Shit. I was screwed.
CHAPTER 5
Devyn
“You’re not eating.”
I smiled over at Audrey, but it could also be described as more of a wince. It was an automatic reaction to being called out. “Thank you so much,” I told my sisters, looking around at their four eager faces.
You’d think that we’d be like normal siblings, fighting all the time, and basically at each other’s throats, but it’d never been like that for us. We’d always been close. And we’d only gotten closer as we got older. Sophie, the second oldest, and I were only a year apart and we’d shared a lot of the same friend group. But we’d still always been best friends.
Vivian and Shay were the next two oldest and had bonded, and of course we all watched out for Audrey. It wasn’t uncommon for us to meet at one of our places a couple times a week for dinner and chatting. We really enjoyed spending time together. Most of our friends had started getting marriedand having kids and we’d lost touch, but the five of us were as inseparable as ever.
Everyone always said you should give your kids siblings so that they always had friends. What they failed to mention was that it was most important when you were older, not when you were young. At least that was what had happened in our family. It was nice—mostly—when we were young. Now? I couldn’t get by without them.
“I haven’t really been able to do much of that,” I admitted.
Shay frowned. “Isn’t eating important when you’re pregnant?”
I laughed. “Apparently not, because someone’s not letting me. I eat, I puke.”
Viv made a face. “Sorry. Ihatethrowing up.”
“Honestly just getting it over with and not being nauseous all day is preferable,” Sophie said.
Audrey nodded enthusiastically.
“That would be,” I told them. “Only the nausea doesn’t go away afterward.”
They all stared at me with mild horror.
“You just walk around always feeling like you’re going to throw up?” Audrey asked.
I nodded, pressing a hand to my stomach. The smell of the pizza was getting to me.
Sophie must have noticed because she slid the pies away from me and toward the others. We were sitting in a circle on my living room floor. Pillows were strewn around, and a movie we weren’t paying attention to was playing in the background.
“That doesn’t sound fun,” Shay said with a grimace.
“Is that typical?” Viv asked.
I shrugged. “Sounds like it can be for some people. Apparently, I’m one of those lucky few.”
Sophie was already up and searching through my cabinets. “Whatcanyou eat?” she asked from the kitchen. My apartment wasn’t very big so she didn’t even need to raise her voice.
I smiled at the others. “I can eat Ramen, Mac ‘n’ Cheese—sometimes—and those little frozen corn dog bites in the freezer. And sometimes crackers.”
They were all staring at me again, a mix of horror and disgust on their faces.
“Seriously?” Audrey asked.
“There’s nothing nutritious inanyof that stuff,” Sophie said from the kitchen, putting her fists on her hips as she watched me. “Half of those don’t count as actual food.”
“Trust me, I know that.” Sighing, I closed my eyes. “I want to eat healthy. But I can’t seem to hold anything else down.”
“Ramen it is,” Sophie said as she started getting a pot of water boiling on the stove.
“And they say pregnancy is beautiful,” Shay said with a snort.
