfriend everyone wanted to be around.”

  I grabbed his arm and giggled. “Thanks, Cooper. It’s always nice to know I’m not annoying.”

  He dropped me off at Jen’s apartment. A nice nap sounded better than anything else, now that my stomach was full. I settled into the bed with nothing but a T-shirt on and drifted off to sleep.

  I woke up in a cold sweat, after having a nightmare that I’d delivered the baby on the side of the road, with the help of some really hot Puerto Rican guy. When he handed me the baby, it had a huge cone head and was terribly ugly. I kept telling the guy, “No. That can’t be my baby. It doesn’t look like me or Cooper.”

  He replied, “It looks just like you. See the shape of the head? It has to be yours.”

  It was an awful dream.

  I was trying to shake off my dream when my phone pinged, alerting me of a text message from Ben.

  Ben: If you’re not busy can I come give you your present?

  Me: I’m not busy. Come whenever you want.

  Ben: Be over in a little while.

  I went to the bathroom sink and turned on the cold water. I splashed it all over my face, trying to remove the sweat the dream had caused. My dreams were getting weirder and weirder. It was a good thing I had read about pregnancy causing weird dreams. Otherwise, I’d think I was going crazy. I dried my face off and left the bathroom. I put on some shorts before making my way to the living room.

  Just as I entered the living room, the doorbell rang. I went to the door, checking my clothes to make sure they looked okay. It was a little late to check that; Ben was there.

  I opened the door. Ben held a dozen red roses. Since getting pregnant, I preferred chocolate, but they were beautiful.

  He handed me the roses. “Happy birthday, Emily.”

  I took them in one hand and gave him a hug with the other arm. “Thank you so much. They’re beautiful. You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble.”

  “It was no trouble at all.”

  I directed him to the couch while I placed the bouquet on the small dining table since they were already in a vase. I flopped on the couch beside him, and he pulled me close to him.

  “The flowers aren’t the only gift.” He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and gave it to me. “Open it.”

  I slid my finger under the flap and tore it open. I dug out two sheets of paper and unfolded them. The first one was an airline ticket to Vegas in a few weeks. The other piece of paper was a hotel reservation for the Mirage under Ben’s name.

  “You’re taking me on a trip to Vegas?” I asked.

  “Yes. I know it’s a little sudden, but I just thought it could be a fun weekend. Just the two of us, away from your ex-boyfriend.”

  “I don’t really know what to say. That’s a huge birthday present.”

  “Just say you’ll go. It’s not for a few weeks. You have plenty of time to prepare.”

  It would be nice to get away. Hopefully, the distance would let my feelings for Cooper die down a little. “Okay. It sounds like fun. Thanks.”

  The morning of my second appointment with the doctor, I was brushing my hair when the doorbell rang. It must be Cooper. We would hear the baby’s heartbeat today. Cooper was pretty excited about it, since I didn’t invite him to my last appointment and he wanted to hear the heartbeat.

  I finished with my hair, set my brush down, then ran to the door. I opened the door to see Cooper standing in his work clothes.

  He could definitely pull off the whole black dress pants, gray shirt, and black tie look. He still had a small amount of stubble, but he looked gorgeous. “Are you ready?” He asked.

  “Let me grab my purse, and then I will be.” I ran back to my room, grabbing my purse. I tossed my cell phone inside, then returned to the front door and smiled at Cooper. “You ready for this? It’s pretty cool. Makes it all very real.”

  He draped one arm over my shoulder and walked me to the car. “I am very ready for this. I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I’m not nervous or anything. Just excited.”

  He helped me into the SUV. After he got in, he pulled a long rectangular jewelry box out of the pocket of his suit jacket, which had been left in the car. He gave me the box. “I didn’t know when to give this to you, but well, just open it.”

  I ran my hands over the velvet and opened the box. A charm bracelet was inside. It had one charm, in the shape of a heart with a zigzag line over it. Tears started seeping out of my eyes. “Oh, Cooper. You shouldn’t have. I mean, it’s beautiful and I love it, but you really shouldn’t have done this.”

  “I saw the charm the other day and thought it would be perfect for today, the day that we both hear the baby’s heartbeat together. I hope that you’ll be able to add many more charms to it in the future.”

  “Thank you so much, Cooper.” I kissed his cheek, tears were slipping down my face. I couldn’t seem to control my crying anymore.

  He placed the bracelet on my wrist. “Perfect.” he said.

