Page 209 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

Silence. “What happened?”

I close my eyes. “Addy fainted tonight.”

“What?”

“She’s stable,” I say quickly. “She’s at the hospital. They’re keeping her overnight for observation.”

I hear movement on the other end. A lamp clicking on. Sheets rustling. Luci fully awake now. “Why is she in the hospital? What do you mean fainted?”

“She collapsed at the gala. Low blood pressure. Dehydration. They ran bloodwork.”

Another silence. This one colder. “What did they find?”

I drag a hand over my face. “She’s pregnant.”

Luci says nothing for two full seconds. “I’m sorry, she’s what?”

“Pregnant.”

“Withyourbaby?”

The question is a blade, but a fair one. “Yes.”

“Oh shit.”

“I know.”

“No, you don’t get to ‘I know’ me in your billionaire trauma voice. Where is she?”

I give her the hospital name, room status, everything I know.

“Are you with her?” Luci asks.

The question lands exactly where it’s meant to.

I look toward the office door even though Addy is nowhere near it. “No.”

Silence stretches across the line, heavy enough that I can feel judgment settling into it before Luci even speaks again.

“I came home to Oliver,” I say, and I hate how defensive it sounds. “He was with Diane. It was late. He woke up asking for me.”

Luci exhales hard. “Okay. Fine. That makes sense.” It shouldn’t relieve me as much as it does. “But is Addy alone right now?”

“Yes.”

The word tastes of failure.

Luci is quiet, and when she speaks again, her voice has changed. Less attack. More focus. “Does she know you called me?”

“No.”

“Good. She’d probably tell me not to come because she’s annoying and thinks needing people is a felony.”

Despite everything, my chest loosens. “True.”

“I’m coming.”

Relief floods me so quickly that I have to put one hand flat on the desk.