“Yeah, sure,” she said with a shrug as Pietro shut the door and got back into the front. “I could eat.”
The overhead light was on, and I ran my eyes over Cali. Her makeup was perfectly in place, her hair straight and sleek hanging down her back. She was dressed in a pair of black shorts and a red top. She looked beautiful and sexy, but her eyes were so full of emotion that it made my heart clench with pain for her.
“Did you—”
“Yeah,” she whispered before I could get the full question out, touching a hand to her stomach. “And it was positive.”
Ciana startled awake. “Positive?” she said with a yawn. “What were we talking about?”
“We weren’t talking about anything, C,” I said with a sigh. “You fell asleep.”
“Oh, sorry,” she said around another yawn, wiping her mouth in case she had drooled. “But what was positive?”
Cali pulled something from her purse and opened her hand, showing us the tiny pregnancy test. Ciana paled as she realized what it was. “Wait…you’re pregnant?” she asked with what sounded to me like relief in her voice.
“That’s what the test says,” Cali said, returning the test to her purse. “Maybe I should have splurged on the digital test. It could be a false reading. I guess I’ll call and get an appointment at the free clinic, find out if it’s true or not.”
“If it says it’s positive, then it is,” Ciana informed her confidently. “It’s false negatives you have to worry about. I work for one of the best OB-GYNs in the city. Come in tomorrow, and I’ll get you taken care of.”
“But tomorrow is Saturday.”
“We’re open until noon on Saturdays. Come in, I’ll get your labs, have the nurse practitioner do your pap, and if my friend in ultrasound is working, we can get some pictures of the baby.” Ciana seemed wide awake now and more animated than I’d seen her all week.
Cali’s eyes brightened, and I could actually feel some of the tension draining out of her shoulders. But then the light dimmed again. “I don’t have insurance.”
“I don’t care about insurance. I can work around it.”
“You have insurance,” I cut in, dispelling my friend’s fears. “I took care of all of your information with HR and got you sorted.”
Cali’s mouth dropped open. “When? And more importantly, how?”
“Aunt Gracie had all your new identity information. I told her I was helping you get a job and I needed your social security number to get your paperwork completed. She said to tell you congrats on the new job, by the way.” I pulled out Cali’s new ID badge from my purse. “Make sure you stop by HR to sign everything, but your insurance started yesterday, as soon as you were entered into the system as an employee. You’ll get your card in the mail in about a week, but it will cover any care you have before it arrives.”
“Whoa,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Nova…”
“I got your back, babe,” I said with a smile. “You start on Monday as Ryan’s personal assistant’s personal assistant.”
As her tears started to dry, doubt crossed her face. “I don’t know how to be a personal assistant.”
“Can you fetch coffee?” Ciana asked, fighting another yawn, making me wonder if she would faceplant in her dessert plate later. “Order lunch? Make copies? Yell at stupid people?”
“I’m fairly proficient in all of those things,” Cali said with a dry laugh.
My cousin grinned and gave the other girl a wink. “Then you will be perfect as the personal assistant’s personal assistant.”
“Eduard has been kissing my ass the last few days,” I said with a smirk. “Casually mention that you and I are BFFs, and I bet he will bend over backward to make sure your job is smooth sailing.”
“Why is he kissing your ass?” Ciana asked curiously. “He’s normally so…reserved.”
“It doesn’t matter, but let’s just say he’s learned his lesson.” My phone buzzed with an incoming message, and I glanced down to see my mother’s text.
Mom: Will be in NYC around midday tomorrow. Set up lunch with G, so we can surprise him. Miss and love you both so much!
I smiled and shot back a quick reply, assuring her I would take care of it before putting my phone away.
“That’s not the smile you get when you’re talking to Ryan,” Ciana commented.
“It’s my mom. Instead of flying straight home after their trip to Mexico, they’re going to visit for a few days.” Mom and I had been planning it for a while now, so that she and I could go dress shopping with Anya. I hadn’t mentioned it to Ryan, wanting to surprise him. I could sense how anxious he was to get the ball rolling on planning the wedding. Other than our brief conversation about where we should get married, we hadn’t had time to discuss any other details since.
“Oh, yay!” my cousin cheered happily. “I love extra time with Auntie.”
I saw Cali shifting uncomfortably out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head to look at her. “Can I come with you to the appointment tomorrow?” I asked hopefully. “I would really love to see my little niece or nephew.”
“You want to come?” she asked in surprise.
“More than anything. I don’t want to freak you out, but in my family, the aunts tend to be just as hands on as the moms. I would love it if you let me be a big part of the baby’s life.”
“That kind of dynamic is completely foreign to me,” she murmured softly. “But I have always wanted a close-knit family.”
“Well, you’ve found it,” Ciana assured her before I could. “Because we all are already invested in your little one’s future happiness.”
“Do you—” She broke off, biting her lip with uncertainty before continuing. “Do you think Flick will be happy she’s going to be a grandmother?”
“Are you kidding me?” I laughed. “If I told her that you are pregnant right now, she would make my dad change the flight times so she could get here in time for your first appointment. Once you make the announcement, she might never want to go back to California. Not when she has so much to do to prepare for her first grandbaby’s arrival.”
“It would be nice to have her be a part of my pregnancy experience,” Cali mused. “I’ve been terrified of having to do this all on my own, with no one to ask for advice. I don’t know how much help my own mother would have been through all this, but for some reason, I think it would be less daunting if she were alive.” She swallowed hard, both of her hands rubbing over her flat stomach. “I’m okay with it just being me and the baby, but it’s scary, you know?”
“Yeah,” Ciana whispered, then quickly cleared her throat. “You don’t have to do this on your own, though. You have me and Nova, as well as Garret—”
“I don’t have Garret,” Cali cut her off, her tone growing cold.
“As soon as you tell him about the baby, he’s going to be at your side twenty-four seven.”
“I already told him,” my friend bit out. “And he walked away. He sat there on my couch, his eyes full of hate while I told him who I was and that I was so sorry for keeping my identity from him. Then I confessed that I thought I was pregnant. And he just got up and left me standing there.”