Page 58 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course, you don’t understand because you clearly have no idea what unprotected sex can lead to. I thought we had that talk in high school. In fact, I specifically remember you giving me quite the lip about it.” She pauses, but only for a hot second so she can put on a mocking grimace and mimic a nasal teen’s voice. “I’m old enough to know what I’m doing, Aunt Mary. Condoms are a thing, Aunt Mary.”

“Wait, what?” I croak, suddenly processing what she’s just said.

She takes another deep breath before she answers. “You’re pregnant, Christa.”

“Give me a second to pull myself together before you tear me a new one, okay?” I groan and sit up while she sets an extra pillow behind my back for support. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She sighs, unable to take her worried eyes off me. “When the hospital called, I thought I’d lost you. You gave me such a scare.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’ve been so nauseated lately. I thought it was just the stress.”

“The stress of the job? Of your argument with Teagan?”

“Of a lot of things, to be perfectly candid,” I exhale sharply. “I didn’t even stop to consider that I might be pregnant.”

I’ve been too busy being worried about the Mancinis finding me in Portland. About Teagan’s reaction to my relationship with her brothers. Good grief, this is just bouncing from bad to worse. Apregnancy should be cause for joy and celebration.

“I’m so sorry, Aunt Mary,” I say, tears suddenly pricking my eyes.

“Well, I’m guessing it wasn’t planned,” she replies. “I’m also guessing River Hawthorne doesn’t know.”

My blood runs cold as I realize it, too. River is just one possible father of my baby. One of three. Oh, God, I could laugh if this wasn’t a dire situation. I can’t be pregnant. This is the worst possible time to be pregnant.

Yet I cradle my lower belly, now aware of the life growing inside me.

A little human, waiting to come into the world.

“Aunt Mary, no one can know,” I say, taking deep breaths of my own as the beeping on my monitor intensifies from the shock and anxiety.

“Christa, a Hawthorne is responsible. They are loaded. Stinking rich. You need to tell him and make sure he does right by you!” She shakes her head. “River is a good man. I don’t know him as well as you, clearly… but I know him well enough. He’ll step up. I’m sure of it.”

“No, please. I’m serious. Let’s keep this between us for now. Please.”

“Why?” She sounds downright defeated.

“Because I don’t know what I’m going to do yet,” I say, trying to find the right words to explain without telling her everything. It’s for her own good. The fewer people know about my situation with Perry-Sage and the Mancinis, the better. It will be easier forme to sever all ties and just disappear, if push comes to shove. “I don’t know where I stand in this relationship or how it’s going to turn out. I’m still trying to figure things out. Please, Aunt Mary. It’s my decision, my baby. I know what I have to do. I just need the time and space to do it.”

“When Teagan finds out—”

“She won’t find out from you, will she?”

The pained look on Aunt Mary’s face tells me she will respect my decision. “No. Not a peep out of me, Christa.”

“Let me get my bearings. Let me get back on my feet. Talk to the doctor, see what prenatal vitamins I need to start taking and all the other stuff. I have a lot to figure out on my own first.”

“I’m here for anything you need.”

“Thank you. That means more than you know.”

One thing is clear. It’s not just my life I need to safeguard. It’s this little one’s, too. Whoever sent that note will try again. A different method. A worse approach. The other shoe will drop, eventually.

And if I do have to run, then I can’t have the Hawthornes turning the entire world upside down looking for me and their baby.

It doesn’t matter how deeply I feel for them.

All that matters is giving my baby a chance.

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