Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Don’t worry about Mom. Preston, Finn, and I will handle her and Dad. No one is going to make you do anything you don’t want to do. You are an adult, Angie.”
“I graduate this spring and I’ll be showing by then. How in the world am I going to get a job being pregnant?” Angie asked, looking at me then at Clare.
“What is your degree in again?” Clare asked.
“Marketing.”
Clare’s face lit up. “Angie, I think I might be able to help you get a job.”
Looking confused, my sister replied, “I haven’t finished school yet. I won’t until this spring.”
Standing, Clare looked around for her phone. When she ran into the bedroom, Angie looked at me with a confused expression. I simply shrugged.
Clare walked back into the living room and sat down. She had her phone and was texting someone.
“Who are you texting?”
“The VP of our marketing and broadcasting department.”
“For the Red Sox?” Angie asked, stars in her eyes. “Are you talking about working for…the Boston Red Sox?”
Clare smiled as she kept typing. “Yes. The manager of our social media has an assistant who helps her, but she is leaving in a few months. Her husband got transferred to Germany for work. She thought she might be able to keep working remote. She works from home and only has to come into the office once a week. But with the time difference and them really needing her in the office that one day a week, it wasn’t going to work. I only know this because I work out at the same gym as our VP, and he was asking me if I knew anyone just yesterday.”
“What about her being pregnant. When are you due, Angie?” I asked.
“They said the due date was August 31. It’s accurate since we know the conception date. I’m about five weeks right now.”
I groaned. “I didn’t need to know that.”
“How did you think I got pregnant, Wes? From kissing?”
Shooting my sister a smirk, she stuck her tongue out at me. And she was going to be a mother. Lord, help us all.
Clare cleared her throat. “Let’s get back on track, shall we?”
“Right. Angie, when do you want to tell Mom and Dad?”
“After I have the baby,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“Angie,” I warned.
“Maybe what needs to happen first is a game plan. What are you and Reece going to do about living arrangements? Caring for the baby after she or he is born? That sort of thing. I imagine that is going to be the questions your parents will ask.”
“She’s right. Mom and Dad are going to pepper me with questions the moment I tell them. With the first one being when am I getting married.”
There was no arguing with that. I nodded my head then asked, “Like Clare asked, have you and Reece made any plans?”
“Yes. He suggested I move in with him so that he could be a part of the pregnancy. He graduated last year and has a really good job at a bank. You’d like him, Wes, he’s a math geek.”
I smiled. I wanted to dislike the guy who got my sister pregnant, but it wasn’t either of their faults. I glanced over to Clare. We hadn’t used any protection. She was on the pill but was that a hundred percent effective. I thought about how I would feel if Clare became pregnant. Strangely enough, the idea of it made me smile and not want to run for the hills. Clare must have felt my eyes on her. She looked at me and tilted her head slightly. I smiled and wanted to tell her that I loved her, but instead, I winked. Clare’s smile grew and Angie cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, if you two are done giving each other that look.”
“What look?” we both asked at the same time.
“The same one our brothers and their wives give each other.” The she gasped. “Oh my God. Are you two like…in love?”
Before Clare could say anything, I said, “We are.”
Angie stood. “I don’t know if I want to celebrate or cry?”
I looked up at her. “Why would you cry?”
“Because Mom is going to find out and then it’s just me. I’m the last one whom she’s going to push into finding a happily ever after!”
Clare took Angie’s hand and gently tugged her back down. “Okay, we’re going to role play as Mike and Jennifer. Imagine it’s a family gathering, and you ask to speak to us alone.”
Angie nodded, stood, and started to rub her hands together nervously.
“Okay, first thing,” I said as I pointed to her hands. “Don’t do that. Mom will think something bad is coming, and this isn’t bad.”
My sister’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s not?”
Clare instantly stood and made her way to Angie, engulfing her in a hug. “Of course this isn’t bad. It might not be the timing you wanted, but it isn’t bad. That baby is going to be so loved.”