“Let me see,” Micky said as he walked over to the window and gazed out at the apartment on the other side. “Yeah, it does look pretty good.”
“I can’t believe stingy ol’ Babbit would actually think of buying that old apartment and renovating it,” Mike said, shaking his head.
“Another money making opportunity,” Adriana said as she brought the last of the dishes into the kitchen. A sudden dizziness caused her to almost drop the few plates she had in her arms.
“Are you okay,” Micky asked, noticing her predicament as he made his way to where his wife stood.
“I’m fine,” she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
“Think we should tell them now,” Micky whispered.
Adriana looked down and sighed. “I guess now would be as good a time as ever.”
Everybody was at the Pad for their usual Sunday night dinner.
Looking around the Pad she saw Davy and Ursula sitting on the couch, quite a bit of space between them. Davy flipped through a magazine and occasionally looked over at Ursula with a puzzled look on his face. Ursula stared, unmoving, at the television. Peter and Katerina both sat Indian style on the rug, Peter with an acoustic guitar and Katerina singing and laughing about something. Mike stood nearby, looking at Micky and her with a curious stare.
Adriana turned to her side and saw Micky’s smiling face. She wasn’t too excited about the prospect, but she knew Micky couldn’t be happier.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
Micky grabbed her hand and the two moved by the stairs.
“Ah-hem,” Micky cleared his throat.
Mike was the only one who came to attention and moved near the couple.
“Ah-hem,” Micky cleared his throat louder.
Davy and Ursula looked up from the couch.
“And BINGO was his name oh,” Peter and Katerina sang loudly.
“Hey,” Mike shouted at the two goofy songbirds.
Peter and Katerina stood up and sheepishly walked over to where the group stood.
“Um, we have an announcement to make,” Micky said to everyone.
“What is it,” Davy asked excitedly.
“We’re pregnant,” Micky said with a huge smile on his face.
“You too,” Peter asked with a quizzical look on his face.
“No, Peter,” Mike said nodding, rolling his eyes.
“No, Adrian pregnant,” Micky said with a sigh.
“Oh,” Peter said, his quizzical look turning to shock, “How did this happen?!”
“Peter,” Katerina said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder.
Adriana cheeks blushed many shades of red. Katerina squealed and stepped forward to hug her cousin. Mike slapped Micky on the back. The rest of the group gave their congratulations and the room buzzed with an excited energy.
As the guys chatted, the women moved to the couch and questioned Adriana.
“How far along are you,” Ursula asked Adriana.
“About three months,” Adriana said shyly.
“How do you feel,” Katerina asked.
“I’m okay,” Adriana answered slowly.
“Really,” she asked, knowing about how Adriana felt about having children.
“Well, I guess I’m not all that excited,” Adriana said with a sigh, “but I feel a lot better about things. Honestly, I think I might be okay with this.”
“You sure,” Ursula asked.
“Yeah,” Adriana said, feeling almost guilty at having felt such unwelcoming feelings for the child growing inside her. She wondered if somehow it knew.
“I’m glad we told them,” Micky said, putting his arm around Adriana and walking towards their apartment later that night.
“You know,” Adriana said slowly, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth, “me too.”
“You are,” Micky asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah,” Adriana said, throwing her arms around his waist sideways as the two neared their home.
“I’m glad we can work through this,” Micky said, kissing the top of her head. “I know how hard these past few months have been for you, but I promise you, everything is going to be just fine. I’ll make sure of it.” Resting her head on his shoulder as they walked up their front sidewalk, Adriana could nearly believe that everything he said would be true.
“What are you thinking about,” Peter asked Katerina as the two sat on the back steps of the Pad.
“Life,” Katerina said, resting her chin on her hand.
“Well, that’s a broad topic,” Peter said with a laugh.
“I’m serious,” Katerina said, tossing a sideways glance at her boyfriend.
“So am I,” Peter said in a deep, serious voice, trying hard to form a grim look on his usually smiling face.
“Peter,” Katerina said with a laugh, reaching out to ruffle his longish dark brown hair. “What am I gonna do with you?”
