Page 83 of The Red Zone
“I don’t know… Abel was standing over me the entire time, practically jumping out of his skin waiting for the results. Meanwhile, it was the most nerve-racking five minutes of my fucking life.”
Scar and Abel eloped at their beach house in Malibu a few weeks ago, less than twenty-four hours after getting engaged. What she didn’t plan for was finding out that she was pregnant a week later during their last-minute honeymoon trip to Fiji.
Apparently, she was sick the entire time, thinking she got food poisoning until Abel bought a test from the resort’s convenience shop and convinced her to take it. Little did she know, she was about to find out her “food poisoning” was actually my soon-to-be nephew instead.
Now, here we were a few weeks later trying to pinpoint when I had gotten pregnant based on my last period. We backtracked, remembering I had been out of town for two weeks prior to our trip to Malibu, and October had left immediately after to spend a week in Boston helping move his sister, Hallie, out of her sophomore dorm and into a townhouse right off the Warren University campus.
Which meant her wedding was the only viable option.
Turning to face the mirror, I ruffled my hands through my hair and wiped underneath my eyes before turning to Scarlett with a weak—but happy—smile. “Alright, how do I look?”
“Like you just walked out of a funeral.”
“Good enough.”
We opened the door to her bathroom, and walked down the hallway before stalking down the steps toward the living room where the boys were watching the Boston Benders in the playoffs.
They’d both verbally deny it, but Abel and October had become best friends over the past two years. They watched sports together all the time. Frequently went outside to drink beers with Fortune and grill things while the three of us girls stayed inside and chit-chatted about everything and nothing.
The six of us had a sweet little life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Oh, did I mention that Lea moved into the house next door a couple months ago?
Behind our backs, Scarlet slipped the positive test into my hand, giving me a knowing smile before we walked into the living room.
“October, uh, can I talk to you… in private?” I jerked my head toward the kitchen.
He got up from the couch with his brows crinkled together, and Scar swooped into his spot, curling up against Abel’s side. He peered down at her with a smile as he reached over to place a hand on her tiny baby bump.
My heart did somersaults at the sight of the two of them, and I nearly wept right there in the middle of the living room out of pure happiness.
Damn pregnancy hormones.
Was it really going to be like this twenty-four-seven? Because if so, I was going to need a constant supply of facial tissues within reach at all times.
Blinking back my tears, I caught up with October, who was making his way around the kitchen island. Once we were out of earshot of Scarlett and Abel, I stood in front of him with both hands behind my back and eased out a breath.
October placed both hands on my waist, gripping firmly as he squinted down at me with concern flashing in his eyes.
“I have something to tell you…”
“Let me guess,” He looked off behind me like he was thinking for a moment before he snuck a hand around my back with a mischievous smile and snatched the test from my hands. “You’re pregnant.”
“What?” I whispered, mostly to myself. “How’d you know?”
“I am all-knowing and all-seeing.” He winked, mocking the phrase I had used on him many moons ago.
I flicked the back of my hand against his chest playfully. “Wait, really? How’d you know?”
“I didn’t know for sure, but I had a hunch. You’ve been sleeping in until noon all week and it feels like you’ve been going pee every five minutes lately…”
“Why did you say that? Now I have to pee.” I crossed my legs, and we both laughed under our breath as he pulled me into a big bear hug.
“We’re really having a baby?” he said in a soft voice, pulling back to look down at the test while blinking rapidly
I looked up at him with tears welling in my eyes and nodded while he smoothed my hair out of my face and kissed my forehead.
“I think it’s going to be a little girl.”
“Really? I was hoping it’d be a boy, so he could play sports with Emerson and Rowan.”
