“Earth to Viv. You’re in la-la land again.” Audrey grins, slouching in her chair in her hospital scrubs.
“I’m blaming my pregnancy hormones this time.” I sit down on the chair behind my desk and get comfortable.
“You’re glowing, babe. It’s great to see. I hated how stressed you were when you were carrying E.”
I rub my lips as I contemplate one of the most stressful periods of my life. “I love that I can embrace my pregnancy this time, but I feel guilty that I didn’t with E.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
I burst out a laugh. “Eh, I’m pretty sure it was. I was the slut who slept with two men in two days on two different continents and then freaked the fuck out when I got pregnant and spent my entire pregnancy stressed over who my baby daddy was.”
“It all worked out perfectly in the end.”
“Thank fuck.” Reeve was ecstatic when I finally announced I was pregnant. I’m ashamed to admit I had known for two months before I told him. It took me that long to work up the courage to say it. Well, that and I was waiting to see if Dillon would reach out to me, but he never did.
He never made any effort to talk to me after I left the pub in Dublin that day.
What a disappointment he turned out to be, but like my bestie just said, it all worked out perfectly in the end.
“I still feel guilty I lied to him,” I admit. A few weeks after I confirmed I was pregnant, Reeve asked me if there was any chance the baby wasn’t his.
I lied and said no.
God, I still feel such horrendous guilt over that.
“If you’d told him the truth, you would’ve taken away his enjoyment of your pregnancy, and maybe you wouldn’t be married to the love of your life with the family and career you always dreamed of living in a house you designed as kids.”
“It doesn’t mean it was right, and what if the baby hadn’t been his?” A full-body shudder works its way through me.
“Don’t do this to yourself, Viv. There’s no point looking back on the what-ifs. Fate brought you back to Reeve and you’re happy, right, babe? You are happy?”
I bob my head. “I am. I love Reeve and Easton with my whole heart. I’m excited to meet the new addition to our family, and I’m excited for this new show I’m working on. The producer even approved me to work from home so I can be around for E. I just have to attend the weekly team meetings at the office. Reeve is shooting in Georgia for the next couple of months. He leaves five days after the Oscars.”
Reeve’s career has been full steam ahead since the Rydeville Elite series, and he’s one of Hollywood’s most in-demand and highest-paid stars. The beauty of that is he can pick and choose his roles, and he only commits to two or three projects a year so he can be at home as much as possible. He tries to pick films that pique his curiosity and satisfy his artistic passion and roles that aren’t too far from home. Of course, it doesn’t always pan out like that, but we make it work.
Reeve has never broken his promise to always put me first, and we decide everything as a team now, always prioritizing our love and our son. Rather than taking the job I was offered with a leading production company, I set myself up as a freelance writer as it gives me more flexibility. I have been working a lot with Netflix on original content and adaptations, and I’ve also been writing some books in my spare time. I’m not sure if I’ll ever publish them, but they feed my creative soul.
“Speaking of.” Audrey kicks her feet up on the table in front of her. “I read an interesting article about this year’s Oscar ceremony. Is it true Collateral Damage is performing on that night?”
“Why do you think I’ve been blowing up your cell all week.” Anxiety skates across my chest, like it does anytime I think about the impending shitshow. “They’re nominated for best original song.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Stay out of their way. The Dolby Theatre is large enough I should be able to avoid him and the other band members. There are tons of industry after-parties, so the chances of us being at the same ones are slim.” Reeve has been nominated for best actor, so it’s not like I can’t be there, especially when he’s the favorite to win.
“What if he comes looking for you?”
I pick at imaginary dirt under my nails. “He won’t come looking for me. He never has. Why would he now?”
“Maybe you should tell Reeve Dillon is the Irish guy. Just in case you cross paths and Dillon says something.”