The Fear of Falling

Chapter Thirty Six

"If anyone asks you something inappropriate, laugh and walk away." Halfway into our walk to Don't Judge a Book, I took it upon myself to coach Gavin through interactions with my blunt coworkers.

He snickered. "Oh, so I shouldn't tell them the size of my dick?"

"No," I said while dodging a pile of garbage lying on the sidewalk. Dear god no. "And if they ask you that, be prepared to post bail."

Gavin rolled his eyes but smiled, amused by my ever-growing possessiveness.

I ignored the nagging butterflies in the pit of my stomach and opened the door to the shop. As soon as I stepped inside, a flurry of pastel balloons passed by my face.

I froze, taking in the baby-themed scenery.

It looked like Babies-R-Us had staged a coup.

Gavin whistled. "Wow."

'Wow' was right. I knew that Tara and her husband had money, but this. "It looks like a product warning for the toys," I said. "Caution may cause-"

"Babies?" Jade laughed. A necklace of flickering L.E.D pacifiers laid around her neck. "I missed that part of the sex talk." She handed us blank cards and a pen. "My mom was drunk, though."

Wish I was. My mother went into traumatizing clinical detail on my eleventh birthday. Psychology Today suggested firm, caring eye contact during all serious development conversations and she lived by that.

"Well, they do own a sex store."

"Yeah, which means they should have had a condom," she pointed out.

I frowned, "So she wasn't on..."

"The doctor refused to refill the prescription. A month later-" Jade gestured to the baby utopia with a grin. "I started sewing onesies."

Shit.

"Write boy or girl on the card. After the baby makes its grand entrance, the winners get a prize." She wiggled her eyebrows, then leaned toward Gavin. "Oh, and there are free condoms on the counter. Take as many as you can."

He opened his mouth to respond. But she had already left us, horrified by the door.

"So, they're always like this?"

I nodded. "Pretty much."

We made it to the punch bowl with baby bottle cups before Kitty hunted us down.

"You made it!" She hurried over, weaving around the stacks of gifts on the ground and dragging Adam by the arm. He didn't seem to mind being manhandled by the pleased look on his face.

"Wouldn't miss it." I suppressed the urge to grab Gavin's hand. All the other guests appeared to have a partner in tow. Each one stopped by where Tara sat, propped up on three pillows and guarded by her husband.

His brown eyes watched her every move.

Kitty followed my gaze and snickered. "He's been like that all day. You'd think we were all baby killers, by the way he looks at us."

"The car accident shook him up a lot," Adam added.

I frowned. "What accident?"

"Happened before we hired you. Tara was driving home and got hit by one of those small-dick monster trucks," Kitty sighed. "That's how they found out about the baby."

"Jesus," Gavin swore. Never a dull day around here.

"On a more positive note," Kitty continued, "We need more players."