“Hey,” comes a voice from the hallway.
“Elizabeth!” Cameron slams the drawer shut. As if mocking him, it closes slowly and softly, the way these fancy cabinets do.
“Didn’t mean to startle you.” She smiles, an empty cup in one hand. The other rests on her belly, which is trying to bust out of a pale blue robe. “Up for a drink, which means I’ll need to pee again in an hour. My bladder is the size of a jelly bean these days.” She flicks on the light then pads over to the refrigerator and presses her cup under the water dispenser.
“I can’t believe you guys are going to have a baby,” Cameron says. Brad and Elizabeth have been married three years, and of course Cameron was best man at their wedding, but it’s still just . . . weird. Elizabeth was his best friend since kindergarten, and Brad was a good guy, but always hovering on the periphery of their friend group. Never good enough for Elizabeth in high school, but somehow, they got together a few years later. Now married, now a baby.
“A baby? I thought I was just bloated.” Elizabeth’s eyes crinkle, teasing. “How come you’re awake, anyway?”
“Phone’s dead.” He holds up the moribund device. “You guys have an extra charger?”
Elizabeth gestures. “Junk drawer.”
“Thanks.” He pulls out a neatly coiled cord.
Grimacing, Elizabeth eases herself up onto one of the bar stools lining the island counter and takes a long drink of water. “Sorry to hear about you and Katie.”
He slumps onto the stool next to her. “I screwed that up.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Thanks for the sympathy, Lizard-breath.”
“Anytime, Camel-tron,” she says with a grin, returning the childhood nickname. “So, what happens now?”
Cameron picks at the fraying spot on the cuff of his favorite hoodie, depositing the greenish thread bits in a pile on the counter. “I’ll get a new place. Maybe that apartment over Dell’s.”
“Dell’s? Gross.” Elizabeth wrinkles her nose. “You can do better than that. Besides, who wants Uncle Cam smelling like stale beer when he comes to see the baby?”
Cameron drops his head, letting it rest on the cool granite for a moment before looking back up. “I’m not exactly flush with options here.”
Elizabeth leans across the counter and sweeps the thread bits into her palm. “That sweatshirt is also gross, by the way. Brad threw his out a long time ago.”
“What? Why?” It’s not official Moth Sausage gear, exactly, but the whole band got them. Years ago. Always planned to get them screen printed.
“When was the last time you washed it?”
“Last week,” Cameron says with a huff. “I’m not an animal.”
“Well, it’s still gross. It’s falling apart. And I’ll never understand why you guys picked that baby-poo color.”
“It’s Moth Green!”
Elizabeth studies him for a long moment. “Why don’t you, like, travel or something?” she says quietly. “What’s keeping you here?”
He blinks. “Where would I go?”
“San Francisco. London, Bangkok, Marrakesh.”
“Oh, sure. I’ll just summon my Lear. Fly halfway around the world.”
“Okay, maybe not Marrakesh.” She lowers her voice. “To be honest, I’m not even sure where that is. It was part of a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune last night.”
“It’s in Morocco,” Cameron answers almost automatically. Not somewhere he’s ever been or will ever go.
“Right, smarty-pants. Well, maybe I’d have learned that if Brad and I hadn’t both fallen asleep on the couch while it was on.”
Cameron crinkles his nose. “Remind me never to get married.”
“I’ll be shocked if you ever do.” She shakes her head, then snakes an arm under her massive belly, wincing. “Okay, back to bed for me. The good news is,” she says as she crosses the kitchen and deposits her glass in the sink, “I already have to pee again. Thanks for the chat. Two birds, one stone.”
“You’re welcome.” He heads back toward the living room, clutching the phone charger. “See you in the morning.”
“Until then.” She flicks off the light and disappears down the hallway.
AN HOUR.
Two.
Three.
Bluish light from his phone screen bathes Cameron’s face. Katie had gone through a phase where she tried to ban phones from their bedroom after she read some article about how the light was addictive. Messed up your brain waves somehow. He’d always assumed it was nonsense, but now his eyes burn in the screen’s glow and his brain feels scrambled.