“Skylar, what - ”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence before Skylar ripped the photos off the corkboard and ripped them up. He threw the pieces in the trash.
“There,” he said decisively. “Now you don’t have to think about him any more.”
“Sky, what did you do that for?” I cried, leaping to my feet.
“Huh?” Skylar sounded shocked. He started sputtering when I grabbed the loose pieces from the trash. “Jake, he literally justranout on you!”
I bit my lip. He was right, but that didn’t stop me from collecting all the pieces.
“Jake, no,” he stated. “Don’t pick them up. It’s only going to make getting over him worse.”
I shot up to face him. “Skylar, I don’t know if you remember this part, but I could be pregnant with his baby. Okay?Pregnant!”
Skylar paused, a grim shadow falling over his face. He crossed his arms.
“What are you going to do, Jake?” he asked seriously. “Let’s say Griffin doesn’t come back. Are you gonna keep the baby?”
“Yes,” I said automatically.
His eyes widened in surprise, but he kept going. “And if he doesn’t return - ever - are you gonna parent that child all by yourself?”
“If I have to, yes.”
After a moment, Skylar’s arms unfolded and his expression softened. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, Sky,” I confirmed. “I do want this baby. I’ve known that since I threw out the morning-after pills.”
“But…” Skylar looked at a loss for words. “What happened? The entire time I’ve known you, you’ve been vehemently anti-baby!”
I didn’t even feel like correcting him this time. “I don’t know, okay? That’s my honest answer. Something happened between then and now - ”
“Meeting Griffin?” Skylar said his name like it was poison.
“Yeah.” I raised my hands in exasperation. “I can’t explain it.”
The door creaked. Skylar and I glanced over to see Lilith sauntering in with her huge belly low to the floor and her tail raised high with pride. She sat a few feet from us, blinking back and forth, like she was wondering why we were in my bedroom instead of interacting with her.
“Oh,” Skylar said simply. “I see.”
“What?”
He pointed to Lilith. “You got emotional, didn’t you?”
“What?” I snarled, swiping his finger away.
Skylar pointedly raised an eyebrow. “Lilith being pregnant, and so close to delivering, affected you. Am I wrong?”
I glared at the cat, who blinked innocently at me.
“No,” I said, knowing it was a lie.
“Jake…”
“Maybe. If it did, why does it matter?” I growled. “I’m allowed to change my mind about stuff.”
“I know,” Skylar said gently. “It’s just a big decision, and I don’t want you to rush into anything.”
“I’m not,” I stated. “I want to keep this baby, Sky. That’s not up for debate.”
My friend watched me, examining my face like he was running an interrogation. Finally, he smiled. “Okay. If you’re keeping it, then I’ll do everything I can to help. Even if that asshole Griffin never shows up again.”
I exhaled with relief and threw my arms around Skylar. “You are literally the best, Sky.”
He hugged me back. “I know. Now, come on. Let’s get this ads done so we don’t have a human babyanda bunch of kittens running around.”
