Page 7 of The Last Thing (Baker Girls #4)

CHAPTER SEVEN

HALLIE

Frannie’s apartment is right on the downtown strip in Ida, overlooking the river, and when I pull to a stop in one of the spots in front of her building, I pause to look around.

Is this my home?

Is this where I’m supposed to be?

I don’t know, but at least Frannie’s here, and that’s a start.

I’ll have to come back out and put the top on my Wrangler later, but for now, I’m going inside to see my sister.

Frannie throws the door at the top of the stairs open before I’ve made it halfway up.

“You’re here!”

“Is there an elevator?” I tease.

“Mark wants to put one in, but he hasn’t figured out how. He’s tired of lugging his stuff up and down two flights of stairs. But we’d have to cut into your apartment to do it.”

I stop when she says that. My apartment. And I knew that, but something about it really hits. I’m moving here.

We’re moving here. I may not technically count as two people yet, but it won’t be long until I do.

I hurry up the rest of the stairs, then throw my arms around my sister.

She hugs me back tightly, closes the door behind me and locks it, then leads me over to the actual entrance to their apartment.

The last time I was here they were still unpacking, but this time everything is laid out and absolutely beautiful.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“Thank you. I love how it turned out.”

The whole living area is charming and open, with a huge row of windows on the back wall where the kitchen is.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she squeals. “I know you’ve seen your new apartment since it used to be mine, but I’m so excited to show it to you again.” She pulls me in for another hug, then lets me go, putting her hands on my shoulders. “But first, how are you? Are you okay?”

Well, no point in lying about it.

“I’m pregnant.”

Frannie goes as still as a statue.

“You. What? Who? How? Hallie!”

“Great sentences.”

She smacks my arm. “You just dropped a bomb on me. Words are hard.”

I deflate a little. “Yeah. I know the feeling.”

Grabbing me by the arm, she drags me over to the couch and plops me down onto it before sitting down beside me.

“When did this happen? And who’s the father?”

“The day we all went to the Metros game. And the father is a guy.”

“That is usually how babies are made.”

“I met this guy at McGill’s, and we had this whirlwind night. It was all sexy and fun. We went to a carnival, he made me come on the Ferris wheel, then we went back to my place and fucked like rabbits. Now here I am.”

“Well, have you contacted him? If he tries to skip out on you, Mark and the boys will hunt him down. Then Kend and I will cut off his di?—”

I hold up my hand. “Oh my god. As much as I appreciate the sentiment, we didn’t exchange contact info or even last names. The name he gave me might’ve been fake. And I told him my name was Honey Badger or Hannah Banana. He decided to call me Hells Bells.”

Frannie laughs. “That actually tracks.”

“Anyway, other than a baby, the only souvenir I have from that night is a stuffed rabbit named Veranda.”

“Why?”

“It was a whole thing.” I wave my hand. “But unless I want to reverse image search the photo Justin took of him and hope I find a social media post of him looking pensive with the caption ‘thinking of my hot hookup’ I don’t think I’ll be finding this guy again.”

“Wow, if this wasn’t so insane, this might actually be romantic. Or be a romance in the making.”

“Mm.” All my playfulness wanes as my stomach sours.

Frannie runs her hand down my arm. “Hal?”

“Nauseous.” I groan. So far, this has been the worst part. I’ve always hated throwing up.

There’s a knock on her door right as I clutch my stomach.

“Go to the bathroom, I’ll be there in a second.”

I run down the hall as she answers the door. I don’t overhear any of the conversation because I’m too busy violently puking.

The front door closes again right as I’m rinsing my mouth out, so rather than wait for her, I make my way back to the living room, exhausted. Apparently, puking sucks the energy right out of you. That and growing a human.

“Who was that?” I ask as I sit down in the corner of her couch and grab a blanket.

She sits down next to me. “Oh, that was Wilson. The guy who lives downstairs and needs a nanny. He was going to say hello to you, but he and his daughter were heading to his mom’s for the day.”

