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I’m pretty sure everything has zero calories when you’re forty weeks, six days, five hours, and twenty-three minutes pregnant. I’ve narrowed down the conception date and I know this kid is overcooked, no matter what my doctor has to say about “letting labor come in its own time.”
“This child clearly intends to stay inside me forever,” I say. “So there’s only one thing to do . . .”
Gigi laughs. “Eat pie?”
“What can I say? I like pie. It tastes good. Takes a girl’s mind off tiny feet kicking her in the spleen. Also, you made this amazing, irresistible strawberry and goat cheese creation, so this sugar rush is at least seventy-five percent your fault,” I say, taking another bite and adjusting myself in the seat.
Because I’m not comfortable.
I haven’t been comfortable in months.
How could anyone in my position be comfortable right now?
I’m ready though. Ready to meet our baby. Ready to take this next step with Jesse.
The last few years have been so magical and wonderful. My business has flourished and so has his, but more than that, our life together has been everything I imagined it would be, and then some—filled with love and intimacy and laughter and honest conversations.
We’ve taken road trips. We’ve tried new restaurants. We’ve gone swimming in the ocean. We’ve camped out at the Four Seasons. Literally. For our first wedding anniversary, Jesse surprised me with a gorgeous suite and a tent set up on our balcony overlooking the city. We made out in the tent and slept in the super-fancy bed and didn’t put clothes on for two days straight.
It was perfect.
We do perfect things all the time. Perfect, unexpected things, and mini adventures every time we have the chance. Whether it’s trying paddle-board yoga for the first time in Hawaii on our honeymoon, or going to a showing of The Cat Who Ate Cincinnati and adopting our own two smoky-gray kittens—Mushroom and Magic—at the animal shelter event after the movie, we seize the day.
We embrace the new and the unexpected.
It’s the opposite of how I felt for the years right after we lost Claire. This is a life well lived.
My back seizes up for the second time in ten minutes. “Oof. Ow. Wow,” I say with a groan. “That’s not a good feeling.”
My mother straightens. Gigi’s antenna goes up. And they both say in tandem, “Is this it?”
“God, I hope so.” I smile through the pain knifing through my lower back. “Call Jesse. Tell him to bring my hospital bag.”
“On it,” Gigi says, bolting from the booth.
Turns out this is it.
Gigi calls Jesse at the garage, and I swear within minutes he’s at the door of the pie shop, harried but excited, loading me into his car and driving like an action hero to take us to the hospital.
Sixteen hours later, our baby girl is born.
And we name her Claire.
Eager for another romance in the Good Love world? Turn the page to read Gigi’s romance!
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GOOD TO BE BAD
LILI VALENTE
ABOUT
It was only supposed to be one time.
But that red-hot one night stand from the party? The sexy man in the suit who gave me more Os in a few hours than I've had in a year? Turns out my charming British stranger is keeping a little secret. He's as much of a whiz in the kitchen as he is in the bedroom and soon we'll be going head-to-head in NYC's biggest bake off. My one-time lover is now my enemy. I vow to loathe him for all eternity, though that would be easier if I wasn't dying to get naked with him again. But the more I learn more about my rival, the more I suspect he just might be everything I've wanted... If only I knew how to let him in...
HER PROLOGUE
Gigi
Some things in life need to be just so.
Like the pockets in the adorable A-line dress I’m wearing to a party this weekend.
The imperious expression on Gram’s Maine Coon rescue cat, as she lounges on an armchair, looking like the royalty she is.
The detail in the fabulous enamel apple pie charm necklace I snagged from a retro shop in Williamsburg.
Then, there are the new menus for my shop.
My shop.
Aunt Barb and Uncle Pete retired last month and, much to my surprise, let me buy them out for five grand and a promise to keep my cousin Ruby on as my graphic designer for as long as she’s interested and able. As if I would hire anyone else. Ruby isn’t just my cousin, she’s my best friend. And this shop…
Well, Sweetie Pies is my darling. It’s already a successful business, but I intend to make it an even more delightful and delicious place to spend an afternoon. Soon, this won’t just be a place to grab a slice, it will be a destination for every visitor to Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
