The Best Friend Problem

by Mariah Ankenman

  He pulled up outside her apartment building, forgoing finding a visitor spot in the small crowded parking lot because there, standing just inside the glass front doors, stood Pru. The irritated expression on her face morphed into relief as she spotted him, then she threw open the front door and practically sprinted for the car.

  “Careful,” he admonished when she opened the door. “You’re not supposed to run in your condition. You could fall and hurt yourself or the babies.”

  She slammed the car door, glaring at him. “Don’t you start, too! Mo and Lilly haven’t let me help all week. I’ve been stuck in the office while they went to the storage unit to grab all the boxes for the wedding we have next weekend.”

  He shrugged. “You’re not supposed to be moving heavy boxes.”

  “They were filled with fake flowers and candles for centerpieces. I doubt any of them weighed more than five pounds.”

  “They don’t want you to overexert yourself.”

  “They’re acting like I can’t do anything because I’m pregnant.” She settled back into her seat with a pouty grunt. “I know they mean well, but they’re driving me insane, and there’s only so much work in the office to keep me busy.”

  Idle hands were not Pru’s forte. The woman liked to stay busy. She also didn’t appreciate people offering her helping hands. Not his Pru. Reaching over, he grasped her hand, bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss.

  “They care about you. They’re only trying to help.”

  “I don’t need any help.”

  Yes, he was well aware of that fact. She repeated it to anyone and everyone who tried to lighten her load, as if offering help were some insidious trick people used, instead of an example of genuine caring.

  “Yes, Pru. We all know you have everything under control and never need any help from anyone ever.”

  She pulled her hand from his, brow rising. “Wow, Finn, want a side of fries to go with that sarcasm?”

  “You’re the one acting like people caring about you is some insult.” He shook his head. He knew Pru cherished her independence, but there was nothing weak about accepting help. He couldn’t fight fires alone. He needed his crew to help him battle a natural force greater than he could ever be. “Letting the people who care about you help out isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t mean we don’t think you can do all this on your own—you’re kick-ass, Pru, we know you are. We just want to support you.”

  He stared into those dark brown eyes, watching as the stubborn frustration melted away into reluctant acceptance. Her anger deflated.

  “I know, but I’m starting to feel…”

  “What?”

  “Like I’m not pulling my own weight.”

  He snorted. The idea was ludicrous. As if Pru could ever give less than a hundred and ten percent in anything, especially her career.

  “I guess I just didn’t realize how much everything would change.” She glanced down at her belly. “I mean, duh, I knew everything would change. But I wasn’t prepared for how quickly it would happen. I just feel like everything is going so fast. I don’t have time to catch up and assess the changes in the situation.”

  Only Pru would put it like that.

  “Life is full of changes, Precious. They can happen in an instant or take years. Sometimes you just have to roll with it.”

  She arched one dark eyebrow. “When have I ever rolled with anything? And where did you get that crappy advice? The back of a beer bottle?”

  “You rolled with me last night.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Rolled right into reverse cowgirl—”

  She smashed a hand over his mouth, laughter spilling from her lips. “Shut up and drive, perv.”

  Happy to see the smile back on her face, he did just that, taking them out of the city and into the suburbs. Once they arrived at his parents’ place, he parked in the driveway.

  “You sure you ready to do this?”

  “Finn,” she placed her hand protectively over her belly, “they’re going to find out sooner or later. And since we decided you’re going to be…helping out, I want the twins to know their grandparents. They deserve to have a loving family to build precious memories with. To learn things from. To go to when I’m being the worst mom ever to get hugs and candy.”

  He smiled, knowing the last one on her list was personal. Pru loved her great aunt, the older woman who’d raised her after her own parents had died. She’d been devastated when the woman passed. He knew she’d never deny her own children—his children—a chance to form that same loving bond she held so dear to her heart.

  “Okay.” He placed his own, large hand over her smaller ones, still amazed at what they’d created. “But you get to explain to them why you’re not making an honest man out of their son.”

