AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Rolling his eyes, Joey sank down on the edge of my bed and pulled my feet onto his lap. “You have made an eejit out of me.”
“You’re the best,” I crooned victoriously. “I lucked out in the baby-daddy stakes.”
“Hmm,” Joey grunted, entirely unimpressed with me, as he blew each one of my toenails dry before unceremoniously dropping my feet back on the bed and stalking over to my window.
“Wow, good job, Joe,” I crooned admiring my toes. “Next time, you can help me paint—”
“Don’t push it,” he grumbled, shoving the window open and pulling a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket. “I need a smoke.” Throwing one leg over the ledge to dangle outside, while keeping the other on my bedroom floor, he sank down on the sill and sparked up.
“And you had the gall to lecture me on painting my toenails?” I cocked a brow. “You should think about quitting.”
“I’m quitting an awful lot of stuff lately. Give me something to cling to, will ya?” came his smart-ass response as he leaned out my window. “Do you think they’re still downstairs with your folks?”
Yes. I shrugged. “I haven’t heard the front door slam.”
“The hell are they talking about?” he muttered, looking stressed and on edge. “I don’t like this, Molloy.”
Neither do I. “It’ll be okay, Joe.”
“You’re right.” Inhaling a deep drag, he leaned out the window to expel the smoke from his lungs before adding, “It’ll be grand. If the kid is as persuasive as his mother and can throw a punch like his father, then we’re golden.”
I arched a brow. “He?”
“He. She.” He waved a hand around aimlessly. “Whatever.”
“Do you want to find out?”
“Find out what?”
“The gender.”
“Tomorrow?” He turned to frown at me, lips pursed around his cigarette. “Because they can’t tell this early, Molloy.” He leaned back out the window to exhale another cloud of smoke before adding, “You’ll need to wait for the anomaly scan.”
“Anomaly scan?” I gaped at him. “What the hell is that, and why does it sound like it’s going to be painful?”
“Jesus, you’re all drama.” He chuckled, rubbing his jaw. “It’s not painful. It’s a detailed ultrasound they give you around the twenty-week mark.”
“Where?” My eyes widened in fear. “Because I saw this really horrible documentary where this doctor guy put a condom on this giant dildo-shaped camera and literally rammed it up this poor girl’s fanny—”
“They scan your stomach.” He laughed, cutting me off. “Come on, Molloy. You’re a girl. How do you not know this stuff?”
“Well, I’m sorry, baby whisperer,” I shot back huffily. “We don’t all come from families that rival the size of a football team. We’re not all acquainted with the harrowing throes of pregnancy.”
“Well, you’d better get acquainted and fast,” Joey replied, exhaling another cloud of smoke. “Because it’s coming.”
“Jesus.” A full-body shudder rolled through me. “Hey, Joe?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to still want me when I’m the size of a whale?”
“Molloy.” He chuckled under his breath. “For fuck’s sake.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know you are.” With a shake of his head, he tossed the cigarette butt away and climbed back inside. “You’re not going to be the size of a whale.”
“But if I am?”
