9
AVA REYNOLDS
Ihad been reluctantly anticipating Thanksgiving dinner all week. It had been hard enough being around him before. But after all the awful things he’d said to me about the baby, sitting in the same room with him felt like swallowing glass. He didn’t look at me the way he used to. There were no flirtatious little stares, or inappropriate comments. If we spoke at all, it was just enough to keep anybody from clocking the animosity between us; a “yes”, “no”, or passing one another something. Nothing more.
That hurt worse than I wanted it to. I hated it. I hated how much it hurt. I hated how much my body still remembered him anyway.
I sat on the edge of the sectional pretending to pay attention to whatever Livia was saying while my mind kept drifting. Aria was in the corner trying to keep up with all her babies. Rhythm was laughing at something Sincere had said. Zahra had her swollen feet up while Saint kept checking on her every five minutes. Everywhere I looked, there was marriage, softness, family rhythm, and men who moved like home for their women.
Then there was me, pregnant by a man who could barely look at me now.
I couldn’t take too much more of it, so when nobody was paying attention, I got up and slipped into the pantry off the kitchen like I was just looking for something, just to breathe for a second.
The second the door shut behind me, I leaned against the shelf and let out a slow breath.
A few seconds later, Zahra came in behind me. “You okay?” she asked, already knowing I wasn’t.
I laughed without humor. “No.”
She shut the door and rubbed her huge belly.
I looked away. “I’m just tired of being pregnant and pretending I’m not. Tired of seeing him in the same room with me acting like I’m some stranger. Tired of trying to figure out how the hell I’m supposed to tell everybody without everything blowing up even worse.”
Zahra’s face softened. “You’re five months. It’s going to come out, Ava.”
“I know.” I cringed. “I know, but every time I think about the baby and telling him—”
The pantry door flew open so hard it banged the wall. Saint stood there looking heated. My whole body froze.
He looked from me to Zahra and back again. “You’re five months pregnant?”
Nobody said anything.
His eyes narrowed. “I know what the fuck I just heard. You pregnant, Ava?” He stepped farther in. “What the fuck is going on? Some nigga in Thailand got you pregnant?”
“No,” I blurted.
He glared at me. “Then what’s going on?”
I was already emotional, cornered, and embarrassed. So, the truth came out before I could stop it. “It’s Reek’s.”
Saint went completely still. The silence in that pantry felt violent.
Then he exploded. “Reek?!” he barked.
My stomach dropped. “Saint, please—”
But he was already gone. He stormed down the hall so fast I had to run behind him, as panic shot through me.
“Saint!” I hissed. “Please calm down! Don’t say anything!”
Behind me, Zahra tried to keep up, but she was too pregnant and too slow. “Saint!” she called. “Stop!”
But he didn’t. By the time I caught up to him, he was already in the den fuming. The room quieted the second he walked in looking like that.
Then he looked right at Reek and snapped, “So, you got Ava pregnant?”
The whole damn room froze.
