Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Sixty-Three: Sick Burn

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Alecia suggested we meet at an Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills, so we set a date at 1:00 pm. I arrived before her and a hostess who clearly recognized me but didn't want to be too obvious about it seated me right away. "Follow me, Miss Delaney. Can I start you off with anything before your server arrives?"

I smiled at the younger woman. "Just some water would be great. And some bread. Maybe all the bread."

The hostess giggled. "Of course! I'll be back shortly." She returned in record speed with a full pitcher of water and a basket of freshly baked bread. "You're my hero. Thank you!"

Once she left and after our actual server greeted me, I wasted no time in eating a piece of bread smothered in butter. Take that, Hannah and Tyler! I thought to myself.

I pulled out my phone to check my texts. As I expected, Christian had sent me a few during my drive.

Christian: She already loves you more than me.

Christian: Just listen to her embarrassing stories about my awkward childhood and be yourself.

Christian: 😘😘😘

I hated it when people told me to be myself as if being introverted and weird when meeting my boyfriend's mom for the first time wasn't an important part of my identity.

Alecia arrived a couple minutes later, and I had already eaten half the bread basket. Always a good look.

She was stunning. I stood up to greet her and she immediately pulled me into a long, warm embrace. "I'm so sorry I'm late, sweetheart. I didn't realize I needed to get gas."

"Oh, it's totally okay. I'm glad you're here, though, because I was about to finish a loaf of bread by myself."

"Oh my goodness, when I was pregnant with Christian, who you probably know was my first, I ate a pint of ice cream every single day of my second trimester, and I didn't care. I needed it." She flashed me a brilliant white smile — it reminded me so much of her son's. "And Annie, you are even more gorgeous in person. You're glowing."

I smiled, a trace of embarrassment on my face. "Thank you."

"Christian says you agree with me that I'm definitely going to have a granddaughter."

"There's no doubt in my mind that we're having a girl. I just know. And I don't even favor having a girl over a boy. It's just intuition."

"I have some things for you in my car. I didn't want to bring them into the restaurant because I realize the news isn't fully public yet."

Her consideration for my privacy put me even more at ease. I almost teared up at how thoughtful she was being. "That means so much to me. You have no idea. Most of my friends don't think things like that through."

"Oh, Annie, the Yelich family is going to take such good care of you. Christian loves you so much, and you're the first person he has ever had the L-word conversation with. You must be a remarkable young woman. If you need anything, I'm here."

At this point I was actually tearing up. "Sorry, you're just being so nice, and you remind me of my mom. I miss her, and she doesn't know about the baby yet."

"I'm so glad you'll be able to see her this week."

We paused our conversation to submit our orders and then Alecia asked me a question I was dreading. "Are you going to live in Milwaukee during the season?"

I bit my lip. "We haven't actually discussed how we're going to handle our careers once we're parents. I don't think I can live in Milwaukee, even though I sort of want to because of Christian and my family. I can just try to get there as often as possible."

Alecia nodded. "You have plenty of time to figure it out. Have you talked about marriage at all?"

I shook my head no. "No, not at all. I'm not in any rush to tie the knot. We still have to make sure we'll work long term, you know? We're having a baby, yes, but we've only known each other for five or so months. We're still in the honeymoon phase, and this baby might speed us through that pretty quickly. I just don't know, so I want to play things safe and just enjoy what's happening as it happens."

The truth is I wasn't sure how I felt about marriage in general. My parents were happily married, but it didn't seem to work for most people. It just seemed like a legal headache, and I really didn't need the tax breaks. Neither of us did. What was the point?

"Oh, honey, I'm so relieved he finally found a smart girl like you. Don't rush it, even if he wants to."

My eyes widened in surprise. "Has he brought it up?"

"Yes, in passing – as something that might happen in the future. He's just sort of overwhelmed with emotion right now, so don't fret about it. He isn't going to propose tomorrow or anything."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I mean, I love Christian, but I'm just not ready yet. I want to figure out parenting first, even if that's a bit backward."

"You're both going to be great parents," she said confidently.

"I hope so."

***

Annie: You undersold your mom's kindness.

Annie: She is a saint, and our daughter has a completed wardrobe already.

Christian: You should believe me when I say you have nothing to worry about.

Christian: I'll let you know when you should legitimately be worried.

Annie: I swear to God if you text what I think you're going to text . . .

Christian: You should be worried about my d slamming that p in two days.

Annie: I hate you so much.

Annie: I have your mom on my side now, so tread lightly.

Christian: Goddamnit.

Christian: I love you.

Christian: Game time.

Christian: Did you know I'm a professional baseball player who plays baseball games?

Christian: Oh, no, you didn't, because you didn't come to any of mine in Los Angeles.

Annie: OH SICK BURN.

Annie: I love you too. Have a good game.

Christian: 😘😘😘🍆🍆🍆