Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(118)

The following year came and went without a trip or even a lengthy vacation—work turned unreal busy. Their branch was number one in sales by 10% and going strong. New York was hot on their heels, but with Krista’s ability to organize departments and motivate employees, and Sean’s unique solutions to hit unreal goals, they hit and stayed number one consistently.

Tory’s daughter graduated from Harvard Business School and found a managerial position in San Francisco. It was about the time that Sean promoted both Kate and Jasmine, who were nearly as good as Krista at hitting numbers with the added bonus of being universally liked. Dean was long gone and the Arizona region was shut down because of lack of performance, so with the increased work load and vacancy, K-Jaz was forced into more responsibility. Neither really wanted it, but took to it like a fat man to a buffet. When the numbers bumped up in the next quarter, Ron nearly crapped himself he was so pissed.

Krista and Sean were going strong. The few fights they had turned into an excuse for great makeup sex. They spent a lot of time together and never seemed to get tired of each other. Every once in a while, Sean would look at Krista with a somber look, remembering. Back in the day, it would be followed by a fervent bout of lovemaking that boarded on desperation, but as time wore on, he would simply wink at her and hug her tight.

The one thing that ran between them with the force of an underground river was when to start a family. If it were up to Sean or Cassie, Krista would have gone off birth control on their honeymoon. Krista wasn’t so eager, however. She was still young and had a couple years of drinking and acting stupid left on her roster. Being that she was the woman, and it was her body that would get destroyed, Sean deferred. There were no arguments or heated discussions, there was just Sean, looking at Krista like a puppy dog, saying that he was ready whenever she was ready, and wouldn’t bring it up again.

Of course, he didn’t have to. He had Cassie. She brought it up constantly. She’d found a man shortly after moving to L.A. who thought the sun shone out of her ass. They were married a year after Sean and Krista. Cassie wanted to start a family, but wanted to do it at the same time as Krista so she wouldn’t be the only one. Kate and Jasmine were still dating Mr. Right Now and Ben wasn’t having much luck, either. Krista told Cassie to get on with it, and Cassie would reply that Krista’s eggs were dying.

Cassie fought dirty, obviously.

To Sean’s credit, he never said so much as “boo” about the situation. He was patient, despite his sister. But every time he saw a family at the beach, or a dad holding a toddler up in the water, or a chubby little girl waddling by, Sean would get a soft look in his eye and snuggle up to Krista. It wasn’t conscious, but it didn’t stop Krista from hearing the metaphorical clock ticking every time he did it.

Finally, a couple years into their marriage, Krista decided it was time. She felt she had a good run socially and was in a place where change would be welcome…and she wasn’t getting any younger—thanks mom, and Cassie. She thought about telling Sean she was ready and that they could start trying, but she got nervous that he would unknowingly put a bunch of pressure on her. She’d never been pregnant before—what if she had a hard time getting knocked up? What if it took a while? She didn’t want to get her period and feel like a failure. Sean wouldn’t think that way, sure, but the female brain had the propensity to be a crazy place. Krista knew from experience that it came up with irrational stuff; Krista didn’t need anyone else witnessing that.

Since she knew he still wanted children—Cassie made that clear—she stopped taking the pill. She had her monthly membership fee of womanhood, and then just went cold turkey. She heard it could take a while for a girl’s body to adjust. She had also heard stories of those who got pregnant right away. Then, of course, there were those who didn’t stop and still got knocked up. You just didn’t know until it happened.

Or didn’t.

Well, it turned out that one of Krista’s problems in life was not fertility. Two months after she had sworn off contraception, she stopped getting visits from Aunt Flow.

At first, she didn’t realize it. She was sitting in Kate’s office chatting when she made an offhanded comment on how bad her boobs hurt lately.

“That sucks. Are you about to start?” Kate said as she scrounged through her desk for her hot spot happy hour list. She was way too organized at thirty.

“Uh, probably.”

Krista looked at the calendar and realized that she had no idea. Without the pill to keep her regular, and also to subtly point out when things would get messy, she was flying blind.

Kate looked up quickly. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s a secret.”

“When was your last period?”

“Um…” Krista looked hard at the calendar.

As Krista was trying to count back weeks, Kate said, “You’re off the pill? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know?”

“You’re trying aren’t you?”

Silence.

“You’re trying and you’re worried of failure, aren’t you?”

It was scary how well Kate knew her.

Krista grimaced. “Yeah, a bit. Sean doesn’t know.”

“Are you serious?!”

“He wants one. He said whenever I was ready. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, so…”