Sugar & Spice

Chapter 23

"But you don't seem like the kind of person to ever even think that, let alone be worried about it."

Amy sighed dramatically and crawled around to face Crissy.

"It's the baby," she said. "Manny is over the moon. I haven't seen him happier...ever. He won't stop smiling. He won't stop helping around the apartment." She held up a hand. "I am so not complaining about that by the way."

Crissy frowned. "Amy, that sounds like a good thing."

"It is, sugar, believe me. But having a baby changes so much. My parents were separated for three years after I was born. Your parents completely broke up after you came along."

Crissy grimaced and Amy matched her expression.

"Sorry," she said. "Didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's...okay. It happened. I was too young to have it affect me anyway. So you're worried that having the baby will make Manu...not love you anymore?"

Amy winced and fiddled with the pool of bobby pins on Crissy's bed.

"When you put it that way, it sounds way too simple and much worse than when it was in my head," she said quietly.

Crissy said nothing. She didn't know what to say. Amy so rarely doubted herself or her relationship with Manu that it felt strange, hearing these words come out of her mouth.

"You could say something, sugar," Amy said in a fake tone of annoyance. "I know you're dying to."

"But...how?" Crissy asked.

Amy blinked, surprised. "What? What do you mean, how?"

"Every time I look at you and Manu, all I can think is that the two of you are impossibly perfect. If there were ever two people absolutely made for each other, it would be the two of you. And that's only supposed to exist in fairy tales and movies. But I see that in you and Manu."

Tears welled up in Amy's eyes. "You never told me that before."

Crissy shrugged, picking at the blanket on her bed.

"It kind of made me a little jealous I guess," she said. "Even if the baby does change things between you and Manu, I think you'll find a way to work it out. You've always been unstoppable, especially when it comes to people you care about. And Manu is so lost on you. I can't imagine him even looking at another woman."

Amy flapped her hands and she turned her head up towards the ceiling.

"Cristina Atwood," she said in a stern tone. "Don't you dare make me cry."

Crissy snorted. "You're the one who wanted to suffer through raging pregnancy hormones. You looked about ready to cry over my macaroons earlier."

"That's because they're so beautiful. Now stop teasing me and let me finish your hair already."

Crissy obediently turned around but just as Amy started pinning her hair again, her phone buzzed on her bedside table. Amy glanced at it, uneasy.

"Your mom is still calling?" she asked. "It's been at least a week."

Crissy groaned and grabbed the phone, ready to stuff it into her drawer. "I'm thinking about changing my number. I can't carry my phone with me everywhere when she's calling like this. I'd never answer it. And then you would call with some big emergency and I'd ignore it and I'd feel awful..."

"Changing your number might not be a bad idea actually," Amy replied.

The phone buzzed again and the screen lit up with Andrea's name in bold letters.