Page 80 of Unexpecting

″No,” I told him.

″Oh.” His arm tightened around me. “You okay?”

″Not really.”

″I’m sorry,” he said cautiously. “I didn’t mean to give you three babies.”

I had to smile at that. “It’s not your fault,” I admitted. I could feel his arm relax around me. “I’m sorry I kept going on about that.”

″It’s fine. Blame me for whatever you want. You’re the one who has to take care of these things.”

″Just me?” Icy fear clutched my heart. Was that it? Was J.B. running scared at the thought of three babies?

″Well, for now, because they’re sort of inside you, but I’ll do what I can. I mean, I’ll try to.”

″You’re not leaving?” I asked tearfully.

″I’ll stay the night if you—oh.” He took a deep breath as he realized what I meant. “No, I won’t leave you, Casey.” I could only nod and clutch at his arm slung over me. J.B. gave a little chuckle. “Guess you think I’ve gotten rid of some of my inner asshole then.”

″Maybe a little,” I whispered.

We didn’t say anything for a while. I could feel him cuddle closer to me.

″I’m glad you were there,” I said softly.

J.B. gave a low chuckle. “Me too. You probably would have knocked that poor old guy over and started screaming at him in the middle of the street if I hadn’t been.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

“Having the care and support of friends and family during this exciting time makes the pregnancy even more memorable for the expectant mother.”

A Young Woman’s Guide to the Joy of Impending Motherhood

Dr. Francine Pascal Reid (1941)

When I woke upin the morning, J.B. was gone. I thought I dreamed the whole thing. The only proof I had that he was there was an imprint of a head on the pillow.

Triplets! Three babies! Who has three babies at once? Here is your baby, says stupid doctor, and here is your baby, and oh, yeah, here is another one! Three babies.

The concept takes some getting used to.

After throwing up my breakfast, which Cooper brought downstairs to me, I did the thing I should have done months ago. I called my mother. As I was waiting for her to pick up, I decided it was a good thing I wasn’t with Terri in person, since I still hadn’t brushed my teeth since throwing up and most likely had the worst breath.

″Mom? It’s Casey.” I almost called her Terri, but thought it was time I started calling the grandmother of my children by her rightful name.

″Hi, there, sweet—hello.” The welcoming voice changed quickly but I chose to ignore it. I was mending bridges, not redigging old ditches. Yes, I’d been a horrible daughter and hadn’t spoken to her since the day she came into the store and I gave her the worst mother of the year award, butit was time to move on. There was no way I could take back what I’d said, so I just decided to gloss over the fact and pretend it never happened.

″I just wanted to call—I thought you’d like to know—I went to the doctor’s yesterday and found out I’m having triplets. Three babies.”

″Oh, Casey!” The warm and welcoming voice instantly returned. “Triplets! Oh, sweetface, how wonderful!

″Is it? I’m pretty freaked out about the whole concept.”

″I’m not surprised,” Terri laughed. “You know, my mother had twins. I’ve heard these things skip a generation.”

″She did? What—what happened?”

″Uncle Michael. He had a brother, but he died after only a few days.”

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