Page 303 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“But the twins—where are your girls?”
“With their father. He’ll probably be certifiable by the time I make it home, but they’ll be fine.” She smiles wide. “You’ve got me for the whole weekend!”
My eyes fall on Olivia, immediately guessing that she’s the mastermind behind this particular surprise. “You did this?”
She shrugs. “The party felt like a good excuse.”
“But also, we have an ulterior motive,” Kate says.
Lila pulls out a little stool sitting in front of a gorgeous vanity and motions for me to come over. “Come sit,” she says gently.
“What is this? What’s happening? And why do I feel like you’re all having a conversation that I’m not a part of?”
“Just sit and we’ll explain,” Bree says.
“Wait, you’re in on this too? Where’s Lennox? I feel like I need someone on my team.” Despite my protests, I sit on the stool anyway, a part of me enjoying all this if only because these women obviously care about me, and it’s fun to bask in their attention.
Once I’m sitting, the four of them sit in a row along the foot of the bed. “Tatum,” Lila says, her soft Southern voice soothing, “this is an intervention.”
“What? Why? What am I doing?”
Kate leans forward and squeezes my hand. “Sweetie, we think you’re pregnant.”
I immediately scoff, tugging my hand back like Kate’s is on fire. “What? That’s ridiculous.”
“You’re tired all the time,” Olivia says.
“You fell asleep on the phone the other day,” Bree says. “Mid-sentence.”
“You also threw up the other morning, and you’ve been complaining about nausea.”
“It’s because my birth control makes me queasy.”
“Does that explain why you haven’t had a period?” Olivia says.
“How do you know I missed a period?”
“You told us at lunch the other day,” Lila says.
I think back to the conversation. “Right, but that’s also my birth control. It’s messed up my cycles. I haven’t had a period since the wedding.”
They glare at me with matching dubious expressions. “It’s been three months, Tatum,” Bree says. “You’ve gonethree monthswith no period?”
I shake my head, still not ready to cave completely. “Barelythree months. But the doctor said the birth control might make my periods lighter. I guess I just thought . . . but how could this even happen? I never missed a dose.”
“Yeah. It doesn’t always work,” Bree says.
“Asher was totally a condom baby,” Olivia says. “We’d only been married three months.”
“We’veonly been married three months,” I say, panic edging my voice.
“Hey,” Kate says, reaching out to squeeze my knee. “That doesn’t matter. You and Lennox are solid. Besides—it might be fun if we have babies at the same time.”
“Do your boobs feel heavier?” Lila asks. “That was the first thing I noticed when I was pregnant with Jack.”
“Boobs are definitely first,” Olivia agrees.
I look down at my boobs. They maybehavefelt a little heavier lately. “Oh gosh.” I press a hand to my midsection, suddenly feeling a little queasy. “I don’t feel so good.”
