Page 29 of The Best Friend Problem
“You. Wouldn’t. Dare.” Her roommate snapped upright, gathering her cherished locks in her hands. “And anyway, I was just trying to lighten the mood. This is a good thing, Pru.”
“How?” She sat up, staring at her friend. “How is this a good thing? Finn doesn’t want kids. He’s never wanted kids. He’s always said so. How is he going to be happy about this?”
“Because you’re happy.” A smile warmed Mo’s face as she reached out to grasp Pru’s hand. “You two are friends, and friends are always happy if one of them gets their heart’s desire. Think of how happy it will make Finn to know he gave you what you wanted most.”
She really wished she could look on the bright side of this like Mo, but the woman was an eternal optimist. She never saw the downside to anything.
“While he might not be as delighted as Mo might assume,” Lilly said, gripping Pru’s other hand, “I do agree that Finn will be happy for you. I know we are.”
A sheen of moisture blurred her vision. Hormones already? No. Just amazing friends. She blinked back tears, so ridiculously grateful she had these two in her life.
“But he never wanted to be a father.”
“And he won’t be.” Lilly nodded. “You wanted to be a mom and you’re willing to do it alone. Why should that change?”
Why indeed? There was nothing saying she and Finn had to get married or anything. It wasn’t medieval times.
“But what if he thinks I tricked him? I mean, to get pregnant.”
Both women laughed. She didn’t find it funny. It was a legitimate concern.
“Pru, honey.” Mo patted her hand. “You are a terrible liar. You couldn’t trick a cat into a paper bag.”
Hey! She could, too. Probably. Maybe. If there was catnip in there, she was sure the furry beast would go in.
“Did you tell him you were on the pill?”
She shook her head at Lilly’s question. “No.”
“Did he mention anything about condoms or protection of any sort?”
Another shake. “We, um, had a few shots at the bar and kind of got so wrapped up in…things, I guess it just slipped both of our minds. To be honest, I didn’t even realize we forgot the condom until today. When I found out. I guess drinking like we were twenty-one-year-olds on spring break wasn’t the best decision.”
Mo whistled. “Bad decisions make great stories.”
Fantastic, she could tell her future child they were a drunken mistake. That wasn’t how she planned this to go. The idea had been to sit them down one day and explain how she wanted them so much she carefully selected their donor, not got drunk and jumped her best friend.
“You were both drunk, you both forgot protection.” Lilly squeezed her hand. “So, no one trapped anybody. And Finn wouldn’t think that anyway, sweetie. You know he wouldn’t.”
True. The errant thought must have come from her panic or shock. Finn knew her better than anyone. He’d know this was as much of a shock to her as it would be to him. Once she finally told him.
Oh crap, how the hell was she going to tell Finn?
“I have to tell him.”
“Duh.”
She glared at Mo, who held up a hand in surrender. “Sorry, just pointing out that this would be too big a secret to keep. Secrets are like cancer—they spread, infecting every ounce of goodness and light in a person. They’re evil.”
It wasn’t like she could keep a secret from Finn anyway. She never could. And certainly not one this big.
“I should text him, find out when he’s off shift.”
Because there was no way in hell she would drop this bomb on him at work. She wasn’t a monster. They needed to talk about this. Really talk, without his fellow firefighters present or the risk of him getting a call and running off to an emergency.
She had no idea what they were going to do. She wanted to be a mom and Finn had never shown any burning desire to be a dad, so maybe this would work. She could carry on her plan of single motherhood like always, just with a donor she was familiar with.
Much more familiar with.
