“While I’m off chasing my own dreams, and sailing around the world, please know that I’m yours to keep, my beautiful girl…”


“We actually can’t knock that post down. It’s a support beam. So we can either put a half wall up or just leave it as an eyesore in the middle of your place,”

Marie looked up at the God-awful post in the middle of the open floor space, then back down at the building plans on the table in front of her, and then back at the post. As much as she wanted it to, it wasn’t going anywhere. Finally she stared at the rotund contractor in front of her and waved her hand. “Build a half wall then. We can turn it into a counter,”

The contractor looked back down at the plans as though he were going through the steps of putting a wall around the beam. And once he was satisfied, he rolled up the plans and scurried off to direct his workers on what to do next.

Marie sighed and pulled her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head. The place had become a war zone over the past week as renovations had started, and now just over thirty weeks pregnant, Marie was already feeling the pressure of motherhood. She let out a shaky breath and propped her hands up on her lower back. Despite constantly donning a support belt, her back felt like it was going to snap in half.

Things had not been easy as of late. After the Wild got knocked out of playoffs, Marie buried herself in her schoolwork. And now with it being early June, finals were halfway through and Chicago had won the Stanley Cup just as she predicted. With summer underway, Marco was anxious to head back to Montreal. He wanted to visit his friends, and maybe hit up Vegas for a weekend, but Marie made it clear, she wouldn’t be doing any traveling this go around. There was still so much to do before the baby arrived, and that mixed with everything that was happening at the shop, didn’t leave much time for leisurely trips.

Although having Marco traveling alone or with friends, to Vegas no less, was nerve wracking for Marie. The idea of him finding a girl in a club or bar and spending the night with her was terrifying. When the cat’s away…

“How’s it going, pretty mama?”

Marie was pulled from her thoughts and spun around, grinning from ear to ear as Marco waltzed in. Even though he was wearing a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt, he looked good as ever. “Same old, same old. Trying to get this place afloat as soon as humanly possible,”

He glanced around the entire place, “it’s looking good. You’ve got a lot done in one week.” Marco bent over and kissed her gently. “I think all you need now is a name and sign for the place. Start promoting it so people know it’s opening soon…”

“I actually had a friend from school draw something up. I just wanted to run the name by you first… see what you thought,” Marie flicked her head to the side and led him over to the future cash register area. She yanked a drawer open and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Marco took it slowly, and stared at the masterpiece on it. “What do you think?”

“You sure you want to call it this?”

Marie nodded and put her hands over her stomach. She was getting emotional and she didn’t know if it was because the hormones inside her were wreaking havoc, or if she really was so happy. Marco was seemingly just as emotional, because with tears welling up in his eyes, he lunged forward, cupped his hands around Marie’s cheeks and kissed her slowly. They both couldn’t get enough of each other, and Marie placed her hands on his waist, wanting to feel every inch of him against her.

Unfortunately just as they were beginning to get enthralled by each other’s touch, the sound of someone clearing their throat pulled them out of their fantasy. Marie twisted in Marco’s arms and giggled at the sight of the contractor behind them, trying to act like he hadn’t just seen them being intimate.

“Sorry miss. I’m gonna have the boys do the brickwork, and I wanted to make sure you wanted the actual brick, and not just the fiberglass.”

Marie paused to gather herself, and looked back at Marco, expecting him to voice his opinion on the matter. But he just smiled, waiting for her to give the orders. “Yeah, real brick,”

He hurried away to allow them to return to their extracurricular activities. As soon as Marie turned back to Marco, she saw him grinning. He leaned in to kiss her once more and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You gonna be alright while I’m gone?”

She should’ve known this conversation was coming. After all, he was leaving the country in a few hours. “I’ll be fine. Jess is coming out tomorrow, so I’ll have her to look out for me,”

“I’m a little nervous about leaving you here. If you don’t want me to go, I won’t. I’ll stay right here and take care of you, and get whatever you need, and…”

“Stop,” she pressed her hands against his chest. “Baby it’s fine. Get one more good vacation in before this fatherhood thing gets dropped on you like a bomb. I’ll be okay,”

“I’ll call you everyday, Marie.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“And if you need anything, you just call me…”

“Alright,”

“And if something happens, I can be on a plane back here in a minute.”

“Marco I’ll be fine. Just go, you’re stressing me out.”

He looked down at her and wrapped his arms around her tightly, “I love you so much.” He kissed her temple.

“I know, I love you too,”

“And you look gorgeous today…”

Marie backed up from him and smiled, “now I know you’re a liar.” She kissed him once more before he ducked out of the shop. Looking around again, she realized she had so much to do and so little time to do it.

---

Jess pranced into the condo carrying all of Marie’s bags on top of all of hers. She believed that Marie was too far into the pregnancy to be carrying anything over two pounds, so she insisted on lugging her purse and backpack along with all of her own luggage.

It was the first time she was seeing Marco’s place, and really the first time she’d get to spend time in the place Marie was now calling home. Marie was happy to have her in Minnesota, but it became clear very quickly that she wouldn’t become a substitute for Marco. There was no substituting him.

“What do you mean you’re not having a baby shower?” This conversation was continuing from the car.

