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Are they going to be the ones protecting the baby and me? Can Carter even spare them like that when the family’s in the middle of a war?
I barely interact with the other ladies, so Sam keeps up a steady stream of conversation, gushing over nail polish, clothes, and everything in between. Now and again, I feign just enough interest so our new friends don’t get upset, but I can’t muster up any kind of enthusiasm.
Not for this, at least. Not when I keep thinking about how I’m going to tell Carter.
A part of me imagines a moonlight dinner and handing him a shirt or a mug with the news. But the other part of me knows that’s incredibly cheesy and conventional, and I can’t picture Carter wearing a shirt that announces the news.
I can’t even see myself handing it to him.
Frowning, I follow Sam and the other women through the rest of the mall. Halfway through our excursion, when I begin to sweat, Sam insists on taking me to the food court. She waves the rest of the women away and returns with a smoothie. I finish it all and straighten my legs out in front of me. When I stretch my arms up over my head, I notice that Sam is watching me.
“What?”
Sam shrugs and sips her drink. “I haven’t said anything.”
“I have thought about what you said,” I tell her before letting my hands fall to my sides. “And I think it’s going to be fine. It will take some adjusting, but that’s the case for every new parent.”
Carter and I aren’t the only people in the world who are going to have to make some changes.
Nor will we be the last.
Sam takes another long sip of her drink. “So, you’ve decided you’re going to tell Carter?”
“Yes.”
“How come you didn’t have another implant?”
I sit up straighter. “Honestly? I think I must have been pretty out of it when the doctor told me; otherwise, I would’ve remembered.”
Because as happy and excited as I am about the baby, I wouldn’t do this on purpose. I’m not looking to entrap Carter, not when we have an entire future planned, first with the wedding and now this.
I’m going to have a family again.
The thoughts bring tears to my eyes, and I try to hide them behind my phone screen. Sam and I are getting ready to get up when our new friends return, wearing identical expressions of concern. Wordlessly, they pull more chairs out and form a circle around the table.
As soon as they do, I take one look at their faces and stiffen. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Mary Jane, who is sitting closer to me, takes her phone out of her pocket. After a quick look at the others, she clears her throat. “We don’t know if you’ve seen the article yet, but we thought you’d want to know.”
I glance from one woman to the other, but no one wants to meet my gaze.
Suddenly, I’m afraid that Lilian has done something stupid and irreparable.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam rummaging through her purse. She takes her phone out, and her eyes widen. Then she lowers her head, and her finger moves quickly. I wait for her to look up at me, and when she does, I wish she hadn’t.
It’s written all over her face.
My heart is pounding against my ears when I speak. “How bad is it?”
“It’s bad,” Sam replies with a shake of her head. “We should probably get going.”
One by one, the ladies stand up and take their chairs back. Sam moves to help me, but I wave her away. In a daze, Sam and I find Paul and return to the car. In the backseat, I have to resist the urge to take out my phone and see the damage for myself. Although I hate being kept in the dark and not knowing what’s being said, I also know that I don’t want Paul to see my reaction.
And I don’t want to break down in front of Sam. Not again.
I need to be strong, and I need to keep it together until I get home.
In silence, Paul pulls up outside Anita’s house. Sam gets out first and spins around to face me. I don’t meet her gaze and offer her a grim smile instead. Then I walk up the steps of my own house and fish the keys out of my pocket. I don’t realize I’m trembling until it takes a few tries to get the door open. When I hear the familiar click, I breathe a sigh of relief and push the door open the rest of the way.
