Savanna's phone, resting on the arm of the couch, lit up, ringing. Seeing Liam's name on the screen, panic gripped her heart. "Oh my god. What if something happened to Slade at the jump?"
Claire's phone started ringing. She reached for it. "Calm down. Slade's calling me."
"What?" Beyond confused, Savanna answered the call. "Liam?"
"Savanna." His voice boomed in her ear. She pulled the phone a few inches away. "Slade's a good guy. Maybe a little crazy. But he loves you. Please take him back. He's miserable without you. He needs you."
Stunned, she met Claire's gaze. Wide eyed, her friend pointed to her own phone. Slade's voice, a little slurred, came through loud and clear out of the speaker. "Please talk to Liam. He made a mistake today. You guys belong together."
Liam's voice continued to flow out of Savanna's phone. Speech as slurred as Slade's, he reminded her of all of Slade's good points and positive traits. In the background, she could hear Slade's voice as he did the same to Claire. They were obviously sitting together, maybe positioned just as close as she and Claire, clearly drunk, and very sweet for trying to fix each other's relationships.
"He didn't jump," Liam continued. "Realized it was stupid."
"I'm glad." So glad.
"Will you see him?"
Swallowing hard as tears clouded her vision and thickened her throat, she sucked in a breath. "Yes."
"Good." His voice softened. "Have you seen Claire? Is she okay? She shouldn't still be getting so sick. Don't want her ending up in the hospital. Make her see the doctor. Okay?"
"She got a new medicine today and it seems to be keeping the morning sickness at bay."
"Morning sickness?" His voice rose, sharp and loud. "She's pregnant?"
"Um, yeah. You must be pretty drunk if you forgot about the baby." Amused, she rolled her eyes at Claire.
But Claire's face paled. "Wait—"
"Savanna?" Liam's volume increased. "I'm having a baby?"
Savanna's mouth dropped open. Uh oh. "Maybe I'd better put Claire on the phone."
She passed the phone to her stricken friend. "I'm so sorry. But it's been over a week. I thought you told him already."
"No." Taking a deep breath, Claire pulled the phone to her ear. "Liam, I'm here... We're having a baby. I'm... We... We need to talk."
Something banged on his end, followed by a crash as he stumbled around, yelling to Slade, "I need to go, to find Claire."
Slade's voice echoed from both Claire's phone and Savanna's. "We can't drive, Li. I'm seeing two of you. Let's call a car service. Or Dom. He'll take us. Where is she?"
Savanna glanced at the clock and then grabbed her phone. "Liam. It's one-thirty in the morning. Too late to bother Dom. And you guys are too drunk to be roaming around. Claire is with me. She's fine. Go to sleep and sober up. We'll come by and see you tomorrow, okay?"
"What if she needs something tonight?"
"I'll stay with her."
"Okay. Thank you."
"Goodnight." She ended the call and rubbed her hands over her face, torn between laughing and crying.
Beside her, Claire picked up her phone. "Slade? I'm hanging up now. I'll see you—"
"Wait. Make sure Savanna comes tomorrow too." His voice was enough to start Savanna's tears.
"I will." She set her phone aside. "Wow."
"Yeah." Savanna cringed through a guilty grin. "I'm so sorry I spilled the beans."
"It's all right. I really should have told him. I just didn't know how. But I'm glad that he knows. It'll make tomorrow's conversation easier."
"On that note, we should get some sleep."
"The couch pulls out into a bed. And I have pretty much everything you'll need in the bathroom." Claire stood and set her soda in the kitchen.
After Savanna settled on the couch for the night, she lay awake for a long time. Thoughts of Slade, their conversations and experiences, played through her mind.
She had a big decision to make. And morning would arrive far too early.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LIAM
MOVING SLOWLY TO CALM his aching head, Liam refilled his water glass, then joined Slade at the counter. "Morning. Ugh. I'd offer to make breakfast, but I can't even think about food right now. I'll hold off until lunch."
"Same," Slade agreed, eyes as bloodshot as Liam knew his to be. His friend alternated between gulping down a giant glass of water and sipping a small cup of coffee. "I'll count the two aspirin I downed as breakfast."
Liam glanced at his phone, hoping for a text from Claire. Nothing. Whenever she arrived, he would be ready.
He'd showered. Shaved. And ordered three books on pregnancy, parenting, and early childhood development. One of his friends needed to hurry up and have a kid soon so he'd have someone to ask about all things baby-related.
The intercom sounded an hour later as he finished his third glass of water. Feeling clear-headed, he pressed the button. "Yes?"
"It's Claire and Savanna."
"Come on up." Nervous and excited to see Claire, he waited by the door.
Slade wandered over, looking caught between worry and hope. "Good luck."
"You too."
The knock still managed to startle him. He swung the door open. As soon as he met Claire's blue eyes, he all but melted into the floor. How could he stay angry at her? He loved her and now they were having a child. He stepped back to allow them to enter.
Slade and Savanna were staring at each other like they expected the other to disappear. Slade rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "We can go in my room and talk."
Savanna nodded and followed him down the hall. His door closed a moment later.
Liam closed the front door. All the drama about the job paled in comparison to Claire carrying his child. She still looked too tired. "Are you okay? Still getting sick?"
"The new vitamins I started taking yesterday seem to be working. I got sick once yesterday and once this morning, but I'll take that over the five times a day awfulness I had before. My doctor said about half of the women who get nausea during pregnancy feel complete
