Chapter 2

Rebecca

“H-hello, Rebecca. How have you been?”

Her greeting had barely registered with me because my focus was on her round belly she kept rubbing with her hand. My eyes were wide, but one of them kept twitching, a physical manifestation of how my brain was fried upon seeing my best friend heavily pregnant.

Six months. It had only been six months since we last saw each other, and she’s like this.

I could tell from Georgiana’s hesitant greeting, as well as her inability to look me in the eye, that she had expected this reaction.

But she didn’t expect me to do this.

I grabbed Spencer by the collar and buried my fist into his face, digging my knuckles deep into his nose, and feeling it crush underneath them. I heard Georgiana and her cousin, Veronica, gasp and try to pull me from obliterating the man. I saw Chase stop George from getting any closer to me, while Jason inserted both of his arms underneath my armpits and wrenched me away from Spence, grunting as I refused to relent from my assault.

“Rebecca, stop! Please!” George cried.

“Gentlemen, please! Restrain the lady or I will be forced to contact the authorities!” the manager of the restaurant shrieked as he walked closer to us, his balding head already glistening with sweat, worried about the scene we were making. I slackened my muscles and allowed Jason to pull me off of Spencer, the latter turning over to the side to spit out blood in his mouth.

His bottom lip popped, and his nose was broken, he murmured as he touched the bridge with two of his fingers. Still, his expression didn’t seem the least bit mad that I mauled him. On the contrary, he looked a little relieved, and apologetic.

“I guess I deserved that,” he croaked. “You throw a hell of a punch.”

To hell with his compliment.

“You stupid shit!” I hissed, my eyes flaring. Jason had wrapped an arm around my waist to make sure I didn’t make a move on Spencer again. A smart move, considering I didn’t know if I could control myself from strangling the bastard.

“It was an accident,” he said weakly.

“An accident?!” I repeated. “What? Was she crossing the road and tripped over your speeding dick?!” I muttered expletives under my breath that would make a sailor blush.

“My, my, what an uncouth mouth on such a woman,” Chase muttered.

“Shut up, Chase!” Veronica shushed.

“Okay, I admit I didn’t phrase that very well,” Spencer said, wincing.

“Everybody’s staring at us. Let’s go talk somewhere more private,” Jason murmured, looking at the restaurant’s patrons and staff with a surreptitious eye.

“I got it,” Veronica said, walking over to the host and putting her fame to use.

She managed to snag us a sweet private table at the VIP area, the place almost deserted except for a couple sitting at the small table by the window. We were seated at the corner overlooking the hall, Jason noting it was the best place to see any customers coming or going. I had to admire the guy for staying true to his job of protecting his girlfriend even while off-duty, but I was still seething.

The rest of my group decided to sit themselves strategically, making sure to keep Spencer at arm’s length, while George was seated next to him and across from me, in plain view of my anger. She kept her head down because she still couldn’t find the courage to look at me.

“I’m sure your parents were delighted about this development,” I said, and Veronica’s nose wrinkled.

“Well, they weren’t exactly ecstatic that their precious daughter is pregnant right after college,” she explained.

“How far along are you?” I asked.

“Thirty-one weeks,” George murmured. I mentally counted the days and snorted.

“So you got knocked up a month before you graduated,” I said. “Good job.”

“Hey, it’s not her fault,” Spencer snarled, rising a bit from his chair in an effort to protect his girlfriend. I raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to do something.

“Of course it’s not just her fault,” I said. “You’re equally to blame.”

“Guys, I am begging you. Let’s not ruin the moment here,” Chase stated, his voice uncharacteristically firm. He turned his head to look at me sternly. “Rebecca, I can understand this may be a little upsetting for you, but to be honest, this really is none of our business.”

I looked at him with alarm, my mouth poised to exchange barbs with him, but his unrelenting gaze shut me down and he continued to speak.

“Spencer and George are both mature adults who can make a decision about their lives and relationship without our interference. Also, shouldn’t we look at this as it truly is?” He asked. “This is a blessing, and I, for one, think we should celebrate.”

Chase wrapped his fingers around the stem of his wine glass and lifted it up, raising his eyebrows up too, and looking at all of us with wide eyes, silently imploring us to do the same. Taking his cue, Veronica smiled widely and raised her own glass.

Feeling appropriately ashamed, I begrudgingly followed suit, murmuring well-wishes as Chase finished his toast. I placed the glass back onto the table, and pushed myself off the chair as they drank. They all turned their eyes up, and looked at me curiously. I shrugged, pointing my thumb at the hall.

“Going to get some fresh air,” I muttered before walking away. I pushed the double doors out of the restaurant, and leaned against the brick wall, tilting my head up to feel the brisk cold wind on my face.

Now that the anger had dissipated from my body, the space it left behind was slowly filled with regret and shame. I didn’t mean to go off like that. I adored kids and valued the gift of life, and I am happy for them. But a part of me still thought it was too soon a responsibility for them to bear.

An image of me lying on the floor by the foot of the stairs, blood pooling underneath my body flashed into my brain, and I hissed, shaking my head to be rid of it.

“Damn it,” I cursed under my breath, closing my eyes. There was a reason people buried some memories deep into the darkest depths of their minds, and I didn’t need them resurfacing now.

Memories like that only bred one thing – weakness.

I felt something pull at my sleeve, and my eyes snapped open to look at George, who gave me a small smile, her eyes sad and puppy-like. I frowned as I saw her skin forming goose bumps from the cold, and I shrugged off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulder to keep her warm.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” I scolded. “It’s not good for the baby if you caught a cold.”

She smiled at this, relief instantly flooding in her eyes.

“You’re not mad at me anymore?” she asked timidly, and I sighed.

“I was never mad at you,” I said softly. She raised her eyebrow in disbelief, and I rolled my eyes “Okay, maybe a little. But honestly? I was more…disappointed than anything else,” I admitted.

“You’re too young for this kind of responsibility, George. You and Spencer both. There are so many things you two could experience without a baby holding you back, but now, all of those would be ten times harder to accomplish. And I’ve met your parents, so I doubt they were very forthcoming about this, were they?” She shook her head sadly.

“Even Darcy got mad at first, but he came around after a few days, and told me he was going to help and support me as best as he can,” George replied.

“So you can see where I’m getting at, right?” I asked. She nodded once more, tears starting to pebble from the corner of her eyes. I sighed again, and wrapped my arms around the girl, her belly preventing me from holding her properly.

“Look, I can understand the situation you’re in now, and as much as I think your boyfriend’s an idiot, I’m glad Spencer has your back,” I comforted her. “Being pregnant and alone is really hard, and I would never want that to happen to you.”

George frowned and furrowed her eyebrows at my words.

“What do you mean you can understand?” she asked.

I blanched at my slipup and scrambled for an excuse when the restaurant’s door opened, and Spencer popped out, a worried expression on his face.

“Hey, the snow’s starting to fall,” he said. “Let’s go inside and eat.”

I smiled at Georgiana, and pushed her softly towards Spencer, coaxing her to get inside. She looked at me curiously for a few more seconds before smiling at Spencer and letting him open the door for her. I exchanged nods with Spencer, our fight forgotten and followed George inside.

“Finally!” Veronica said, rolling her eyes as I entered. “We totally need to finish our food if we’re going to get to the concert on time.” I furrowed my brows at her.

“Concert?”