Nicole didn’t seem all that partial to the speed limit, which was good in our current situation. She and Noah talked in the front seat, mostly about inane movie stuff, while I rocked in the back, promising God that I’d do anything if Shelby would be okay.

I’d even be willing to give up Noah, if that’s what it took. Because for some reason this felt like some personal punishment for me being a liar for so long.

I just kept whispering the word please. She couldn’t die.

We rolled up to the emergency room entrance at the hospital, and both Noah and I opened our doors. I heard him thanking her.

She got out of the car, too. “Wait! Can I get a picture with you?”

I saw the pained look in his eyes. “Go,” he told me. “I’ll catch up.”

Maybe I should have waited, but I couldn’t. Right as I got to the elevator bank, one of the elevators opened, like it had been waiting just for me. I took it up to the eleventh floor and looked for the door numbers until I found Shelby’s.

She was alone in her bed, looking so small. Allan wasn’t in the room.

I rushed to her side. “I’m here.” Noah had gotten me to the hospital, just like he’d promised. “We’ll get through this.”

“Everything’s okay,” she said, putting a hand over her stomach. “I’m just having a baby. Allan’s out calling his parents right now.”

“What?” For some reason that did not compute.

“They got the blood work back and the doctors didn’t see any evidence that my cancer had returned and it’s supposed to be virtually impossible for me to get pregnant naturally, but I am definitely pregnant. That can apparently cause fainting and light-headedness, too. So this is a literal miracle. I’m going to be a mommy.”

At that my tears finally started to fall; I was so thrilled for her. I knew how much this meant to her. She and Allan had already talked about adopting children because they thought they wouldn’t be able to get pregnant on their own. I leaned over to hug her, making sure not to squish her stomach. “Congratulations. You’re going to be the best mom ever.”

She was crying happy tears. “I wish my mom was here to see this.”

“I know. I’m sorry she’s not. But for what it’s worth, your baby is going to have the world’s best aunt, and I’m going to love them with everything I have.”

And it was in that moment that I realized no matter how much things might change between me and Shelby, no matter what challenges and obstacles we were going to face, we would still get through them all together. Adding new people to love along the way.