"How's Andrew?"
He meant the baby and Eric had to remind himself that everyone else referred to him by name, like a person.
It was only him and Gabi who just called him "the baby."
"He's good."
"Are you getting any sleep?"
Eric made a noise into the phone, almost a snort. It meant "sleep, what fucking sleep?" But out loud, he just said, "Sure, sometimes." He and Gabi had come up with a sleep schedule that she had read about online. It was great. Now if they could just get the baby to do his part but so far, no dice.
"Are you getting laid?"
Eric couldn't hold back a guffaw and then immediately whispered, "fuck." He hoped that he hadn't just disturbed his wife and the baby. It was his turn in a bit and he was determined to milk his free time for all it was worth. "Yeah right," he muttered in a sarcastic voice to Steve. Steve was Andrew's godfather second and Eric's best buddy first, otherwise he'd never be talking about this with another guy. "Dude, it's only been six weeks," Eric told his friend, like he wasn't counting every day, check, check, check. "She's on lockdown until she sees the gyno."
"That's how it starts, my friend." Steve sounded ominous and Eric could feel the tension between his shoulders. There was some extra weight there and it could just be the result of stress, but Eric wondered if it wasn't more. He was worried, although he'd never admit it. Because of course, it echoed what all of his male acquaintances seemed to hint at: once you have a kid, the pussy is doled out sparingly.
After he'd announced that Gabi was pregnant, it was the second thing that happened after a round of high fives and a few fist pumps and pats on the back. Like if you do chores and if you agree and if you mind your manners, then you might get some. At least that's what they all said with tight lipped expressions, like smiling was suddenly painful.
A few months ago, his wife had laughed about those guys and said they had no cojones.
"Come on, Steve, we are talking about Gabi here," it was all that he would say and he felt he shouldn't have to say more. Just a few short months ago, Gabi was the sexiest woman any of them had ever known. All of his friends, including Steve, would elbow Eric when she walked away or whisper, "damn,". They would draw it out to sound like "day-ummmm."
Gabi was hot. Gabi was hot and she knew it. Gabi had long black hair that was a wild mane of inky curls. Gabi had brown eyes that looked like melted pools of chocolate. Gabi was thick in all the right places and his friends said she was shaped like a Coke bottle. Gabi's skin was somewhere between caramel and cafΓ© au lait and it gleamed almost golden. Gabi wore her jeans tight and her heels high. Gabi was spicy and feisty and flirtatious and she and Eric were first dating, men would buy her drinks right in front of Eric.
She would purr in his ear, "What's the matter, Papi? You know you're the only man getting this pussy tonight, right?" Her accent gave him goosebumps and her hot breath on his neck made him hard. He would be on the verge of melting world melt with a whisper and a slow stroke of her crimson nails down his inner thigh.
She'd take the drink and wink at the sender though. And Eric would still be just a little jealous.
The sexiest woman they knew. Even pregnant, maybe even especially pregnant. Gabi had flaunted the extra weight and it just made her more lush and almost opulent. She rubbed it in everyone's face and she looked like an exotic fertility goddess, a statue that women worshipped in the hopes of becoming pregnant. Her breasts were huge and her ass was heavy and wide and it had seemed like the changes in her body had made Gabi even more hedonistic than usual. She had fucked him twice a day in the middle months, sometimes he'd even protested that he couldn't go again. He had always managed to get it up and she had always managed to make him cum faster than he wanted to.
During those few months, it seemed like she couldn't cum often enough and Eric had been ecstatic to come along for the ride.
It had all tapered off when she was about seven months along. Eric was fairly certain that Gabi hadn't shaved her legs since then but then again, he wouldn't know for sure because she'd been in yoga pants and thick, woolly socks ever since.
"Yeah, I know we're talking about Gabi, dude." His friend continued, "and it pains me to say this because fuck, she is still smoking hot. But I'm just saying, it's never the same after the kids come."
"Well, I'm sure we will be fine."
Eric was irritated with his buddy now. He wanted to blame his mood swings on the lack of sleep and the shitty diet he'd been eating for a month and a half. He had existed on leftover casseroles that the neighbors brought over. Leftover food and leftover bits of sleep and half a shower and a page of the newspaper, really what did he expect?
You know what else makes you crabby though, the voice inside reminded him, like a mental elbow to the ribs. Not getting laid.
"Yeah, well call me when you can get out for some beers, dude." Steve wasn't sensitive enough to pick up on Eric's or anyone else's irritation and that was the bedrock that their friendship was built on.
"Later."
Eric tossed the phone on the side table and scowled at it. Fuck Steve. Fuck all those guys, they had always been jealous of him having Gabi on lockdown. He knew she was out of his league but those guys never let him forget it. Now they were just getting back at him and the timing couldn't have been worse.