Page 80 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

“Thanks,” I said with a laugh.

“You should bring Rebecca over to our place for a barbeque this weekend,” Noah offered. “It will be good to get to know her a little better, and when the little one comes along, you’ll need a support group. Besides, the kid needs friends.”

“I’d like that,” I said.

Noah and Aaron nodded, and both shook my hand before they joined Gunner again to keep drinking and celebrating the next chapter in his life.

I turned back to Ted.

“Look at you,” Ted said. “Kicking it with the kids.”

I laughed. “Hey, I can take a page or two from their book. I’m supposed to be young at heart, right?”

“Young at heart is just another way of saying you never grew up,” Ted said with a wink. “You’ll feel right at home.”

I laughed. “Thanks for that, asshole.”

Ted shrugged. “Hey, just remember that when you’re waking up in the middle of the night, dealing with shitty diapers and sticky fingers on your television remote, I’m going to be on a beach somewhere, sipping cocktails and looking for a good fuck for the night.”

I lifted my glass. “Everyone’s happiness looks different.”

“To happiness,” Ted said and clinked his glass against mine.

I would drink to that.

EPILOGUE - REBECCA

Eight Months Later

“IfeellikeI’mgoing to pop,” I said and shifted on the couch, trying to get comfortable. I was as big as a whale, my ankles were swollen, I had constant heartburn, and I was tired of being pregnant.

“It’s almost over, honey,” Ava said. She bounced Warner on her knee, and his squeals of joy filled the room. He was almost too big for her to do that anymore.

“When is the baby coming, Rebecca?” Ben asked.

He had become a tall, gangly thing, and he looked more and more like Aaron as he headed toward his teenage years.

“My due date is in two weeks,” I said. “But I wish it was now.”

“Does the baby kick a lot?”

“All. The. Time. Come here, she’s kicking right now.”

Ben came closer slowly, as if he was scared he was going to break something by coming too close. I took his hand and pressed it against my belly. The baby kicked against his hand as if she wanted to show off, and Ben’s eyes widened.

“Yeah,” I said. “Imagine that for the last five months, tearing up my insides.” I patted my belly. “Calm down, sweetie pie. I’msotired.”

“I wish I could have that,” Celine said with a sigh.

“The swollen ankles or the stretch marks?” I asked.

“The heartburn?” Ava suggested.

“The hair loss,” Jade called from the kitchen, where she was making Ben and Warner sandwiches. “It’s definitely the hair loss Celine is referring to.”

Celine rolled her eyes. “Thefamily. I want love and kids and all that.”

“You could have had it with Clement,” I pointed out.

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