Julie wakes the next morning to sounds of Christen retching in the bathroom. She jumps out of bed and heads to her friends side. Without saying a word, she takes Christen's hair and holds it back, just like she has done after many drunken nights throughout their friendship.
"Thanks," Christen mumbles, backing away from the toilet after she's done emptying the contents of her stomach. She looks to her friend who now is handing her her toothbrush and toothpaste.
"Not the first or last time I'll have to hold your hair back and it definitely won't be the last," Julie responds.
Christen stand and grabs the items out of Julie's hand. She heads to the sink to brush her teeth while Julie heads downstairs.
Once she rinses her mouth with mouthwash, Christen makes her way to the kitchen, where Julie has already started to make them breakfast. Julie makes them both chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. They both sit dow to eat and as Christen finishes her pancakes, she reaches her fork across to Julie's plate and steals a pancake.
"Oh, sure, go ahead," Julie teases.
"Baby needs to eat," Christen defends, smirking.
"I'm not falling for that. You've always stolen my food," Julie counters as she puts her plate in the sink.
"You let me take it," Christen replies. She shrugs, continuing to eat the stolen pancake. When they finish eating, Christen calls her doctor's office.
In what feels like hours, but was minutes, a receptionist picks up. "Dr. Kimball's office, this is Sarah, how may I help you?"
"Hi," Christen says. "I took a home pregnancy test yesterday and it was positive so now I'm wondering what the next step is?"
"Congratulations!" Sarah exclaims. "First we'll need to set up an appointment to confirm your pregnancy and estimate a due date. Do you have a preferred date or time?"
She thinks for a second, mentally going over her schedule. "Do you have afternoon appointments or weekend appointments?" she offers.
"Let me check," Sarah says, "We have an appointment available for three pm on Monday. Would that work for you?"
Christen glances at Julie, wordlessly asking if she'll be able to attend the appointment on that day. Julie nods, whispering that school will be out by then.
"That's perfect," Christen tells Sarah.
"Are you an existing patient with Dr. Kimball?"
"Yes, my name is Christen Nasuti."
"Okay, Ms. Nasuti. I have you set for Monday at three pm. Congratulations again!"
"Thank you," Christen says brightly before hanging up the phone.
"Welp, that's one thing off the list," Julie notes when Christen sets her phone on the coffee table.
"Step one of many," Christen replies. "I can't thank you enough for going with me and for coming over last night. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."
"Well I am kind of awesome. You were just always nice to me."
Christen laughs, which is music to Julie's ears. "That's true." Julie is about to reply when Christen's phone rings. She swipes across the screen to take the call as Julie looks at her own phone.
"Hey, mom," she greets. She pauses for a second, listening to her mom on the other line. "I'm just hanging out at the house with Julie; she came to visit."
"What was that about?" Julie asks once Christen hangs up, having only paid attention to who was calling.
"My niece Kelley is having a birthday party three weeks from tomorrow, my mom wanted to know if I could make it. They said you're more than welcome too. They know how much Kelley loves you."
"I'd love to go," Julie says with a huge smile on her face, "I miss that little nugget."
They spend the next few hours relaxing before heading down to the local beach. They can just make out Christen's parents house from where they sit, and they both begin to think about all the time they've spent on this exact beach throughout their lives. As children, they were always supervised at the beach. As teenagers, however, they used to sneak out of Christen's house at night, walking thirty yards or so to where several boulders separated a neighbor's backyard from the public beach. They'd sit there for hours, sometimes even until the sun came up and Christen knew they had to head back before her dad checked on them before leaving for work.
Once, on this very beach, when they were in middle school, Christen found out that a boy at school liked her so she asked Julie to teach her how to kiss while sitting in front of the boulders as the sun set. It was Christen's first kiss and she spent the next several years convincing herself that it being her first kiss was the reason she couldn't stop thinking about it.
It wasn't because she actually liked kissing Julie, a girl who is her best friend, she reasoned with herself, it was because it was her first kiss and most girls couldn't stop thinking about their first kiss. They'd never done it again--Now older and wiser, she knows that she always had a bit of a crush on Julie when they were kids. By the time she even realized she likes women in the same way that she likes men, they were both off at college and it seemed like her opportunity to ever be with Julie was long gone.
"It looks like you are deep in thought," Julie says as Christen stars at the water that sits in front of her.
"I was thinking about how nice it was growing up around here and all the memories we have here," Christen says.
"It was a great place to grow up," Julie says. "We never really left, only for college. You've already put down roots, you have your own house. I'm still rent a one bedroom apartment."
They spend a few more hours at the beach before heading back to Christen's house. Julie stops, "do you think you will try to contact the father?", she asks timidly.
"I don't even remember his name and never got his number. You're going to be more of a parent to this baby," Christen notes, smiling up at Julie.
Julie's mind drifts as she begins to imagine a world in which this is her baby. Her and Christen's baby. The thought brings a smile to her face, although she's not sure it would be much different from how things are right now. "And I'm never going to leave you. I'm not going to leave either one of you," Julie vows as they continue their journey home.
They spend the rest of the weekend watching movies.
"Thanks for everything," Christen says when she walks Julie to the door Sunday evening.
"Don't mention it," Julie replies. "Call me if you need anything, okay? I'll be here for your appointment tomorrow but I can come this weekend if you need me to."
Christen smiles, "You're the best. Text me when you make it home safe."
"Okay, mom," Julie groans, winking at her best friend.
"Watch your tone, Julie Elizabeth Brady!"
"Ohhhh, that was good, you almost had me scared," Julie replies, Christen nearly doubling over in laughter. "See you next week," she adds, putting her car in reverse and pulling out of the driveway.