I shoved aside the old memories as my stomach rolled. I stood and filled a glass with tap water and sipped slowly.

And now I was pregnant and feeling just as nervous as Clare had looked that day. Of course, our situations weren’t even comparable, but fear, nerves, and uncertainty didn’t care about age or job description.

The front door opened, and I quickly put the camera back in the box and tucked it behind sweaters on the top shelf.

I recognized Jack’s steady steps, which reminded me of marching soldiers going into battle. He said he’d picked up the purposeful footsteps in prison. “Get from point A to B as quick as you can,” he’d said. “Staying alive was the single goal.” He still approached every day like he was fighting to stay free.

“Hey,” I said, smiling. “I thought you had meetings all day.”

Something in my voice (nerves maybe) must have caught his attention. He missed very little. “I thought you’d be at school.”

“I called in sick.”

“What’s wrong?” Feeling his strong arms always calmed me, and I should’ve been thrilled to tell Jack about the baby. This child was what we both wanted. What we’d dreamed about for the last three years. And yet I drew in a deep breath before I said, “I’m pregnant.”

He laid his hands on my shoulders, studied my face closely. “What? You said it was negative yesterday.”

“The test this morning popped with double lines.”

He stood still as stone, and I thought he might be annoyed. He always looked like a statue right before he exploded. But he broke the stillness with a slow, steady smile. “Jo-Jo, that’s fantastic. Are you happy?”

“Shocked. Scared. Happy. I’d given up thinking this was going to happen.”

He hugged me close, wrapping me in the strength of his arms. He smelled of restaurant-renovation sawdust, fresh cold air, and the Irish soap I bought him. “You’re going to be a great mom.”

“You mean it?” I asked against his flannel shirt.

“Of course I do. I always thought that, even back in high school.”

I drew back, looked up at his face. His square jaw was covered in stubble, but there was a rare softening in his gaze. Sudden tears burned in my eyes. I wiped one away. “Sorry.”

He smoothed a tear off my face. “What’s gotten you so upset?”

“I was thinking about Clare.”

Stiffness rippled through his muscles. “That was a long time ago.”

“I just keep thinking about that last night. I know I need to put it behind me, and I have for the most part. But it comes back when I least expect it.”

“Because of her pregnancy?” he asked softly.