Lexi's POV
"Elle, can I use your sunscreen? I feel like I'm starting to burn." The boys were all out doing something adventurous, while Elle and I, along with Lee's girlfriend Ashley, were splitting our time between the beach, shopping, and the spa. Elle and I hadn't moved from our spot on the beach for hours now, although we were going to meet Ashley at the spa soon. After a long winter in Chicago, I planned to soak up as much sun as I could this weekend.
"Yep, here it is." Elle threw the sunscreen bottle over to me. "It's so nice to be able to lay around and not doing anything. I have been so worn out lately, I really needed this relaxation."
"We were just happy to be able to watch tv for adults this morning." I told Elle as I caught the sunscreen. "Every time we turn on the tv these days, Leah whines until we turn on an episode of Sesame Street, so we have pretty much stopped watching it altogether while she's awake. She is so in love with Elmo!"
"Aw, that's so cute! I haven't seen Sesame Street since I used to watch it with Brad when he was little. And Elmo is adorable!"
"Leah loves Elmo so much, she calls all of the characters Elmo! It is cute, but not when it's all you watch. There's only so much Elmo's World I can take in a day. You'll see someday when you and Noah have a little one controlling your tv."
A waiter stopped to ask if we needed something to drink. Just in time, I had just started to think that I might have to get up and order myself a drink, since Noah and Darren weren't around to wait on us like they usually do. "I'll have another Strawberry Daiquiri, please."
"I'll take another bottle of water. Thanks!" Elle requested, making me glance over at her in surprise.
"Another water? You're turning down free drinks?" Alright, that's a little strange. Elle has never been a big drinker after she watched her Dad with his drinking issues, but she isn't usually one to abstain completely and usually lets herself go a little on vacation.
"It's so hot out, I'm feeling a little dehydrated. I may have had a little too much last night. I don't want to get a headache."
Hmm, did Elle really drink that much last night? She didn't even dance. Usually you can't keep Elle off the dance floor once she's had a few. "Wait a second, did you have much to drink last night? You didn't seem like your usual crazy self when you've been drinking."
"We are getting older, I guess maybe I've just grown out of acting crazy at the bars."
"If you say so. . . did you ever figure out what Noah's problem was last night?"
Elle gave a little laugh. "Oh, you know, just Noah being Noah. He freaked out when that guy touched me. Anyway, it's about time that we head in to meet Ashley for our spa appointment."
Elle stood up and started packing up our towels and magazines. I just stood there for a second watching Elle, but she seemed to be ignoring my questioning look, so I picked up my things and we made our way to the spa. I'm starting to worry about Elle. We've been in the sun all day, but does she look a little pale? Now that I think of it, I noticed she hardly ate anything at supper last night. I know all about her Mom's illness, could there be something wrong with her? That would explain Noah's overprotectiveness. Or maybe she's been having problems with drinking? Elle told me about her Dad's drinking problem but she's never been a big drinker. I can't imagine that's it but I know I've been preoccupied since Leah was born. What if I've missed something going on with my best friend? Surely she would tell me if something is going on, right? Now, I feel like I need to get to the bottom of this!
********
After the spa, Darren and I had a romantic dinner at one of the amazing restaurants on the resort. We both stuffed ourselves on the delicious food. It was a good thing I had dieted before the trip to look good in my swimsuit. Between the incredible food and drinks, I'm sure I'll be gaining all that weight back before the end of the trip. We met Elle and Noah after dinner and us old married couples were sitting in one of the quieter bars tonight while the rest of our group headed to a club off the resort. Noah has been glued to Elle's side with his arm around her the whole night. I think about asking her about it when he gets up to get refills for our drinks, but I feel like she's been trying to avoid my questions ever since we left the beach this morning, so I decide to leave it be, for now at least.
I see Noah up at the bar and notice he's keeping an eye on our table while he is there. I wonder if he's worried about someone trying to hit on Elle again. Noah returns to the table and he passes everyone their drinks. He and Darren are such gentlemen and usually take turns getting our drinks for us, but tonight Noah has been getting them each time. We're keeping things pretty low key tonight but I still find myself wondering if Elle is drinking tonight. She seems happy but again, not quite her crazy, partying self. Is she just pretending to drink tonight? If Elle isn't going to answer any questions, maybe I'll have to try to figure it out for myself.
Noah immediately puts his arm around Elle as soon as he sits down, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. I had always felt a little jealous of the way Noah looks at Elle. I know how much my husband loves me, but everyone who sees Noah looking at his wife can't help but see his feelings for her. The love he has for her is written all over his face when he looks at her.
"Your drink looks yummy, can I try it?" I grab Elle's drink before she has a chance to respond. Both her and Noah grab for the drink, but I'm too quick and take a sip.