  “Oh, please.” She laughed, opening the car door and slipping out. “Like your parents care about that.”

  She was right. Considering his parents had gotten married only after his eldest brother had turned one, he knew they wouldn’t be surprised or upset by the less than traditional circumstances of their newest grandbabies.

  He followed her out of the car to his parents’ front door. She must have already knocked, because the second his foot hit the top step, the front door swung open.

  “Pru, Finn, so glad you could both come tonight.”

  “Hi, Mom.”

  His mother reached out to hug Pru first since she was closer. After a moment in the hug, she pulled back, eyes wide. She glanced down to Pru’s stomach, currently covered by her coat.

  “Are you…?”

  Pru nodded as his mother reached out to place both hands on Pru’s stomach, rubbing over the fairly obvious bump there. Her gaze swiveled from Pru, to him, to Pru’s stomach and back again.

  “And it’s…? You two…? You’re…?”

  His poor mother was going to suffer whiplash with all the back and forth.

  “Congratulations, Mom.” He smiled. “You’re going to be a grandmother again.”

  Good thing no one in the house wore glasses, because the happy, high-pitched shriek coming from the woman who gave him life would have shattered them.

  “Oh my! This is so exciting. I didn’t even know you two were— But never mind about that. Come inside, we have to share the good news with everyone. Oh, I am so happy. You have to tell me when you’re due. I have some of Finn’s baby clothes if you want them.”

  He chuckled as his mother wrapped an arm around Pru’s waist, one hand still on her belly, and ushered her inside, completely forgetting about her own offspring standing on the chilly porch.

  “Come inside and close the door, Finn, before you let a draft in. We can’t have Prudence getting sick right now.”

  Now he laughed, a full belly laugh, because of course his mother—lover of all things baby—would focus all her attention on her newest grandbabies.

  He followed the women inside, grabbing Pru’s coat and hanging it with his own in the hall closet. Jordan had gone back to school, but his older brothers were there tonight with their families. The roaring noise in the living room quieted to a hushed din as he stepped in beside his mother and Pru.

  “Everyone,” his mother announced. “Prudence and Finn have some very exciting news to share with us.”

  Finn opened his mouth to speak, but his overly excited mother beat him to it.

  “They’re having a baby! I’m going to be a grandma again!”

  Everyone stared in stunned silence for a beat or two before the room filled with boisterous noise. His brothers came over to pat him on the back while his sisters-in-law hugged Pru. His father—who sat in his chair, entertaining his current grandchildren with a storybook—lifted his head in congratulations.

  Pru, having known his loud and excitable family for decades, still seemed a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm.

  “Thanks, everyone.” He maneuvered to Pru’s side, resting a hand on her stomach. “But actually, Mom, we’re not having a baby.”

  Everyone held their breat
h, happy smiles dropping slightly. He grinned. Wouldn’t be family if he couldn’t mess with them a little.

  “We’re having two. Twins.”

  The boisterous noise resumed. His mother smacked his shoulder with a scowl, admonishing him for scaring her. Everyone crowded around, asking questions, mostly about when Pru was due and how she was feeling. After a few minutes, the women went down to the basement to get some baby stuff his mother had been saving, and his brothers went into the kitchen to set up for dinner with the help of his nieces and nephews, all of whom had varying levels of curiosity about their new cousins.

  Finn turned to go help set the table, when a motion from his father stopped him. Kurt Jamison was a man of few words. As a retired lawyer, words were his bread and butter, but he never minced them. He made each one count.

  “You gonna marry that girl?”

  See? Right to the matter at hand.

  “Dad, first off, Pru is a woman, not a girl. Second, it’s not 1950. And third, you didn’t marry Mom until Quentin was one. I’ve seen the wedding album.”

  His old man shrugged. “True, but I proposed the day she told me she was pregnant.”

