The Friends We Keep

Hayley felt the path in front of her split in two. She could react from pain or from power. The choice was hers. Morgan was never going to be more or less than she already was. This was as good as it was going to be for her. But Hayley could still pick her path.

She walked to the front door and held it open. “I’m happy to take care of your kids for a weekend because I love them and they’re family. But you do not get to speak to me like that in my own home.”

“What’s with you? I didn’t mean anything.” Morgan grabbed her bag and huffed. “Fine. I’m sorry. Satisfied?”

“Not yet, but I’m getting closer.”





Chapter Twenty-Three

Gabby inched her car forward in the long line of parents dropping off their kids at school. Makayla sat next to her, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. She radiated tension.

“You okay?” Gabby asked quietly.

Makayla nodded.

“It’ll get easier after today. Once you’re in a routine.”

“I’m going to get bigger. People are going to find out.”

As far as Gabby knew, Makayla still hadn’t told any of her friends she was pregnant. She hadn’t wanted Gabby and Andrew to tell the school, either. Gabby had insisted on having a conversation with her counselor so there would be a record of her condition, in case something happened. Makayla also had a three-week reprieve on gym class, so she wouldn’t have to get changed in front of the other girls and then wear an outfit that would make her pregnancy obvious.

Gabby honestly didn’t know what to say. The end result was inevitable. As Makayla had said—she was going to get bigger. There was no hiding where this was going. She probably had about two months until there was nothing anyone could do to conceal her condition.

Gabby reached out and placed her hand over her stepdaughter’s fists. Funny how in the past few weeks Gabby’s emotions had shifted. She was no longer angry. Somehow she had moved to a form of acceptance, with a little sadness thrown in. She still wasn’t ready to raise the child herself, but she was able to separate her feelings from what Makayla was going through.

“You have your cell,” she said. “I’ll be around. Call me if you need me.”

Makayla nodded.

They reached the drop-off point. Makayla started to get out of the car, then, at the last minute, turned and hugged Gabby.

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. Then she was gone.

Gabby drew in a breath, before forcing herself to turn and smile at the twins. “Ready?”

They both grinned back.

“We’re ready, Mommy. We’re going to have fun.” Kennedy spoke with confidence, as if there were no alternative to a good time in kindergarten.

“Yes, you are,” Gabby told her.

She drove out of the high school parking lot and onto the street. The elementary school was only a few blocks away and the start time was such that she made it with minutes to spare. After finding a parking space, she helped the twins out of the car and walked with them to the classroom.

There were kids everywhere, from ages five to eleven. The differences in sizes and how they talked was amazing. Some of the sixth graders looked closer to twenty than ten with their trendy clothes. A few even had on makeup.

Kenzie had chosen the outfits for the day—summer dresses in matching fabric but in different colors. Gabby had already taken about a thousand pictures, but she used her phone to snap a few more as the girls paused by their classroom.

Kennedy hugged her. “Mommy, we’re going to be fine.”

“I know you are. You’re both going to do great.” Gabby crouched down and put her arms around them both. “You’re both so smart and you get along so well with other children. I love you and I’m proud of you.”

She stood and watched the girls walk into the classroom. They greeted their teacher and went to their seats.

Kindergarten orientation had been the previous week. There’d been a “practice” day with everyone arriving and having a chance to meet. Now the girls talked to other students as they waited for class to begin.

Gabby stood outside with a group of other parents. They all looked shell-shocked, as if unable to believe this had happened.

Andrew hurried up to join her. He’d been stuck home on a conference call.

“Did I miss it?”

Gabby wiped away tears and pointed through the glass in the door. “They’re doing fine. It’s going to be okay.”

He put his arm around her and drew her against him. “Our little girls,” he said quietly. “You did a hell of a job with them.”

“It was both of us.” The words were automatic but she found she actually meant them. Until recently, she and Andrew had always been a team. Now she leaned against him and wondered when they would be again.

Her mother’s advice weighed on her. To make things work, she was going to have to be mature and didn’t that suck.

“Want to get a cup of coffee before you go to work?” she asked.

“I’d like that.”