Free License to Date by Susan Hatler Page A

alert.
    Clearing my throat loudly, I sat at my desk. “Good morning, Ellen.”
    Her eyes popped open, and she brought a hand to her cheek. “Kaitlin? Sorry, I must’ve dozed off.”
    I chuckled. “Baby kicking all night again?”
    Her mouth stretched into a smile. “Yes, he’s going to be quite the soccer player.”
    “You found out the sex?” I’d thought they’d decided to wait.  
    “No, I just meant he as in the baby, in general. Henry thinks it’ll be fun to be surprised and I don’t want to ruin that for him.” Her mouth went tight. “Not like he’s the one who’s going to have a baby shower with only gender-neutral colors, though.”
    “I, uh . . .” I blinked, stunned. I’d never heard Ellen utter a single negative word about her hubby. He sounded so perfect I thought he was fictional. Her lack of sleep must be getting to her. That or hormones. “What can I help you with?”
    “The FMLA paperwork for my maternity leave.” She pushed a small stack of papers toward me. “And Kristen.”
    My eyes shot up from the paperwork. Kristen had left me a voicemail last night ranting that if Ellen didn’t get off her back about her mother she might lose it. “Don’t tell me the engagement is off. I know she’s been stressing—”
    “It’s still on for eighteen months from now. That’s the problem.” She straightened, tried crossing her legs over her bubble belly several times, then finally gave up. “We have to convince Kristen not to listen to her mother.”
    Since their close friendship went way back to high school, I knew Ellen meant well. But Kristen’s voicemail made it clear she wanted Ellen to lay off. “I don’t think that’s wise.”
    Ellen stared at me like I’d grown a third head. “Kristen’s mom cares more about where they get married than her daughter marrying the man she loves. It’s all about appearances, not marriage.”
    “Her mom may be difficult,” I said, thinking of my own mother, “but she loves Kristen and only wants her wedding to be as beautiful as possible. Eighteen months isn’t that long.”
    Ellen huffed. “It could be a lifetime. We have no guarantees in life.”
    Even Paul’s parents’ time together had been cut short, but that wasn’t the point. “She doesn’t want to hurt her mom. I think we should respect her decision.”
    She scoffed. “If I’d listened to my own mom, I’d still be online dating instead of with the love of my life.”  
    Yikes. That would’ve been a tragedy since they were the perfect couple (minus the baby-gender decision). “Kristen’s mom isn’t against Ethan. She just wants the best wedding for them.”
    Ellen shook her head. “She wants the best appearance and, yes, the Geoffries ballroom is amazing. I’d looked into renting the room as well, but declined due to the wait list. There are plenty of other perfectly acceptable wedding locations that are booking only two months out. I know because that’s what I did last year.”
    A valid point. “Even if I agreed with you, Kristen would never break her mother’s heart like that.”
    She banged her index finger against the desk. “This wedding shouldn’t be about what her mother wants. It’s about Kristen and Ethan committing themselves to each other and becoming family. She needs to stand up to her mother once and for all.”
    The thought of standing up to my own mother terrorized me. “It’ll never happen. Kristen’s practical like me. She may not be marrying Ethan in the time frame she wants, but they’ll be married in eighteen months and then everyone will be happy.”
    Her brows came together and her eyes went wild and crazy. “Until her mother decides Kristen shouldn’t know the sex of her own baby and then what’s she supposed to do? Give in again? When does it end? When does she get to live the life she wants?”
    My mouth dropped open. “Um. . .”
    “Right. Um.” Ellen leaned back in her chair, looking like she needed another nap after that