“So, how did you end up in bed with Mick?” Lark asks as she watches me dry my hair.

I suddenly realize she’s glaring at me. “What?” I ask. “What’s that look for?”

“He likes you. Like, really, really likes you. You’re aware of that, right?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I like him too.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “He was crushed when you stopped taking his calls.”

I set my mascara to the side. “We went out on five dates before…you know.”

“Before you lost the baby.”

“Yeah, before that,” I whisper.

“Say it, Wren,” she says, her voice whipcord strong.

“I don’t need to say it. I lived it, all right? I don’t need reminders.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not sure you lived it. Not really. I think you shoved it to the side and tried to pretend like it didn’t happen, and it’s killing you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“I didn’t even want it. Not really.”

“You wanted it.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why do you have a fully prepared nursery? Why did you have three years’ worth of clothes in the baby’s closet? Why did you put that song lyric on the wall?”

“Because that’s what you do when you make a mistake. You deal with it.”

She sucks in a quick, startled breath. “None of that was a mistake.”

“I’d have made a terrible mother.” I blink my eyes, because they’re suddenly stinging.

“You’ll be a wonderful mother, Wren.” Lark’s voice softens. “Never doubt that.”

“What makes you think so?” I look everywhere but at her.

“Because you had two perfect examples of motherhood. You had your birth mom, and then you had Marta. You’ve seen the best, and you’ve learned from the best. There’s no way you couldn’t be the best.”

“Whatever,” I say flippantly, trying to pretend like it didn’t matter.

“Stop doing that.”

“Stop doing what?”

“Stop trying to sweep your feelings under the rug. Stop trying to deflect. Stop pretending like it didn’t matter, damn it. Just stop it.”

“Why did you come here?” I ask. I stare at her in the mirror.

“What?” she asks, dumbfounded by my question.

“Why are you here now? Today? Why did you and Ryan come over?”

She fidgets. “Okay, so…”

I arch my brow at her.

“So, Mick and Ryan have one of those family share phone plans, and he saw that Mick’s phone was at this address all night, and we wanted to see what was going on.”

“Nothing is going on. We’re friends. That’s all.”

“Okay.”

“And tracking his phone isn’t very nice. Does he know you do that?”

She waves a breezy hand in the air. “Oh, they both know. They do it to one another. Last week, they went to find their mom and dad when they saw they were at the store together. They just busted right in and joined them. And last week, Mick showed up at my doctor’s office, when he saw that Ryan and I were there.”

“Wait.” I hold up a hand. “Why were you at the doctor’s office?’

She starts to fidget again.

“You’re not sick, are you?” I might be annoyed by her, but she’s my sister and I don’t want anything to happen to her.

“You know we’ve been trying,” she says quietly.

My gut roils. I swallow it back. “You’re pregnant.”

She nods.

“And you found out last week?”

She nods again.

“And you are just now telling me?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” she whispers.

“Why would your being pregnant hurt me?” I say, my voice loud.

“Because of what happened.” She sweeps her hand toward my empty belly.

“You think that just because I’m not pregnant, I’d be unhappy that you are?” I hate hate hate hate that I gave her that impression.

“No, I just…I was trying to be considerate. That’s all.” She shrugs.

“Well, stop it. Stop tiptoeing around me. I’m not broken.”

“Then you should stop acting like you are.”

I heave out a sigh. “I’m sorry I gave you that impression.”

“Wren,” she whispers. She shakes her head.

“You should probably go.”

She nods. “Okay.”

“Congratulations, by the way.”

She smiles and lays a hand on her flat belly. “Thanks.”

She walks out of the room, and I hear her leave with Ryan.

Mick stands in my doorway. “Everything okay?” he asks, his eyes soft and kind.

“Fine.”

“She told you.”

I nod. “She told me.”

“And how do you feel about it?”

I take a deep breath. “Incredibly sad that I made her feel like she shouldn’t tell me. And really happy for both of them.” I smile at him.

“I’m going to be an uncle.” He rubs his hands together like he’s excited. “I get to teach him to throw peas at Ryan. And when he’s a little older, I can teach him all the dirty words in sign language. Ryan will shit a brick. It’ll be great.”

“You’re going to be one of those uncles.” I laugh. “The naughty kind.”

“The fun kind.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Although I wouldn’t mind being naughty if you’re involved, too.”

My belly flutters. “Stop that. BFFs don’t do that.”

He smirks at me. “Do you want to go somewhere with me today?”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.” He grins. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”

He’s so damn cute. I wish I was ready for him.

“Breakfast?” he asks.

I nod. “Sure.”