Page 8

EIGHT

Aditi

Aditi pushed the cherry tomatoes to the side of her plate, not particularly enamoured with them. She liked tomato fine in soups or sauces, but not seedy and squelchy like this.

She used to pawn them off to Lena but she wasn't sure if that was still allowed. That was something couples did and they were no longer a couple.

It was just tomatoes though.

She decided against it. The atmosphere at the table was great, warm and full of laughter like the old days, and she didn't want to ruin that.

"I have a potentially weird question, and you don't have to answer this," Lena said, her attention on Maria. "Could you give birth in bear form?"

"I wish, that would be so much easier, but no." Maria stroked her belly. "Apparently, my body won't let me shift when I'm too close to giving birth. Don't ask me how it works because I've got no clue."

Everyone looked at Aditi who held up her hands. "Don't look at me. It's not my area of expertise either."

Lena hummed. "It's probably for the best. It would be weird to see a human baby come out of a bear."

The group chuckled in agreement and Aditi had to do everything she could not to stare at Lena with little stars in her eyes. She always loved the way Lena's brain worked, the way she asked things that other people didn't dare or think of.

Brains and beauty, she really was the whole package.

"Speaking of babies. You're all coming to my baby shower, aren't you?" Maria asked, mostly looking at Aditi and Lena.

"I'll be there," Aditi said dutifully. Even if things were tense between her and Lena, she wasn't going to miss such an important event.

Lena nodded too. "Yes, I've got it in my calendar."

"Good. It wouldn't be right without you all. Now I've got that squared away, I need to pee. Again." Maria got up with a groan, one hand on her belly, the other supporting her lower back. "This baby thinks it's funny to press my bladder."

Everyone waited until she was out of earshot before the conversation resumed.

"Oof, I could not do that," Alix commented with a grimace. "The peeing, the strict diet, the swelling. And then after all that, you have a baby. No thanks."

Aditi didn't say anything, noticing that Lena wasn't commenting either.

They'd talked about kids plenty of times, so often, that Aditi had pictured it.

Beautiful mixed-race babies, always with Lena's warm brown eyes.

Just thinking about it was making her sad because that was another thing that was never going to happen.

Luckily, the server came to check on their food and refill water so the topic naturally changed.

"How are things with Veronica?" Aditi asked Alix.

"Don't talk to me about Veronica. We're supposed to go on a holiday with them, as if we're one big happy family. How ridiculous is that? I don't know this man. My mum barely knows him." Alix cut her piece of chicken so angrily, it looked like she wanted to saw through her plate. "Delusional."

Her phone chimed with the familiar little ping of her dating app and the whole table stared at her, in particular Lena.

"Is that, umm... Is that Fate Date?" Lena asked in a way that made it clear she knew exactly what that sound was.

Aditi's face suddenly got very hot. "I didn't realise the sound was on. I must not have muted my phone after I was playing Bubble Bears."

"I didn't realise you were already on the apps."

"I'm just swiping. I've not gone on any dates," Aditi said quickly, not sure if that was better or worse.

Any hint of amusement or levity was totally gone from Lena's face. She cut a piece of her steak with enough force to saw through the plate and plastered on the fakest smile ever. "Well, it sounds like you just made a match. Good for you."

The chill in her voice gave Aditi actual goosebumps but stupidly, something inside her was fluttering. Lena cared that she was on a dating app. She was jealous. Did that mean there were still feelings there?

Was there still hope for them?

Maria got back to the table, totally unaware of the tension hanging over it. She just rubbed her belly as she sank down in the chair, groaning. "Woo, I know it's too much info, but I did the biggest pee in my life. In my life, I tell you. What are we talking about?"

Nobody answered.

The awkward silence was enough to make Maria wince. "That bad? What's going on? Are we talking childbirth? Pooping during birth? Child death?"

"Aditi is on the apps and she just got a match," Alix chimed in, as if she wasn't partially to blame for this.

Mostly, actually. She had the brilliant idea to make margaritas.

And to install the dating apps. She was the one who swiped right on the handful of people who didn't look like they were after a threesome, were men, or had shifter vibes.

Actually, in a roundabout way, this was entirely her fault.

Maria grimaced. "Oh, yikes. Now I'm wishing I stayed in the bathroom."

Lena set down her glass with a noticeable thud. "Why is everyone making a big fuss over this? I don't want to date Aditi so why should I fucking care that she’s on the apps?”

And with that last, harsh , statement, dinner was well and truly over.

Aditi clenched her teeth. It shouldn’t have stung but it did. A silly foolish part of her had been holding onto the hope that maybe they would work things out, but that clearly wasn’t happening.

She felt like such an idiot.