She laughs, but I see how I’ve been a weight she’s carried and I think she sees that I understand that now.

She kisses my forehead.

“If I didn’t love you and this baby so much, I’d strangle you.” She pats my belly and says, “You just wait until Grandma Margo tells you all her stories about your mom.” Then she looks at me, eyes full of tears, like she’s hoping I won’t object to Max having her for a grandma.

I hug her the best I can with my belly in between us.

The diner is empty. It’s just before closing time. Margo feeds me a burger and fries and a milkshake for calcium and a big plate of spinach because she says I need extra iron. She drowns the spinach in butter because she knows it’s the only way I’ll get it down. We sit in a booth, since I’m way too huge to try and balance on a stool at the counter like we used to.

She stares at my belly a lot. I wonder if she’s trying to picture Max, all curled up and napping in there. Maybe sucking his thumb. Babies do that sometimes, before they’re even born. I try to picture him all the time. I wonder if he’ll be familiar when I get to meet him.

Margo doesn’t ask about his father, about where I’m planning to live with him, or even when he’s due. Over the years, she’s gotten used to the idea that I’ll only tell her what I want her to know. But I wish she’d ask, because it’s hard to just say things sometimes. I wish I could talk to her about Robert and ask if she thinks I did the right thing, but I don’t know how to start. I only tell her about Ethan, that I stayed at his house for a while and we dressed like Fred and Ginger, and he made a painting that looked like lines and curves but it was really me.

“I’m glad you have solid friends in the world,” she says, because she doesn’t know about how I always end up leaving them all.

We see Mrs. Spencer walking slow past the diner like it’s normal for her to take a late-night stroll through town. She stares at us through the window, but when Margo waves, she looks away like she didn’t see us at all. I wonder how much she talks to Matty. If she knows I saw him about nine months ago and she’s worried Max is somehow his. I wonder who saw me and called her, if the whole town already knows I’m here and pregnant. Probably it took ten minutes for everyone to find out.