Page 17 of The Light to My Darkness (The Light to My Darkness 1)

You are not helping.

"Are you going to tell us or are you going to make us guess?" Tyler asked. "I've found that ripping the Band-Aid off is a lot easier than slowly pulling it off."

I bit the inside of my lip.

"Really, Penny. You have to tell us now," Hailey said. She shifted slightly forward on the couch.

God, I really don't want to have this conversation. "It's not a big deal whatsoever. At my last checkup the doctor found out that I had a heart murmur. Which is pretty common. It's moderate so it's not mild but it's not severe either. So, I mean, it's okay. Everything's okay."

"Damn it, Penny," Rob said from behind me.

"Wait, you knew?" Daphne said to him. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

"James asked me not to tell anyone."

"Who else knew?" she asked.

Matt, Mason, and Bee all awkwardly raised their hands.

"Robert Hunter," Daphne said. "She's basically my sister. How could you not tell me? And here I was going on and on about nurseries and names." She had a horrified look on her face. "Penny, I'm so sorry. Why didn't anyone tell me to shut up?"

"How serious is it?" Hailey asked. "Is the baby okay?"

"The baby's fine," I said. "He's perfectly healthy."

"Are you okay?" Tyler asked.

I don't know anymore. Talking about this made my chest hurt. It's just in my head. It's just in my head. "Yeah. I'm fine." I smiled and waved my hand through the air.

Tyler didn't say anything this time, but he gave me that look like he knew I was lying again.

Everyone was awkwardly quiet.

"Dinner just arrived," James said as he came in from the kitchen. The smile on his face disappeared as he looked around. His eyes landed on me and he gave me a sympathetic smile. "So, you told them?"

The idea of a relaxing night with my friends had just been thrown out the window. "Yes, and can you all please stop staring at me like I'm dying? I just want to have a normal night." I cringed and looked at Bee.

"Normal?" she mouthed silently at me and shook her head.

And I knew she was right. Just like she had been right when she said the same thing to me yesterday. Whenever I said normal, nothing was at all normal.

Chapter 7

Saturday

The dinner conversation was filled with everyone talking about my health. And what it meant for the baby. If I saw one more sympathetic look I was going to scream. I opened up the door to the freezer and let the cold air hit my face. I had wandered out of the dining room with the excuse of going to the bathroom. Now I didn't want to go back.

"Craving ice cream and comfy sweatpants?" Tyler asked.

I laughed and closed the fridge door. "I do miss our Friday nights."

"Me too." He smiled and leaned against the refrigerator next to me. "Tell it to me straight, Penny."

I shrugged my shoulders. "The doctor said if I take it easy everything should be fine."

"But?"

"I'm terrified that I'm going to lose him."

---