Karen arrived at the bar first and was shown to a table near the back with a good view over the rest of the tables. It had opened fairly recently and was still enjoying the busyness of a good new place opening in a pretty affluent high street.
A pretty waitress took her order for coffee and she sat back and waited for her friend to arrive.
Emma walked through the door dead on time. She glanced round the bar and gave Karen a smile and wave when she locked on to her and squeezed through the tables to get there.
Em looked fantastic. A turquoise halterneck summer dress cut just above the knee showed off her lovely tanned legs in gladiator sandals. Her belly was a beautiful pregnant curve, and her skin and hair were glowing with second trimester hormones.
"Em, babe you look incredible!" Karen exclaimed as they hugged. They had been mates since they met at work 5 years ago and hit it off straight away. In the intervening years they had each moved jobs and houses (and in Karen's case, got divorced and become a single mother), but they had always kept in touch and met up regularly. When Em fell pregnant 5 months ago she had confided in Karen as soon as she found out - keen to learn from someone who had been there and done it.
"An incredibly chunky whale more like! I keep forgetting where this belly ends, and bumping into things!" Em flopped onto the leather banquette and asked the attentive waitress for a glass of iced sparkling mineral water.
"I remember those days - the second trimester is the best and worst at the same time. The body changes are scary and the hormones are a blessing and a curse!" They both laughed and sat back as the waitress brought the drinks and some tapas.
They chattered away, catching up on the gossip of mutual friends and what they had each been up to since they had last spoken. The conversation rolled back and forth easily with the occasional pause as they ate the tapas and sipped their drinks.
"So those are new!" Karen said with a wicked grin, nodding at Em's chest which had grown significantly since they last met.
"God, tell me about it. I've never bought so many bras of different sizes. I've gone from a small B-cup to stretching a D! I feel like a stripper!"
"Lucky Andy - I'll bet he can't keep his hands off them. When I was pregnant my tits did the same thing and my hormones went haywire at the same time- Rob thought all his dreams had come true, we were shagging like rabbits all through the rest of my pregnancy!" Karen was so caught up in her memory she hadn't noticed the tears collecting in Emma's eyes. "Oh babe! What's wrong? Is it something I said?"
