Page 12 of Expecting an Argument
“I hope you sent Mrs. Copeland an apology text on my behalf already,” I said softly. “My PSU hoodie is all that fits me right now.”
Ashley shook her head. “She wouldn’t care if you showed up to Thanksgiving wearing a potato sack, especially once she finds out about the baby.”
The back door slid open and Ashley’s daughter stomped onto the porch in her pajamas with her pink silk bonnet over her curls.
“What baby?” Kierra shouted.
I winced.
“None of your business!” Ashley scolded. “And why aren’t youdressed, young lady? We go to Granny’s in an hour!”
“No, you said there’s a baby!” Kierra crossed her arms. “I wanna know!”
Ashley had no one to blame but herself. Kierra had to inherit the gossip gene from somebody, after all.
Ashley shot me a questioning look and I nodded, giving her permission to tell. What was the harm in letting Kierra know?
“OK,” Ashley said in a quiet voice. “Aunt Livvy is having a baby.”
Kierra gasped in excitement. “She’s sick like you were with baby Tarik!”
My stomach roiled and I clamped my teeth down.
Ashley sighed and held her finger up. “Yes,butit’s a secret. We can’t be telling people.”
Kierra furrowed her brows. “But you told me kids don’t keep secrets from adults.”
Ashley bit her lip and her eyes glanced up, as if the answer were written on the blue porch ceiling. “It…it’s not a secret. It’s a surprise!”
She pointed to the shed. “Like how we aren’t telling Aunt Destinee that Daddy is making her a bookshelf for Christmas. She’ll find out when the time is right.”
Kierra nodded. “So, everyone should know about Aunt Livvy’s baby when the time is right?”
“Yes, exactly,” Ashley said. She kissed her daughter on the forehead. “Now go put on the outfit Aunt Destinee made for you.”
Once Kierra ran back into the house, Ashley let out a long sigh. “That’s the life you’re in for as a mother, just making shit up on the fly.”
I shrugged. “I’m good at that. I was a trial lawyer, after all.”
Tyson shut off his saw and the crisp November air suddenly became too quiet. My stomach turned, but not with sickness foronce.
“Ash, I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry I told you to buy Miss Kaye’s house. I’m sorry I had you sign that contract with the city and then—”
“Don’t,” Ashley said, short and clipped. “You couldn’t have known they were going to fire you.”
I closed my eyes and held my tongue against the roof of my mouth so I wouldn’t be sick. Although, I would have rather vomited my crackers all over Ashley’s porch than remember the morning when one of the partners walked into my office, said the two fateful words, and I was escorted out by armed security like a fucking criminal. The bankers boxes with all the shit from my office were still stacked in my backseat, but I was finally coming out of denial that my career, my insurance, and my $2.9 million were gone.
“Your law license is still good, right?” Ashley said with an optimistic lilt. “Why work for some assholes in thousand-dollar suits when you can open up your own firm?”
I shrugged. “Opening my own firm would mean a lot of upfront costs—money I don’t have. Right now, my best option is working from my apartment and taking on contract work from other firms—you know, like reviewing documents and writing briefs. Might not be enough to pay all my bills and it wouldn’t come with insurance, but I’ll just have to try.”
Ashley glanced at my belly. “You could tell the other lawyers you’re pregnant. They’d feel bad for you and want to help you out!”
I snorted a laugh. “City lawyers don’t feel bad for anyone. If they can’t use you, they want to destroy you.”
Ashley pulled her seltzer from her lips. “Jesus, Liv. How you survived three years in that hellscape is beyond me.”
Late-night happy hours every week and meaningless sex with strangers—that’s how I survived it.
