Page 23 of The Flame of Carson
“Are you enjoying thenew house?”Tina asked.
“Tina, you found me the perfect house.You are a miracle worker.Hell, it took me nearly a year to find my place in New York.”Stacey answered.
Tina, Krista, and Alora laughed.“Well, it was New York Stace, what do you expect.”Krista pointed out.
Stacey flipped her the bird, which made Tina and Alora laugh even harder.“Anyway, you cheeky bitch, how’s things on the married front?”
“Good.Ethan and I are...”that was as far as Krista got before she jumped out of her chair and bolted.
“I bet you she’s preggers.”Tina grinned.
“Oh yeah.”Alora nodded.“My girlfriend Jacquie was like that at the beginning.Now she’s just ready to get the baby out.”
Stacey couldn’t help but smirk a little, “Think she’s figured it out yet?”Tina and Alora started laughing.When they spotted Krista heading back to the table, they managed to stop laughing but couldn’t stop smiling.“You okay Kris?”
“Ugh, I swear this stomach bug or whatever the hell it is needs to just go away.”Krista complained before grabbing her water glass.
This made Tina, Alora and Stacey burst into a fresh round of laughter.Krista sat there glaring at her friends.It was Tina that regained her composure first.“Krista, have you considered that you have a little nine-month stomach bug?”
Krista frowned for a few moments before she caught Tina’s meaning.Her face then lit up and the smile that formed was one of pure joy.“Holy shit!I never even considered that.”
“You and Ethan have been trying to have a baby, right?”Alora asked.
“For the last year.I...I need to tell him.”Krista answered, reaching for her phone.
“Hold up there woman.”Stacey stated.“You might want to be sure before you get your hopes up.There’s a drugstore across the street, so after we eat, we go there and buy you a pregnancy test.If it says positive, then you can say something to Ethan and call your doctor to confirm.”
“Right.Okay, yeah, we’ll do that.”Krista nodded, still in a little shock at the thought that she could be pregnant.
About an hour later Stacey, Tina and Alora were sitting in the Blackstone living room waiting for Krista.“She’s always been impatient when it comes to stuff like this.”Tina sighed sipping her coffee.
“What do you mean?”Alora questioned.
“Waiting for results.In high school she was a nervous wreck waiting for her SAT and ACT scores.Then it was the same thing all over again when they were tallying the class ranks.We all about clobbered her.”Tina explained.
“Well, she didn’t get much better in college apparently.Jerry told me how during finals she was driving him crazy.She wanted to go every five minutes to see if the grades were posted.He finally came to my place just to get away that week.”Stacey chuckled.
Before anyone could speak again an excited scream came from the downstairs bathroom.A few seconds later Krista came running out holding up the stick.“It’s positive!”
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Stacey sat in her homeoffice writing up a few emails when a message from Krista popped up.She had managed to get her doctor to squeeze her in that afternoon and he confirmed what the home test proved.Krista Jameson Blackstone was pregnant.
Ethan’s over the moon!
Stacey chuckled and sent her friend a thumbs up emoji.She figured Ethan would be happy.Gage had told her that Ethan wanted to have a baby as much as Krista, if not a little more.This sort of surprised Stacey and when she said so to Gage, he told her that a few years ago he felt the same.Then after Ethan and Krista were reunited and Gage saw how they were with each other, it made sense.She could see that and was genuinely happy for them.She turned back to the email she was composing.So far, after nearly three weeks she was glad she had accepted the position here.
She had just sent the email when her computer dinged, signaling a new email.Stacey opened her email but before she read it, she went for a coffee refill.Standing from her desk she moved to where she had plugged in a coffee pot to the left of her desk.Stacey had started keeping a coffee pot in her office at home about six months after she was hired by the publishing house.Her mom had teased her about being a coffee addict and Stacey had fired back that her mom and dad had taught her well which made both women laugh.With her fresh coffee, Stacey moved back to her desk and sat down to read the email.What she saw left her feeling shocked and pissed off all at the same time.
Stacey,
Did you honestly think you could get away without me finding you?You can’t hide from me.
You will come to see the light in time; however, your awareness will come at a painful price I’m afraid.You brought this pain on yourself Stacey.Be prepared for your lessons to begin.
Stacey didn’t hesitate.She grabbed her phone and dialed.“Get over here now.”
