Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Beth and Gideon both retreated into silence and stared at her with wide eyes.
“I swear to God, sometimes I think you guys enjoy hating each other. It’s like you get off on it or something.”
Beth cleared her throat uncomfortably and crossed her arms over her hard nipples before casting an uneasy look at Gideon. He looked startled by Cat’s observation and slid lower on the couch, avoiding everybody’s eyes while taking another drink from his beer.
“This isn’t going to work, Cam,” Cat sobbed, and her husband glared at both Gideon and Beth before tightening his arm around his wife’s shoulders and murmuring something into her hair.
“Just tell them,” Cat’s voice was muffled but her words were clear. Beth sat up straight, alarmed by both the tears, and the fatalism she could hear in her friend’s voice. Oh God, what was happening? Was Cat okay?
“Look, guys, the reason we asked you here tonight is because we have news. Big news. And you’re our best friends. We wanted you to be the first to know…”
Gideon sat upright as well; the same alarm Beth felt beginning to crease his forehead.
“Cat’s pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
Beth had braced herself for bad news, and for a second his words didn’t quite sink in. She stared into Cam’s expectant, excited face for a long moment before she was able to process his words and when she was finally able to make sense of them, she gasped. Her hands going up to her mouth in shock.
Her eyes tracked to the orange juice. She had been mildly curious about why Cat wasn’t sharing the wine with her, but she hadn’t even considered that this would be the reason. Then again, Cat had been abstaining a lot recently, quietly, never drawing attention to the fact that she wasn’t drinking. Beth was astonished she hadn’t figured it out before now.
“Oh gosh,” she finally managed to splutter. “Oh my goodness. That’s wonderful news.”
She got up to hug her friends, but Gideon was there already, enfolding the couple in a bear hug before picking Cat up and swinging her around and then pumping Cam’s hand up and down vigorously. They exchanged a hug, complete with manly back thumps, and finally Beth was able to shoehorn her way in, also exchanging hugs and kisses, absolutely thrilled for her friends.
They finally all got settled again, and Beth somehow found herself sitting next to Gideon on the two-seater. She wasn’t sure how it had happened. She’d been making her way back to her chair, but in the confusion, she hadn’t protested when someone—Gideon?—had ushered her toward this couch. Now here she sat, knees pressed firmly together, ankles crossed and palms flat against aforementioned knees in an attempt to keep them from bouncing nervously. Her posture was rigid, shoulders squared, spine straight, a complete antithesis to the man lounging next to her, with everything spread and sprawling. He was too big, and anyone would feel crowded in the tiny amount of space he had allocated to Beth.
“W-w-wuh…” She stopped, her throat closing up in a panic when the word would not form. How appalling, she had never lapsed this badly in front of Gideon before. She forced herself to breathe, remembering the exercises that would loosen her throat, uncurl her tongue, and allow her to express herself. Nobody seemed to notice the brief flare of panic, nobody spoke over her or attempted to complete the word for her. Gideon seemed wholly preoccupied with the beer he had picked up again, scratching at a curl on the label with his thumbnail.
It’s okay, they didn’t notice. They don’t care. It wasn’t that bad…
She coughed, one of the many stratagems she had employed over the years to disguise the stutter, and spoke. The words emerged smoothly, “When is it due?”
“In just over six months from now,” Cat said with a misty-eyed smile. She looked ridiculously happy. Beth hadn’t even known her friends were planning to have a baby this soon. They’d known each other for coming onto two-and-a-half years, been married for a year…it felt so fast. And yet, looking at Cat and Cam, Beth could see they were over the moon about this news and it was something they clearly, desperately, wanted.
“And that’s why we need you two to get along,” Cat continued, grabbing a tissue from the box Cam provided and blowing her nose. “We want you to be the baby’s godparents and…eventually we’d like to expand that to legal guardianship.”
Chapter Seven
“What?” Gideon tensed, his voice resounding with shock.
Beth knew Gideon’s incredulity had to be reflected on her face, she just couldn’t find the words to express that shock.
“You and Beth are the closest we have to siblings,” Cat said. “To any family, really.”
“The orphaned foursome,” Gideon rhymed. Badly. “But guardians? That’s some heavy shit, right?”
“You’re an orphan?” Beth’s question tripped over Gideon’s and there was an awkward pause while everyone stared at her in confusion.