“Well, I’m happy for me, too, but I won’t be happy if they fuck with Sawyer’s face,” I whisper back. “Those boys have to understand I’m not a little kid anymore. Ugh, they’re so annoying, and before you give me a big lecture about them caring, I know why they do it.”
“Have you ever thought maybe they will be okay with it?” she suggests.
I guess I hadn’t really, but that’s mainly because the boys spent the better part of the year making threats against Sawyer that frankly were downright rude. Do they really think that wewere gonna remain ‘just good friends’ though? I mean, can guys and girls really bejustfriends?
I’m skeptical, then again, I’ve never had a guy friend before Sawyer, so I can’t really comment on that.
“I guess miracles can happen.” I shrug. “They’ve always been super overprotective of me. I am the same as an annoying little sister in a way, but I can’t really be that annoying if they employed me and gave me a raise.”
“I’m happy for you,” she says again. “Now if we can find someone to replace me before this baby comes out, that would put my mind at ease.”
“Is it scary?” I ask. “Childbirth?”
She smiles softly. “It depends on who you ask. For me? Not really. I’ve done it before with Olive, but before her? I was scared out of my mind. Childbirth isn’t easy, no matter what anyone says, and back when I was in the church, I didn’t have any pain relief.”
“Holy shit,” I mutter. “You know you’re gonna need it with Brew’s?—”
“Average size baby?” She cuts me off, shaking her head. “Because of complications with Olive, I will probably have a caesarian, so that might put your mind at ease.”
I slump back in my chair. “That does make me feel better,” I admit. “I just didn’t want your nether region pulverised for the rest of time.”
She laughs again. “I’m gonna miss you, Nova.”
I sober for a second, not wanting to tear up, but I do. “I’m gonna miss you, too. We’ve had fun.”
“Hey, I’m not dying,” she says, nudging me with her shoulder. “I’m just having a baby. A baby I will bring in to visit, and you can come over, too. He or she will be your niece, after all.”
“Aunty Nova.” I smile to myself. Olive already calls me her aunt which I really like, but having a baby around will be kinda cool. Despite what I said to Sawyer, I really don’t hate kids. “You know what, though?”
Erica turns to me, her hands splayed on her enormous stomach. “What?”
“I really freaking hope the baby looks like you and not Brew.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Sawyer
2 days earlier
The address Barry told us about is downtown in a building that’s a block of old apartments. It’s rundown and looks like the NOLA version of the ghetto. I really fucking hope there aren’t women and kids inside, then again, if there are, we can help them.
Of course, we’re not going in there, the cops are, since they have the building surrounded. Willow left no stone unturned in getting her team together.
“You okay?” Pipes asks me as we sit in the van, waiting.
“I’m good.”
“You sure about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason,” he says. “You did good, brother. Especially with those assholes at the warehouse.”
We both know they’re just the middlemen, but they still willingly participated. What makes me more sick is Barry telling me he had kids.What the actual fuck?
I turn to look at him. “They deserve a lot more than they got.” Well, Barry is still alive, pending this investigation, plus we still need him to communicate with Forest, but I’ll be going back there. No matter what Tag and Harlem ended up doing, they’ll keep him alive. That’s what we do around here, we have each other’s backs.