  When we arrived at the doctor’s office, all the nurses were returning from lunch. I checked in with the front desk clerk
and found a seat. Cooper sat down next to me, then scanned the coffee table in front of us for a magazine to read. The selection was slim: a sports magazine that was about six months old, a pregnancy magazine, or a parenting magazine. He picked up the sports magazine and skimmed the pages.

  “Emily Reynolds,” I heard the nurse call.

  I stood up and went back, Cooper following me. I directed him to stay in the hall until after the nurse had weighed me. I didn’t need anyone besides the doctor and nurses knowing my weight.

  After the nurse informed me that I had gained seven pounds, I let Cooper know that he could come inside.

  The nurse checked my blood pressure, then lowered me onto the table, pulled my shirt up, then put gel on my stomach.

  I noticed that Cooper had his phone near my stomach. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m recording the heartbeat with my phone.” I couldn’t help but feel happy at his excitement.

  The nurse placed the instrument on my stomach and moved it around. At first I heard nothing but static, but then I heard the heartbeat, which got louder and louder.

  “That’s my baby?” Cooper asked, sounding shocked.

  “Yes. That is your baby,” the nurse replied.

  “Oh my gosh! That is my baby. That is my baby.” He said with an excited tone. He smiled at me, and I noticed tears in his eyes.

  I was so thankful he was excited about being a father. It made this entire situation so much easier.

  “Everything is fine.” The nurse wiped the gel off my stomach. “The doctor will be in shortly.” She left.

  The door closed behind her, leaving Cooper and I alone in the room.

  “Oh my gosh, Em, that was amazing.”

  “I know. I am still so sorry that I didn’t invite you to the first appointment. I was being a selfish bitch.”

  He put his hand over mine. “It’s okay. I am the one that screwed everything up. If I hadn’t done that, then—well, I would have been included in everything from the start. You’ll never know how sorry I really am.”

  I leaned my head against him. “Let’s not rehash everything, okay? We may not be together, but I love that we can have moments like this. Moments like my birthday.”

  I could tell he wanted to say something, but the doctor knocked on the door, effectively ending our conversation. The doctor entered and came over to shake my hand. “Ms. Reynolds, how are you today?”

  “Fine, thank you.”

  Then he turned to Cooper. “Mister…”

  “Thomason,” Cooper said. “Cooper Thomason. The baby’s father.”

  “Oh, yes. Well, it’s nice to meet you.” He shook Cooper’s hand. “I’m Dr. Smith, Ms. Reynolds OB.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir.”

  The doctor turned back to me. “Let’s lay you back down so I can measure your belly.”

  I reclined back onto the table and pulled my shirt up while moving my pants back down.

  The doctor pulled out a measuring tape from a drawer and measured my stomach. “You are measuring right where you need to be, according to your dates.”

  Cooper gave me a hand, helping me sit back up.

  “Everything is great,” Dr. Smith said. “I will see you back here in a month, unless something comes up.”

  “Great. Thanks.” He left the room as I readjusted my clothing. I stepped down off of the table and we left the room.

  Cooper pulled out his wallet as we approached the payment counter.

  “It’s okay, Cooper. I can get it.”

  “No. I can pay for your doctor visits. It’s the least I can do, since you have to go through the pregnancy. I’m just a bystander.”

  He did have a job that paid well, so I knew he could afford it. “Okay, if you insist.”

  “Thank you.” He paid for the visit, then grabbed my hand and led me out of the office. We reached the car, and he opened my door for me. “Do you need to do anything while we’re out? I have the rest of the day off.”

  “I can’t think of anything at the moment. Want to go feed the ducks?” I gave a hopeful smile.

  He smiled back at me. “I like that idea. We can stop at a grocery store on the way to get some bread.”

  The local grocery store we stopped at had a slight smell to it. As we went down the different aisles, looking for bread, I realized that I was quite hungry. Not even the weird smell seemed to be turning off my need to eat. I found some chips on the opposite side of the aisle from the bread, and I grabbed two different flavors.

  Cooper noticed the bags of chips in my hands. “Are you hungry? We can stop someplace and grab something.”

  “I’m starving, actually. I really want these chips now that I’ve seen them. Thanks for the offer, though.”

  “Whatever you want to eat. The chips do kinda look good. I’ll help you eat those.”

  “Then you best pick out your own bag. These two bags are mine.” I said.