  Yeah, well, the day Pru told him she was carrying his baby knocked him onto his ass. They hadn’t even been dating—not information his father needed to know—so marriage certainly hadn’t entered his mind.

  “Then why did you guys wait so long?”

  Blue eyes, eyes the same color as his, stared back at him.

  “Your mother said she didn’t want me unless I wanted her. Your brother was an accident, but one she’d happily raise on her own if need be. She didn’t want me proposing out of some silly notion of obligation then resenting the marriage and her years down the road.”

  Sounded like his mother. So why had his dad asked Finn about marrying Pru?

  “The thing is, I loved your mother since the day I met her. Always have. I would have married her, baby or not. Took a while to convince her of that. To make her see I wasn’t going to take off. I wasn’t just sticking around because of the baby, but because of her. Because I loved her.”

  “Yeah, Dad, but Pru and I don’t… It’s not like… I don’t love…”

  At his nonsensical rambling, his father simply raised his brow.

  “I’m not in love with Prudence.”

  Now his father laughed. Not good. Kurt Jamison only laughed when someone told a witty joke or a cat got scared by a cucumber. His dad emailed him so many of those stupid videos. He seriously regretted showing the man how YouTube worked.

  “What?”

  “Son, you’ve been in love with that girl—woman—since the tenth grade.”

  Had not.

  “You may be able to hide it from everyone else, including your mother, which is a feat of God in itself, but you can’t fool me. I know.” A warm hand landed on Finn’s shoulder. “I’ve been there. The Jamison men tend to fall for tough, stubborn women. Stay strong, son. Don’t let her push you away, because I know she has feelings for you, too.”

  “How do you know?” Dammit, he hadn’t meant to ask that. He hadn’t meant to admit his father might be right.

  Might. Because, yeah, he could admit to himself—and only to himself right now—he had been harboring a secret crush on Pru for a long time, but a crush didn’t equal love. He cared for her. Deeply. In a more-than-a-friend kind of way that some people might call love. Y’know, if you believed in all that sappy stuff.

  His father smiled, placing both hands on Finn’s shoulders and staring him straight in the eyes. “Don’t let her push you away. Prove yourself and your feelings and don’t let doubt or fear overwhelm you. Either of you.”

  Great. He’d just do…that. Simple, right?

  “Dinner’s ready,” Quentin called from the kitchen.

  The women arrived back upstairs a moment later, all of them surrounding Pru, still offering advice and tips on pregnancy and babies. Her arms were empty, but his mother carried a box overflowing with baby blankets, clothes, and a toy puppy he’d remembered sleeping with every night until he was in the fifth grade.

  “Here, Finn, dear.” His mother dumped the surprisingly heavy box into his arms. “Put this in your car so you two don’t forget it, then join us at the table.”

  “Sure, Mom.”

  He rolled his eyes, catching Pru’s gaze. She laughed, shrugging as his mother pulled her into the kitchen. She looked good here, happy, surrounded by his family. A place she’d always been welcomed, a place she’d now be a part of forever. A place he suddenly realized he never wanted to be at without her.

  Dammit.

  Why were parents always right?

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I’ve got cheesecake!” Mo raised the dessert high in the air as she entered the apartment.

  Pru grinned from her position on the couch. “Perfect. I just cued up the movie, and once Lilly’s out of the bathroom, we can start girls’ night.”

  Her roommate set the delicious confection on the coffee table before taking a seat next to Pru. Small but surprisingly strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and tugged her in for a hug.

  “Ugh, it feels like forever since we’ve had a girls’ night. I can’t believe we let it go this long.”

  Some of that was Pru’s fault. Okay, most of it. Though the women lived and worked together, they tried to set aside one night every few weeks to just kick back and relax, not as business partners but the way they began—as friends. Since they were in their downtime as far as weddings went, it should have been easier for them all to find a night off, but she’d been spending more and more time at Finn’s place.

  She hadn’t meant to neglect her other friends. She just had a lot going on right now.

  And now she sounded selfish and awful.

