You’ve gotta be shitting me.

The only thing keeping me from saying that out loud was the cell phone camera pointed in my face, keeping me on my best behavior – although, if she didn’t put that thing away soon, I was going to lose all interest in appearing to have good manners.

All her little followers were gonna get the real deal Devyn Wright.

“Joia…” I started, keeping my tone light. “Are you… serious about this? Sure about this?” I prompted, resting my hands on my distended belly instead of putting them around her damn neck.

As usual, she met my discomfort with a smile.

“I sure am, Dr. Wright,” she gushed, pointing the camera back to herself. “If you’re just tuning in, let me remind you that today I’m going to be live-streaming my yearly check in with my gynecologist – the lovely Dr. Wright. Obviously, we won’t be getting X-rated, but I think it’s important to normalize vaginal health screenings and the conversations around our sexual health. Don’t you agree?”

She’s asking me a question.

She wants me to cosign with this shit.

She expects me not to cuss her the hell out right now.

“Of course I agree, Joia,” I told her with a smile. “With where the clinic is located, we serve lots of young patients, who are often very misinformed about healthy bodies, safe sex, and vaginal care. This is certainly an… alternative method of spreading awareness, but if it works, it works.”

Joia giggled at the camera. “Y’all, she’s being nice, but she might kill me when the camera goes off. Do not try this with your own Pussy Doctor… unless of course, yours is your cousin too.”

I sighed.

She was right.

Any other patient, I would’ve already shut this shit down, insisting she could share whatever she wanted later, but now was the time to put the phone away. Instead, I was playing along with her ridiculousness, because despite my feelings about her methods… the girl had fans.

Lots and lots of them.

They watched her do everything from trying on clothes to dating to whispering in the microphone to eating ridiculous amounts of food. And they didn’t only watch her – they listened to her. They bought what she bought, wore what she wore, did what she did.

If this little live-stream taught a few of them how their pussies worked… so be it.

“Are you ready to get started or not, little girl?”

Joia smirked.

Little girl was pretty far from the truth, since Joia was twenty-six years old, but I was far enough into my thirties to say things like that about women younger than me – especially when like she’d mentioned, we were family. Big Joe – my husband’s father – wasn’t an only child. His sister, Josephine, had married and had three girls I loved like baby sisters.

Joia Love was one of them.

She nodded. “Let’s do it!”

To my relief, she set that camera in a way that pointed at her face while I conducted her exam. She kept up a steady stream of thoughtful questions about what I was doing, was honest about it when something was uncomfortable, and was sure to explain how fast it was over, as a selling point.

“So tell the world the truth, Doc,” she beamed as she sat up. “Joia Love gets an A+ in kitty care, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “Everything looks perfectly fine. You’ll get results from your sample testing in a few days, but I didn’t see anything of concern.”

“Ayyy,” she cheered. “Thanks Dev!”

“You’re welcome.”

I left her to get dressed – hopefully off camera – then dropped her samples off with the nurse to be delivered to the lab. Even though it was technically still early, Joia was my last appointment of the day, so I headed straight to my office to grab my bag, then to the shower the hospital had put in for the staff – an addition I was grateful for.

I’d take a shower now, and then later, at home, a long soak in my tub.

Heaven.

I showered and changed into leggings and an oversized sweater – my uniform when I wasn’t on duty at the hospital. It happened to be cute, sure, but that wasn’t the important part. It was comfortable. And this far into my pregnancy that was all I really cared about.

Back in my office, I was packing up to go when a frantic knock sounded at the door. I pulled my coat on, and hooked my purse over my shoulder, hoping to signal to whoever it was that I was not the person to ask whatever the question was. I’d been on call for the hospital since two in the morning, then worked clinic hours after that–Doctor Wright was unavailable as far as I was concerned.

I pulled the door open, ready to say precisely that, but when I saw who was on the other side, the words died on my lips.

I was always available for Reese.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, immediately taking note of the barely veiled panic in her eyes. She rushed past me, into the office, not turning until I closed the door again.

Meeting my gaze, she tried to smile, but then her eyes drifted to my belly. She looked away, but not fast enough that I didn’t catch the stab of pain that crossed her expression.

“Reesie,” I said, grabbing her hands and squeezing. “What’s wrong?”

“I threw up.”

I managed to temper my reaction quickly, only allowing my eyebrows a slight hike, instead of the shooting to my hairline they wanted to do. “Okay… did you eat something that didn’t agree with you?”

“No, but I missed a period. Maybe two, I don’t know, but you know I’ve been all out of whack since… And then with finals and everything I’ve been so busy, and you know I try not to think about it all too hard, and I just—”

“Calm down,” I urged, pulling her hands together between mine. “There’s a straightforward, speedy solution here.”

She shook her head, and the tears I was sure she’d been holding back broke free, dripping down her cheeks. “It’s not though, Dev. You know that, you know it’s not simple.”

“It’s very simple.” I released her hands, using my thumbs to wipe the tears from her face. “It’s either yes or no. Negative or positive.”

She met my eyes. “What if I can’t handle either?”

“Not even an option, sister.” I leaned in to kiss her cheek, being careful not to press my belly into her. “Sit down, I’ll be right back. We’ll take the test. And then whatever the result is… we’ll react accordingly. Okay?”

After a long, deep sigh, Reese nodded.

“Okay.”

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

A little of my own panic coursed through me as I left Reese in my office, on a quest to discretely grab a pregnancy test from the supply closet. I couldn’t even imagine the emotional distress she was feeling, for something like this to have come out of the blue. No chance to steady herself, or mentally prepare… she was right to wonder if she could handle either answer. Even if she and Jason weren’t trying to get pregnant, to have the possibility held up in front of her, and then snatched away by the simple absence of a second line.

It wasn’t simple.

It really, really wasn’t.

But for her sake, for my best friend, my sister, I would put on a brave face and get her through this, just like she’d been there whenever I needed her.

I managed to get the test with no problem, and with it tucked into my sleeve, rushed back to my office. Once I had the door closed behind me, I removed it and held it up, forcing a smile.

“It’s a yes or a no. We’ll handle whatever comes with it,” I reminded Reese as I put it in her hand.

She nodded. “A yes or a no.”

“That’s right. That’s all.”

I helped her up, guiding her to the bathroom attached to the office. I closed the door for her, then went back to my desk, letting out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding as I sat down.

It’s a yes or a no, I reminded myself, glancing toward the bathroom.

Just a negative or a positive.

With another sigh, I grabbed my purse, digging around until I found my cell phone. No matter what, our family would get Reese and Jay through this answer, yes or no. No matter what, we’d be right there. No matter what, they’d be okay.

But just in case… I was calling Toni.