“So what went down at home?” Jay asked.
“Mom was in the middle of a lesson in making baby food so we don’t buy processed crap, her words not mine, and they walked in.”
“You’re already having lessons on making baby food?” Jay asked her. “I feel like I should be in on that.”
“Why?”
She didn’t ask to be rude or hurt him. It was a genuine question. Jay could see that, but it still annoyed him. He wasn’t allowing her to shut him out of any part of this.
“Because I want to be able to feed the baby what you do,” he said patiently.
She studied him, eyes intent as they ran over his face. He withstood it and waited for what would come out of her mouth next.
Everything between them was different now, and not just because of the baby. He knew this woman as intimately as she knew him. That changed things.
“It’s like you’re two different men,” she finally said. “The scruffy look you have when you’re in Lyntacky?—”
“Not always scruffy. I tidy up occasionally,” he protested.
“And the businessman I saw step out of that Escalade with a briefcase. I wonder which one is the real Jay Haddon,” she said.
“Both. I live two lives, and they’re completely different.” He’d been more honest with her than he had with anyone else, and now he thought that was important. “We’re going to get through this, Blue. Together,” he added.
She nodded.
“Are you getting morning sickness? Because you must be close to your second trimester now. The first one is the important one. Did you know that about 95 percent of their core development happens in the first three months? Things should settle down for you in the second one?—”
“Have you been reading up on pregnancy, Jay?” She had a small smile on her lips.
“Just because I can’t carry a baby doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s going on.”
“Good. Because I’ve read books, too, and nothing is sticking at the moment, which is likely because I’m freaking out—and the hormones thing.”
“Ask me anything,” he said dryly, tapping his forehead. “It’s all in here. One of my strengths is that I don’t forget things.”
“Nothing at all?”
He shook his head.
“What did you get for your fifth birthday?” she teased him.
“Nothing.” He didn’t say it for effect. It was just the truth.
“No party or presents?”
He shook his head.
“Ever?”
“It’s okay, Blue. The Dukes made up for it when they came into my life.”
“I’m sorry.”
She patted the hand he had on his thigh. Jay turned it over and slid her fingers between his.
“So exactly what did your parents say when you told them?” Jay asked.
“You know my parents, right? Not much makes them angry except pesticides that aren’t organic, and people who murder animals to feed themselves. Okay,” she then added, “there’s the recycling and waste thing, and I’ll tell you right now, Jay, you do not want to get into that with them.”
