I'd finished my first two weeks working for Ryan. It was everything I could have imagined and more. He even introduced me to one of his new clients. Her name was Charlize and she wrote young adult fiction, which Ryan said is the exact reason he wanted me to work with her as well. He'd asked me my favorite young adult literature my first day and was really impressed with the titles I gave him. They were apparently similar to what Charlize writes.
She was a younger author, somewhere around my age. We got along really well. She'd written three books. I'd expressed interest in reading them after I got through the first few chapters of the manuscript she was working on. She showed up to our cover art meeting with copies of them just for me. She even signed them for me too. We talked more than we probably should, but she was quickly turning into a good friend.
I'd gotten into a routine with this job as well. It was way more strict than the routine I'd had with my last job. I was up hours before I used to be, answering emails over my coffee. When I got to work, I got more coffee grabbed something to eat on my way up to my cubicle. I'd decorated it with pictures of my friends and family, but there was also a lot of Harry. He even took a picture of Thing 1 and Thing 2 and printed it so I could frame it. He bought a dog themed frame for it too.
"It's supposed to be ironic. Your coworkers will laugh at it and think you're funny."
And he was right. Charlize stopped by my desk on her way to a review meeting and laughed when she saw the frame. I gave Harry his credit though. His humor was... unmatched.
This job was everything I could have imagined it would be. I spent most of my day reading, occasionally getting to write something for the publishing website. It was mostly press releases and book announcements, so it wasn't anything overly creative or difficult, but it was something that dispelled feelings about what Erin had said.
I had five other manuscripts I was reading besides Charlize's. I was learning that it was hit or miss with manuscripts. They were either really good, or really really bad. It was rare to find one that was somewhere in the middle that could be salvaged into something great. But that was the best part of the job. I was the person that read through manuscripts and decided what was good and what maybe shouldn't be published. Ryan trusted my judgement completely.
He also brought me to meetings that I didn't necessarily have to be in. I called it perk of knowing your boss for most of your life. I was learning everything there was to learn about being a book editor.
This is what I've been wanting to do my entire life. And there was room to grow within the company.
Harry was so supportive and so excited to hear about my day whenever he got home. My schedule was more structured than it used to be, so I was usually home first. We read a lot of my manuscripts together too. We'd gotten in the habit of reading together before bed. I was being productive and we were spending time together doing something we both enjoyed.
We were in a really good place. Talking about getting married and where we were with that had done something for our relationship. I had no clue what that was, but it was a good thing. I was feeling content more days that not. I genuinely enjoyed waking up in the mornings. Things felt like they were falling into place.
Thanksgiving was coming up now too. Kimmy and Dustin pushed for a mandatory Friendsgiving since it had been a while since we'd all been together. Niall had officially become part of the group since he and Kira were slowly turning into something - we didn't know what it actually was though. Harry and I both tried to pry for details, but they were both sealed shut. Kira had asked if she could add him to the group chat we had and that's the first and only time she'd willingly brought him up. And from what I hear, Harry and Dustin had formed a group chat with the three of them to match the group chat Kira, Kimmy, and I had.
Harry called it "group chat of the sexes". It was supposed to be a play on "battle of the sexes", but that joke quickly failed. I was the only one that laughed.
We all met at their house. They'd decorated everything and had a huge dinner planned out. Niall helped Kimmy in the kitchen, he just couldn't stay away. She told him to join the rest of us in the living room, but he wouldn't have it.
"You can't be cooking a huge meal with me in the house and not expect me to insert myself, Kimmy."
He said it with a beer in each hand too. No one was shocked though. Niall could smell a pint from across the city.
The rest of us, however, spent our time waiting in the living room. We caught up with each other. I told everyone about my new job, Harry boasted about our fish. He showed pictures too.
Yes, he did photoshoots with our fish. Don't ask me how. I don't actually know. He got very crafty with his angles though, I'll give him that.
Kira and I talked about work a lot though. She told me she hated working without me.
"Work is so fucking boring now."
"It's not supposed to be fun. It's called work for a reason."
"Okay but that's beside the point. I miss my favorite work friend." She gave me an exaggerated pout.
