Page 73 of Unexpecting

“Whaaat?” Brit screamed so loudly I was afraid for the wine glasses on the table. “You said no?”

″Why?” Morgan breathed.

″You idiot,” Libby put in.

I threw up my hands. “I don’t want him to feel obligated to marry me,” I told them.

″But what if he wants to marry you?” Morgan demanded.

″He doesn’t. Maybe someday, but he doesn’t now.”

″How can you tell?”

″I just can,” I said lamely. “Can we please change the subject?”

Brit gave me a look like she was washing her hands of the whole thing, but I knew that was not possible and that this wasn’t the last I’d hear about it. “Well, I hope you’ll acknowledge your stupidity when you’re forty years old—alone–and pushing a baby stroller. Alone.” And luckily, that was the last she said about it that night.

But after dessert, when most of the girls were discussing going to J.B.’s club, I quietly said my goodbyes to Brit and Morgan, claiming fatigue and an overwhelming urge to throw up. I knew Brit wasn’t happy, but Morgan smoothed it out for me, giving my belly a pat and telling me there’d be time enough to party when I wasn’t pregnant anymore. Morgan didn’t say anything about my impromptu announcement, but she didn’t meet my eyes either. I could tell she thought I was making a huge mistake.

But I’m not, I kept reassuring myself. J.B. just got me pregnant—I’m not about to trap him into a marriage he doesn’t want. We don’t have to be married to raise a baby together.

Libby left with me, and as we walked to the lot where I parked my car, we idly discussed the evening.

″Lacey’s turned into such a bitch,” she exclaimed.

I had to agree. I was very glad the day was finally over.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Pregnancy forces every new mother to reevaluate her life in preparation for the momentous responsibility of caring for another life.”

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

Dr. Francine Pascal Reid (1941)

The morning after Brit’sparty was a bad one. First of all, I was awakened at eight o’clock by Brit calling on the phone. I got a huge guilt trip about leaving early, and when she deigned that I’d apologized sufficiently, she proceeded to give me every last detail about the rest of the evening, including gossipy little bits about those in attendance. Then, when I was practically falling back asleep, she started in about J.B., demanding more of an explanation about why on earth I would refuse his marriage proposal. An hour and a half later, I finally managed to get off the phone because of a sudden need to vomit. It was the first time I’d thanked God for giving me morning sickness.

After that, I began to get hungry since I was too awake now to try to go back to sleep. I headed upstairs to scrounge some breakfast. But Emma was already there, and as I opened the door to the kitchen, the sound of the smoke detector and the smell of burnt eggs sent me rushing back down to the washroom again.

I decided to have a shower before breakfast to give the kitchen a chance to air out.

″How was your little hen party?” Cooper asked when I returned upstairs. The windows were still open and the kitchen smelled much better. Cooper had made a lovely ham and mushroom frittata, but I really wished he would lay off the eggs. They were not that good coming back up, and even when they were not burnt by Emma, the smell gets to me.

″It wasn’t little, but I guess it was okay,” I told him, sliding into a chair.

″You don’t sound convinced,” Emma smiled at me. “You all sounded like you were having a good time last night.”

″It was fun,” I said firmly. “Brit had a good time, and that’s all that matters. They went out to a club afterward, but I bailed and came home.”

″You can still go out dancing and stuff when you’re pregnant, can’t you?” Cooper wondered. “I would have thought that would be right up your alley. You haven’t been out dancing in a while.”

″I know.” I pushed a piece of mushroom around my plate. “But I was tired and—I really didn’t want to,” I told them suddenly. “I knew all of those women last night, and the majority of them are my friends too, and I’ve gone out with them dozens of times, but I just had no desire to do anything with them last night. They irritated me all night with their silly talk and gossip—Brit’s sister was the worst of them. I just… I didn’t want to be with them.”

″Aaaw,” Cooper smiled. He went over to Emma and draped his arm around her shoulders. “Em, darling, our little girl is finally growing up!”

I was about to ask what he meant by that when J.B. made an appearance. And he was gripping How to Baby the New Mommy in his hand.

″Do you know about this?” he demanded, waving the book in my face.

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