Unless he caught on to Embry’s swear jar. Me, I was careful and rarely said a bad word, so I got to keep my money, but the others would go broke—just as they did with Embry.
“He’s in the shower. I’ll have him call you first thing in the morning, okay?”
“Okay. Love you, here’s Auntie Ruby. Night, Mom.”
“Night, baby. Love you too.”
That got me another nose scrunch. “I’m not a baby, I’m a big boy.”
Holding the laugh inside so he didn’t see, I said, “Sorry. Of course you are a big boy.”
That must have satisfied him because the next thing I knew, Ruby was on the line, laughing into the phone. “He sure told you,” she teased.
“I guess so. He’s getting way too big.” My baby was growing up. “Why does time have to go so fast? It feels like just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant.”
Pregnant.
My heart began to race, and I bolted up in bed.
“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked. “You look like you're about to jump out of your skin.”
I got out of bed and started to pace, the phone in my hand as I stared at Ruby—Jett’s sister. What did I say to her?
“Patience, you’re freaking me out. Talk to me.”
She was Jett’s sister, but she was my friend and my sister-in-law. I could talk to her, right? I had to before I freaked the heck out more than I already was.
“I just realized I missed my period,” I blurted out.
Now Ruby was just staring at me. “Say something,” I told her. “You asked me to talk to you, so help.”
She shook her head before seeming to get control of her thoughts.Good thing one of us has it together.
“How far past your period are you?”
I had to think about it. “Almost two weeks. How could I have not known before now?”
“Honey, you’ve had a lot going on.”
“That’s true. Things have been so crazy with the attack, Dusty visiting, the custody battle, making love for the first time to the man I’d been waiting for forever, and the trip we decided to take.”
Ruby smiled. “I don’t want any details, but I guess the making love part is why you might be pregnant. But give yourself a break about not realizing it with everything that’s happening to you right now.”
“You don’t understand. We used a condom every time!” I practically screeched.
Good thing the shower is still on.
She just gave me a look. No words were necessary for me to know what she was thinking.
“How could this happen again?” I started backpedaling. “No, maybe it’s just the stress of everything and once I calm down, it will start.”
Again, Ruby just watched me, letting me work through this in my head for a minute.
“Crap. It happened again.” I’d stopped pacing, but now I was at it again. “I’m late, tired, my breasts are tender, and while I haven’t thrown up, I have been a bit queasy for the last couple of days.”
Ruby gave me a sympathetic look. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know that?” I asked in a skeptical tone.
