Page 64 of Made for Us

“You might as well just say yes,” Gabriella pushes. “You know you want to, plus…” She holds up her finger. “I think he likes you.” She winks at me, and I squeeze my eyebrows together. “See, he didn’t even fall for my charms.”

“She’s pregnant with my child!” I shriek. “Why the hell would I fall for anyone’s charm?” I look back at Abigail, who is trying really hard not to laugh. “What do you say?”

“Ugh,” she grunts. “Fine, I guess I’ll move in with you.”

“Like it’s that much of a struggle,” Gabriella teases. “Hey, P,” she calls her name, “want to come over to my house and do manis and pedis?” Penelope jumps off the couch.

“Dad, can I?” she asks, and I look at Abigail, who nods. She jumps up and down. “Is this a sleepover?”

“We can,” Gabriella says, “there is a room that no one has been in.” She grabs her stuff from the counter. “Someone has to sleep in it.”

“Are you sure?” Abigail asks Gabriella, and she just looks at me.

“How hard can it be? She can talk and goes to the bathroom by herself,” Gabriella replies, “like she literally can take care of herself.” She looks over at Penelope. “Isn’t that right?”

“I can Uber my own food,” she announces, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You do not order your own food,” I retort, rolling my eyes. She shocks me when she picks up her iPhone and shows me the Uber Eats app. “What credit card is that?”

“I don’t know. I took one from your wallet,” she admits. “You told me to the last time.”

“When?” I ask her, shocked.

“When you were in bed, and I was hungry,” she reminds me. “It’s fine. I only used it a couple of times.”

“You know what would be funny?” Gabriella asks. “If you ordered like three hundred dollars’ worth of cupcakes for fun.” She puts her arm over Penelope’s shoulder. “Do you want to bring a change of clothes?”

“I’ll go get my bag,” she says, running up the stairs.

“Don’t you dare let her watch any of your shows,” Abigail warns in a whisper.

“Define shows,” Gabriella pushes.

“Love Island,” Abigail fires right away. “No Love Island.”

She rolls her eyes at her. “That was on already at three o’clock, so she’s safe.”

Penelope comes back with her bag. “Bye, Dad,” she says to me, getting on her tippy-toes and kissing my cheek when I lean down. “Bye, Abigail.” She walks over and hugs her.

“If you want to come home, all you have to do is call me,” I remind her as she turns to walk out of the room.

“Take care of you and the baby,” Gabriella says to Abigail, giving her a hug, then leaning down and talking to her stomach. “Bye from your favorite aunt.”

“You know how the baby got there?” Penelope asks, and I close my eyes. “They had sex.”

Gabriella looks at her and then back at us. “You don’t say?”

“Yeah, that’s how babies get in the stomach,” Penelope informs her.

“Well, not exactly,” Gabriella replies and Abigail jumps forward.

“Okay, that talk is for another day,” Abigail grumbles between clenched teeth as we walk them out the door.

We stand on the porch. “She’s going to be okay, right?” I look over at Abigail, who just shakes her head.

“We can hope,” Abigail replies. “I mean, she’ll protect her with her life. But I’m not sure about her mouth.”

“We are kid free,” I remind her. “Well, almost kid free.” I put my hand on her stomach.

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