“I thought peer pressure died out after high school?” I tease.

She rolls her eyes. “As if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life lying under those mirrors staring up at your sexy construction king’s ass.”

Construction king? “I’ve a new nickname for him now,” I grin.

“You’re welcome to have it, but it does come at a price…”

Let the bartering begin, I think. “Which is?” I ask.

“Seeing as you’ve just agreed to marry him,” she says mischievously, and before I can correct her, she presses on, “I think it’s time to move on to baby talk.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I blurt out. I don’t want children, not now, maybe not ever.

“Kidding,” she repeats, her eyes wide. “See, your subconscious is already thinking about it.”

“No,” I laugh, “it’s really not, Amber. I don’t want children,” I repeat out loud, shaking my head.

“But I want you to want children,” she smiles and we both laugh again. “I don’t want to do it alone,” she adds.

I avoid rolling my eyes at her words, knowing that having a child is too important to Amber to dismiss her words in that way. What’s the best way to end this conversation quickly, I wonder instead. Thinking of something, I say, “We’ll talk about it closer to the time, when you’re actually pregnant.”

Amber smiles once more, but suddenly it’s a different kind of smile: an excited, fired-up, over-the-moon kind of smile. Abruptly I see a light and a joy in her, more so than usual, the intensity of which I’ve only seen in her once before. My mind starts racing…could she be?

“Are you pregnant?” I whisper. “Like…like, right now?” I mutter. This whole time I assumed I was sitting across from one person, but is there actually two of them? Has Amber been blessed with the one thing that she wants most in this world? With the only thing that’s lacking from her life? A long awaited, wanted, and worked-for child?

“There was another reason why I wanted to have breakfast with you,” she says modestly.

I gasp. I knew there was something else going on! “You are, aren’t you?” I’m quite suddenly beside myself with excitement.

Slowly, confirming my assumptions, she nods.

“Oh my god!” I scream loudly, forgetting entirely about our public setting. In my peripheral vision I can see nearly every patron in the vicinity turn to stare at us, but my inappropriate noise level fails to register within me. I scream again, out of my mind with delight. I jump to my feet and hug her in her seat as she laughs, overjoyed. Then I crouch down next to her seat and instinctively put my hand on her lower belly. I can’t feel anything, I think, before chiding, duh, Gem, it’s probably the size of a pea!

“Uh, people think you’re touching my crotch,” Amber murmurs, eyeing the nearby tables.

But I simply don’t care what they think. I can’t believe it — my best friend is having a baby!

“Are you really?” I whisper, looking up at her, having to make sure.

“Yes,” she smiles. “Finally,” she adds, beaming down at me.

So this is what it looks like to see someone’s dream come true, I think. She couldn’t look any happier if she tried.

“You’re going to have big boobs. At last,” I tell her and she grins back, nodding happily. “And the shopping! Think of all the shopping we can do,” I shriek. Jeez, I need to calm down; but I don’t want to. I’m so, so happy, and my heart is beating overtime. “We can go to lamaze classes,” I say exuberantly, momentarily forgetting that she’ll be doing that with Seamus. “You’ll find out if sex is really better while you’re pregnant. And then…then you’ll have an actual baby…for the rest of your life.”

“For the rest of my life,” she nods.

I stand and return to my own seat, staring across at her, at them, with the dorkiest smile slapped across my face. I can’t believe it! It’s the last thing I expected to find out, especially now, after being with her for the best part of an hour. “Why didn’t you tell me the very second you saw me?”

“I wanted to hear about your weekend,” she says earnestly.

“What?” I exclaim. That’s inconceivable!

“Yeah, chicken, you have loads of things to tell me, I only have one thing to tell you: I’m pregnant,” she smiles. “I have no other information than that.”

But, you must, I think. “How? When? You’ve got to have some details?” I push for more.

“Well, a week last Friday my period was late,” she shrugs, “a day or two is usually no big deal, but then the wine tasted funny at dinner at yours…”

My eyes grow wide, remembering her telling me that in the moment.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so Seamus and I agreed to wait a few more days. Except, of course, I couldn’t. I took the first test on Monday morning, it was positive, and I casually handed it to Shay. After that he was as excited as I was, so over the last week I’ve taken a few more,” she says nonchalantly.

“How many?” I grin.

“Uh, fifteen,” she says sheepishly. “I wanted to be absolutely sure,” she hastens to add.

“I’d say now you are,” I laugh, allowing her incredible news to sink in.

“According to most of them, I’m five weeks along,” she tells me. “So, if you stop taking the pill today,” she starts, and I shake my head, laughing again.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I say.

“But I don’t want to do it alone! I want our kids to grow up together and get married!” she paints me a pretty picture. “Whether they want to or not,” she adds, shamelessly.

I reach across the table and take her hand in my own. “Amber, I’m very, very, very happy for you, but I don’t want to have children.” Not now, I think once more.

She looks a little put out, but then immediately tries another tactic. “What does Logan want?”

“I, um…I don’t know,” I say honestly. How does Logan feel about having children, I suddenly wonder. “We haven’t spoken about that,” I add.

“Don’t you think you should ask, seeing as you’re practically engaged?” she pushes.

“We’ve only been together a few weeks,” I remind her pointedly.

“Is he good with children?” Amber asks, her enthusiasm growing again.

Grinning, I admit, “I’ve no idea, Amber. I guess I’ll find out when his family arrives this week. I’ll get to meet his niece.”

“His family is visiting?” she shrieks suddenly.

“Uh, yes. Is that OK with you?” I ask sarcastically.

“For fuck’s sake, Gem, you tell me nothing! Must I resort to putting a wire on you? When are we meeting them?

Giggling, I tell her, “I’m meeting them on Wednesday evening. You will not be in attendance.”

“That displeases me,” she says formally, and then thinks things through, concluding, “Hmm, so if you don’t know Logan’s stance on children, then there might be a chance,” she decides. “Perhaps I could team up with his mother?” she plots. “They always want more grandchildren.”

I grin at her audacity, giving up the fight. There’s no use fighting Amber, she’s more persistent than anyone else I know. Except, maybe, Logan. He did persist with his feelings for me, something he confessed to me the last time I was sat at this table. I gaze around the cafe, suddenly suspicious that it may contain magical powers — the most amazing things are revealed here.

I take her hand again. “Amber,” I breathe, “I’m in shock, I can’t believe it!”

“Hopefully I’ll have the pictures to prove it on Wednesday afternoon,” she says.

“Pictures?” Of her and Seamus doing it?

“Yes, I’m booked for an ultrasound,” she tells me.

“Oh,” I nod. Head out of the gutter, Gem.

Abruptly, Amber looks a little worried by the prospect, and I know why — it was during her three month checkup last year that she and Seamus were told the horrid news that there was no longer a heartbeat and that she’d miscarried. That was the saddest I’ve ever seen her, and something I desperately hope to never see again.