Marie waddled to the kitchen and started boiling a pot of water. Regardless of the weather, she had begun to crave tea on an almost continuous basis. “Jess, who would come? You? I love you, but a one person shower doesn’t count.” She pulled out a mug and then looked at Jess, silently questioning whether or not she wanted tea too. When Jess shook her head, Marie reached into the cupboard to pull out a teabag. “Besides we have mostly everything we need. Marco got a crib and changing table last week. I just have to get everything else… like decorations and toys, and one of those little bouncy chair things.”

“Let me buy the bouncy chair thing. I feel like I should contribute to this kid’s life,”

“Oh stop, you being here is enough. Marco’s really nervous about me being here alone since my dad knows his address, but I didn’t want to keep him from his family and friends. He barely gets to see them as it is,”

The conversation was put on pause as the kettle because began to whistle and Marie filled up her cup. Then they both padded into the living room. Jess curled onto the couch and pulled the throw blanket over her as the June gloom weather had put an even chill over the house.

“You really love him Marie? Like total and complete life-consuming love? Because I’ve been thinking about it lately and you met the kid on vacation in a bar. For all intents and purposes, he should’ve just been a hook up, yet now you’re having his child.”

Marie nodded and took a sip of her tea. It was a little strange. Originally all she wanted to do was sleep with Marco and add a notch to her bedpost. But things had evolved from there whether they thought they would or not.

Jess, however, seemed less convinced that it was real. It was as if she felt they were just playing house, living in a fantasy world completely separate from reality. “You had a threesome with the guy. Dudes you have threesomes with are not meant to be kept around,”

“Remember Johnny from freshman year? You told me that when you looked at him you saw your future. That’s what I see when I look at Marco; he’s my future.”

“Yeah but look how that turned out for me. I slept with him and he broke up with me a week later. Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?”

Marie shook her head and looked down at her cup, “It’s an awful metaphor, but real relationships aren’t based on sex. Why buy the cow? Because you love the cow. Because you can’t imagine a life without the cow.”

“I just want the best for you and I’m not sure he’s it,”

“He’s the best for me. You should’ve seen his face the day I told him we were having a daughter. Never in my life have I seen someone look so happy for anything. For once I feel…” Marie paused and looked at Jess, who was waiting for her to continue, “safe.”

Jess nodded and tilted her head to the side and twiddled her thumbs. Marie wanted her approval so badly, and hoped that her friend could understand she was just trying to move on with her life.

“I suppose I see the appeal in that for you,” she grinned and let out a soft sigh, standing up from the couch. “Let’s get out of here… Go shopping for that kid of yours,”

Marie hoisted herself up off the couch followed Jess towards the front door. So it wasn’t the complete approval she had been hoping for, but it was good enough. At least now Jess understood why she was so drawn to Marco.

In the car they kept the conversation light after Marie changed the radio station from the noisy house music, to the soothing sounds of soft jazz. Jess had giggled at the change in her music preferences focused back on the road. She had bolted for the drivers seat, feeling a tad more comfortable with her behind the wheel than Marie.

They got to Minneapolis twenty minutes later and parked in one of the many public lots, giving them free range to go about their shopping. The business district of Minneapolis was bustling during the weekday lunch hour, and it was obvious Jess was appreciative of what she was seeing. Her head was swiveling constantly and Marie nearly had to take hold of her sleeve just to lead her down the street.

“Excuse me, miss?”

Jess halted in an instant, causing Marie to do the same as a sharp dressed man approached them. Jess batted her eyelashes but despite her efforts, the man was staring at Marie. She was partially caught off guard because being nearly seven months pregnant, she didn’t expect anyone to look at her with particular lust.

“I apologize if this is a bit forward, but you’re quite a beautiful woman.”

Marie blushed and pursed her lips. Since being with Marco, and going out with him everywhere, it wasn’t very often she got hit on anymore. With him out of town, outside male attention was more prominent.

“Thank you,” she murmured, subtly tugging on Jess’ sleeve again.

“I’d like to take you out sometime…”

“I have a boyfriend,” she whispered again. Couldn’t this guy tell she was carrying a child? It wasn’t exactly a secret.

“I figured, being pregnant and all… He doesn’t have to know about it though. I just want to treat you to lunch or dinner,”

Marie glanced at Jess and wondered why she wasn’t butting into the conversation to help out. It was then that she realized Jess was staring at the man with her jaw-dropped, distracted by his good looks.

She shook her head and tugged on Jess’ sleeve again, getting her to take a step forward, “that’s flattering, really. But I’m going to pass… Have a good day.” She tugged Jess closer to the store they were trying to get to in the first place, “thanks for stepping in back there. Big help,”

“Dude was gorgeous,”

“Dude was trying to get inside your pregnant friend. Or did selective hearing negate that for you?” Marie pushed the store door open, immediately being greeted by the overwhelming smell of baby powder. She didn’t need much for the baby, and what she did need was small, but she always imagined she’d be doing this kind of shopping with the baby’s father, not a friend.

Sure there was a time and place to have girl time and relax all her worries away. Maybe this was even one of them. But with anything that concerned her daughter, no matter how menial it was, she wanted to handle it with Marco.

Notes

"The Girl" by City and Colour.