“Yes, but we won’t have to pay the extra rent or utility bills, so we’ll actually be ahead of the game.” Mitzi sat down at the table. “We can move tomorrow evening after work.”

“I can’t believe we’re even thinking of this,” Paula said. “But we’ll have to promise that we don’t bring work upstairs.”

“Exactly, and we each have a life to live, so we don’t have to tell each other where we’re going or what time we’ll be home,” Jody said.

“What are we going to do with that mannequin?” Mitzi moved from the kitchen chair to the middle of Jody’s couch-bed. “Whoa!” She held up a hand. “We’re freaking out about moving and we’re forgetting the big picture here. Paula is going to be a single mother and she needs our support.”

Paula went to sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank you. I’m okay now that I’ve told y’all.”

“No, you’re not.” Jody sat on the floor beside the bed. “I won’t even know for a few more days, and I’m still totally freaking out about being a single mother. So fess up, Paula. We’re here for you.”

“Okay.” Paula held out her trembling hands. “I go to bed wondering if I’ll be a good mother. Look at our moms, Jody. Are we going to be like them? Demanding, judgmental? It scares the crap out of me. Then I wake up worried that my child will feel cheated since she won’t have a father. So, yes, I’m freaking out, but knowing y’all are here for me helps.”

“Have you told your mama?” Jody asked.

“Not yet. I tried to tell Selena when I went down to see her the last time, but I just couldn’t do it. You’re the first ones I’ve told,” Paula admitted. “You want to break it to Mama for me?”

“Hell, no!” Jody shook her head emphatically. “If I happen to be pregnant, I’m going to tell my mama I found the baby in a cabbage patch.”

Paula glanced over toward Mitzi and raised an eyebrow.

Mitzi threw a hand over her forehead in a dramatic gesture. “I love you, girl, but not that much. Gladys will breathe fire, and I’m real fond of my eyelashes and hair.”

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Never again,” Jody said as she threw back the covers and sat up on the sofa bed.

“‘Never again,’ what?” Mitzi yawned.

“Never again will I fall in love.” She had had a sleepless night, worrying about her own pregnancy possibility. Like Paula, she was terrified of being a bad mother. And if the poor baby only had her, and not a decent father to balance things out, then it would be twice as bad.