Chapter 40

She looks down over her bump with a non-descriptive expression as though she isn’t sure how to feel about that. I watch her for a second before moving past her in the kitchen and reaching for the mugs by the coffee machine, a task as familiar as breathing. Emma sits at the long, low breakfast table by the window and waves to her family as they catch sight of her. She smiles at them, and I watch the sheer blissful adoration and contentment running across her face, the love for her husband and children, and I feel a little envious.

“Jake loves babies but does not love seeing me pregnant and suffering. He swears every time that he’ll never do it to me again, and then he forgets what it’s like when that little bundle starts walking around. I swear the man is broodier than most women, and if he hasn’t got a baby on the way or in a pram, he wants another one.” Emma giggles, the glowing flush on her cheeks makes her seem soft and girly, as though still caught in the first throes of l