A Baumgartner reunion

“Oh come on, even if we hadn’t seen you with Mom and Dad…” Janie smiled, shaking her head. “I mean, Gretchen’s been our ‘nanny’ for almost ten years. And we’ve been way too old for a ‘nanny’ for most of that.” She seemed so okay with it, but I wondered if she really was. She’d certainly used it to dig at me on more than one occasion over the past week, but Janie had always been good at finding and pushing my buttons. Maybe it was just her anger at me for abandoning her coming out.

“How do you feel about Gretchen…being with your mom and dad…?”

“I love Gretchen,” she said simply. “And I love my mom and dad. I guess in some ways, their arrangement makes sense. I mean, at least if you’re up front about it, you don’t get hurt.”

Out of the mouths of babes. Here I was, struggling with it all along, and she had a complete acceptance of the idea of polyamory that I had to come to through painful self-reflection.

“You mean cheating?” I asked. “Like what Brian did?”

“It’s awful.” Janie frowned. “It makes you feel so…betrayed. Violated.” I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sorry he treated you that way.”

“I’m sorry I treated you the way I did.” She gave me a small, apologetic smile. “I’ve been such a brat.”

“Yeah, a little bit,” I agreed, grinning.

“I just wish you’d been here.” Janie sighed. “A part of our lives.”

“You know what? I do, too. I didn’t realize how much I missed you guys until I came back. I think I tried to block it out.” She looked down, frowning. “For a long time, I thought it was just because you didn’t love us anymore.”

“No,” I reassured her. “The truth is, I didn’t want to think about what I was missing, if that makes sense. I loved you too much.” She hugged me hard, and at that moment, I knew we were okay again. It will all work itself out, I thought. Trusting that had been hard, but here we were, hugging in the bathroom and back on good terms again.

“Will you do something for me?” Janie asked, letting me go and looking into my eyes, all serious now.

“Sure.”

She swallowed and looked toward the sink. “Will you look at that test on the counter and tell me what it says? I’m too scared.” My jaw dropped and I saw a unmistakable white stick, the same brand I’d used myself when I was testing, I realized, sitting on the counter. “You’re pregnant?”

“I don’t know.” Janie pursed her lips, blinking fast. “You tell me.”

“Oh no. Janie…” I was already reaching for the test. She was so young, just barely drinking age for god’s sake. What was she going to do if she was pregnant? I stared at the window, uncomprehending for a moment, unable to remember how to even read one of these things. “It’s two lines if you are and one if you’re not, right?”

Janie nodded, pointing at the counter. “The instructions are right there.”

“If you are…” I picked up the directions, scanning through for the illustrations. “Is it…Brian’s?”

“Couldn’t be anyone else’s.” She pulled her knees up and resting her chin on them, looking at me. “I was a virgin until last week.” I gaped at her. “Brian was…your first?” That surprised me, given her age and her looks and…well, who was a virgin at twenty-one anymore? “Janie, you waited so long…why him? You’d only known him-”

“Two weeks,” she agreed, looking at me, helpless. “I don’t know. He was so sweet, and he told me he loved me. I just…gave in. I mean, I figured it was time…”

“Well,” I said, handing her the test. “You’re not pregnant.”

“Oh thank god!” Janie looked from me to the test and back again.

“Or you tested too early,” I countered, seeing her frown. “When are you due?”

“Five days ago.”

I did the math in my head. “Well…the good news is, the test says you’re not.”

She looked up, hopeful. “Does that really mean I’m not?” I shrugged. “Did you use birth control?”

“I’m on the pill,” she replied. “I have been for years, my mom took me when I was fifteen. I had really irregular periods.” I could imagine Mrs. B doing that. She’d be more aware than most mothers of the dangers. “Then you know…it’s probably stress. You’ve had enough stress the last week to last you a lifetime.”

She sighed. “I really hope I’m not pregnant.”

“Me too. You’re a little young for that responsibility yet.” I held my hand out for the test and she handed to me. “You’ll have to test again if your period doesn’t show up in a couple days, though.”

“I will.” She agreed, watching me shove the test and directions back into the box. “But I hope it shows up.”

“Me, too.”

Janie smiled at me, the relief showing on her face. “Is your husband coming soon?”

I nodded. “Tomorrow.”

“Is he nice?”

“I think so.” I smiled, looking forward to introducing TJ to the Baumgartners now.

“Is he cute?” she asked, perking up even more.

I laughed. “I think so.”

“Do you have pictures?”

I nodded. “Sure. I have some in my wallet of him and my daughter, Beth.”

“Can I see?”

I held up the pink and white pregnancy test box. “Uh, what do you want to do with this?”