I muted my best friend’s messages the week she had her baby.

Before she had him, I told her she could text me anytime. For the first few days she sent me little updates about cold toast and how her mom came over to help and ended up rearranging the kitchen. Then one night my phone buzzed while I was eating dinner and I got annoyed before I even looked. She’d sent me a picture of a baby sock she’d found in her bra. I laughed and muted the chat anyway. I figured I’d turn it back on in the morning. A week went by. I kept seeing the unread messages and telling myself I’d answer when I had time. I watched a whole season of a show I didn’t even like that week. When I finally opened the chat, her last message was three days old. She’d apologized for texting so much and said I was the first person who’d asked how she was doing instead of asking about the baby. I almost blamed work. Instead I asked if I could bring her lunch. She asked for a Coke with a lot of ice. I brought it over and held the baby while she ate. She hasn’t sent me any of those random updates since. I miss them. I spent a week relieved my phone was quiet and now I keep checking it.