  Guilt filled the empty portion of her stomach she’d been saving for the sweet cheesecake, and Pru winced. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much after work.” At least she was still paying her share of the rent and bills.

  “Oh please,” Mo chuckled. “If I could share a bed with a hot, sexy fireman, I would, too.”

  She nudged her friend. “I can arrange that. Want me to tell Ward to text you?”

  The blond woman snorted. “No way. Ward is a fine piece of eye candy no doubt, but he and Díaz are meant for each other, and I am not one to stand in the way of true love.”

  Really? Díaz and Ward? Pru figured the two would kill each other before they kissed each other, but far be it from her to correct Mo, the eternal optimist.

  “Anyone make popcorn yet?” Lilly asked, coming into the room.

  “I did.” Pru held up the large bowl of buttery popcorn, handing it over to her roommate and snagging the small bowl she’d put aside for herself.

  “What’s that?” Mo raised one pale blond eyebrow.

  “Popcorn.”

  Mo peeked into the bowl, rearing back with a horrified shudder. “No. That is not popcorn. That’s a culinary crime.”

  She glanced at the contents of the bowl in her lap. “It’s not that bad.”

  Lilly leaned over the back of the couch warily to eye the ingredients of Pru’s pregnancy popcorn mix.

  “Is that…gravy and hot sauce?” One perfectly manicured hand came up to cover her mouth as she gagged.

  “Not hot sauce.” Mo wrinkled her nose. “Smells more like strawberry sauce.”

  “Oh, Pru, sweetie. That’s disgusting.” Lilly’s bright green eyes grew wide. “You’re not actually going to eat that, are you?”

  “Back off, you two.” She clutched her bowl tighter to her chest just in case her taste-impaired friends tried to nab it from her and dump it down the disposal. “Yes, it’s mushroom gravy and strawberry syrup over popcorn, and yes I’m going to eat it. It’s got carbs, veggies, fruit. Everything the babies need to grow big and strong.”

  Mo scooted to the other end of the couch. “You’ve had some weird cravings, honey, but this tops them all. Even I wouldn’t try that.”

 
; And they all knew Mo would try anything.

  “Can we just sit and watch the movie, please? My doctor says it’s fine to eat whatever I crave as long as it’s not on my forbidden food list.”

  “That should be on the list.”

  She ignored Mo’s comment and Lilly’s nod of agreement. So maybe this was one of her stranger pregnancy cravings, but—mmmmmmmm—she moaned as she lifted a few fluffy kernels drenched in savory, sweet goo to her lips, relishing the odd mix of flavors exploding on her tongue.

  “What?” she mumbled around her mouthful at the horrified expressions on her friends’ faces. “It’s delicious.”

  Mo shook her head, blond curls, highlighted with streaks of purple this week, tumbling around her shoulders. “Pregnancy is weird.”

  True. Had she not been craving this particular concoction of tastes, she would one hundred percent agree that what she was currently putting in her mouth was disgusting. But the babies wanted what they wanted, and she was already a pushover for those tiny little ones who held such a big part of her heart. So here she was, eating mushroom gravy popcorn topped with strawberry sauce and loving every bite.

  Mo and Lilly stayed on the far side of the couch for the first half of the movie. The very far side. But once her delicious—thank you very much—treat was done, both women scooted over. They finished the movie and popcorn and made a sizable dent in the cheesecake. Since Finn had just started his twenty-four-hour shift, Pru decided to crash at home tonight. She’d checked on Bruiser before coming back to her apartment and planned on going back to Finn’s in the morning to feed the sweet girl and take her to the park for some much-needed exercise.

  Maybe it was her burgeoning mommy instincts, but she’d been spoiling the pup with too many dog treats, and the little Yorkie mix had gained a bit of weight.

  “That movie was hilarious.” Mo stood, grabbing the empty popcorn bowls and heading to the kitchen. “Hollywood needs to make more female buddy movies. I laughed so hard I almost peed.”