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I pat her hand. “Don’t worry; you don’t have to.”
“I’d rather make a card for the baby!” she adds.
I freeze. “W-what?”
Caroline transforms into a little bobblehead doll for a moment, blond bangs flapping on her forehead. “That’s a great idea right? I’m gonna do it.”
“Um, Caro, sweetheart… what baby are you talking about?”
“Yourbaby, silly!”
Just when the situation feels like it’s halfway under control,thishappens. Aaand I’m back to square one.
Panic.
Fear.
Nerves.
“Yeah, that’s what the nurse in the hospital said,” Caroline babbles. She’s beaming from ear to ear. “Joshie said we shouldn’t say anything until…” She trails off when she realizes her big brother is glaring at her. “Oops!” She slaps her hands over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything until you told us. Josh said.”
I glance at Josh. “We heard the nurses talking,” he admits quietly. “I wasn’t sure if it was real or not. Are you having a baby?”
Forget what I just said about raising them with honesty—lying would be so much easier now. Of course, the moment my belly starts to pop, I’ll have some serious explaining to do.
They need to know they can trust you. Especially now.
“Iamgoing to have a baby.”
Josh’s eyes go wide and the girls start whooping instantly. “I want a girl! I want a girl!” Caroline sing-songs.
“No!” Reagan snaps adamantly. “A boy!”
“Guys,listen.” It takes a while before the girls calm down. “Aunt Emma isn’t gonna have this baby for a really long time, okay? So I think it’s better, for right now, to keep it our little secret.”
The girls agree easily enough but Josh looks at me almost… accusingly? Almost… angrily?
No—I’m reading too much into it.
He’s just processing.
I hope.
12
RUSLAN
“… that model is too small. Let’s go for the bigger one. They’ve got a ton of books already and they’ll need the storage space.”
As Kirill jabbers, I rap my fingers against my desk impatiently. But he doesn’t seem to notice; he paces in front of me, listening and talking rapidly.
When he finally puts his phone down, I glare at him, waiting for an explanation. He calmly takes the chair opposite me, a sheepish expression on his face. “Should we talk about the security footage from Alcazar? There were a few anomalies—”
“What the fuck was that about?”
He tilts his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
I hate it when he plays dumb. Scowling, I narrow my eyes. “Kirill.”
