I turned the knob on my door and waited with bated breath.
Faint snores emanated from her room.
Thank goodness. She needed her rest. And I needed mine if I was going to survive an afternoon with her and the Vacation Vixens. But then, I could see my boyfriend.
I went into my room, freezing at the harsh shadow of an unfamiliar shape where Kat’s bed used to be. I flicked on the lights and suppressed a scream at the sight of my cute little meringue plushie behind wooden bars. I rushed to rescue my bear.
It’d been put in a crib.
The crib for the baby.
And for some horrible reason, they’d put the crib in withme.
Chapter sixteen
Crybaby
There was no way I could sleep facing that crib. This had to be a mistake. A delivery person must’ve misheard which door to go through. Or Jen was clearing a path through her laundry before it could be moved. Surely, I wasn’t on night duty for the baby. And Mom already knew this plushie was for me. Was it put in the crib for staging? Or were Jen and I switching rooms entirely?
I rushed to do inventory of my things. I was missing a few hoodies. Nothing I couldn’t reclaim from her room. Unless it was mine now? What was I supposed to do?
I hugged the plush and laid down, tossing and turning.
The second Jen’s door creaked open, I shot into the hallway to greet her. She jumped at my appearance. But she couldn’t be mad—quiet hours had already been breached.
“Good morning,” I said, smiling with clenched teeth.
She furrowed her brow. “Why are you so chipper?”
“I couldn’t help but notice you started to put things together for the baby.”In my room.My cheek twitched.
“Oh, yeah. Special delivery.” She shuffled toward the bathroom.
I ran my fingers through my messy hair. “So, um, just wondering why you assembled the crib in my room. Seems like it’d be hard to move.”
She gave me a funny look, her nose scrunched up, like I was offending her with my ignorance this early in the morning. “That’s the only place it fit.”
“I’m sure we can find another spot for it. Let me grab the measuring tape and—”
“What do you want me to do? Put the baby in the living room?” She scowled, waddling past me in a hurry.
“No, but it shouldn’t be in with me,” I said.
She shut the bathroom door in my face, the shock reverberating through the hallway.
“Jen?” I knocked with growing urgency.
Mom cracked open the master bedroom door and squinted at me. “Just use the downstairs bathroom, honey.”
“I’m trying to ask Jen something.”
“Can it wait until we’ve had some coffee?” Mom suggested with a weak smile.
Dad grumbled behind her.
“It’s fine, sweetie,” she told him. “They’re not fighting.”
No, we weren’t fightingyet.
