“Wook, Daddy! I go fast!” She runs toward Simon and leaps into his arms.
“Hell yes, you do,” he croons.
“Dat’s a bad word.”
“My bad,” he mutters, the tips of his ears turning pink. “Wanna open your last present?”
Her eyes widen comically. “There’s more?”
“Yeah.” He tips his head toward the big, blue tarp. “Go and take a peek underneath that.”
She races over and instead of pulling the tarp off, she scoots under. “Whoa!”
“Do you like it?” Simon asks.
Willow crawls back out. “I dunno. It was too dark to see.”
All of the party-goers chuckle and Simon whips the tarp off with the flair of a magician removing a tablecloth.
Her little jaw drops as she releases an ear-splitting squeal. “I wove it! I wove-wove-wove it!” She hugs Simon and Magnolia before clamoring into her Jeep. “Can I dwive it?”
“How about cake first?” Magnolia asks. Willow responds by pursing her lips together and making engine sounds. “Fine, speed demon, take a lap or two.”
Simon and the other guys all head off to watch Willow test out her new toy while Magnolia divvies up the cake.
I eagerly accept my plate, knowing she had it made by Sprinkles—A.K.A. the best cake shop in the whole damn county.
I fork up a bite heavy with icing and bring it to my lips only to gag. I slap a hand over my mouth and toss my plate down before running inside the house to the bathroom.
My eyes water as acid crawls up my throat. I slam open the door to the hall bath and hit my knees before the toilet right as everything in my stomach comes back up.
Footsteps sound from somewhere in the house, but I’m too exhausted to care.
“Seraphine,” Magnolia calls my name from the other side of the door.
All I can manage is a garbled moan in response as another wave of nausea hits me.
“Are you okay?”
The feeling passes and I offer a weak, “Yeah.”
“We’re coming in.”
Of course, they’re all here.
The moderately sized bathroom feels a lot smaller with all four of us in it.
“Are you okay?” Mags asks.
With my head resting on the toilet seat, I nod.
“Ugh.” Azalea gags. “Sit up.”
I do and she slams the lid and flushes.
“What’s going on?” Myla Rose asks, running the hand towel under the faucet. She passes it to me and I press it to the back of my neck.
“I don’t—the cake—I don’t know.”
“Girl, the cake was fine,” Azalea says.
Myla gets a worried look in her eyes. “Seraphine, is there any chance you could be pregnant?”
My initial reaction is to deny it, but—that first time Mateo and I slept together, we didn’t use a condom.
Surely, I’m not…
“I have a few tests at home, let me run and grab one,” Myla Rose says, slipping from the bathroom before any of us can object. Though, I guess I’d be the only one to actually object.
Since she lives next door, she is back in a flash. She slides the test from her purse and hands it to me. “We’ll be right outside, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. Okay.” They all start to file out when a thought hits me. “Wait! Aren’t you supposed to do this in the morning or something?”
Myles smiles at me. “Just go ahead and do it, ‘kay?”
Gulping, I nod.
It takes me a few minutes to work up the courage—as well as the need to pee. During that time, I swish my mouth out with water, wash my hands, and thoroughly read the instructions.
Finally, all that’s left is to do it. I pee on the stick, recap it, and place it facedown before flushing and washing my hands yet again.
The second they hear the flush, all three come filing back in.
“Well?” Azalea asks.
“It said to wait three minutes,” I whisper.
Ever the girl scout, Myla Rose flips her phone around so we can see the screen. “I started the time when I heard the flush.”
We fall silent while we wait for the alarm. When it dings, I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Flip it over,” Azalea urges.
I suck in a big breath and slowly release it before turning over the little stick. Sure enough, two dark pink lines greet me.
Holy. Shit. “I’m—”
“Pregnant,” Magnolia finishes my sentence.
“What are you gonna do?” Azalea asks.
“What do you mean?”
“Abortion? Adoption? Mom up?”
Her words hit me square in the chest. While I absolutely believe every woman has the right to choose, I know immediately that I am keeping this baby. “I’m gonna be a mom,” I whisper, a million different conflicting emotions clogging my throat.
Like the ride-or-dies they are, all three of my friends wrap me in a hug.
“I’m really happy for you,” Magnolia says, her cheeks wet with tears.
“Me, too,” Myla Rose echoes her sentiment. “Motherhood is one hell of a journey, but it’s also the most amazing journey. You got this, girl.”
“Yeah, happy-joy-joy,” Azalea, lightening the mood with her particular brand of snark, “but how are you gonna tell Mateo?”
Chapter Thirty-One
Mateo
I’m switching a load of laundry—shop rags—when my cell phone buzzes in my pocket. As lame as it may sound, I’m hoping it’s Seraphine.
Last night, after Willow’s party wound down, Myla Rose declared the womenfolk needed a slumber party, and while I’m always happy to see Seraphine spend time with those she loves and who love her, my bed felt empty last night without her in it.
After tossing the last of the rags into the dryer, shutting the door, and hitting start, I slide my phone from my pocket. My lips curve into a smile at the sight of her name.
Seraphine: Can we talk?
Worry slides in, crowding my earlier happiness against the wall.
Me: Always. What’s up?
Seraphine: In person?
Me: You never need to ask. Where are you?
Seraphine: On your porch.
I shove my phone back into my pocket and fly to the door. Sure enough, there on the other side of it, is Seraphine looking a little worse for wear.
“Come inside.” I haul her into the house and into my arms, holding her close. I’m not sure what’s up, but she’s clearly upset. Her downturned lips, watery eyes, and curved shoulders have me going into knight-mode, ready to slay her dragons. “Are you okay?”
She steps out of my embrace and wraps her arms around her middle. “Can we sit?”
“Of course.”
In the living room, she heads for the couch, but I pull her onto my lap in my chair. For a minute, she sits there, her back ramrod straight before finally melting into me.
“Talk to me, mariposita.”
She inhales a wobbly breath. “You said we’d be okay, no matter what, right?”
Instantly, I’m on high alert. “Yeah.” I rub my hands over her back, trying to loosen the tightly bunched muscles.
“And you meant it?” She looks up at me with tired eyes.