It became apparent exactly why Karson was worried enough to go to battle with Wren as soon as we all sat down and had drinks in front of us.
“I’m pregnant,” Wren blurted out.
She just happened to say it right as I was taking a large sip of the martini she had ordered for me. So instead of letting the smooth liquid slide down my throat, it felt like it turned solid, and I choked and spluttered it everywhere.
It took a few minutes to get myself under control and to wipe up the mess I’d made. I figured in that time that either Zoe or Yasmin might’ve had some kind of response, both of them were struck dumb. One of the best trial lawyers in the city—in the country if you asked me, but I might’ve been biased—and one of the most outspoken and eloquent women—make that person—I knew was speechless at the news our friend was with child.
Then again, the friend in question vowed that she would, “never reproduce when the world was already grossly overpopulated” and also admitted she, “loved her life too much to let a child ruin everything.” I knew it was more than that. I knew that, as much as she adored her parents, she wanted to be nothing like them. Wren was raised mostly by nannies and sent away to boarding schools by age ten. It was the only way she knew, and she’d confessed to me that she would try her best to give her child a better life but would likely revert back to her parents’ ways.
“The guilt would eat me alive,” she admitted the night we’d gotten drunk on very expensive red wine and decided to have a sleepover. “I’d fuck them up. I know I would. I would try my best, and I’d fuck them up. And then my life would be miserable. I don’t want a miserable life. I want a fabulous one.”
“Someone has to say something,” she snapped, glaring at all of us. “Because I cannot drink to calm my nerves.” She was eyeing my martini longingly.
“Honey, this is ... great?” Yasmin tried to make it sound like a statement, but her voice went up at the end because Wren’s fury was kind of scary and not at all indictive of this news being happy.
“It’s great if you want it to be great,” Zoe amended.
“Right,” I agreed. “If you don’t want it to be great, if you don’t want it, then that’s okay, too, babe. It’s your body.”
Yasmin nodded soberly, and I reached out to squeeze her hand, knowing that she’d had to make that terrible, life altering decision five years ago when she was still struggling in her job and had a one-night stand with a man who would not be there for her. She still labored over that decision.
“Of course I fucking want it,” Wren practically shrieked, throwing up her hands. “I love the man and his stupid super sperm that apparently are resistant to birth control.”
“You were on birth control?” I queried, my stomach swirling with something I didn’t like.
Wren’s eyes went wide. “Of course I was on birth control. All the sex I was having? You’ve gotta be on three different kinds with Jay, I bet.”
It was offhand, a joke from my somewhat hysterical friend. Pregnant friend.
But it hit true.
Luckily, no one was waiting for me to answer that in the face of Wren’s news.
“Wait,” Yasmin chimed in, holding up her hand. “You love him?”
Wren narrowed her eyes. “Yes, I love him. Of course I love him. Have you seen the man? He’s the only one who can go head to head with me without flinching. He fucks like a stallion, he never gets boring and he’s got all of these delicious and dark corners to explore.” She scowled. “What has become of me? I’m pregnant and in love before thirty. This is not what I wanted from my life. I was meant to be the eccentric, wealthy aunt to all of your brood, buying them booze and sleeping with their friends.” She glanced around the table. “And I can’t even drink!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll do the drinking for you,” I quipped, holding up my martini.
It came out as a joke as we toasted to Wren, but I gulped it quickly, trying to salve the burn at the back of my throat, trying to fill the pit at the bottom of my stomach.
Jay was in his office at Klutch. He’d called me to let me know this and to tell me the VIP room was open for me and the girls.
“And you’ll come up to my office when you’re done so I can eat your pussy then fuck you against the glass,” he added.
A blush had crept up my neck as I mumbled an agreement. Wren, of course, had caught the blush and then winked at me with a sly smile.