It Started with a Kiss

I jolt like I was slapped across the face. “What do you mean?”

Giggling, she replies, “I’m pregnant, Marlow. I’m having a baby.”

This was not what I expected despite the tears that flood my eyes. “A girl needs some warning for major news like this.” The purest joy I’ve ever felt fills my chest, and I jump out of the booth and slide in next to her. “Cammie, this is amazing news.” Wrapping my arms around her, I rest my head on her shoulder as she rests hers on mine. “You’re pregnant.”

“I am, but I’m scared.”

“You don’t have to be. This is wonderful.”

She cries, but I can’t tell if they’re happy or sad tears, so I pull back and grasp her face. Her hair is smooshed under my hands as her eyes look into mine. Then a smile appears, and she starts crying again. “We’re having a baby.”

“We are.”

She cracks up laughing. “I meant Cade and me.”

Now I’m laughing. “Eh, it’s always been the six of us.”

“It has,” she replies, nodding. Taking my hands, she holds them in hers. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything’s changing and . . .” She pauses, letting her gaze drift down. That’s when I realize what just happened between us wasn’t about me at all. I’ve had those same fears. She may have been projecting, but she would never hurt me. Not on purpose. But this wasn’t about Jackson and me, though she had a right to be mad that she was the last to know. This is about the group changing and never going back to how we once were.

“Changing for the better, Cam. We’re all changing for the better.” When she looks up again, I add, “This baby will be loved by so many.”

She nods again as if her emotions have clogged in her chest. I give her hands a squeeze but can’t help that my gaze lowers to her belly. She covers it quickly and says, “Don’t judge. I had a big lunch.”

I laugh when she does. “There’s a baby in there.”

“There is.” Her smile falls just a little. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here, Marlow.”

“It will come so naturally for you. Trust me. You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

“No, not about that. Have you seen the size of my husband? He was a ten-pound baby.”

We laugh again. I pat her hand and then slip out of the booth and return to my side. “Well,” I say, taking a chip from the basket. “I’d say you knew what you were getting into, but that won’t do you any good now.”

She grabs a chip. “Did you know Jackson is two inches taller than Cade?” Crunching down on the chip, she smirks. “Just think about how big that baby would be.”

My mind wanders. Us having kids together is something I’m definitely not ready to consider or even think about. Talk about putting a kibosh on a relationship before it has a chance to begin. Her smile grows wider, and then she starts laughing. “You’re messing with me.”

Holding her fingers an inch apart, she’s still laughing. “Just a little.”

“You’re evil, you know that?”

“I do.”

“Good thing I love ya.”

The server pops around, and she asks, “What can I get you?”

“I’ll take a large water,” Cammie says.

“Out of solidarity, I’ll have the same. We’re having a baby,” I say proudly and then realize how that sounds and laugh. “Well, she’s having a baby, but I’m going to be an aunt.”

“Congratulations,” she says, grinning. Her eyes dip to Cammie’s stomach.

Cam’s quick to drape the napkin over her lap, tugging it higher. “Thank you. We just found out.”

After we order our food, I say, “You know I’m going to spoil her rotten, right?”

“I’d expect no less, but what if it’s a boy?”

“My gut tells me it’s a girl.”

“Of course, it does.” She laughs. “If she has any fashion sense at all, I’ll know she got it from you.”

“Thanks.” Caught up in this exciting news, I lean forward again. “What are we going to name her?”

“Oh, my God!” I push my laptop to the couch and rise to my knees. Throwing my fists into the air, I say, “Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yessss! I did it.”

Jackson comes running from the office. “What is it? What’d you do?”

I bounce off the sofa and throw myself into his arms. “I sold my handbags.”

“What? How? All of them?” He sounds skeptical instead of excited.

“Yes.” I flatten my feet 0n the floor. “The five I listed.”

“Oh. I thought you meant all of them.”

“No way. I’m not ready to part with all of them. I’m taking things slow and only listed five to see if this would work.”

He’s grinning, and although I feel shy in the limelight of the pride he appears to hold in his eyes, he takes me by the hips and wiggles me back and forth. “Congratulations.”