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Lainey
“Iwant to get pregnant.”
My fork pauses mid-bite as I turn to find Jenna. She’s leaning against the counter in the breakroom, shoving her second cinnamon roll into her mouth.
“Right now? Or in general?”
She shrugs. “Well, notrightnow. I need Emmett to seal the deal.” She swallows the last bite and dusts the frosting from her hands. “But tonight, tomorrow, this weekend? Hell yeah. I want him to put a baby or two in me.”
I toss my plastic fork into the trash and snap the lid on my now-empty Tupperware. “Two? Now you want two? You guys already have one.” Jenna’s stepdaughter is energetic and adorable. She somehow shares the same wild, curly blonde hair Jenna has. If you saw them from the outside in, you would bet money she was Jenna’s flesh and blood.
“Yeah, I think two. It’d be cool if at least one was a boy, then maybe another for a tiebreaker. Or maybe two more girls, then we could really outnumber Emmett.”
She pauses at the door and waits until I toss the rest of my garbage and refill my water before following me out.
“Does Emmett want all these babies?”
She grunts as if I’ve asked a ridiculous question. “The man has been asking me for more babies since the moment I moved in. He loves kids. He’d have as many as I’m willing to push out.”
I love Emmett. He’s this quiet, cuddly, hairy teddy bear who stands by and proudly watches Jenna be her unhinged self. At the same time, he knows when to step in and tell her to cool it. He is the best of both worlds.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I lean my head on her shoulder. “I would love it if you had a hundred more babies. Then I could be the loving Auntie. Name one after me please.”
She chuckles as we approach an empty nurses’ station. “Deal. Although a boy named Lainey is weird. Lane is cute, though.”
I stash my lunch bag and Jenna pulls her phone out of her purse, firing off a text to Emmett to talk babies. When she’s half distracted, I take the opportunity to ask the question that’s been on my mind for the last month. “What do you think of Dr. Ryan?”
Jenna doesn’t look up from her phone. “Nah, I’d prefer to make babies with my husband.”
She misses my exaggerated eye roll. “No, what do you think of him as a person, as a doctor?” As someone I have a massive crush on and want my best friends to approve of.
Her face breaks out in a cheeky grin as she shoves her phone in my face, forcing me to read Emmett’s last text.
Emmett: Allie is going to my sister’s tonight. You better save some energy; your ass is mine the second you walk in this door.
She laughs a maniacal, horny laugh and pulls her phone away, tucking it back into her purse. “Anyways, what do I think of Dr. Ryan?”
I nod, waiting on bated breath.
She shrugs. “I have no thoughts. The man hardly talks. I’m lucky to get a few caveman grunts out of him during rounds. Sometimes, I’m not sure the conversation is over, but he leaves the room anyway. I can’t form an opinion when I’m not sure he can speak.”
I knew he wasn’t super social, but her answer still surprised me. “Maybe he’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s really smart.” And helpful. And encouraging. And so incredibly handsome.
She juts her hip out to lean on the wall, brows drawn together. “Are youdefendinghim?”
“I’m notdefendinganyone. Why would I need to defend him?” I turn away to hide the flush crawling across my chest and pull a stack of papers from the printer. I nervously flip through them, tossing the ones that are junk and leaving the rest for the doctors to sign. “I just think we need to give him a real chance before we make accusations about him.”
She cocks a brow and smiles, her entire demeanor changing. “Oh. My. God. Youlikehim.”
I shush her loudly as I look around. The last thing I need is rumors flying about me and the new doctor. “I don’tlikehim. He’s smart and I like learningfrom him. That’s it.”
Liar. Liar, Liar, Liar.
“Wow.” Her head falls back in disbelief. “Lainey finally has a crush. Two years later, she finally has a crush. And of course, you’d pick him. Why settle for the average Joe who works in the basement and lives with his mom when you can have the handsome six-foot-whatever doctor? I’ll bet he has a matching six-foot-whatever dong.”
“Oh, my God. Shut up before I stab you with my freaking pen.” I pull out a chair and log into the computer to print paperwork for my afternoon discharge. “Fine, you’re right. He’s a dick. I hate him. Whatever. I don’t have a crush.”I shove past her, rifling through the drawers to look for a stapler, hoping to be done with this conversation.
“Has he made you feel dumb for not knowing something yet?” she asks, unconvinced of my feelings.
