Page 6 of Marry Your Best Friend

My shoulders relax a little. “You promise?”

She puts her hands at my waist and lets them slide around my back. She holds on to me, and I wrap her up in my arms. Her whisper is soft, but it brings me comfort. “I promise.”

I hold on to her, and even though I don’t want to let her go, I know she needs to get back to work. I squeeze her tightly and lean my cheek on the top of her head. “I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass.”

Her body shakes as she laughs. “That’s one of the things I love about you.”

I clench my eyes and let her words float through me before releasing her and stepping back. “Go get to work. Thanks for patching me up, honey.”

She backs out of the room. “Anytime… you know that.”

I follow her down the hall, and after another bye, I walk out of the hospital knowing that I’m leaving part of my heart behind.

3

CHRISSY

I hug my sister-in-law Haven. “I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to drop by. Work has been crazy.”

Haven hugs me back. “Macy is only two weeks old.”

I lean back to look at her. “Yeah, well, two weeks is too long. I’m sorry. Where is she at?”

She points toward the living room. “Right in there.”

“Okay, I’m going to get some lovings, but while I’m here, I’m going to help around the house. What can I do? Laundry, clean bathrooms, kitchen, you name it, I’m on it.”

We walk into the living room, and I gasp when I see Macy sleeping. I whisper and put my hand overmy heart. “Oh my God, she’s even more beautiful than I remember.”

“She’s perfect, right?”

I nod and can feel myself tearing up. “Yes, she’s perfect.”

Without taking my eyes off Macy, I ask Haven, “Tell me what I can do. You should have your feet up, resting. Oh my God, go take a nap. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do when she’s sleeping?”

She groans softly. “Chrissy, she sleeps all the time, and I’m tired of resting. King had someone come in yesterday to clean the house top to bottom, so there is nothing to do.” She grabs my hands and pulls me toward the couch. “Come on, she’ll wake up soon. Until then, talk to me. I need some adult conversation.”

I bounce onto the couch, positioning myself so I can keep looking at Macy. “Okay, let’s talk. How are you doing? How you feeling?”

She leans her head back on the couch. “I’m good. But let’s not talk about me.”

I'm feeling a bit tense. One thing I know about this family is we’re all a bunch of talkers. At least when it comes to each other. By now, it’s made it through all of them I want to have a baby. “What do you want to talk about?”

She smirks at me. “Well, let’s see. We can talk about you wanting to have a baby if you want.”

I point at Macy. “Come on, it’s not that big of a deal. How can anyone meet Macy and not want one?”

She nods in agreement. “Right… so it was baby fever? You’re over it now?”

I fidget in my seat. I already kicked my shoes off at the door, so I pull my socked feet under me on the couch. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. I mean, come on, look at her.”

She laughs. “Well, you can babysit anytime you want to. You know, to feed that baby fever.”

I’m quick to answer. “I’ll take that.”

She laughs, and when she thinks she’s a little too loud, she stops and leans toward me. “I’ll accept your answer, but I think we both know it’s more than that.”

Under her intense stare, I know I can’t keep anything from Haven. From the moment I met her, I liked her. I was a little surprised about that too because she’s nothing like I expected. She was a model, and I didn’t think we’d have a lot in common, but she’s become one of my best friends along with Cat and Lucy. I know I can’t lie to her. “Look, obviously, Dom was the last person Ishould have confessed to. I got caught up in all of it and just told him. But yeah, you’re right. There’s more to it than just baby fever. I want a family.”

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