The Love We Choose

Chapter 11

"So....did you tell him?" Ava asked Lynne as they sat down at an empty round table with their lunch trays in the school's employee lounge.

Lynne's eyes widened as she hissed at Ava. "Why must we talk about this now and here of all places?"

"Because in your current state, we cannot commence at an adult drinking establishment. Now quit evading, did you tell Dr. Fix-It?"

"Yes, I told him."

"And...?"

"And what?" Lynne responded, irritated, swirling her spoon around in her tomato soup. "I told him, and we have decided to keep it and co-parent."

"Co-parenting. That sounds so modern. Are y'all moving in together or anything like that?" She asked between forked bites of her chicken caesar salad.

Putting down her soup spoon, Lynne wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Our conversations haven't gone that far. We only made it as far as we're," she paused to mouth the word 'pregnant' to prevent prying ears nearby from having their interest piqued, "we're keeping it, and we aren't telling our families until we're out of the woods. Also known as entering the 2nd trimester."

"That's pretty smart for the both of you. Oh, I can't wait to hear how both of your families take it. My money is on nuclear explosions all around."

Pushing her tray away from her, Lynne covered her face with her hands. "Urrggh. Don't remind me. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to tell them."

"At least you're not alone in this." She pointed her fork with a piece of chicken speared on it at Lynne. "Dr. Topknot seems like he is invested in this as well. Not everyone is as lucky as you in that regard. Buck up, young lady. Now, finish your soup. Auntie Ava's baby is hungry and needs sustenance."

"Can you not say stuff life that so loud please?" Lynne whispered as she picked her spoon back up and settled her tray back in front of herself.

Ava and Lynne passed the remainder of their lunch hour talking about how the new hires in the History Department and Admissions Department seemed to be doing this week, along with filling in gossip details surrounding Helen and Armand before returning to their respective offices.

XXX

Before either of them knew it, Saturday night had rolled around and Huan was calling to check-in on how Lynne was doing and to confirm the time she would pick him up from the train station the next day. After she gave him a run-down of how she couldn't get out of bed before eleven that day, due to dizziness, and going over approximate pickup times they hung up. Lynne was feeling ravenous so she made herself a sandwich piled high with pepperoni, turkey, havarti, lettuce, tomato, onion, drizzled on a raspberry vinaigrette, and grabbed a bottle of apple juice. She took her dinner over to her couch where she settled down, turning on Netflix and watched an episode of "The Haunting of Hill House" while she devoured her food. Sated, she relaxed underneath a blanket and fell asleep.

XXX

"So how are we going to fool them?" Lynne asked Huan as they pulled up in front of McKenzie's Sports Bar & Grill the next day. She put the car in park and turned to look at him.

Returning her stare, he calmly took her hand in his. "Fair Lyndy of the Garden State, you are just going to have to trust that the good doctor has it all under control. Now, let's go inside, I'm starving." He told her as he released her and exited the car. After grabbing the giftbags out of the backseat, he came around to her side of the car and waited for her to lock it before they headed inside together.