"Mmm, that is good!" I hand the drink back without saying anything more. Elle gives me kind of a questioning look, but I ignore it and act like nothing happened. I have had quite a bit to drink tonight, but I know Elle's drink was a virgin – no alcohol in there. Hmm, she's not drinking on this trip, but doesn't want us to know she's not drinking. I don't care if Elle doesn't want to tell me what is going on, I'm going to get answers from her in the morning.
*****
The next morning, I grab Elle right after breakfast and tell our husbands that we're taking a walk. We walk down the beach, right along the water.
I take a deep breath and launch into my questions. "Okay, what is going on with you, Elle? I know you haven't been drinking on this trip and Noah has been super protective of you. Is something wrong, you're not sick are you? I'm not sure what it is, but I know something is going on with you two! I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but you have me worried. You're my best friend, can you just let me know that everything is okay?"
"Slow down, Lex! I swear everything is okay. I knew you had been trying to figure out what was going on, but I had no idea you would start jumping to conclusions like this. It's nothing bad, I swear!"
"Oh, that makes me feel so much better! I know I should leave it to you to tell me whatever it is when you're ready but both of you have been acting so funny on this trip, I started to get worried."
"I'm sorry about that, Lexi, we were planning to tell you soon."
"Relax, Elle, it's okay if you're not ready to tell me. I'm just glad you're okay. . ."
Elle interrupted me, "We're gonna have a baby, I'm pregnant!"
"What? Oh Elle, I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you!" I wrap my arms around her neck and we start jumping up and down together.
"Noah and I are so happy too! It's so good to be able to tell someone. You have to swear not to tell anyone though. We found out the day before the trip and we still need to tell our families and I haven't even told Lee yet. . . and Lee will totally flip if he knows you found out before him."
"I swear, I won't tell anyone!"
"I didn't think it would be positive, but Noah begged me to take the test. I'm going to schedule a doctor's appointment as soon as we get home and we'll tell our families after that. We're obviously still trying to wrap our minds around this news. Noah has become super protective, as you saw the other night. He wanted to cancel the trip once we found out, he was worried about us flying and everything."
"Aww, Elle! You two are going to be such great parents. I can't wait until you tell everyone, you know I'm not good at keeping secrets! I don't want to pry but as long as I already made you tell me your news, I might as well. Was this a surprise?"
"We've been trying since right after Christmas. It was Noah who brought it up, I thought he was crazy at first but you know Noah can talk me into pretty much anything. It didn't take long for me to realize that this was something I really wanted too."
Elle's POV
After I spilled our happy news to Lexi, we were heading back towards a seating area near our rooms where we thought we might find our guys when I realized something and stopped suddenly, "Crap, I lost the bet."
"What's that?" Lexi stopped a few feet in front of me looking back to see why I stopped.
"Noah bet me that I wouldn't be able to keep our secret the whole trip. He thought I would blab to you or Lee and, of course, he was right." When we were young, Lee and I had all kinds of secrets we would keep from Noah. Usually he could care less about our secrets, but occasionally we would drive him crazy trying to get him to figure out what we were hiding from him. He knew that I was the easiest target and would always come after me to get me to spill it. When we got older, it was Noah and I who kept a huge secret from Lee that almost ended our friendship. Once we were in a real relationship, Noah complained about my oversharing about our personal life with Lee and eventually Lexi also, nothing was a secret from my friends. Once we found out we were having a baby, and I finally convinced Noah that there was no reason to cancel our trip, Noah bet me that I wouldn't be able to keep our secret from our friends the whole trip. "He always teases me that I can't keep a secret, but I swore to him that I had grown out of that."
Lexi smiled at me, adjusting the sun hat she's been wearing since she got burnt yesterday on the beach. "Don't worry, I won't tell him."
"It doesn't matter. He'll know. It's not a big deal, I just hate that he's always right." I knew Noah would be fine with me telling Lexi, it wasn't like we were planning to wait a long time to tell everyone. Plus, she was the one who figured out something was going on anyway. I had to tell her.
Darren and Noah were sitting right where we expected them to be and as soon as Noah saw us, he stood up and started walking towards me, picking me up to kiss me as soon as I was close enough. He looked from me to Lexi and back again. Then whispered in my ear with a smirk, "Shelly, you told her, didn't you?"
"Damn it, Noah. Sometimes I wish you didn't know me so well." That's not true. I love that he knows me so well, just not so much when he uses it to his advantage.
That smirk of his grew into his big smile, showing me his dimples. "Oh, come on Elle. You know you won't mind me collecting my winnings from the bet from you tonight." And Noah is right again.