“Hmm,” Peter said, chuckling, as he took Katerina in his arms and pulled her to his chest. She rested her head on his chest and leaned her arms on his legs as she sat between them. “I just don’t have any idea.”
“I guess I’m just been thinking a lot about the future lately,” Katerina said after a few minutes.
“The future,” Peter asked, leaning his head on her shoulder and looking out at the sea.
“Yeah,” Katerina said, reaching up to touch his face, “I’m wondering what’s next, you know? I mean, so much has happened, but the last few months have been kinda, well, stagnate.”
“You think so,” Peter said sadly, pulling away a bit.
“Oh, no, Peter,” Katerina said reaching for him again, “being with you has been wonderful. I just can’t help wondering what my purpose his here. I can’t keep living with Micky and Adriana. Especially now that they’re expecting a baby.”
“You could always move in with us,” Peter suggested.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Katerina said with a laugh.
“Hmm, well, we could get married,” Peter said in a funny voice, kissing her on the cheek.
Katerina giggled and playfully slapped Peter’s arm. “Be serious,” she said.
“Okay, well, um,” Peter thought, “Hey! You could move into Babbit’s new place!”
Katerina stopped for a moment as the light of the new idea flooded into her eyes, “Ugh! Why didn’t I think of that before? Peter, you are a genius,” Katerina exclaimed as she turned and kissed him repeatedly on the cheek.
“Well, I try,” he said as he moved to kiss her.
“So, how’s dorm life,” Davy asked Ursula as he walked her back to her college later that same night.
“Okay,” she said quietly.
Davy reached for Ursula’s hand as they reached the door to her dorm. Ursula pulled back and looked at the ground.
“Wha’’s going on,” Davy asked, looking into her eyes, his voice filled with concern, “you’ve been acting really distant all week. Is there something wrong?”
Something in her eyes told Davy something. He knew that look. Davy had given it to enough girls before; he was surprised that he didn’t recognize it earlier. It just hurt more coming from the other direction.
Davy sat down on the steps and looked up at Ursula who sighed and leaned against the wall.
“Who is he,” Davy asked.
Mike wiped the last of the dinner dishes and placed them carefully in the cupboard.
Looking around the empty Pad, he sighed deeply and turned to walk up the stairs to his bedroom.
“My bedroom,” Mike said to himself.
It hadn’t been “Micky and Mike’s Room” for months now, but Mike still hadn’t gotten used to his best friend not being right there anymore. However, he was happy for Micky. Mike loved Adriana and he was really glad things were shaping up so well for the two of them.
As he entered the room and got ready for bed, he thought about Peter and Katerina.
“They’ll be gone someday too,” Mike thought.
Looking out the window, he saw Davy and Ursula walking down the dimly lit street.
“Even Davy’s gotten serious about someone,” Mike said with a sigh as he sat down on his bed and took off his boots.
Crossing his arms behind his head, Mike laid back on the bed.
“I think I’m getting empty nest syndrome,” Mike said with a chuckle.
Turning on his elbow, he gazed out the window and into the night sky. He silently wondered if there was anybody out there for him.
“No sense in wondering about these things now,” Mike thought, silently reprimanding himself for being so sentimental. “Better get some sleep.”
Turning off the light he let his eyes wander out the window again and into the window of the empty apartment next door.
It was a bigger apartment than the Pad. Big enough for one set of tenants on each side. As Mike drifted off to sleep, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering who they might be.
Somewhere that same night in San Francisco, a disillusioned girl from the Midwest was experiencing heartache and pain like she had never felt before.
Her dreams of peace, love, and a common ground with her fellow man were destroyed by one shell of a man that October night.
She pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and grabbed what few possessions she had to her name and stuffed them into her small bag. As she snatched the money off of the dresser, she caught a glimpse of herself in the small, dirty mirror.
Her long dark hair hung limp around her face. The wound had stopped bleeding now. All that was left was a long scab running along the side of her cheek. Placing a hand over it, she looked at the man passed out on the bed.
Anger rose up inside her as she walked out the door, the scars of what had happened burning bitterness deep inside her heart.
It wasn’t the first time, but she swore as she walked out into the street, her thumb out, it would be the last.
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