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At that particular moment, it felt as if they were right.

17

Jaz

“Did you hear that?” Faye asked.

I spun my computer chair to face her. I’d set up a mini-office in her living room when I moved in, really a sliver of a desk crammed into a corner—but it was large enough for me to work there while Faye typed on her laptop on the couch. This way, we could both get our stuff done while being close to each other.

“Hear what?”

“Gretchen.”

We both got up and peered into Gretchen’s crib, which took up another corner of the room. The baby was on shaky feet, holding onto the sides to keep herself upright. “Buh.”

My jaw dropping, I stared at Faye. “Did she just say book?”

“Say it again, kid.” Faye had her phone out, the camera pointed at her. “Tell us what you just said.”

Gretchen’s face scrunched up, and she shook the crib’s sides with all her might—which wasn’t much, but she made her best effort. “Buh!”

“This is when you usually read to her, isn’t it?” Faye said. “She’s asking for a book.”

“Holy shit. Her first word was book.” I grabbed Faye’s hand and jumped in the air. “She’s talking! And she’s going to be a nerd like us!”

“Nurture wins over nature.” Faye grinned.

“Did you get a good picture? This is going straight in the scrapbook.”

Standing in her crib, Gretchen let out a cry. “Bu-u-u-uh!” The sound turned into a wail by the time she’d finished stretching it out to four syllables.

“She’s going to be a demanding nerd.” I scooped her up and grabbed a picture book. “How do you feel about Robert Munsch, kid? The Paper Bag Princess?”

Faye followed us with the camera, taking shot after shot of her on my knee, her red face slowly fading to its normal color as she listened to the lines of the story.

At the end, where the dragon insulted the princess and the princess danced off into the sunset without her, Gretchen clapped and cheered.

“You think she actually understands this stuff?” I asked, setting the book aside.

“More than we think.” The phone beeped as Faye stopped recording. “That’s why we’re immersing her in feminist literature from day one.”

“Obviously it’s a straight line from The Paper Bag Princess to Adrienne Rich.” I rolled my eyes.

“You’ll find out how right I was in a few years.”

The allusion to the future made my heart jump. At this point, we were a pretty solid thing. We’d been together officially for almost six months, and sleeping together unofficially for another six before that.

Two months ago, I’d packed up my meager possessions and brought them over to her place. I was over here all the time anyway. It should’ve been a pretty big step. And it was… but I wasn’t on the lease.

Just like I wasn’t on Gretchen’s birth certificate.

Not that it was a big deal or anything. I wasn’t her mom. Wasn’t even blood-related, like Faye was.

Except if we ever did break up in the future, I’d have nothing to tie me to her. Not that I had any intentions of breaking up with Faye. Are you kidding? She was only the best thing to ever happen to me, including but not limited to libraries, oral sex, and being born.

“What?” Faye asked.

“Nothing.”