After All - Romancing Manhattan
“I hope Gabby likes having a sibling.” I frown. “I hope she takes the news well.”
“She’ll love it. That girl will smother a baby brother or sister with more love and attention than it knows what to do with,” London replies.
We’re quiet for a moment.
“You know, there are times I really want my mom.” My voice is soft, and I swallow over the lump in my throat.
“Well, we can call her,” Sienna says immediately. “We can bring her here anytime.”
“No.” I wipe a tear away. “You don’t understand. My mom and I don’t have a close relationship. I disappoint her. She doesn’t agree with how I choose to live my life. Nothing I’ve ever done is good enough. She’s cold and unaffectionate.”
“Sounds like it’s a good thing she didn’t have more kids,” Sienna mutters.
“You’re right.” I take a sip of cider and wish I could drink wine. “So I want the mom I wish she was. The nurturing, kind, loving mom I never had, you know?”
“I know you’re not superclose yet, but Maggie is all those things,” London says. “And if you ever need advice from a mother figure, I know she would be happy to listen.”
“You’re right.” I nod and yawn. I’m just so sleepy. “I shudder to think what my mom will say when I tell her I’m expecting. She’ll be disgusted. She’ll rub it in my face that Richard will never take me back now that I have another man’s seed growing in my womb.”
“That’s gross,” Sienna says with a scowl.
“You don’t want Rick the Dick anyway,” London adds.
“Oh, trust me, I know. But it’s not going to be a fun conversation. And it’s not going to be any easier for Carter. His parents will be appalled that he’s knocked up a girl from a small town in Ohio with no pedigree.”
“They’re all a bunch of assholes, and you don’t need them,” London insists. “You have a family, right here. And we love you both.”
“Thank you.”
“Let’s put her to bed,” Sienna says. “And then let her get some sleep. We all have work tomorrow.”
“You’re right,” London says. “Come on with you.”
“You do not have to put me to bed.”
“Just think of us as stand-in moms tonight,” Sienna says, taking my hand and leading me to the bedroom. I strip out of my clothes, unashamed of these ladies seeing me naked.
“Damn, I wish I had your boobs,” London says with a sigh.
“And I want her hips,” Sienna adds.
“And I want to be thin like the both of you.” I laugh as I climb between the sheets. “We always want what we don’t have.”
“Well, I think we’re all pretty fantastic, just as we are. Even if I don’t have breasts,” London says with a smile. She leans in to kiss my cheek. “Sleep well, friend.”
“Good night,” Sienna says. They shut off the light and leave, and I expect to lie awake, overthinking the events from the day. Normally, that’s what I would have spent the evening alone doing.
And it occurs to me, as my eyes grow heavy, that my friends, my sisters, came over to distract me. To prevent me from doing exactly that.
Chapter Twenty
~Nora~
It’s been three days since the day. The day I found out about the baby, and it all went to hell in a handbasket.
We’ve been working as usual. In fact, just about everything has gone back to normal, as if that day didn’t even happen.
Well, almost everything.
It seems Carter’s under the impression he can win my heart with copious amounts of flower deliveries. I’m talking movie-style flower deliveries. Every surface of my apartment is covered. My desk at work? Yep, covered.
And not just with white roses, although there are plenty of those, too. We’re talking flowers of all colors and varieties.
My hunch is because the flower shops ran out of white roses.
It’s Friday afternoon, and I’ve already received two deliveries this morning. It’s getting to be ridiculous.
“Hi.”
I look up, over the wall of posies, to see the delivery kid standing at my desk once again.
“More?”
He nods. “And I’m scheduled to come back in a couple of hours.”
“No.” I shake my head, surprising the poor young guy. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your work, but this is silly. I don’t have any more space for flowers.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, lady, it’s my job to deliver them.” He passes me the bouquet, shrugs, and whistles as he saunters to the elevator.
Enough.
I stand and carry the bouquet into Carter’s office. He’s on a call, and his brows raise in surprise when he sees me, so he cuts the call short and hangs up.
“You shouldn’t have, darling.” His lips twitch in humor.
“I didn’t.” I set the flowers on his desk. “Carter, you have to stop with the flowers. I don’t have any more space for them. My house looks like a botanical garden, and my desk is so full of flowers, I don’t have any space for actual work. You have to stop.”