“Probably for the better. I can meet him in the morning after I’ve had some sleep. And hopefully haven’t thrown up yet.”

“Are you going to tell him you’re pregnant?”

“That’s my plan. I know it’s early, but I figure…

I’m good at being a nanny and there’s no reason I can’t keep doing it after I have a baby.

Yeah, I’ll need a bit of a break, but even then, I could still keep an eye on his daughter, even if I’m not cooking and cleaning and stuff.

It’s sort of the best of both worlds because I’ll still get to have my baby with me.

Being right across the hall will make it easy.

So yeah. I’d rather be up front with him because obviously I’m keeping the baby and if he’s not comfortable with that potential distraction slash complication in my life, then it’s better to handle it right away. ”

“Look at you being mature. I’m so proud.”

“Yes, getting knocked up by a stranger I spent one night with and only exchanged nicknames with is my proudest moment.”

She sighs and pulls me into her arms. “I really missed you.”

I squeeze her back as tight as I can. “I missed you too.”

“So you’re really planning on staying in Ida? For good?”

I try to sigh, but I can’t. “Yeah. I think you’re stuck with me. I want to be with my family. I know you won’t always be here, but a good chunk of the time I’ll have you. More than in the city. And Justin’s close too. Think we can get Kennedy to move here?”

“I don’t think she has any intention of letting Devon or Brighton go.”

“Lame. But whatever. She did her soul searching. Now it’s time for me to grow up. Nothing like seeing an ultrasound of your baby to do that.”

“You have an ultrasound?” she squeals.

“Yeah. Hold on.” I pull it from my purse, then turn back to her. “What?”

“Have you told Kennedy?”

“No. Why—oh.”

“She’s going to be so mad if you wait longer than thirty minutes after telling me. You need to call her now.”

“Mm. Better idea.” I grab my phone, select video call, then hold the ultrasound in front of the camera as Frannie squeaks with excitement next to me.

When the call connects and Kennedy’s face appears—her short brown hair longer than when I saw her last—her eyes instantly go wide.

“Hallie—who’s calling me—not Frannie. Hallie? You’re—are you? Hallie!”

I laugh and switch the camera around so she can see Frannie and me.

“Hi.”

“You’re pregnant? Who and how?”

“I had sex with a guy.”

Her nostrils flare. “I know how babies are made!”

“Then why does everyone keep asking me how ?”

“I’m not wondering how pregnancy happened. I’m wondering how you, in particular, ended up pregnant.”

“Had a hot as fuck one-night stand and he left me with a goodbye present.”

Kennedy’s face softens, and I spill the whole story before she can give me pity eyes.

“Wow. Well, you always wanted to be a mom,” Kennedy says.

Frannie bumps her arm against mine. “You did. I remember you stuffing pillows under your shirt and pretending to give birth.”

I swipe a hand over my face as I laugh.

“You’re going to be amazing,” Kennedy says.

And there are those stupid tears again. I’m not the crier in my family or this friend group.

“I wish you were here.”

“So do I. I don’t care that it’s only been a couple of months. We need another Baker girls reunion.”

“Yes, we do,” Frannie says.

“At least you two are together, so I only have to make it to one stop to see you both. And Justin too. Let’s get everyone to Ida, then Dev and I can visit a few times a year and see you all.”

I let out a sigh, surprised over the words about to leave my mouth. “That sounds amazing.”

The apartment I’m living in is beautiful. Like Frannie’s, it overlooks the river, and there’s a little bench seat next to one of the windows. It’s where I’ve been living for the last two hours, intermittently reading books and snacking.

I’ve found a few more foods that settle well.

Mostly potatoes. Microwaved tater tots with sour cream have been my go-to for the last hour, though I’ve managed to keep down some baked apples as well—which I ordered from the café down the street along with the chicken soup which is supposedly magical.

When I hear the downstairs door open and footsteps rumbling up the stairs, I consider going to say hello, but I’m exhausted and feel gross and I’d rather make a good first impression.

I look out at the sky darkening over the river.

This is home now. And tomorrow is the first day of my new life.