Page 130 of When You Blush
“Uh,duh.” She rests her hands on her hips and tilts her head to the side. “You’re clearly not thinking straight, which is valid. Honey, Billie is Blake’ssister, and the others are all either with his brothers or are good friends with him. If they found out that you’re pregnantbeforeBlake does, you can’t control that information. They might call him immediately. I mean, I like them all, but I don’t know them very well. I bought you time, babe.”
“Shit, you’re right.” I lean against the countertop and feel faint. “Ava. Holy mother of fuck, I’mpregnant.”
The word doesn’t even make sense to me right now.
“How did this evenhappen?”
Her eyebrows climb. “Well, when a mommy and a daddy?—”
“Shut the fuck up.” I roll my eyes as she snickers, and I pace away. “I knowhow.But I don’t knowhow.”
“Because that makes sense.”
“I’ve had an implant in my arm for four years, Ava. They last five years. Mine hasn’t expired.”
“Are you sure? Because maybe you counted wrong. You’ve been pretty busy the past few years, you know.”
I frown and think back. “I got it the year before Nathan and I got together, and we were together for two years?—”
“That’s three.”
“And I’ve been away from him for two years?—”
“That’s five.”
I blink at her.
“Babe, it expired.”
“But …fuck.”
“Yeah, you fucked, and now you’re knocked up.”
I hang my head and moan.
“He’s going to be so mad.”
“Whoa.” Ava hurries around the island and wraps her arm around me. “You don’t know that. He’s a doctor, and I may not know him well, but he seems level-headed. Not to mention, the man worships the ground you walk on. It’s almost disgusting. I’m totally jealous, by the way.”
“Aves, Blake and I have had these conversations. Neither of us really wants kids. Hell, neither of us really wanted a serious relationship.”
“Well, you have both.” She leans her head on my shoulder. “Unless you don’t. You know, you have options. You have choices. But you really need to talk to your man about this because he deserves to know.”
“I won’t keep it from him.” The mere thought makes me so uncomfortable that it’s not even an option. “I wouldn’t do that. I’m not scared of him or anything. I just hate the idea of disappointing him or having him think that I’m trapping him.”
“He asked you to live with him,” she reminds me. “That was his idea. He’s smarter than that, Harper. Give both of you some credit.”
“I know.” I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding and feel the thump of my heart in my ears since it’s beating so hard. “I’m kind of freaking out.”
“Of course, you are, babe. But we’re going to figure this out. If need be, I’ll raise this baby with you. You have a village. You’re not alone.”
I pause and frown down at her. “I don’t feel alone, you weirdo. Andyes,you’re going to help me raise this baby because you’re Auntie Ava, and you’re the cool aunt who lets her eat ice cream for dinner and takes her to Seattle on the weekend for a Swiftie concert.”
“Oh my God, I can’t wait to do that. What do we need to do to make sure it’s a girl? Do you need to like hang upside down during a full moon or what, because I’ll get the rope.”
I shake her off and pace to the other side of thekitchen.
“I’m not hanging upside down. Jesus, we went off on a tangent. Ava,I’m pregnant.”
