my escape. h.s/au

chapter 26: I need friends, I'm with you far too much

Betty puts iced water in a wine glass for me (for the feeling) and gives Harry a glass of wine. "Okay I need to go be a hostess, have fun my beauties." She lightly sets a hand on my stomach and then swiftly walks away.

"Are you okay? Need to sit down baby?" He puts a hand on my lower back and guides out to the back porch. Bettys house, like ours, sits on a canyon. The porch is lifted way above the ground and you can see the ocean from here. The canyon is filled with trees so the view is absolutely beautiful. It's a very clear day so we can see Catalina Island in the distance.

We sit at a small glass table, there are four chairs so two are left empty.

"I feel tired now." I laugh out a little making Harry shake his head with a smile. "I said we should stay home, my love."

"You know just as well as I do that Betty would have a proper fit."

"A 'proper fit?' Someone is taking my lingo." He raises his eyebrows at me while taking a sip of his wine.

"I need friends, I'm with you far too much."

"I thought you enjoyed my company, I feel awfully hurt now." He fake gasp and puts a hand to his heart like I had actually offended him.

"Darling if I-" I begin to speak but am unexpectedly cut off by a stray voice.

"Excuse me, do you mind if my husband and I sit?" A woman ask us. Her and her husband looked to be about maybe in their 60s, the wife had long blond hair, her frame was slim but she had a lot of height in her. Her husband had black hair with grey peeking though. He was also quite slim and he had a couple inches on his wife. The woman looked extremely familiar but I could put my finger on where I have met her. Probably here at Bettys just a while back.

"Of course." Harry answers gesturing to the seats. They both sit down and begin talking to us. We learn their names are Regina and Jeffery. They have 3 children, two boys and one girl, and they have 8 grandchildren. From what they shared with us, I can only assume that their wealth came from stocks. Their eldest son is a lawyer and they're youngest son is trying to build his own t-shirt company. Their daughter, their youngest, was currently single. She had been working at a "beach shack" as she put it and while Regina didn't care much for it, she still seemed sort of supportive. They really loved to talk about their lives, well mainly Regina, Jeffery didn't say too much. He seemed far too distracted by his cell phone.

I can't feel nothing but gratitude right now for Harry. Jeffery was short with his wife, ignoring questions, and just blatantly not being there. Harry is always active in conversation with a nice voice even when he is upset. He never cuts anyone off and is always observant so he know just exactly what to say and do to fix the atmosphere of the area.

"Excuse me." Jeffery excuses himself from the table for a phone call just leaving the three of us. "So, when you are due, Juliette?" Regina ask now guiding the conversation towards us.

"April." I say with a large smile thinking about how close we are getting to the due date. I love Madeline but I cannot wait for her to be out of my stomach. I'm so ready to hold her and meet her but also, momma wants her alcohol and to be able to lay on her stomach. I would give anything right now to not have constant pressure on my bladder and not feeling kicks all through the day and night.

"Oh so soon! That's so exciting! I remember my first pregnancy was my favorite. The thrill of having a child made it all so exciting. Have you two began birthing classes?"

"We actually have our first class in a couple days." I say and Harry shoots his head over to me. Maybe I forgot to tell him. Which also reminds me Harry's birthday is just at the end of the week. I had already gotten him a gift but I needed to figure out what he wants to do to celebrate.