Gracie grins at the romance reference. Like me, she’s been obsessed with romance lately. Specifically Olivia’s yummy historicals.

“Greyson was always straight edge, but he wasn’t a jerk,” Eva says. “At least from what I can remember. I wonder what happened.”

“No clue.” I shrug. Swallow. “We were so careful.”

Olivia reaches across the table and puts her hand on mine.

“I get that you just found out. But do you have any feelings either way?”

“About keeping it?” I sigh for what feels like the hundredth time. Try to make sense of the swirl of feelings and thoughts inside me. “Honestly, I don’t know. I’m considering all my options.”

“If I were in your shoes, I’d do the same,” Olivia replies. “You remember when I got pregnant my first year in grad school.”

“I didn’t know that,” Gracie says.

“Yup. It was with my boyfriend at the time—my first real boyfriend,” she says, nodding at Eva. “We were young. Broke. I ended up not keeping the baby. We just weren’t ready to be parents, you know? So I’m glad I had the choice.”

I sip my coffee. Let out a breath. “I have to say that now that I’m in this position, I’m relieved the option is there. I mean—” I let out another breath. “Shit, y’all. We were so careful. I don’t know how this happened. It sucks. Really, really sucks.”

“Would you consider adoption?” Eva asks.

“To be honest, I don’t think so. I get that it’s a great option for some people. But if I’m going to keep the baby, I think—at this point in my life at least—I’d want to be the one to raise him or her.”

Olivia reaches over to take my hand. “This is a big decision, Julia. I can’t imagine how heavy it must feel to you, but I recognize how hard it is. You know we’re your village, right? No matter what you decide, we’ll support you one-hundred-percent. I’ll hold your hand on the way to the clinic, same as I’ll hold your hand while you’re screaming for an epidural.”

“Always,” Gracie says. “No judgement from me.”

“If I didn’t judge you for your escapades with the French footballer, I’m certainly not going to judge you for this,” Eva says with a smile.

“Thank you, guys. Seriously. I don’t know much about having a baby, but I do know I can’t do it alone.”

“If you do decide to go the having-the-baby route, maybe you could try to find a community of moms-to-be,” Olivia adds. “I know our yoga studio up on Spring Street offers prenatal classes. Probably a great way to meet other mamas.”

A rush of heat behind my eyes.

My nose starts to run.

“Damn it,” I say, wiping my eyes with my napkin. “Why do y’all have to be so fucking awesome?”

“Because we love you and we want to see you happy,” Gracie replies.

In that moment, I know that no matter what I end up doing, I’ll be okay. All because I have these supportive, open-minded, incredibly generous women in my life.