BANGERZ 2: WORST BEHAVIOR (2015)

14. Cold Feet

I throw the blankets off my legs and hop out of bed.

When I make it downstairs I see I'm not the only one awake. The lamps of the breakfast bar splash light on the dining room walls. Anna is sitting there, hunched over papers. There's a coffee cup beside her.

"Hey, Anna," I say as I approach. "Can't sleep?"

She glances up absentmindedly. "Oh, hi, Tess. Not really. I'm feeling queasy." She pats her stomach, which only slightly pokes out under her satin camisole. "And I figured I'd get some wedding planning done while I'm up."

"It might be the caffeine keeping you up," I note, pointing to her cup.

She laughs. "This is grape juice! I just grabbed a coffee cup because it makes me feel like I can still drink it. Caffeine isn't good for the baby." She peers at me. "You can't sleep either?"

I sigh and rest my chin in my hand. "No. It's not that I don't want to - I'm just restless."

She studies me. "You're on the pill, right?"

"Yeah. Terrible cramps. Why?"

"Caffeine takes longer to leave your system if you're taking birth control. Trust me, I learned that the hard way when I was going to school and depending on caffeine at night. I never like, crashed, and even when I was trying to go to sleep it took a while for me to relax. Then I stopped taking it and slept just fine. Of course, once I got pregnant my hormones went through the roof - that's why I was on it in the first place - and now I'm back to not sleeping. It's probably nerves - " She stops herself abruptly, then gives me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I sound like such a nurse."

I smile. "Anna, you are a nurse. But I didn't have any coffee today - and I actually forgot to take my pill, too." I grimace. "I'm just having one of those nights. I have a lot on my mind." I sigh and glance around the kitchen halfheartedly. "Maybe I should clean up around here."

"You already did, Tess," she reminds me, chuckling. "And cooked a huge dinner for everyone and scrubbed every inch of this house before that." She tilts her head at me. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Just keeping myself occupied. And I wanted to do something nice for everybody." I shrug. "Anyway. How's the wedding planning going? What are you working on tonight?"

She finishes off her juice and spreads her papers out. "The menu. I'm working backwards since we already picked the cake. Now I just need an appetizer. And then I have to figure out place settings and center pieces. And the flowers."

"Have you and Danny decided where you're gonna have it?"

"Nope. That's one of the last things I'll do. The deposit and my dress appointment can wait, too."

I widen my eyes. "Last? Aren't the venue and the dress the first things you do?"

Anna's unfazed. "I know it seems weird, but I'm planning out all the little details first. The details is what people scramble over and forget. The big stuff, like my dress and the venue, is obvious. I'll take care of all that later."

"Let me know if you need any help with anything - this is so exciting."

"I know, right?" she agrees, clasping her hands together. "I'm enjoying the process, but at the same time I can't wait. Sometimes I still can't believe your brother proposed."

"Why not?"

She lifts a shoulder and pats her cheek, bashful. "Oh, well, I always worried about it being okay with you. You and Danny are so close and I didn't want to mess that up."