Laura stepped through the door, followed by her fiancé, Owen Lawry, who carried Laura’s five-month-old son, Holden, in a car seat. “He’s not staying,” she said, using her thumb to point to Owen. “He wouldn’t let me drive myself or carry Holden, so I had no choice but to let him bring me over.”

“We’re glad you’re here,” Jenny said, “no matter how you got here.”

“She forgot to mention she’s been sick all morning,” Owen said.

“Okay, too bad you gotta go now, honey,” Laura said, her hand on Owen’s chest as she steered him backward toward the door. She let him kiss her before she sent him out the door and shut it behind him. “He’s driving me batshit crazy.”

“He’s worried about you,” Syd said. “We all are.”

“I’m pregnant,” Laura said, “not dying. Although sometimes I feel like I might be dying.”

“That’s got to be so miserable,” Jenny said, keeping an eye on Maddie, who was still wrestling with her emotions.

“I’m sorry,” Laura said to Syd in particular. “I don’t mean to be bitching about being pregnant in front of you.”

“You’re bitching about the sickness, not the pregnancy,” Syd said.

One of the things Jenny loved best about Sydney was her endless empathy toward others, even after losing her husband and children so tragically.

“What’s wrong, Maddie?” Laura asked.

Jenny watched Maddie wipe tears off her cheeks.

“Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. I’m a hormonal mess today.”

“And she’s a little disappointed, I think,” Syd said.

Maddie shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

“Oh,” Laura said, “so you’re not pregnant?”

“Apparently not.”

“I thought you didn’t want to be,” Laura said, her brows knitting with confusion.

“I didn’t want to be.” Maddie sniffled as Hailey patted her face. “Until I wasn’t.”

“You know that’s seriously messed up, don’t you?” Laura asked.

“Yes! I get it. Believe me. Mac was having a total meltdown at the thought of me being pregnant again before we were ready to even talk about another baby. He’ll be thrilled to hear it was a false alarm.” Maddie wiped the tears off her face. “Anyway, enough about me. Let’s talk about Syd and how she’s going to be the next one to get pregnant.”

“Don’t jinx me,” Syd said with a teasing grin.

“I’m so sorry,” Maddie said, breaking down again. She handed Hailey to Jenny and got up to leave the room.

Holding the baby, Jenny started to get up from the floor, but Syd held up a hand to stop her. “Allow me.”

“Do you need a hand up?” Jenny asked.

“Nope. I’ve got it.” Sydney moved slowly, but she rose to her feet and followed Maddie into the kitchen.

“I’ve never seen Maddie like that,” Jenny said to Laura. “She’s always so upbeat.”