Free Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber

Rashad. Every time we talked, she’d give me the runaround, telling me not to worry and that she and Tim were still mulling over the idea. I wouldn’t admit it to Rashad, but I was starting to think the answer was going to be no—that is, until two days ago, when she and Tim asked us to come to New York for the weekend. My guess was that they were planning on telling us that we were going to be parents. At least, that was my hope. I couldn’t think of any other reason Tammy would ask me to visit. I knew my best friend pretty well, and she was a coward for the most part. If she had bad news, she would tell us over the phone, not face-to-face.
    So, there we were on a plane to New York. I was so excited I could hardly sit still through the hour-long flight. Rashad, on the other hand, was stone-faced and quiet. He barely moved during the entire trip. Ever since I’d told him of Tammy and Tim’s request for us to come to New York, he’d taken a wait-and-see approach. Rashad was always the levelheaded one between us, but I knew my husband, and he was excited inside.
    “You okay?” I asked when we landed. Rashad was usually the first person out of his seat belt, grabbing our bags so we could get off the plane. But this time he just sat there waiting patiently with his seat belt fastened as other passengers disembarked. “You haven’t said more than a few words since we took off.”
    He patted my knee and gave me a little smile. “I’m fine. Just thinking, that’s all.”
    “Thinking about the baby?”
    He nodded. “That and what to say to Tim.”
    I gave him a puzzled look. “I don’t understand.”
    Rashad put his hand over mine. “Maybe it’s a guy thing, but what do you say to a man who lets his wife have your baby?” His voice cracked, like he was trying to hold back powerful emotions. “I don’t know how I’m going to repay him.”
    “Neither do I, sweetheart. Neither do I.” I leaned my head against his shoulder.
    We didn’t say much as we walked hand in hand from the gate to the luggage claim area and then to the rental car kiosk. From the airport, it took us only fifteen minutes to drive over to Tammy and Tim’s Jamaica Estates home.
    Surprisingly, things weren’t as tense as I expected when we arrived at Tammy’s house. We were greeted with warm hugs and kisses. I was almost beside myself with anticipation. It took all my strength and self-control not to cut to the purpose of our visit and ask them for their decision right then and there, in the middle of the foyer.
    As I walked through the house, I noticed that Tammy had redecorated quite a bit. She, with her sneaky self, had stolen my color scheme and even decorated her foyer like mine, using a grandfather clock and a chandelier. Nevertheless, I was so wound up about getting our baby that I decided to forgive Tammy and her pettiness. I was going to have to deal with a lot worse from her during a pregnancy, so I might as well get used to it now.
    Finally, we were seated around the living room of their five-bedroom home. Once everyone was settled down with a drink, that tension I’d been expecting took over the room. It seemed like nobody wanted to speak. We were all staring at each other like a bunch of fools, each waiting for the other couple to speak.
    Finally, I just blurted out, “So, Tim, Tammy, what did you guys decide? Am I going to be a mommy or what?” I crossed my fingers, rocking back and forth in my seat. I didn’t think they were going to say no, but I was nervous as hell. Rashad took my hand in his to calm me down.
    Tim coughed against his fist, then cleared his throat. “Egypt, I know you and Tammy are good friends….”
    “Yeah, and?” I didn’t mean to interrupt Tim, but I couldn’t help myself. He was taking too long.
    “Calm down, baby,” Rashad said under his breath. “Let the man speak.”
    “Thank you, Rashad.” He cleared his throat again. “As you know, this wasn’t a small request. We had to give it a