“Huh?” Natalie sounds completely stunned.
“How long has it been going on?” Camryn continues, putting on a convincing show. She walks around and sets the phone down on the coffee table and then crosses her arms.
“Cam… I swear to God it’s nothing like that. Oh my God, I would never, ever, ever do something like that to you. I mean Andrew is smokin’ hot, yeah, I totally admit that, and I would probably be on him like sexy on Joseph Morgan if you two weren’t together, but—”
“I get it, Nat.” Camryn stops her—thankfully—before she goes off on what Camryn calls a Natalie Tangent.
“You do?” Natalie asks carefully, still confused, which doesn’t surprise me.
Camryn picks the phone up again and holds the screen up to me and mouths the words: Seriously? Apparently about the picture of the hyena.
I shrug.
“So, what’s really going on?” Camryn says to both of us, setting the jokes aside.
“Camryn,” I say, walking toward her, “I know you’re missing home. I’ve known for a while, so a couple weeks ago I got Natalie’s number from your phone and decided to give her a call.”
Camryn narrows her eyes. I guide her to sit back down on the couch with me.
“Yeah, he called me up and told me your ultrasound date and thought I might want to…” Natalie’s voices trails, waiting on me to be the one to spill the surprise.
“I figured she would want to organize a baby shower for you when we found out if it was a boy or a girl—I tried calling your mom first, but she must’ve still been in Cozumel.”
Camryn nods. “Yeah, she likely was around that time.”
“But your mom is totally onboard now,” Natalie’s voice streams through the tiny speaker. “She and I were kind of planning it together behind your back. I couldn’t wait any longer for your boy toy to call me with the news today, so I called him and now you know everything and the surprise is ruined!”
“No, no, Nat, it’s not ruined at all,” Camryn says, picking the phone up and holding it closer to her mouth as she leans her back into the couch. “It’s actually better that I know now, because I can be excited from now until then knowing I’m heading back to North Carolina soon.”
“Well you won’t have to wait long,” I say beside her, “because we’re leaving Friday afternoon.”
Camryn’s eyes widen and so does her smile.
I think this is just what she needed. It’s like a happy girl just crawled her way to the surface of a homesick one in two seconds flat. I love to see her like this. I should’ve done it sooner.
“Four months is kind of early for a baby shower, though,” Camryn says. “Not that I’m complaining!”
“Maybe so,” Natalie says. “But who cares? You’re coming home!”
I say, “Yeah, we figured why not knock out two birds with one stone?”
“Well, I’m excited. Thank you both,” Camryn says, beaming.
“So… what’s the big news?” Natalie asks.
Camryn holds it in for a few long, torturous seconds, knowing it’s driving Natalie batshit, and then she says, “It’s a girl!”
Natalie squeals so loud through the phone I wince and recoil.
“I knew it!” she shrieks.
Normally this would be reason enough for me to remove myself from the slumber party atmosphere and go make a sandwich or take a shower or something, but I can’t get myself off the hook so soon on this one. I was part of the “big secret,” and so I guess I should stick out the rest of the conversation.
“I’m so excited, Cam. Really, you have no idea.”
“Actually, uhh, yeah she has a pretty good idea,” I say.
Camryn looks at me warningly.
“Thank you, Nat. I’m excited, too. And we’ve already decided on a name. Well, technically Andrew chose the name.”
“What?” Natalie says in a deadpanned tone. “You mean like he actually… picked it out?” She says this as if it’s something very dangerous.
What, do all women think guys suck at names, or some shit?
“Lily Marybeth Parrish,” Camryn says proudly.
It makes me feel that much better that my girl really seems to love the name as much as I do and isn’t just pretending to keep from hurting my feelings.
“Oh my God, I actually like that, Cam. Andrew, you did good!”
Not that I needed the Natalie stamp of approval, but it still makes me grin like a little boy that even she likes it.
Camryn
4
Yesterday was an exhausting day. In a good way. Good news seemed to come from everywhere, and I’m still reeling about it all. It’ll only make tonight at our favorite bar in Houston that much more exciting.
Andrew and I started playing a few bars here and there a little over a month ago, and I love it. Before Andrew, I never in my life imagined playing live in bars. Playing live anywhere, for that matter. It’s not something that crossed my mind even once. But the taste I got for it back in New Orleans opened up a new world to me. Of course, Andrew being there with me played a huge part in my enjoyment of it and that still holds true today. I doubt I could keep doing this if it weren’t for him.
Performing isn’t what I enjoy the most; performing with him is what makes me love it.
I talk to my mom for a while about coming home in a couple of days, and she’s so excited to see me. She and Roger got hitched in Mexico! It kind of ticked me off because I didn’t get to be there, but now that I think about it more it doesn’t bother me. They were being spontaneous. They did what they felt they wanted to do in their hearts and just went for it. I’ve learned during my time with Andrew that being spontaneous and breaking free from the mold is often a good thing. After all, we wouldn’t be together today if I myself didn’t have some firsthand experience with being spontaneous.