From the look of the sonogram, she was further along than just a few weeks. Ultrasounds had come a long way since Jenna was last pregnant, but she’d been with Lucy every step of the way through her pregnancy with Drew as well as many of the club pregnancies.
“Congratulations!” Jenna hugged her young friend. “How far along are you?”
Sophia made a face. “About eighteen weeks. And we had no clue! Which means, I got married when I was already pregnant.”
Jenna didn’t judge her for that, though she also was one of the few who knew it wasn’t Sophia and Pirate’s first marriage. It was just the one they counted.
“I’m so happy for you. When are you due?”
“End of May,” she answered with a smile. “Which means Dosia and I are going to be about a month apart, since she’s June.”
Dosia and Calliope were among the women now surrounding Jenna. After Jack encouraged Jenna to sit in the large chair, the others started to pull other chairs around her.
Jack leaned over Sophia’s head and kissed her hair. “Congrats, sweetheart.” Then he walked away towards Ghost and Lucky, who were standing near Jack’s office.
“Aww,” Sophia cooed. “He’s such a softie.”
Jenna wasn’t the only one who chuckled. Turning her attention back to Sophia, she asked, “How are your symptoms?”
Sophia shrugged. “Honestly, not bad. I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve barely felt anything. I threw uponce, and that was after helping Jazz when she was sick. I think the scent or something got to me. I mean, my boobs feel more tender, and all of a sudden I’m cravingeverythingspicy and salty, but that’s the worst of it.”
Jenna couldn’t relate, and was frankly a little jealous. Her symptoms varied between pregnancies, but the one constant was vomiting. It was gross and humiliating, especially when she was out in public and couldn’t find a bathroom in time.
“Cherish it while you can,” Jenna advised. “It might hit you out of nowhere.” Turning to the other pregnant woman in the club, Jenna asked, “And how are you feeling, Dosia?”
“Well, right now, I’m kind of hating Sophia.” She sent Sophia an air kiss to lessen the harshness of her words.
Sophia caught the kiss and slapped her hand against her cheek with a smile.
Dosia shook her head at her friend. “In all honesty,I’mdoing fine, but Pumpkin’s still milking me getting him snipped for all it’s worth.”
The women’s laughter drew several heads.
“Ladies, what’s all the ruckus?” Jordan asked as he approached. Sitting on the wide arm of Jenna’s chair, her son leaned over Jenna to kiss her head. “Hey, Mom. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” she replied with a smile. Then she pointed to the women. “We’re discussing pregnancy symptoms. Care to stay?”
Jordan made a face. “Um,” he frantically looked around. “Oh, look, it’s, uh—what?” he suddenly said louder, standing. “Sorry, Mom, I’m being summoned. Coming!” he called out to absolutely no one in particular.
Jenna shook her head at her son’s antics. He passed his Aunt Abby on the way, pausing to give her a kiss on the cheek before continuing to answer his fake summons.
“That boy gets more handsome every time I see him,” Abby said as she pulled up a chair. The others scooted closer together to make room for her.
Abby’s arm brushed Calliope’s as she took a seat and Calliope jumped like she’d been tasered. Turning to Abby, Calliope exclaimed, “You’re pregnant!”
The entire room froze. Even the kids seemed to realize something major had caught the adults’ attention.
Realizing what she’d done, Calliope slapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, gods! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”
But Abby reached her hand forward to grab Calliope’s. “It’s fine. We were planning on making the announcement tonight, anyway.”
Louisa came rushing over. “Really? Truly?”
Abby stood to walk up to her mother-in-law. “Yeah.” The two women embraced tightly.
Jenna stood, impatiently waiting her turn to hug Abby. After everything that poor girl had been through, the horrors she’d endured for sixteen years, the unspoken truth that she’d been forced to birth two babies fathered by her rapist… Joy filled Jenna at the knowledge that Abby was finally starting to heal.
Many tears were shed as Abby was passed from person to person. It was bittersweet, and yet so heartwarming that it could only be counted as a beautiful moment. The club, even those who had not been present when Abby had returned to Bulldog, all knew her story.
