Page 49 of Accidentally in Love

“I need to move out.”

“Oh. Okay. Everything okay with the place?”

“Oh, it’s been great. I love the place, but I’m pregnant, and my fiancé moved me into his house. It’s too small for the baby and me.”

“Congratulations! We totally understand.”

“My little sister Gemma might be interested in the place. Can I give her your number?”

“Of course! That makes it easier for me. Why don’t you give me her number, and we’ll talk, okay?”

I rattled off my sister’s number to him and then hung up. That was done, now to do everything else on my list. It was going to be a long morning.

I didn’t feel like grading papers or working on my lesson plans. Instead, I got the mixing bowl out and started making the dough for chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. When Gem and I brought my stuff over yesterday, the first thing we did before she left was unpack my food, more importantly, my cookie ingredients. Nolan putting up lights on his house and decorating a Christmas tree to surprise me meant a lot to me. He knew I loved Christmas, and it was a sweet gesture. I never pressured him, but I knew there was a reason he was such a Grinch. Maybe he would confide in me what that was now that I would be his wife.

The box upstairs had the recipes I used for my Christmas cookies, but I knew them by heart. They had been handed down to my mom from my grandmother, and when I had been old enough, my mom did the same with me. They weren’t anything special, but mom always prided herself on taking the time to make her Christmas cookies from scratch. It was important to me to continue the tradition.

I looked down at the growing bump on my belly and thought about how this meant I could pass that on to another generation. Happy tears pricked my eyes that I was finally getting what I wanted.

I mixed butter, peanut butter, white and brown sugar into a bowl and hand-stirred it until my hand felt like it would fall off. This was my favorite recipe to make, but it was also a pain because the peanut butter was so sticky and could be tough to mix. The pain was worth it for the delicious outcome. I added the vanilla extract and milk, stirred it up, then added the salt and flour.

I was dumping in the chocolate chips to finish when my phone buzzed on the counter. I saw Lizzie’s name across my phone screen and swore under my breath. I hadn’t intentionally kept my pregnancy a secret from her, but I had been blowing her off because of it. At the tree lighting ceremony, I was glad Nolan walked over when he did because she had been bugging me. She hadn’t seen me in a while. I felt like a shitty friend, but the first trimester had been awful. I was sick all the time, tired, and annoyed with everyone.

I lifted the phone to my ear and tilted my head to press it against my shoulder while I finished mixing the cookie dough. “Hey!”

“Hey, you! Are you mad at me or something?” she asked.

I sighed. “No.”

“Girl, what’s up? I need some adult attention right now. Wyatt’s taking the kids to his dad’s so ‘mommy can have some alone time.’ I need a Sunday Funday day-drinking session with you.”

I sighed again. “I can’t.”

“Oh, bummer. Raincheck?”

“Hang on a sec,” I said and set my phone down.

I finished stirring the cookie dough and covered it with plastic wrap. I put it in the fridge to chill and then washed my hands. I picked my phone back up. “Sorry, you caught me in the middle of making dough. I can hang out, but…”

“But what?”

“I can’t drink.”

“Oh. Okay. Wait… why?”

I sighed and cringed before I answered. “Because I’m pregnant.”

“What?” she shrieked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

I laughed. “Maybe you should come over. I have a lot to tell you.”

“Um, yes, you do! I’ll bring bagels from the coffee shop.”

“Oh my god, I love you. Can you get me a French toast bagel if they have it? With the apple cinnamon raisin cream cheese.”

“On it!”

“Wait!” I stopped her before she hung up on me. “Come to Nolan’s.”