The Truth About Fairy Tales by Annie Walker

kiss me one more time.
                  “Go back to sleep, Maggie, it’s still early.”
                  Once he’d closed the door I wondered how he thought sleep would be possible without him there beside me. When I opened my eyes again, it was light out and Sidney was sitting on the bed barking at me.
                  “I’m sorry, baby…I’m sorry.” I threw on some clothes and took him for a walk. I’d just unlocked the door when my phone began to ring.
                  “Maggie, guess what?” This was Genna. It was always the same with her. No ‘hi, how are you,’ just straight to the heart of the matter.
                  “You’re pregnant?” Her silence confirmed I’d guess the truth. “You are? Really? Oh, Genna, that’s great! When did you find out?”
                  “Yesterday! Isn’t it wonderful? I’m so excited and you should just hear Layne. He’s positively euphoric. I can’t wait to start picking out baby clothes.”
                  I smiled to myself. Genna’s dreams were all coming true.
                  “Have you told Serena yet?” I knew the answer already. I’d been the first she’d called.
                  “No, I’m going to call her next. I can't wait for lunch tomorrow. We have so much to talk about and plan.”
                  “That’s great. She’ll be thrilled as well. How far along are you?” For the first time in my life, I was actually jealous of Genna. This wasn’t like me. I’d been replaced by 'pod girl' and 'pod girl' was crying.
                  Genna caught onto this about the same time as me. “Maggie? Are you all right? You sound, well strange, like…” Now she couldn’t actually say the words, because frankly, she hadn't seen me cry. She simply dismissed it as something else. “Are you sick?”
                  I grabbed at the excuse she offered like a lifeline. I’d all but forgotten that technically I was still suffering from the effects of a cold.
                  “Yes. I have a cold, but I’ll be fine by tomorrow. I’ll see you then."             
    “Oh, course. Ooh, I can’t wait to see you both.”
                  I hung up feeling a hundred percent better.
                  There wasn’t anything wrong with me. I'd been sick. I wasn’t going soft because of Jackson. There was no way he of all people was going to be the one to change my dreams.
                  I'd actually begun to feel quite cocky when the object of my confusion called, and the newer, softer Maggie returned to fill the old girl with doubts.
                  I closed my eyes and tried to steel myself against the sound of his voice. Don’t let him know, don’t let him know, my conscious screamed, but it was so hard not to be thrilled just by the sound of his voice.
                  “Hi…” I whispered in a softer more feminine voice. Who was this woman?
                  His laughed quietly. Had he seen the change in me?
                  “Okay, little bit, if you’re going to answer the phone like that then I’m probably going to forget I’ve got a meeting in ten minutes.”
                  I smiled and was so glad he wasn’t standing there in front of me. I didn’t want him to know that I was blushing all the way to my toes and back.
                  “Sorry…” Gees, what was wrong with me? I sounded like…like Genna. Dear sweet, soft, optimistic, full of nice thoughts Genna.
                  “Oh, don’t be. Because when you talk to me like that I remember last night and the night before and the night before that…”
                  I could only imagine he was also picturing my embarrassment as well because he was laughing again and I was