“This changes nothing,” I say, sad that I can’t drink a lick of this wine. And it’s my favorite, too. “I have cramps.”
“No, you don’t,” Claire says.
“You’re right. I don’t. I’m sorry I lied.”
“That’s okay,” Mo says, ushering everyone into my home.
“How did you know something was wrong?”
“Well, for starters, you never cancel on girls’ night,” Mo says. “And you certainly don’t cancel twice.”
Tess looks at the empty carton of ice cream on the table. “Did you eat all of that?”
I nod.
Claire frowns. “This is worse than I thought.”
“What did you think?” I mutter, setting the wine down so I can dive into the brownies.
I pull out my first one—yes, first, because I intend to eat all of them—and take a bite.
“I’d much rather just hear what’s going on,” Claire says, reaching for the box. I slap her hand away. “Hey, there’s plenty in there for the rest of us.”
“You’re right,” I cry, shoving the box at her chest. “I’m a horrible friend, and I’m going to make a horrible mother.”
All three of them freeze.
Mo is the first to move. “Did you say mother?” she asks, sneaking the wine from the counter. She shoves it in a cabinet.
I nod, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“Wow. Okay. I did not see this coming.” Tess paces across the room. “When we staged this little intervention, I thought it was because you’d either failed your boards or some guy broke your heart.”
“It’s worse,” I say, shoving another bite of brownie in my mouth.
Claire steps forward. “Worse as in you haven’t told the father yet, or worse like you told him, he freaked out, and now you have to raise the baby by yourself?”
Shit. I didn’t think of that. What if Lincoln freaks out, and I have to raise this baby on my own? He did say the last thing the world needs is another Bennett running around.
Bile pushes up my throat.
“Oh, no.” Mo takes my arm and guides me to a chair. “Tess, grab a bottle of water. She looks like she’s going to vomit.”
Tess gets a bottle from the refrigerator and hands it to me. Rather than twisting the top off, I press the cool plastic to my forehead and then move it to my chest.
“Adley,” Mo says. “For the record, you’ll never have to raise this baby by yourself. We’re all here for you.” She looks at the other girls, who are nodding like little bobbleheads. “And your brothers are here too, so don’t ever feel alone. But I have to ask… Do you know who the father is?”
“Of course I know who the father is,” I snap, instantly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry. My emotions are all over the place.”
“I’ve heard that’s normal,” Claire says, using my moment of weakness to steal a brownie from the box.
“Really? I wouldn’t know.” I laugh humorlessly as more tears spring to my eyes. “There’s a lot I don’t know. Like how to change a diaper or make a bottle. I wouldn’t even know what type of formula to buy. There’s a million different types.”
Tess nods, stealing a brownie for herself. “There are way too many choices. Why can’t they have two formula options…regular and diet?”
Mo shoves Tess out of the way. “Forget the formula. You’ll learn all of that later—”
“I will?” I interrupt.