“I feel fine.” Candace gave a shrug, and indeed, she looked fine. If anything, pregnancy had only accentuated the bangin’ curves she’d always had. She wore familiar destructed jeans, so she was already back in her old clothes. “Besides, what do I do but sit behind a desk? Lyric can come with me. He’s not much of a crier, so he shouldn’t disturb you guys.” She smiled, putting a hand on Starla’s arm. “Has everything been okay with you?”
“Yeah, great.” The lie came out more easily than she’d thought it would.
“I’m glad. Now come meet your nephew!” Candace laughed as she said it, a reference to how she thought of Starla as the big sister she’d never had. It only twisted the knife currently lodged in Starla’s chest. Candace grasped her arm and propelled her down the hall toward the office, and it was all Starla could do not to dig her heels in. She could do this, though. She’d been doing it for years, wearing the mask. She should be an old pro by now. The mask should be a permanent fixture on her face.
Brian turned and grinned at Starla as Candace ushered her in, that smile dazzling against his olive skin. He held a little blue-blanket-swaddled bundle in his heavily inked arms. Her ovaries fucking detonated. “Holy shit,” she blurted before she could get a grasp on the words, and everyone laughed, not taking it for what it was: her reaction to the most beautifully heartbreaking sight she’d ever seen in her entire life.
“What’s the matter?” he said, not losing that devastating smile. Or those dimples.
“Oh, I just…I just…I’m so fucking happy for you!” And she did what was expected of her, rushing forward to give him a side-hug, careful not to jostle his son in his arms. A perfect little face gazed up from the blankets, pink cheeked and dark eyed. As flawless as his daddy. A mop of hair as black as Brian’s. The mouth, though, was a little rosebud, much like Candace’s. At least Janelle had tears in her eyes, so no one thought anything of it when Starla’s own eyes welled up.
“Aww,” Candace said, reaching over the desk to yank tissues from the holder and distributing them to the girls. “I love you guys. These have been the happiest days of my life.”
“You’re going to make the coolest, most amazing parents,” Janelle said. “I have hope for humanity at last.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Brian laughed. “But we’ll do our best. For the sake of humanity.”
Ghost’s bald head popped in the door. “What’s all the damn squealing about? Oh.” He strode in, leaning over to peek inside the bundle of blankets. “My little man! He’s looking more like me every day.”
“Dude,” Brian said sinisterly as the others laughed, “be glad I’m holding my infant son right now, or I’d punch you directly in the dick.” Lyric took that moment to let out an impressive wail. “Get out of his face. You’re scaring him.”
“Starla, he has your lungs,” Ghost observed, stepping back. Starla smiled sweetly and gave him the bad finger.
Brian glanced between the two of them and handed Lyric off to Candace, who cuddled him up and cooed at him. “All right,” he said as he dug a bottle out of the diaper bag sitting on the desk and handed it over to her. “Is anyone out front?”
“Tay. No clients or anything.”
“Get him back here. We need to have a staff meeting.”
Ghost simply bellowed Tay’s name toward the door, causing everyone to jump, Lyric to cry out, and Brian to close his eyes long-sufferingly. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“You didn’t specify.”
Taylor joined the group, got a peek at Lyric, and offered his congrats, then took a seat for what was probably about to be an epic ass chewing.
“I’ve gotten a couple of complaints,” Brian began, leaning back against his desk and crossing his arms. Starla looked down at her hands, swallowing dryly as her fear was affirmed. In the chair beside her, Ghost shifted and sighed, long legs sprawled in front of him.
“About what?” he said.
“Let me start by saying that I appreciate what you guys are doing. I know it’s been hard lately. You’re all exceptional artists. Quality is definitely not the problem.” He glanced between Starla and Ghost, his mouth tight, and went on. “But quality won’t matter if you create such a hostile environment that people are uncomfortable. They’ll stop coming in. That’s the last thing they need when they’re under the needle. Plus it’s highly fucking unprofessional.”
“But we don’t—”
“I haven’t—”
Starla and Ghost spoke up at once, prompting Brian to wave them to silence. “I know it’s probably nothing more than the usual bickering. That’s all right, as long as it’s kept lighthearted. We kind of pride ourselves on it. But if there’s something deeper going on, let’s get it out now and get it dealt with. I won’t have whatever it is destroying everything we’ve built here.”
Janelle spoke up. “I honestly don’t have a problem with anyone. If I’ve been moody or quiet, I’m sorry. I’ll work on it.”