The Doc's Double Delivery by Jacqueline Diamond

Author:Jacqueline Diamond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin

8

THIS WASN’T going to be easy, Chelsea thought as she and Angela drove onto the freeway on Saturday morning. She was glad she had this chance to talk to her young friend alone.

Angela had asked for a ride to the theater, since she had to arrive an hour and a half before the rest of her family. Chelsea had agreed, partly because it would make Angela happy and partly because she wanted to explain the circumstances of her pregnancy before the girl heard the news from someone else.

The problem was, she discovered as she tried to decide how to start, that she didn’t want to set a bad example. Although Chelsea treasured her live-and-let-live attitude, she didn’t want to give a twelve-year-old the impression that having children outside of marriage was a good idea.

The hard part was to explain why she’d gone to bed with Barry in the first place, besides the obvious fact that he was cute. She was sure there had been a good reason, even if she hadn’t been consciously aware of it.

Suddenly Chelsea knew what it was.

“I did a foolish thing,” she said. “I want to tell you about it because you’re going to find out anyway.”

“Otherwise you wouldn’t tell me?” Her face surrounded by a cloud of hair burnished by the May sunshine, Angela hugged herself protectively.

Chelsea had forgotten how oversensitive an adolescent could be. “I wouldn’t have told you because it’s embarrassing.”

The girl relaxed. “I can’t believe you’d be embarrassed about anything!”

“Well, I am.” She decided to plunge right in. “Some time ago, I had a bad relationship and it made me doubt myself. I stayed away from men for a long time, which wasn’t hard, because most of the guys I meet are creeps.”

“I know exactly what you mean.” In a few seconds, Angela had gone from vulnerable child to blasé young lady. Chelsea smiled at the transition.

“Then I met a supernice guy and I jumped at the chance to prove something to myself,” she said. “I’m afraid I also jumped into bed with him.”

“What happened?”

Chelsea took a deep breath. “I got pregnant.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Angela stared at her. “Is this for real?”

“Not only is it for real, it’s twins.” She swung past a slowpoke in the middle lane.

“What about the guy?” Angela asked. “Did he turn out to be a jerk?”

“No.” Chelsea might as well spill the rest of it. “He turned out to be Barry.”

“My Barry?”

“The same.”

“Good,” said Angela. “You two are perfect for each other.”

Chelsea’s hackles rose. “We are not. You know how you don’t want your family to run your life? Well, I don’t want a man to run mine, either.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” the girl said. “Would he?”

“I like him,” Chelsea conceded. “He can be fun to have around. But there’s this undercurrent of stuffiness. A place for everything and everything in its place.”

“I know what you could do!” Angela said. “You could get married, but live in different houses.”

“People don’t do that.”

“Why not? You’d never be lonely, because you’d each have a baby to play with,” the girl said.

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