Not that she said that to Abby. But when she couldn’t spin out the prelude anymore and had to get to Brian, she spared no detail. She talked about that week with him, getting pregnant, and leaving Sasha and town without her degree or telling anyone the truth, but she did so without a glance at Abby’s neatly crossed ankles, let alone her shadowy face.
“The whole pregnancy was a blur of terror, but the birth—Abby, don’t let anyone tell you birth is beautiful. If the top layer of its horribleness didn’t get worn away by immediate sleep deprivation, no one would have a second kid. But, then, I don’t know. We were a family, and there was love and caring and s**t. A lot of that. I mean, sometimes I think it would be easier if I didn’t love them so much.”
Abby had slipped her feet out of her he
