“I’ve gained 60 pounds during this pregnancy,” Aimee admitted to me. “I don’t know how they expect me to be able to survive on a few pieces of scraggly lettuce.” She emphasized the sentence by shoving another huge bite of pizza in her mouth.

Aimee made the time that I spent at the ‘Preggers Retreat’ (her words) bearable. This was her third child, and she made me feel much more at ease about labor and delivery. “I’m not gonna lie to you,” she said around a mouth full of pizza. “It hurts, but when they say you forget all about it when you see that sweet baby, they aren’t kidding. It’s SO worth it. Besides,” she waved her slice of pizza around for emphasis, “women have been doing this for thousands of years. At least we get the option of using drugs, if we want them.”

That night, while everyone else was sleeping, Aimee and I crept down to the kitchen together. The sous chef caught us, but Aimee sweet-talked him into letting us each have a dish of mint chocolate chip ice cream. “You’re pretty handy to have around,” I told her around a spoonful of the delectable frozen dessert.

“I’ve really liked hanging out with you. Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow?” Aimee asked me. When I nodded, she said, “I still have a week and a half to go. Jimmy sends me here for two-week intervals a few times during each of my pregnancies.” She looked down before continuing. “He takes advantage of the time by sleeping around with random sluts without his pregnant wife getting in the way.”

Her words floored me. I looked at this amazing woman and tried to fathom what her husband could be thinking. Aimee was beautiful, smart, funny, and an absolute joy to be around. I shoved my ice cream away, no longer hungry in the slightest.

I wasn’t sure what to say to her. I wanted to make her feel better, but I couldn’t come up with anything that might help. Finally, I reached over to hold her hand and said, “If that’s the case, then he is crazy. An absolute nut ball,” I added for emphasis.

She smiled at me, despite the giant tears that were shining in her eyes. “It’s my own fault for letting it happen. I know about it, and I don’t say anything to stop it because I don’t want to take the chance of losing him.” She shook her head. “I know that makes me sound pathetically weak.”