"I miss working with you too, but working under Ryan is an absolute dream. This is everything I've ever wanted."
"I'm happy for you, kiddo."
"I'm happy for me too."
When dinner was done, we sat at the table together. Kimmy and Niall served everyone the food they'd prepared together. Niall boasted about the stuffing he'd made from scratch and how the turkey was perfectly cooked because he'd helped her. He was drunk before the turkey even came out of the oven.
The dinner conversation stayed light and fun. We spent it laughing with each other. These moments were my favorite moments. They were the ones where I felt most free.
After dinner, sat around the table drinking. Kimmy grabbed a few board games from their game closet. Yes, closet. It was filled top to bottom with every game imaginable. She grabbed every game you can play with six people. Since Niall had helped with dinner, and got drunk while he did, he was granted the privilege of choosing the first game.
He chose Life. It was a bit of an ironic choice. We all started from college, taking turns oldest to youngest, leaving me for last. One by one, everyone spun the spinner. I watched as they all got their first jobs. Harry got the performer card, adding to the irony of the game. I got the journalism card, keeping the streak alive.
When we all got closer to the marriage part, we all made fun of Kira and Niall. They were the only ones denying that they were together. Kira rolled her eyes at our jokes. Niall coped by finishing the drink in his hand and opening another one immediately after.
Harry and I were the last ones to go, since we were the youngest of the group. He spun his turn and landed perfectly on the marriage stop. It was required, so he put a pink person in the car next to his blue person. I could feel the tension at the table.
I'd told Kira and Kimmy about our conversation. They'd asked about the fish and I couldn't hold it in. I knew telling them he'd said he wanted to marry me while he was drunk was probably a disastrous idea and I just needed to get it out. I was trying to process.
I knew Kimmy was going to tell Dustin. That was expected.
"We're married. We don't have secrets."
As if they had secrets to begin with.
I was fine with her telling him though. I knew Dustin wouldn't judge or say anything negative about me not being ready or anything at all about Harry being more than ready.
I put the little blue person in the car next to my pink one and the tension rolled over as we carried on with our game. It seemed like Niall was the only one that was completely oblivious to it. Whether he was too drunk to notice or Harry just hadn't told him was a mystery. I knew it was a lot to him to admit to me how upset he'd been, let alone admit it to Niall too. But he'd given a glimpse into his past that I hadn't yet heard of from him. I wish he'd kept going.
Niall, in his drunk stupor, ended up winning the entire game. I ended with three kids and no husband. Funny how that worked out, huh? We packed up the game and started another. And then another. We treated it like a regular game night.
That was, until Niall passed out on the couch in the middle of Clue. That's when we decided that it might be best to pack up for the night. We packed up the game while Kira tried to wake Niall up and get him to drink some water.
"Before everyone leaves, we have a little bit of an announcement." Dustin wrapped his arm around Kimmy's waist. She gave him an excited smile and rested her hand on her stomach.
"Holy fuck, you're pregnant!"
"Niall!" Kira slapped her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.
"Thanks for ruining the surprise, Niall." Kimmy rolled her eyes as she laughed. She grabbed something off the bookshelf and held it up in front of her. It was an ultrasound.
"No fucking way. Kimmy you didn't even tell us you were trying!"
"Because we weren't. I was just as surprised as you are." Dustin kissed her cheek and rested his hand on hers.
"When did you find out? How far along are you?" I got up to hug her. I could feel her bump under her shirt. She didn't usually wear overly baggy clothes, but anything tighter would have ruined the surprise. I put my hand on her stomach. It was bigger than I expected it to be. "Kimmy, how long have you been keeping this a secret?"
"I'm almost four months. I'm just really small and we decided it would be better to wait." Her waiting didn't feel right. Kimmy was terrible with secrets. There was a reason she'd waited so long.
Kira moved around me so she could hug Kimmy and Dustin. She congratulated them and moved to where Niall was on the couch.
"Harry, will you help me get him to my car?" He nodded and helped her pull Niall off the couch. He was mostly lucid but definitely needed help walking.
Dustin left the room to start putting food away, leaving me and Kimmy alone in the living room. There was a small sliver of tension sitting around us, just barely noticeable, but definitely there.
