AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She playfully shoves me away. “You’re not old!”
“I’m only a few months shy of being considered a geriatric mother.”
Blake laughs. “Seriously?”
“I kid you not. Apparently, you hit thirty-five, and that’s it. Your reproductive organs are geriatric.”
Blake frowns. “Why are you smiling while you profess your venerable status?”
“Can I say something really selfish?”
“Sure.”
“I wouldn’t mind being pregnant at the same time as my best friend. We could shop together, get informed on everything we don’t know, swap nursery ideas…” I shrug. “It’d make me feel less alone.”
“Aww.” Blake’s eyes become huge and shiny, and she closes the distance between us to pull me into a hug. “You’re not alone, ever. And now you’re making me cry.”
“It’s not me, it’s the pregnancy hormones. Trust me, in a few weeks you won’t be able to stare at a banana without finding it incredibly poetic and being moved to tears.”
She squeezes tighter. “Don’t joke.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to take a test?”
Blake pulls back. “Why? You have one?”
“Yeah, John left an entire bag of unused ones behind.”
“John, huh? He’s not Dr. Evil anymore?”
“No, he’s still plenty evil.”
“How?”
“He’s being sneaky.”
“As in?”
“He keeps texting me, being attentive, sweet, funny. He made me meet his wonderful daughter. He’s not too present but just present enough to let me know he’s there if I need him.”
“What a monster.”
“I know. He’s just roping me in, making me feel safe, and then, when I least expect it, BAWAHM!” Blake jumps back at my sudden shout. “He’s going to whack me on the head worse than a game of whack-a-mole.”
Blake blinks. “I really don’t think that’s his endgame.”
The last thing I need is to hear positive reinforcements about John’s noble motives. I wave her off and go to the bathroom to retrieve the paper bag with all the pregnancy tests. “Here.” I give it to Blake.
She opens it and peeks inside. “There are a lot of pregnancy tests in here.”
“Yeah, either I give them to you or I’ll open a black market shop.”
Blake closes the bag and stands up. “I think I have to do this with Gabriel.”
“Sure, honey.” I hug her goodbye and walk her to the door. “Let me know how it goes.”
That night, as I go to bed, I receive two texts. One is a picture of a cat and a baby drinking spilled milk straight off the floor. The other is a photo of a pregnancy test with a double pink line.
31
