Watch Over Me (Danvers #7)(63)
Holding up her half-chewed nail, she gave a sheepish grin before dropping her hand back to her lap. “Yeah, between popping my fingers and chewing on them, I’m a lost case. It just makes me grateful that I never understand what they’re saying at the nail place when they fix my mess.”
Indicating the bench, Suzy asked, “Mind if I sit with you? I’ve already walked off my nervous anxiety and now I’m just tired.”
“Sure,” Gwen replied, even though company was the last thing she wanted. She’d really enjoyed her lunch with Suzy and the other girls, but they were still somewhat like strangers to her. Good manners dictated that she at least attempt a few minutes of small talk before making her excuses and leaving, though. “So, nervous anxiety, huh?” Boy, did she know that feeling well. “Bad day at work?” Gwen only wished her problems centered on Danvers and not what she had discovered earlier that morning.
“Nope, nothing work related.” Suzy took a deep breath and said, “I just found out I’m getting a baby. Or Gray and I are.”
Gwen felt like all of the air had left her lungs. This wasn’t the explanation that she’d expected by any means. “You’re pregnant?” she managed to squeak out.
“No.” Suzy shook her head. “My husband and I have been on a waiting list to adopt a child . . . and I just got the call. A birth mother has selected us.”
Gwen gaped at the other woman, trying to process her words. “Oh, my . . . Wow!” she whispered. “I . . . um didn’t know you were trying to adopt. I remember someone asking you if there was anything new on the baby front at lunch the other day, but I just assumed . . .”
“No, I’m not trying to get pregnant—anymore.” Then looking completely at peace, she added, “This is our path—what we’re meant to do right now. I just . . . never expected it to happen this soon.” Turning to fully face Gwen, she admitted, “I’m excited, beyond excited, honestly. But, I’m scared to believe that this will actually work out. We’ve gotten our hopes up too much in the last few years. I want to run to Gray right now and tell him, but then a part of me is afraid to see his happiness dashed if this isn’t our baby.”
“Oh, Suzy.” Gwen squeezed the other woman’s hand in hers and then felt about two inches tall about how upset she had been over her problems. Compared to what Suzy and others were struggling through, she was lucky. She may have things to figure out in her life and plans to make, but she would survive, even if she had to do it all on her own. Well, and with Wendy kicking her ass every step of the way.
They had been quiet for a few minutes before Suzy seemed to compose herself and Gwen could see a little of her usual spirited personality return. “So, what’re you doing sitting here looking like you’re heading for a firing squad? Work or man problems? Those are usually the two things that take over our lives.”
There was no way she could tell Suzy, of all people, why she was sitting here staring off into space as her thoughts and stomach churned. She’d been that way since she’d left her apartment that morning and it hadn’t improved as the day had passed. She had seen Dominic only briefly, while walking in the building that morning, but he’d been gone in the blink of an eye. She had to talk to him tonight, but she wasn’t sure what she was going to say. He was likely to be angry with her, and dammit, she was angry with him and the world one minute, then ready to cry the next. What a screwed-up mess. “I . . . It’s nothing,” she finally said in answer to Suzy’s questions. “Just one of those days, you know?”
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you?” Suzy asked quietly.
Gwen spun around so fast she almost fell from her bench. “How did you know? No one else knows—shit.” She sagged as she realized what she’d accidentally admitted. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. I know you couldn’t possibly want to hear that.”
Suzy took Gwen’s hand, offering comfort. “Gwen, it’s okay, really. It took a while, but I’m in a good place now. There is no way I could begrudge you or another woman that happiness. And right now, you look like you’re in desperate need of a friend. It’s Dominic’s?”
Gwen nodded, and then found herself confiding in someone she barely knew, but it seemed that fate had brought them together today to give the other the support they needed. “Yes, it’s Dominic’s. I . . . just found out this morning. I mean, I took a test—a bunch of them last week and they were negative. We knew it was a possibility because we had a condom . . . mishap. I only had my period for a couple of days though and it was, just different. I had mentioned it to my sister before I left her house on Sunday, and she suggested I take another test just to be certain. I just laughed it off because I hadn’t been having any symptoms or anything. Well, this morning as I was getting ready for work, she texted me a reminder and since I had purchased like twenty of them last week, I went ahead and took one, just so she’d drop it. I didn’t even bother looking at it until I was out of the shower and—it had both lines showing. I completely freaked out and took every last test I had left and they all indicated ‘Pregnant.’”
“Oh honey, congratulations,” Suzy said, sounding nothing but sincere. As if noticing Gwen’s tight expression, she asked, “Are you not happy about it?”