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I exhale a long breath. "Can't. I'm pregnant. River and I were actively trying to conceive when all of this happened."
Sav sets the bottle down. "Holy shit. Okay. Back the train up."
"I'll tell you the whole story when we sit down. Go ahead and pour yourself a glass."
Sav gives me a rueful smile. "I actually can't have any either. Cole and I are waiting to tell people, but I'm pregnant too." She winces. "Sorry, was I raining on your parade?"
"No way," I say, shaking my head. "Any good news is more than welcome right now. And that means that my baby will know its best friend from birth!"
Sav squeals and hugs me. "Besties from birth!"
I smile, but my happiness feels like it's weighed down with a ship's anchor. There is nothing buoyant in me today.
"Well, I'll have the bottle, then," Birdie says crisply. "It's been that kind of week, you know?"
"I do, unfortunately,” I sigh.
"Let's get comfortable by the bay window and talk it out," Sav suggests. "When you said River and the word betrayed, my stomach turned sour."
She pours us a couple of fuchsia-colored herbal iced teas and we all settle into the couch beneath the big bay window in Sav's living room with our drinks.
I nervously pick at my skirt. "Since I'm dumb enough to tell someone I barely know my problems, I told him at your engagement party that my family was struggling to pay property taxes on the land." I pull a face. "Looking back, it must have driven River wild knowing that all he had to do was sweet talk me into asking him for help."
Birdie cocks her head. "Why would you ask him for help? I know his family has money, but..."
I nod. "He's the CEO of a real estate firm.”
Birdie sucks in a breath and wrinkles up her face. "That's really awful."
"Yes." I hesitate. “At least I didn’t let him get me pregnant. We were, you know, trying.”
Birdie chokes on her glass of wine. There is a minute of Sav pounding on her back and Birdie coughing loudly before they settle back. Then the attention is all on me.
"How could you think that was a good idea, Pearl?" Sav scolds me gently. "It sounds like a plan destined to end up with broken hearts."
I shrug my shoulders. "Well, hormones might have played a part. River suggested this plan, and all I had to do was say yes to it and I would get guaranteed orgasms. It seemed like a no brainer.”
Birdie groans. "I know that feeling.”
"I have to admit that did play a big role in my secret hookups with Cole. He does this thing with his tongue..." Sav says, staring off. After a second, she shakes herself. "What were we talking about?"
"About how River betrayed Pearl, I think," Birdie supplies.
"The thing is, I knew that River wasn't husband material. I kept trying to remind myself of that. We were supposed to each get what we needed from one another and get out." My lips twist. "I feel like such an idiot."
Birdie makes a sympathetic expression. "We all make mistakes where guys are concerned. I mean, I ended up with Dex in almost the same way. I was just snowed by his dickhole of a father."
I wince. "I just knew that River would let me down eventually. Men always disappoint me in the end. But I was like... hypnotized. Dick-matized."
Sav balls up her mouth. "And you fell for him too, it sounds like."
Nodding, I feel my face heat. "Yep. I made some really stupid ass decisions this time."
Birdie rubs my knee. "Well, you came to the right single mom. Let's make a plan. I can tell you the main things you need to be worried about and we can go from there."
Tears prick the corner of my eyes. I thought I was all cried out, but apparently not. I look between the sisters. "Can I have a hug?" I croak.
Before I know it, I am being hugged from both sides.
