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Kylie squealed and inoring startled looks from other restaurant patrons seated in close proxih her stomach had plummeted, and rushed around since Kylie separated Joss and Chessy She slid in on the other side of Joss and tugged her away frorasp

"I’m so happy for you," Chessy whispered so she didn’t have to choke the words out around the lued her back and then pulled away, her gaze piercing as she studied Chessy

"Thank you," Joss said quietly "Now perhaps you can tell us what’s going on with you and why you look so unhappy Is it Tate? Have things gotten worse?"

Chessy’s heart sank She should have known of all people she couldn’t fool her best friends And now that Joss was basking in the glow of her news--glorious news--and the realization of a long-ti Chessy wanted to do was da Joss’s hand and squeezing "This is your irlfriend We can talk abouttheall the fun stuff like baby clothes and possible naosh, Kylie, you and I have to plan a kick-ass baby shower for Joss The likes of which no one has ever seen And we’re so irly activity"

Kylie and Joss exchanged looks, as they often did when they didn’t think Chessy could see, and Chessy inwardly winced that she was evidently the cause of so much worry for her friends

"Do you honestly think for one moment that I would be so wrapped up in the wonderful news ofelse?" Joss asked, clear reprientlest of reprimands

Joss was hardly the kind of woman who ever came across bitchy or mean-spirited She simply didn’t have it in her She was kindness personified and had the biggest,heart of anyone Chessy had ever known in her life

Chessy held up her hands "I know, hon I know Believe me, I do I’d just rather not rehash it all on a day we should be celebrating It’s not like anything has changed It’s just the sas will get better"

Joss lowered her voice, her eyes filling with love, so ht tears to Chessy’s eyes

"I know it had to be hard to hear that I’ently "I know you’ve wanted children That it was once what you and Tate both wanted and that you still do but he’s the one wanting to hold off now And now you’ve even questioned thea child now We’ve had that discussion recently and agreed that until you and Tate get beyond this current rough patch that a baby would only co to lie to the women she loved most in the world Her best friends Her sisters Her rocks

"I won’t say it doesn’t sting a little Okay, a lot," she aht of the look Kylie shot her One that said you aren’t fooling anyone, girlfriend "It’s no secret that I’ve wanted children A big faiven as a child I want a brood of little ones that are secure in the fact that they are loved and wanted with every single part of my heart and soul"

"You want for theave you," Kylie said softly

Chessy shot her a look of understanding Chessy and Kylie had one thing in common as far as childhoods went They were both unwanted, but the similarities ended there Kylie had suffered a horrific, abusive childhood at the hands of the monster that was her father

Chessy could never say she was abused, physically or verbally She simply didn’t … exist Not to her parents Chessy had been a very unplanned child to parents who’d never intended to have children And as such, they didn’t change their lives to adjust to having a child They si an unwanted nuisance Her childhood had been one of neglect, not abuse, but then solect was indeed a form of abuse Chessy hadn’t been physically harmed, but emotionally? Definitely

Tate knew of Chessy’s childhood, herlonely and overlooked It had infuriated him and he’d vowed she’d never feel that ith him Until … now He’d always made it his priority to put her first Her wants, her needs, her desires, some of which she expressed, but mostly Tate intuitively understood and satisfied the He often fulfilled needs she hadn’t even realized she had at the tiive her all the things she’d lacked as a child

God, she wanted that back She wanted her husband back Wanted for things to be the way they had been before he’d branched out on his own, for co him to meet the needs of all their clients

And in her heart, she knew that Tate was still acting on his desire to see to her every need He never wanted her to lack for anything he could provide Financially She knew his heart was in the right place, but money wasn’t what Chessy wanted most Financial security was all well and fine, but at the expense of her e? She just wanted her husband back The one who saw to her emotional needs above all else Not her financial needs Because money was no substitute for love, no substitute for the et hi a rift between them? One that may not be able to be repaired And she si Tate over Certainly not her ridiculous insecurities and needy, clingy deer picture Most worateful for a husband who busted his ass every single day to provide for his wife How to explain thatto her if they caap for between them?