  He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry. I’ll get my own.” He grabbed some barbeque-flavored chips on our way out of the aisle. When we reached the checkout, I grabbed us each a water from the refrigerator at the front of the aisle.

  While we waited in line, I looked at the different gossip magazines. One caught my eye because it was talking about some young star getting crazy drunk in Vegas.

  It hit me that I needed to tell Cooper that I was leaving in a few weeks with Ben to go to Vegas. I knew it would be hard for him to hear the news; I wouldn’t want to hear about him going to Vegas with some girl.

  We finally reached the front of the line, and Cooper insisted on paying for everything, instead of us paying separately, waiting even longer.

  After what seemed like forever, we were back in the car driving towards the duck pond.

  I turned the volume down on the radio. “Cooper, I have to tell you something. You aren’t going to like it, but let’s not fight about it.”

  He glanced at me, then looked back out the windshield. “Okay, what is it?”

  “Well, um, Ben got me a trip to Vegas for my birthday. We leave in a few weeks.”

  He pursed his lips together and didn’t say anything to me for the remainder of the drive to the park. Once there, he slammed the car in park, staring out the front of the car, not looking at me. “Is it getting that serious? That you would take a trip to Vegas together?”

  “It’s not that serious, Cooper. I’m sure it’s something he was planning with someone else but the plans got cancelled, leaving him with an additional ticket. He said it was my birthday present, so he can’t tell me the truth.” I was just going off assumptions and maybe I was lying to Cooper a little.

  “It sounds pretty serious to me. I don’t know a single guy that would buy a trip for a girl he isn’t serious about.”

  I grabbed his arm and shook it, trying to get him to look at me. “Cooper, please look at me. Please.”

  He did. Seeing the anger on his face, I wished he hadn’t. “I don’t really care whether he thinks it is serious or not. It’s not serious on my end. I accepted because he is a nice guy and I really need to get away. I need a break.”

  “I need a break too. Let’s take a trip together. Do you really want to go to Vegas? I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

  I grabbed his hand, squeezing it. “I hate that I’m hurting you, but I am going with Ben to Vegas. Please just trust me when I say it isn’t that serious.”

  He looked back out the front of the car. He put the car into reverse, looked around to make sure no cars or people were in the way, then accelerated. “I don’t really feel like feeding the ducks. I need to go home and think.” He said angrily.

  Tears welled up. I closed my eyes, trying to force them back, but they streamed down my face.

  “You tell me you’re going to Vegas with another guy on the same day we hear our baby’s heartbeat together, and you are the one crying?” he shouted. “You have no reason to be crying, right now. I’m the one in hell, over here.”

  “I�
��m so sorry, Cooper. I’m sorry that you’re hurt. I don’t know what else to say.”

  “You could fix all of this by breaking up with that asshole and taking me back. I made a mistake. Haven’t you ever made a mistake before? Maybe right now? Maybe right now, you’re making a huge mistake. Have you ever thought about that?”

  We pulled up to my apartment complex, and I got out. I looked back at Cooper who still wouldn’t look at me.

  “I’m sorry that you’re miserable right now. I truly am, but I’ve made up my mind about us. I hope this doesn’t change anything about us raising the baby together.”

  “Nothing will change my mind about raising my baby. I will be an active role in my child’s life.” He put the SUV in reverse, forcing me to close the door. He pulled away, leaving me in the middle of the parking lot, staring at his vehicle.

  I regained my composure before I went to the door of the apartment. I unlocked the door to see Jen sitting on the couch.

  “Oh wow, honey, you look rough.” She patted the couch cushion next to her.

  I sat down on the couch and let out a huge sigh.

  “Let me guess, you told Cooper about your little trip to Vegas, and it didn’t go so well.”

  I rested my elbow on one knee and cradled my chin in my hand, staring off into space. “You would be correct. He is furious. Just dropped me back here, didn’t even finish our plans for the day.”

  “Can you really blame the guy? He’s still way in love with you, and you’re heading off to Vegas with some other guy. Put yourself in his shoes.”

  “I know why he is upset, but I’ve never kept my relationship with Ben a secret. I can go to Vegas with the guy I am seeing, if I want.”

  “Honey, we all know that Ben means nothing to you. Why hurt Cooper, a guy you love, for a guy you don’t care about? I don’t get it.”

  Suddenly craving chips, I got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen to look through the pantry for some. “I care about Ben.”