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“Really?” Jazz hadn’t known that.
“You were so busy studying for finals, I didn’t want to distract you.” Winter shrugged. “It fucking sucked and I cried a lot. I still do sometimes, but this is Will’s calling. This is who he is.Our men are firefighters, Jazz.”
“Tell me I can handle this.”
Winter smiled. “You can handle anything. You’re one of the strongest women I know.”
“The fear of losing Leo…” Her throat tightened at the grim possibility. “What about when we have kids?”
“They’ll be just as proud and supportive of their dad as you are,” Winter answered without an ounce of hesitation. “You love that man?”
“Yes.” She nodded firmly.
“Then love him for as long as you can.”
“Girls?” Her dad’s voice startled the two women on the couch. “The door was open a cra—ah!”
“I’m here, JJ,” her mom announced, pushing aside her husband to drop down in front of Jazz with her medical bag flipped open.
She winced at the bright light her mom was shining into her eyes. “Jesus, mom.”
“Don’t you Jesus me,” Victoria snapped, before moving the light back into her face. “Follow the light.”
She went along with it, knowing her mom wasn’t going to let it go until she was satisfied.
“Have you had panic attacks before?” Victoria questioned.
“No.”
“Just the nausea and tightness of the chest? Any tingling in your fingers or trouble breathing?” Victoria had a stethoscope out before Jazz could even formulate an answer.
“When was the last time she ate, Winter?” her dad asked her old roommate.
“I have no idea, but whatever she did eat, came up earlier.”
“Do you have any crackers?” Her mom nodded toward the kitchen, indicating that Winter needed to get up and check. When she looked back at Jazz, it was with an assessing eye. “Is there any chance you’re pregnant?”
Her father’s jaw dropped open. “If she is, we’re having a wedding sooner rather than later!”
“Whoa!” Jazz held up her hands, wondering how the hell things had spiraled from panic attack to pregnancy in a matter of seconds.
“Oh, my God, Jazz!” Winter stood in the doorway clutching a box of crackers as though they were a life raft, and she was on a sinking ship. “You’re pregnant?!”
“No!” Jazz said, waving her hands and shaking her head as her dad and bestie started babbling about babies. When neither one paid her much attention, she narrowed her eyes on her mom. “Do you see what you’ve done?”
“It was a reasonable question!” Victoria snapped, closing her medical bag with a snick. “I try to ignore the way Leo looks at you but I’m not blind. If you’re not pregnant now, I’d suggest using more than one form of birth control just to be safe. That man is virile with a capital V.”
“Mom!” she gasped, trying not to laugh at the look of absolute horror her dad had on his face.
“What?” Victoria shrugged. “It was just an observation.”
Reggie turned and walked back into the kitchen.
Chapter 30
The next morning…
“I’m going to miss this place.”
