Page 47 of Hitched

“Err…” I hesitate.

“Why would you care if she drank my wine, Caleb?” Brandy asks, voice speculative as shit. She looks at Laney and Laney lifts both her hands in the air, indicating that she doesn’t know why, and more, that she’s not keeping anything from her best friend.

“Yeah, why would you care, Caleb?” Laney asks, hand on her waist.

I sigh, resigning myself. “Fuck.” I put my head in my hands and take a seat. “My da thinks you’re pregnant.”

Laney shrieks. “What? Why would he think that? What did you tell him?”

“I didn’t tell him a thing, I swear.” I lift a hand, pleading. “He just came up with this crazy idea that you’re pregnant. Apparently, he has a gift for sniffing out women who are with child. Evidently, you smell pregnant. It’s crazy, I know, but da is adamant.”

Laney and Brandy exchange a look. “Wha…are you pregnant?” I ask Laney.

She hesitates for a second, making my heart jump. I’m not sure if it’s excitement, shock, or if she’s scared shitless of what will happen next. If Laney is pregnant and she doesn’t want it, oh God, I don’t even want to think about it. “God, no.” She says, with less conviction than I would expect.

“Doing period math, Lanes?” Brandy checks.

Laney stands there for a moment, and then she pulls her phone out, to check something. “No.” Her brows knit together. “I’m just a little late. We used protection.” She says, as if convincing herself.

“Bonnie, we didn’t the first time, if you recall.” I remind her carefully.

“It’s impossible.” She shakes her head. “I can’t even tell for sure if I’m late. My last period was a bit foggy.”

“Meaning that you forgot to record the exact date.” Brandy clarifies.

Laney nods. “Yeah. I was right in the middle of taking on a new client. I think I was two or three days in when I remembered to put it in my calendar. Or was it when it was over…shit! I don’t remember!”

Brandy confirms. “But you know for sure that you haven’t had a period since.”

Laney looks at me. “No. Not since Caleb and I met.” She swallows, and I see a hint of something in her eyes. We met something like over two months ago.

“Laney, it’s okay.” I tell her in a calm voice. “Before you go panicking, why don’t we get a test?”

Brandy pulls her car keys out of her purse. “I’ll be right back.”

“Uh, I don’t think so, Brandy.” I tell her. “You’ve been drinking.”

Laney looks at me. “She drank that hours ago, Caleb. But thanks for the concern.”

Brandy winks at me. “You’re going to make a great father, Caleb.”

I’m not sure if she’s talking about with Peg or with this possible new baby, or if she’s teasing me, or what, but I thank her tentatively, all the same. As I watch her leave the house, I walk to Laney. “Let’s not worry about this until we know, okay?”

She swallows, as tears come to her eyes. “God, Caleb, this is all happening so fast.”

I pull her into my arms. “It’s okay, baby. Whatever happens, we can get through it together.”

I hear a sob as I hold her tight to me. “Caleb, I don’t know why, but ever since we said, ‘I love you’, I feel like everything has changed.”

My face meets hers. “Changed for the good or for the bad?”

“I…I don’t know. But I know that since the moment I knew I loved you, something inside me changed. Brandy and I were talking about it, that’s why I stifled her, because I didn’t think that it was the time to tell you.”

“Tell me what, baby? There’s nothing that you should be afraid to tell me, Laney. I love you. I love you so much.”

She searches my eyes. Her voice is tentative, choppy. “Caleb, I’m…I’m not opposed to getting married anymore.”

After a swallow and a kiss on her forehead, I tell her. “If I’ve had that effect on you, I’m flattered. I figured, if anything, I’d have the opposite effect. I thought that after coming here tonight and telling you what I did, that you’d slam the door in my face and tell me to go to hell.”

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