Page 47 of Used By the Unicorn

Jade: OMG adorable! *kissy face*

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Kalli slides into the seat opposite me with a grin. “Have you ordered?”

I shake my head and turn my phone screen around so she can see the video. “Look how cute.”

Kalli fusses over the tiny unicorn, though I wouldn’t blame her if she’s not quite as obsessed with how cute she is as I am. It’s strange. I see Bliss everyday, of course. Maybe it’s the hormones kicking in, but I can’t get enough of baby snuggles and baby cuteness. I never thought I’d be this person, but she really is beautiful.

“You’re so adorable and so is she.” Kalli hands my phone back. “So listen, there’s actually something I wanted to tell you.”

I squirm in my seat. “Yeah. Uh... there’s actually something I wanted to tell you, too.”

“There is?”

We both watch each other across the table. “You go first,” she says.

Fuck.

“Um... I’m pregnant!”

Her eyes go wide and her mouth falls open and I lose my cool.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you before. Only I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go through with it, or what I was going to do. And I know it’s a shitty thing to do, since now you’ll have to cover me and—”

“Jade.” She reaches across the table and takes my hand. “So am I!”

I stare at her. “You are?”

“I am.” she flushes. “I wasn’t sure Rin and I could actually, but he looked into it, and it turns out we can, and we were going to wait, but then we both decided it was time.”

“You didn’t know?” I guess I figured if you can fuck you can probably get pregnant, but it makes sense it might be more complicated than that.

Kalli laughs. “Am I that naive? When did you and Stirling find out?”

“Ah, Kalli. It’s not Stirling’s.”

She blinks. “Another one of the herd? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. Am I being insensitive?”

“It’s Carston’s.”

“Oh.”

She’s quiet for a long time.

Yeah. I don’t want her to feel awkward, though, so I forge on. “It’s OK. Stirling knows. They all know. That’s why I wasn’t sure about joining the herd in the first place.”

She nods, her expression turning serious. “Of course. Did you tell Carston?”

I shake my head. “No. And I’m not going to. Not after everything. He doesn’t deserve to be a father. So he won’t be. My baby will have a herd instead.”

She grins. “Jade, that's beautiful. I’m so glad you found Stirling. I’m so glad you found them all. You know, I meant to tell you you’ve seemed so happy lately.”

“I am.”

“So, when are you due? My due date is February 9.”

“End of December.” I watch her face to see how she’ll react. I’m already four, nearly five months along.

Her eyes dart down toward where the table hides my bump. “Oh, my god, Jade. I’m so jealous right now. Are you even showing? I swear to God I don’t even fit my jeans anymore, and it’s been like two weeks since I found out.”

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