Page 133 of Pretend You Love Me

“Really? James said that?”

“Yes. I was afraid to tell him.” She’s looking at me now, her eyes soft and caring. “We worked through it – together.”

“Kip and I have never talked about children and I just...” I let my voice trail off. I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say.

Elizabeth squeezes my hand. “Whatever happens, you have a huge support system.”

“That’s right,” Zadie adds. “Whatever you need. You can do this with or without him.”

I feel a tear fall from the corner of my eye. As I’m wiping it away, I say, “I seem to be doing a lot of crying these days.”

Elizabeth laughs. “I remember crying at a cat food commercial when I was pregnant.”

“Really?” Zadie says with a laugh.

“Yeah. it wasn’t even sad. It was just so cute that I started crying.” Elizabeth shakes her head, and we’re all laughing.

“Can I make you anything to eat? Anything sound good?” Zadie says.

“Just cookies apparently.”

“I can make you more,” she says with a smile.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kip

The snow is falling again as we walk back toward the house. Brooklyn’s already gone inside. I saw her talking to the President briefly before she disappeared into the house. Neither of them looked particularly happy. Brooklyn disappeared into a room with Zadie and Elizabeth. I think they are wrapping gifts or something. When she emerged, she looked a little happier.

I keep my eyes glued on her the whole afternoon. I’m sure it’s annoying her, but I feel like if I let her out of my sight, something bad is going to happen. I rub the back of my neck. Something’s wrong. I know something’s wrong. What if she’s really sick?

I watch her like a hawk during dinner again. She nibbles on a roll and pushes the rest of the food around her plate. Maybe she’s not eating because I’m here? Maybe I’m upsetting her so much she can’t eat?

“You okay?” Declan whispers beside me. I guess I’m brooding.

“I’m just worried about her.” My eyes are locked on her, and he cuts his eyes over her direction.

“She’s going to be okay.”

I pick up my glass of wine and take a long drink.

“Guess what?” Juno says loudly. Everyone stops talking and looks at her. “We’re snowed in. You know what that means?”

“Christmas Lava!” Keene says. There’s some groans and a few cheers. I’m looking around confused.

“It’s this ridiculous drinking game we play whenever we get snowed in at Christmas. It’s like part floor is lava and part trivia,” Eli says to me.

“Sounds weird,” I reply.

“It is,” Maggie says, shaking her head.

Everyone scrambles to clean up from dinner. Elizabeth and James put Vivi to bed while Zadie and Olivia feed their babies and settle them down for the night.

“Are we ever going to do this?” Juno groans. She’s holding a bunch of straws and nudging it in my direction. I pull one out. It’s long.

She walks around, so the others can draw straws.

“I guess we should explain the rules,” Eli says, examining his straw.