Page 101 of Beloved Beauty

They both nod.

“When did you know it was the right time to have your first baby?”

Addison bursts into laughter. “I’m the wrong one to ask. I didn’t get to decide. I was already knocked up when Zac and I got married. No planning. No cute nursery Pinterest boards. Just two pink lines and a helluva lot of panic. I got tossed into the deep end and had to learn how to swim.”

“And you swam like a damn Olympian,” Laurelyn said.

Addison shrugs, but there’s pride tucked behind the smirk. “Pfft… not at the start. I was a mess. And doing it without my mom around… brutal. Thank God for Zac’s mother. She showed up and stepped in big time. Taught me how to swaddle and survive on a few hours of sleep.”

When our baby comes, I won’t have a mom to help either. At least not my mom. But I’ll have Malie. Even better.

And that’s for the best, because I don’t want Robin anywhere near my baby.

What I want is the quiet support from women who show up with casseroles and soft voices, who’ll say you’re doing great even when you’re crying into a burp cloth.

What I want is this.

This circle. These women. This fierce, unflinching love that says, You’re not alone.

I glance at Laurelyn. “What about you?”

She smiles. “Jack Henry was the one who was ready first. I wasn’t in a rush. I wanted time for the two of us. But then one day, something clicked. I woke up and realized I was ready. Not just to have a baby—but to be a mother.”

Chloe leans closer. “I’m not a mum, but I know what it is to crave it with everything you’ve got.” Her eyes glisten. “Has it hit you yet?”

I trace the rim of my glass, the salt gritty beneath my finger. “I think it has.”

A pause.

“It’s probably too soon. We just got married. But holding Krishna’s baby the other day… something shifted. A door opened inside me. And now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

There’s no teasing and no one tries to downplay what I’m going through.

“It’s your life and your timeline,” Laurelyn says.

“You don’t owe anyone a schedule just because it looks tidy on paper,” Chloe adds.

Addison chimes in, voice warm. “If it feels right to you and Alex, that’s all that matters.”

I smile, something tender catching in my throat. “Alex wants a big family. I’m almost thirty-two. If we decide to have several with a few years between them, math says we can’t wait forever.”

Violet gasps and presses a hand to her chest. “Oh my God. I’m going to be an aunt.”

“Not yet,” I laugh, throwing a lime wedge at her. “Cool your jets, Vi.”

She tosses it back, and it lands in my drink with a splash. “Too late. I’m already planning the nursery. I don’t care if you’re the designer—I’m thinking neutral tones and tiny cowboy boots.”

The laughter returns—easy, loud, loving. It cushions the vulnerable thing I just handed them and hands it back, wrapped in warmth.

And for the first time, I let myself say it in my head.

I want this.

Chapter 30

Alex Sebring

The music hits me first—soft country twang with a beat lazy enough to say the night’s winding down but not done. I follow the sound to the back of the house, charred meat and whatever’s blooming in Laurelyn’s backyard clinging to the air.

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