Mat Barzal - What Real Support Looks Like

Part 5

The minute Gemma reached the door, Annie bombarded her with questions.

"Why did you talk to him? What did you even talk to him about?"

"I just thanked him for bringing you here," Gemma said, deliberately leaving out the four-day deadline she set for herself.

"Okay, whatever you say," Annie said skeptically, but she dropped it.

Gemma turned to Lauren and Sydney and realized that she hadn't properly introduced Annie to them. Mat made her forget everything, including her manners.

"I'm sorry, please forgive me for being so rude. Annie, this is Lauren Eberle," she gestured to the dark blonde on the left, "and Sydney Esiason," she pointed to the light blonde on the right. "Lauren and Sydney, this is Annie Ryan, my best friend who I met at TCD."

"We've met before," Lauren said while reaching out her hand to shake Annie's, "over FaceTime, anyway."

"Oh yeah, I remember you!" Annie said, "It's so nice to meet you, I mean in person."

Lauren giggled. "It's nice to meet you too, officially."

"It's nice to finally put a face to the name I've heard so much about, Annie," Sydney said while greeting her.

"All good things, I hope," Annie joked, looking at Gemma.

"Definitely," Sydney laughed. "You can leave your bags here in the foyer for the time being; let's go introduce you to the other women."

"Good idea," Gemma agreed. She was so excited for Annie to meet everyone, especially Paige.

Sydney and Lauren led Annie and Gemma to the backyard, where all of the women were waiting expectantly.

"Everyone, this is Annie Ryan, my best friend from Ireland. We meet at TCD while I was studying abroad. Annie, this is Grace, Kristy, Megan, and Paige."

"It's so nice to meet you all," Annie said. "I feel like I know you already, Gem talks about you so much."

"We could say the same about you," Paige replied, "We finally get to meet the famous Annie!"

Annie smiled and averted her eyes, which Gemma knew was a telltale sign that she was embarrassed by all of the attention she was receiving.

"Come, there's a seat here for you!" Paige said, pointing to the empty chair next to her. Annie smiled at her, grateful, and was about to sit down when Jack started to cry. Gemma was startled; she had forgotten the baby was even there.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry I didn't see the baby before!" Annie said, "I was in the airport and on a plane for a long time." She turned to face Sydney and asked: "Could I by any chance use your shower? I generally wouldn't ask, but I don't want to get the baby sick, and I feel gross anyway."

"Of course," Sydney said, "and the baby's name is Jack."

"Hi, Jack," Annie waved at Casey and Kristy's son, and Jack waved back at her. She then turned to Gemma and said, "I'll be back in 15 minutes."

"No problem," Gemma said, and Sydney led Annie into the house to show her where the shower was. Jack began to cry again while Gemma settled back in her original seat.

"Ugh, I was hoping Jack was going to hang on today," Kristy lamented, "But it's 4 o'clock, the witching hour. What do you say, Jackie," she leaned her head down towards her son's, "Should I text Daddy and have him take you home for an afternoon nap?"