Free When You Make It Home by Claire Ashby

What did I have to lose? “Why didn’t you come see me again… after the other night?” I cringed at how pathetic I sounded.
    “You left without saying goodbye. I’m not dense, Meg.” His gaze traveled down to look at my belly. “Anyway, you’ve got enough problems, you don’t need me around.” His focus returned to the apple. When he took another bite, his lips glistened with the juice. As I watched him chew, my mind went blank.
    He looked up at me.
    “Don’t call my baby a problem.” I blinked and stepped back. “I overslept. I had to pick Ellie up for our doctor’s appointments, and I was late.”
    “Nice excuse, but you could’ve left your number,” he shot back.
    “You know where I work, you know where I live—you can come by any time you want.” My eyebrows shot up. “How was I to know you were waiting for an invitation?”
    Jake walked in through the back door with the burgers covered in foil. He shook the rain from his disheveled brown hair. “You guys ready to do this?” He looked from Theo to me.
    “Let the fun begin.” Theo tossed the half-eaten apple in the trash and pushed away from the counter, returning his weight onto his crutches. He followed Jake to the dining room.
    I took my frustration out on an unlucky pepper and a defenseless tomato. Why had I let Theo get under my skin again?
    Ellie came in with Steve on her heels and paused to close her umbrella. “I can’t take it anymore. I won’t be able to eat until I find out what we’re having.” She rushed to the dining room, leaving me alone with Steve.
    I focused on tossing the salad. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him glaring at me. I sighed, reluctantly turning to him. “Look, let’s keep it together for Ellie tonight, and we’ll hash it out tomorrow.”
    “Deal.” Steve took the salad from me, and we made our way down the hall to the dining room.
    Jake motioned us to our seats. “She’s tearing the envelope.” Jake hovered near Ellie as if she were a feather floating to the ground, and repositioned himself around her, making sure she stayed adrift. I wanted to know the pleasure of someone holding me up. But maybe some of us were meant to hit the ground. Otherwise we’d never learn to bounce. I could bounce.
    Ellie’s hands shook as she unfolded the paper. “A boy!”
    Jake wrapped Ellie in his arms, stroking the sides of her face, murmuring to her.
    “Congratulations, Uncle.” Steve gripped Theo’s hand. Then he turned to Jake. “It’s a boy!” They high-fived.
    I hugged Ellie. “Yours better be a girl,” she whispered. “I have a closet full of pink.”
    The festive energy made the time fly by. Jake, at the head of the table with Ellie and me on either side of him, kept the conversation going. Steve sat on the other side of me. The casual observer wouldn’t have noticed how much tension hung between Steve and me—except when our elbows would bump, and he’d jerk away as if I’d poisoned him. He cheerfully joined in with ideas and questions about Ellie’s plans for the baby’s room. I didn’t pay any attention to Theo at the other end of the table. Instead, I put all my energy into pretending everything was fine.
    After dinner we moved into the living room, and Ellie brought out coffee and a plate of her famous brownies. My anxiety slipped away once she sat with me and we compared our growing bellies. I had tuned out the men, only taking in the soothing melody of their voices mingling. So when the conversation turned abruptly back to me, it took me a moment to catch on.
    “Since everyone else here is already clued in, what does Bradley think about all this?” Steve said. The room went quiet. One of my worst fears hit me: Steve assumed Bradley was the baby’s father.
    “Not now, Steve,” I pleaded.
    “Come on, Meg, don’t tell me that even Bradley doesn’t know you’re pregnant?”
    He waited for me to speak.
    “No, he doesn’t know.”
    Steve’s jaw clenched. “Crap, Meg—if I