When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,11

breath, then tugged me toward the door to the living room. “Let’s go sit down. You need to get off your feet anyway.”

She grabbed her purse, which struck me as a little odd—was she planning on leaving?—and we sat down on the sofa.

“What’s goin’ on?” I asked.

She took a deep breath, then said, “You know how much I want a baby, but Jed and I realize it’s unlikely I’ll ever carry one. So back in February Jed contacted an adoption agency. We’ve had a home study done and filled out tons of paperwork, but we were told it could take years. But then out of nowhere…we found out that we’re getting a baby.”

I gasped. I couldn’t believe she’d gotten so far in the process and hadn’t told me. It stung a little, truth be told, but this wasn’t about me, and I was sure it had to do with her continuing disappointment over her infertility. The fewer people she told, the less people who’d know if she suffered another disappointment.

“There’s a teenager in south Fenton County who picked us, Rose. Us.”

I pushed any hurt over her secret to the side, and let my excitement take over. “Well, of course she did! When?”

“She’s due in a month.”

My eyes flew wide. “Oh, my word. You were worried I’d be upset? How could I be upset?” Excitement raced through my veins. “Neely Kate! We’ll get to raise our babies together!”

“You’re sure you’re not upset?” she said, her eyes full of worry. “After the way I freaked out when you told me you were pregnant, you’re allowed to be upset.”

I stared at her in disbelief. “Why would I be upset! I’m so excited for you my heart could burst!”

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as close as my stomach would allow.

She pulled free and reached into her purse. “I have a photo.” With a sheepish look, she handed me a picture of an ultrasound. “We’re havin’ a girl.”

I took the photo and touched the image. “She’s beautiful.”

Neely Kate laughed. “You can’t see much, but Jed says we’d think she was beautiful if she came out with three eyes and a pair of horns.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling softly. “We definitely would.”

“You’re sure you’re not mad?”

“Never! I’m so excited for you! And for me.” I grabbed her hands. “Neely Kate! This is so perfect I’m about to cry!”

“No cryin’,” she said, even though her eyes were glassy. “Or I’ll start bawlin’.”

“This is all so sudden,” I said, shaking my head a little in disbelief. Soon we’d both have babies. We’d be going through this together. “You won’t have much time to talk about names.”

A playful look filled her eyes. “We already know.”

“How can you already know?” I asked. “You only started this process a couple of months ago.” Joe and I still hadn’t picked a name and we’d had months.

“We just knew,” she said. “Especially for a girl. We’re naming her Daisy Mae Carlisle.” Her smile widened. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It’s beautiful.” It had been Jed’s baby sister’s name, and I knew he was still haunted by the pain of losing her when they were kids.

“Jed wants us to get married before the baby is born. We’ll get her the day after she’s born, which means we only have four weeks or less to tie the knot.” She laughed. “It’s a shotgun weddin’.” She winked. “We’d better not invite Miss Mildred or she might take that a little too literally.”

I laughed. “And we know that from firsthand experience.” I put my hand to my forehead, still in shock. “Oh, my word! There’s so much to do! We have to get your nursery ready and host a shower, not to mention plan your wedding…”

“And have your baby,” she said.

“Don’t you worry about that. You have your weddin’ whenever you want,” I said. “We can have it this weekend, because I’ll still be pregnant at the end of May. The way I’m feeling, I’ll be pregnant next May.”

She laughed. “You’re not even due for another two weeks. I think we’re safe to wait. You have to be at the wedding, so we’ll see when you have…Are you ever gonna name that baby?”

“We still haven’t decided on names yet,” I admitted.

“I can’t believe you haven’t opened that envelope.”

“We decided we want to be surprised.” When I’d had my ultrasound back in December, the doctor had written down the baby’s sex and put it in an envelope, and so far we hadn’t opened it. Joe had deferred the