Page 19 of Unplanned
“Nico. You have to tell me.”
“That will ruin the surprise!”’
I sigh. “Fine. But generally, people wait until the second trimester to announce that a baby is on the way. Just in case of, you know, bad news. It’s good to wait, in case of miscarriage.”
Judging by the look on his face, my sweet Nico had not thought that that was a possibility. Bless his heart.
“Okay,” he says, looking like he just got the wind knocked out of him. “You’re right. We should wait. Shit, I’m sorry, Becca. I just got so excited.”
And I love him for that.
This right here, this is how I know I’m with the right person.
Whether or not we have a piece of paper that says we’re married. He’s mine. I’m his. That’s that.
The next day at work, I wait until lunchtime to break the news to my boss. Or tell her the good news, depending on how you look at it.
“Leela, can I talk to you for a minute?” I say, knocking on her office door.
She looks up from her research and waves me in, looking slightly frazzled. “Have a seat, I’m just making a list of names for Angie to call and schedule depositions for the Murphy case.”
“This won’t take long,” I reply, hovering in front of her desk.
“Oh shit, you’re not quitting, are you?”
“No, no. Not quitting.”
“Thank god,” she says, pushing back from her desk and taking a long drink from her water tumbler. “Hey. Are you still sick? You look a little pale,” she asks, her face concerned.
I shake my head. “No. But I wanted to let you know I’ll be right back to work the weekend after the 26th.”
Her mouth is about to form a question, but I keep going. “In fact, if you want me to come in that weekend of the 26th, just say the word, and I’ll be here.”
Leela leans forward and studies me like a specimen. Or a lunatic. Obviously, she hasn’t heard. If this law firm were in Songbird Ridge and not Black Mountain, North Carolina, she’d have heard within five minutes.
“And…your wedding?” She braces herself.
“Cancelled.”
Her face falls. “Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s fine.”
“Babe, you look like you’re going to faint. Sit down.”
I do as she says and feel like I’m under a microscope with the way she’s staring at me.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Talking to my boss about my personal family drama is about the last thing I want to do. But I do it anyway. Leela has an almost supernatural ability to extract information from people. Probably what makes her an excellent lawyer.
I tell her everything, including the drama over the dress, all the wedding details, the disagreement with Mama. I tell her about the fight at the dress fitting and how everything came to a head when the dress she wanted me to wear didn’t fit. And then I tell her we’ve decided to wait to get married until after the baby is born.
“I’m sorry, did you say ‘baby’?”
I nod. “So, whenever you need me, I’ll be here. I am a wage earner, not a salaried employee, so if you got overtime, put me in for it. We’re going to need the money.”
Leela leans back in her chair and stares at me for a minute. “What about the two-week cruise vacation?”
