“Yeah, I got it.”

“Good.”

I smiled at his smug expression. “I’m okay now if you need to get back to your marine.”

“Hmm, maybe I could take him some dinner from Mama Sofia’s. On the house?”

I nodded. “It would be my pleasure.”

Dee rose off the couch. “Good. While I call him and see what he wants, you freshen up.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going down there with you, so you can tell Duke the joyous news.”

My breath hitched at the thought. “You don’t think I—”

“Nope. You only get one ‘Get out of telling a dude I’m pregnant card’ and that goes to Mr. Baby Daddy.”

I laughed. “Fine then. As long as you’re with me.”

“Of course, I am, baby girl.”

Rising off the couch, I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

When I pulled away, he grinned. “Now that I think about it, Mr. Marine and I are going to need some Tiramisu to go along with dinner—maybe some Mia’s Moose, too.”

“As long as you don’t plan to tell me what you’re going to do sexually with that dessert, I’ll be happy to get it for you.”

With a wink, Dee replied, “My lips are sealed.”

19

The swarming noise of women’s chattering, shrieking, and giggling like idiots filled my ears. All the while the smell of sweat, cheap perfume, and beer stung my nose, making me nauseated. Somehow I found myself jostling around backstage at a Runaway Train concert. Abby and her brothers were already performing on stage. Her voice was the only soothing sound filling the air around me. “What are all these ho’s doing back here?” Dee asked, as we trailed along behind some random roadie.

“I don’t think I want to know,” I muttered.

“Hmmph,” he replied.

After my three month check-up showed everything looked good with the baby, I booked a flight to Jersey City for both myself and Dee. It made the most sense to attend Runaway Train’s concert there, so we could stay with some of my dad’s relatives. When it came down to actually getting to AJ, I knew there was no way in hell I was reaching out to Abby or Lily. They would try to do some major intervention. I wanted it on my terms, in the least romantic way possible, which was why I planned to ambush him at a show. In the end, I knew there was one person who would help me without asking a lot of questions, and that was Frank. He had been thrilled to hear from me. I told him I wanted to surprise AJ and the others, and he promised to keep it a secret.

He had left passes for us at the ticket office and then had the random roadie meet up with us at the gate. Now as we got closer to the inner sanctum, aka backstage, I could see Frank waiting at the top of a long hallway for us. With his usual beaming smile, he held out his arms to me. I leaned in to hug him as carefully as I could to conceal my growing bump. “You’re looking good,” I said as I pulled away.

“Thank you. I’m feeling good, too.” He did a quick sweep of me from head to toe. “You’re looking mighty fine yourself.”

“Aw, thank you.”

His brows lined together as he surveyed me again. “You know, there’s something different about you.”

I sucked in a breath and prayed he wasn’t about to go for the old, ‘you look like you’re glowing’ pregnancy cliché. “I’m seeing a nutritionist,” I blurted. When Dee gave me a funny look, I added, “Lots of vitamins and organic food—that sorta thing.”

“Well, even though it doesn’t sound like much fun, you should totally keep doing it because you look absolutely beautiful.”

“You’re too sweet,” I replied, shuffling my coat to cover my bump.