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The louder he gets, the more the room begins to spin, my stomach churning, my breathing growing labored.
“Are you even listening to me?” the man shouts, slamming his hands on the counter in front of us. “My family did not fly four hours to be turned away. This is our vacation, and we expect to ski. My kids are?—”
It’s my spectacular stomach acrobatics that shut him up pretty quickly as I whip around and throw up in the trash can behind the counter.
It looks like this is going to be my life for the next several months, so anyone who is working here or visiting the lodge, is going to need to get used to it.
I swipe at my mouth with a tissue and take a drink of water from the bottle I have resting on the shelf behind me. I feel slightly better now that I’ve thrown up, but it’s probably not the last time it will happen today.
“Now is there anything else I can help you with?” I ask, as the man stands there, his eyes wide, his mouth hanging open. “I’m not sick,” I tell him, trying my best not to roll my eyes at this moron who is hell bent on arguing over something idiotic. “I’m pregnant, so again, do you need anything else? Can I book you and your family a reservation for tomorrow?”
It all comes out of my mouth so quickly and I don’t even realize that all of my employees are also probably listening even if they are trying to make it look like they aren’t.
Shit.
Nick doesn’t even know, and word in the Badger Creek world travels fast. The last thing I need is this getting back to Nick before I have a chance to tell him. It’s bad enough that I’ve kept it from him for this long, and that I went straight to tell my mom, and now I’ve blurted it out in front of people who are probably figuring out who to text the news to.
Such a massive fuck up.
I look around, seeing all the faces watching me and they quickly look away, pretending to be busy checking people in, but I know they heard me. And it’s not like I can stop what I’m doing and call a meeting telling all of them to keep their mouths shut until I get a chance to talk to Nick.
I can’t even leave here right now to do that. We’re way too busy for that, so I continue on like I didn’t just tell some random stranger that I’m pregnant. Plus, this asshole is still standing here waiting for me to fix the mess he made on his own.
I need him to go away, and I really need a mint or to brush my teeth, so I do what I should have done as soon as I felt that nausea coming on.
“Here are lift tickets for tomorrow and a voucher for lessons, and since you missed your tickets for yesterday, I’ve included a free lunch for you and your family on us, and for later today, please visit the front desk for a complimentary s’mores kit. You can use this in your room or we have a story hour by the big fireplace in the lobby for families.”
I let out a hard sigh, praying like hell he decides this is enough compensation for his mistake that he seems to still want to blame me for. The only thing I can think of is that his wife is furious with him, and he does not want to admit he fucked up. But again, not my problem, and right now I feel like I’m going to puke again if I don’t eat something fast.
“Was that so hard?” he asks me, taking everything I’ve set on the counter in front of him. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” He’s smiling now, and I hate that I’ve totally given in to this asshole, but I really just need to keep the peace right now, and I also need to figure out how to talk to my staff about what just spilled from my mouth.
We’re packedand busy until around noon, things finally dying off. Thankfully I was able to keep the vomiting at bay by snacking on a couple of those kiddie peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they stock at the café next door to the ski lodge.
I have no idea how to address this with anyone, but I know I need to, and more than that, I need to get out of here early so I can meet up with Nick.
Taking in the nearly empty room, I quickly gather the staff behind the counter, trying to make this announcement without being swamped with customers again.
“Can I have everyone’s attention please?” I call out, my staff stopping what they are doing and meeting my stare. “I’m going to assume that everyone heard my announcement without me actually announcing it.”
A few of them give me a look that says they have no idea what I’m talking about, but then I do get a few nods from others, and then there are the ones who don’t know how to respond. I am their boss and we do spend a lot of time together. We are a little family here and we know quite a bit about each other’s lives. All of us would be shocked if anyone announced they were pregnant, and I’m sure they’re even more shocked that it’s me.
“I’m pregnant. Turns out I wasn’t sick the last few weeks, but rather knocked up,” I say, trying to make a little joke out of it. “What I need from all of you, is to keep this quiet for a while. I haven’t told anyone, and I don’t need the Badger Creek gossip mill running full force on this. That’s all I ask.”
I get a few muttered responses agreeing to what I’ve asked and then I ask if anyone has any questions. This is probably something that should go down on my list of biggest regrets, right there with cutting my own bangs and skiing in a bikini.
“Are you keeping it?” Meg, one of the younger staff asks, and I hate how I respond to her. To her this is probably a nightmare, and honestly, a few days ago it was also my nightmare too.
“Yes!” I shout out, appalled at her question, but instantly regretting my response. I’ve always been pro-choice and would never judge anyone for a decision they make about their body. “I’m sorry, valid question since it’s clear that I’ve been single for a long time, but yes, I am going to have the baby.”
“Who’s the dad?” Russ asks, and I should have known this question was coming. “Do you know the dad?” he tacks on, and I swear it feels like these people don’t know me at all. I’m not out sleeping around and even if I was, I’m certain I would have been using protection.
“Yes, I know the dad and I’m not sharing who it is until he knows,” I respond, that regret of opening myself up to questions is beginning to slap me in the face.
I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, realizing I couldn’t have hidden this from them forever especially since I seem to be a puke machine. And it’s now dawning on me that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches might be a pregnancy craving. I’ve never once inhaled three of those mini sandwiches like I did just a little while ago, and I kind of want another.
“I need to meet with the dad today, so again, I ask that you not say anything until I can get over there and share the news with him.”
“Is it Nick?” Russ asks, coming right out with it, and the room begins to echo his question. There’s no way that all of them weren’t thinking it, just too hesitant to ask it. There’s really no one else it could be, and he’s been here helping out, everyone knowing he’s back in town.
