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“You got a raise?”
“No. It has nothing to do with work.”
“Then, what?”
“You know how I haven’t been feeling so hot the last couple of days…?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I got myself all worked up this afternoon, convinced myself I had cancer…”
“Cancer?”
“I don’t.”
He laughs nervously. “Well, thank God for that.”
“And Shawna said…” She stops, sniffing at the air. “What’s that smell?”
“We picked up some KFC on the way home. It’s in the kitchen.”
Heidi’s stomach turns over at the thought of a bucket of greasy fried chicken and then turns over again when she realizes exactly what Aiden just said. “ ‘We’?”
“My mother.”
“She’s here?”
“In the bathroom, washing her hands. She picked me up at the therapist’s, said she was really in the mood for some Southern fried chicken, so…”
“She’s staying for dinner?”
“Is that a problem?” Lisa asks from the hall. She’s dressed in white capris and a clinging navy jersey. Her makeup is impeccable and matching red polish adorns her fingers and toes.
“No, of course not,” Heidi says, trying to remember the last time she could afford a mani-pedi. “I just didn’t realize…”
“Are you all right? You’re looking a little green around the gills.”
“Heidi hasn’t been feeling great,” Aiden begins, chuckling. “She thought she had cancer.”
“Oh my God,” says Lisa.
“I don’t,” Heidi assures her quickly.
“No, of course you don’t,” Lisa says. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
“What?” Aiden says. “No, she isn’t…. Heidi?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. My exciting news. I just took a test. Three of them, actually. They were all positive. It’s still very early. Just one or two weeks.”
“Well, thank goodness for that,” Lisa says. “We have lots of time to make arrangements. I’ll call my gynecologist in the morning, find out who to contact, whether a hospital or clinic would be best….”
“What are you talking about?”
“What do youthinkI’m talking about?”
“I’mhavingthis baby.” Heidi turns toward Aiden, willing him to say something. But he remains silent.
In the next instant, Heidi is racing for the front door. A second after that, she’s doubled over, emptying the meager contents of her stomach on the front lawn.
