Page 117 of Red King

“It’s still really early days. Not early, early days, but early enough not to…” She stops talking, lifting her eyes like she’s trying to find the right words.

That’s when it hits me. I know what’s going on. I know why she’s so nervous, so worried, so stressed. There’s only one thing that would make her feel this way because Becs and I can talk about anything. We’re that close. She’s that good of a friend to me. It’s precisely for that reason that she’s struggling.

“You’re pregnant,” I blurt.

Her eyes flare with surprise. “Oh, my god, how did you guess? I know I’m not glowing in any way. It’s still too early to show.” A tear slips out of her eye. “I’m so sorry, Paisley. This wasn’t supposed to happen right now. It was all planned out. We were going to get married first. It—”

I smile. “I think it’s great. I think it’s an absolute blessing.” My eyes fill with tears, too, and they spill out. “These are tears of joy, just by the way. I swear it.” I smile harder. “You’re going to make the best mom, and Dave is awesome. I’m thrilled. I can’t wait to be an auntie.”

“What do you mean auntie? You’re going to be the godmother, which is about ten steps above an auntie.”

“I can’t wait.”

We hug.

“How far along are you?”

“Eight weeks tomorrow. I completely missed my menstruation and didn’t even realize it. Can you believe that?”

“You were already preggo when I left?” I gasp.

She nods. “Yup. It was only just over a week ago, when I vomited all over the conference table at work during a team meeting, that I realized something might be off.”

I laugh, and Becs joins in.

“I thought I had a tummy bug. I thought my doctor was crazy for doing a pregnancy test. It still never occurred to me since I’m on a contraceptive, but that test came back positive.”

“How does Dave feel about it? He must be thrilled.”

“Oh, he is; he’s so excited. He can’t wait to go shopping for all the baby goodies and to do up the nursery. We have to get through the wedding first, though. I still need to organize the flowers and find shoes that work with my dress. There is a whole list of things, but I’ve been tired and soooooo nauseous.”

“I’ll help you with all of that stuff. I have to pay rent somehow, and since you won’t accept cash...”

“You’re a godsend,” she groans. “I’m going to take you up on that. I also need to change the flavor of my wedding cake. I ordered double chocolate, but I’m chocolate-averse now that I have a bun in the oven. That vomit on the conference table might have happened after I ate two bars of the stuff. I had a craving. Anyway, now I have this aversion to all things chocolate.”

I laugh. “So, it wasn’t just a regular vomit; you had a chocolate vomit on the conference table?”

She nods. “And there were still peas and carrots inside it, even though I hadn’t eaten any. Can you think of anything worse?”

I make a gagging noise, then shake my head, laughing some more.

“I might have to change my dress, as well.” She makes a face. “My breasts have already gone up a size, and I will probably have a small baby bump by the time I walk down the aisle, so that sleek fit-and-flare number I chose is not going to work anymore.” She pushes out a breath.

“None of that matters. You’re marrying the man you love and having his baby. We’ll sort the rest out.”

“I know. I’m excited and happy and so terrified.”

“You’re going to rock at being a mother.” We hug.

“I think we should probably get out of the car now, or my neighbors will start to talk. Someone might call the neighborhood watch.” Becs grins at me, undoing her seatbelt.

We laugh again. I’ve missed her so much. I’m so happy for her. She deserves everything and more.

We get out of the car. “I’ll make some ginger tea, and then I want you to tell me all about Arctic,” she says over the roof.

“Nah…there’s nothing much to tell. I was falling for him, and now it’s over. I’ll be a little heartsore for a while, but I’ll get over it soon enough. It was just a fling.”

“If you ever need to talk, you know I’m here.”

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