"Charlie, I-"
"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" I already knew what she was going to say, but I wanted to be sure. I needed to know for sure I was the reason she waited so long to tell me. Her eyes told me how guilty she felt, like I was going to be me at her for being honest. "You can tell me the truth. I won't be mad."
"We just couldn't find the right time. You've been going through so much... We didn't want you to think that we don't care about what's going on in your life."
I pulled her to the couch and sat down with her. "And I appreciate you taking my life so heavily into consideration, but this is a big moment for you guys. Just because things aren't great for me right now doesn't mean I want you to avoid celebrating. Being happy for yourselves doesn't mean you care less about me. I would have been happy regardless."
"I'm sorry we kept it from you for so long. We found out a couple months after Grandma's funeral and then you were in England and then the job crisis happened. Nothing felt right. You know me. Everything has to be perfect."
"I know you are, I just hate that I was the reason you prolonged it." And I truly did. Me and my mental health got in the way of something else. "We could have been celebrating this entire time. Do you know what you're having?"
"We weren't gonna tell anyone until the baby shower, but it's a boy. Don't tell Dustin I told you though." She looked down at her stomach with pride. She was on the smaller side for four months, which is probably why it was so easy to hide it from us literally all day.
A few footsteps came from behind the wall but the quickly stopped. We both looked over, but I could see two pairs of shoes from where I was sitting. I pointed them out to Kimmy and she laughed to herself. Dustin and Harry were standing behind the wall on either side of the open doorway to let us talk. I suspected Harry had been the footsteps we had heard.
"You guys can come in, you know. We're not talking about anything top secret." Kimmy rolled her eyes as they slowly walked around the corner. Dustin rolled his eyes as he came around the corner, Harry just looked embarrassed that they'd been caught.
"Actually, you were. You were divulging the sex of our baby before we decided."
"Oh shut up. It's just Charlie."
"I mean, I know too now." Harry raise his hand to his waist to remind her that he's heard as well.
"I'm less worried about you spilling than I am Charlie."
"Hey! I'm great at secrets! At least Niall isn't in the room. God, he told us you were pregnant before you could." I stood from the couch to be next to Harry. It was getting late and I could see Kimmy getting tired. "That being said, we'd better get going and let you get some rest."
I hugged her for the second time that night, feeling her hard belly press against my soft one. Harry was hugging Dustin when we let go of each other and we switched. We said congratulations one more time and went home.
I tried to talk to Harry on the way home, but he gave me short responses. I didn't know what was up, but he had the same puzzled look in the car that he did at their wedding. I didn't understand.
We took a shower together, him getting out before me, leaving me covered in soap and confused at his silence.
He was waiting for me in bed though, with one of my manuscripts on his lap and his glasses on. The lights were off, but his moon lamp gave us enough light to get some reading done.
He looked up at me when I entered the room and his eyes trailed down my towel wrapped body. I saw him try to suppress a grin and I walked to my dresser to find clothes. I pulled out one of his shirts. It wasn't something I usually did, but I knew he was watching me. So I gave him a little show.
I stood with my back to him and let my towel drop, throwing my hair over my shoulders so it fell down my back. I looked at him over my shoulder a bit to make sure he was watching. He licked his lips quickly and bit down on his bottom lip.
I slid my underwear up my legs slowly. I could feel him burning holes in still damp skin. I picked up his shirt from where I'd put it on the top of the dresser and slowly pulled it down my chest, only turning around to face him when it hit my stomach.
And then I got in bed like it was nothing.
"You going to explain that?"
"Explain what?" I propped myself up on my elbow and glanced up at him. "Did you want to read tonight?"
He closed the spiral bound pages and took off his glasses, throwing both of them next to his lamp. He slid down a little closer to me.
"I planned on reading tonight, but it seems like you have something else in mind." He scooted closer to me and propped himself up on an elbow as well. His fingers found my waist and and they slid down to grope my ass.
"Wonder what gave you that impression? I thought reading was a good idea. It's my favorite thing to do with you." I have him a fake pout, just to mess with him a little more.
"That's not what your mouth said the other night. I think maybe you need a reminder?" His fingers dig into my skin, sending a chill up my spine.