Free Bundle of Joy? by Ariella Papa Page B

meant that Raj’s schedule was going to get super busy once the Block Island trip was over. When would he find the time to impregnate her?
    I had left the tape at home for our Memorial Day weekend trip. I half expected the place would be burned down when I got back and I would never see it, but obviously I wasn’t prepared to face the image of Warren Tucker anyway.
    “My temperature has been up for fifteen days,” Jamie whispered as we grabbed some seats.
    “Do you think you should be going to Block Island with a fever?”
    “No, silly.” The laugh came again, the “haven’t you figured out yet that everything I say revolves around procreating?” laugh. Jamie pointed down. “My temperature down there.”
    “Oh.” I nodded. Did she expect me to remember her scientific lecture? She knew I struggled through AP bio. “What does that mean again?”
    “It means—” she looked over at Raj, who was smoking a cigarette against the railing “—I might be pregnant.”
    “Really,” I said. I felt a bit queasy, but I was certain it was from the sharp dips the ferry was taking and not her revelation.
    “Yeah,” Jamie said, smiling but clutching the back of the seat.
    This kind of turbulence was not uncommon, but it was certainly a pain in the ass.
    “That’s terrific,” I said as my stomach flip-flopped. I smiled over to where Raj was, to prove how excited I was. The horizon rose and fell behind him.
    “He’s going to quit smoking the moment I get the EPT results. I figured I would take a test on the island.”
    “How nice,” I said, pretty sure I smelled vomit. I wasn’t looking forward to finding out that Jamie was pregnant on the island. I guess I had sort of been hoping she would put all this stuff aside for the weekend. Block Island could be so much fun. I loved getting drunk on Mudslides or Dark and Stormies and sitting on the big chairs getting too much sun. Right about then I would have given anything to be on solid land.
    One of the women who worked on the boat came around handing out bags. I took one and so did Jamie. Raj made his way to our bench, holding on to anything he could grab.
    “Hey,” he said.
    “I just told Voula our news,” Jamie said, trying to smile but starting to look a bit green.
    “About Warren?” Raj said.
    “No, silly, about us and the baby.”
    It was a baby already? I thought we were just talking about a very warm cootchie.
    “Don’t jinx it,” Raj said.
    “Come on, Raj. You just don’t want to stop smoking,” Jamie said, and then she puked.
    Raj rubbed her hair as she filled her bag, and then I gave her mine. I felt bad for her, but suspected she might be happy about the symptom.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    “Yes,” Jamie said. She smiled at me, then puked again.
    The sea calmed as we spotted land. Jamie felt well enough to get up as we slowed and coasted into the harbor, past the jetty where I had once sat with Warren Tucker.
    “There’s Mom,” Jamie said.
    I looked over to where Maura Jacobs was standing in a long white linen dress. She wore a floppy sunhat and sunglasses. She waved furiously and so did the three of us, laughing.
    We gathered our luggage and were the first ones off the ferry. I was thrilled to be on solid ground. Then, I had that familiar feeling I had when I returned to Block Island: I immediately had a sense of slowing down and relaxing. Still, I always worried that I was tagging along. It had nothing to do with Maura, who wrapped me up in a big hug.
    “How are you, Voula? You look great.”
    “Thank you. And thanks for the package.” Maura had sent me a bunch of funny little presents after the fire, including a water gun and a pair of thong underwear with a flame on the front.
    “You deserve it, honey. Tell me you got one of those big beefy firemen’s numbers.”
    Sometimes I thought there was a gay man trapped inside of Maura. The only word I could think to describe her was flamboyant. She enjoyed drama, but at the same time