I felt pretty proud of myself as I washed slime out of my hair. Not for overindulging on free shots-that wasn't one of my finer moments-but for not letting alcohol sweep me away into a remembered moment of passion with Denny. I felt like I'd been tested, and I'd passed.

Figuring I should check in with Anna, let her know I was alive and well and still coming to her appointment, I ransacked the bed for my cell phone. I found it buried in the covers; the battery was long dead. Kellan must have sung me to sleep until my phone disconnected. I couldn't remember when I'd dozed off, but I could easily picture Kellan keeping the line open while he listened to me sleeping. Maybe he'd fallen asleep that way, pretending that we were in bed together. God, I hope I hadn't snored.

When I plugged the phone in, there were several missed calls from Jenny, Kate, and Cheyenne. I let them all know I was fine, then texted Anna and let her know I was on my way.

It took twice as long as usual, but I eventually made it to my old apartment. Anna was bright-eyed and bushytailed when she got in the car. She was excited for the upcoming news-the sex of her baby. She was having an ultrasound today, and if my niece or nephew cooperated, we'd find out whether to decorate the nursery pink or blue. Of course, Anna had "known" it was a girl from the moment she'd accepted the pregnancy, and she'd already loaded up my old closet with dozens of outfits in pale pinks, light purples, and deep reds. It looked like Valentine's Day had thrown up in there. And that thought did not help my stomach.

Anna smirked when she noticed the color of my face. "Good night?" she asked, in an unaccommodatingly loud voice.

I cringed as I glared at her. "Not really." Well, that wasn't exactly true. I'd been having a great time until my liquid friends had decided to leave the party in the most uncomfortable way possible.

Anna laughed as I focused on the road. "I feel a little bad for petering out on you. That's so unlike me. Jenny get you home okay?"

Remembering the look on Jenny's face as I'd left the bar with Denny, I frowned and answered my sister without considering just who I was talking to. "No, she didn't take me home . . . Denny did."

"What? You went home with Denny?" she snapped.

I mentally smacked myself. I really hadn't planned on mentioning that to her. "I didn't 'go home' with him. . . . He dropped me off at the house, made sure I was okay." I stopped myself from telling her that he'd spent the night; I didn't want to send her into early labor.

When I glanced over at her, Anna narrowed her emerald eyes. Framed in hormonally lengthened thick eyelashes, her gaze was even more imposing than usual. "Yeah, I bet he made sure you were okay." Her eyebrow lifted in a clear accusation. "You sleep with him?"

My mouth fell open so far, I was sure my tonsils were visible. "Oh my God, Anna! No, I didn't . . . and thanks for your faith in me."

Pursing her lips, she snipped, "I have plenty of faith in you, Kiera. It's the massive amount of alcohol you consumed that I doubt. So, you really didn't bang him?"

Not answering her crass question, I studiously kept my eyes on the road. After a moment of silence, Anna finally said, "Okay, if you say so, I'll believe you." I could tell by her tone that she didn't completely believe me.

Relaxing my expression, I sighed in defeat. "I really didn't do anything with him, Anna. We're just friends now, I swear. And in case you're wondering, yes, I told Kellan. He called last night while Denny was taking care of me."

She considered my words for a moment, then said, "I thought Denny dropped you off?"

I glared at her out of the corner of my eye, and Anna chuckled. "Okay, Kiera. I believe you. If you say nothing happened, then nothing happened." Almost instantly she added, "Besides, you're a terrible liar anyway." I gave her my most wicked expression. She laughed again.

At the doctor's office, an ultrasound technician in faded yellow scrubs cheerfully walked us into a low-lit room. There was a faint antiseptic smell, and a computer nearby whirred and hummed, filling the silence. The woman instructed Anna to lie down on an examination table lined with paper. With a wonder-filled smile, Anna carefully reclined her plump body and adjusted her stretchy pants so that the bulk of her belly was exposed.

"Okay, let's get a look at my little girl," she merrily exclaimed.

"Oh," the technician said, "you already know the sex?" She squeezed some gel onto Anna's belly. As an afterthought, she told her, "This will be cold."

Anna sucked in a quick breath as the gel touched her skin. "No, this is my first ultrasound." She looked up at the woman spreading the gel around with a taser gun-I swear that's what it was-that was attached to the computer. "I just know I'm having girl, is all."

The woman smiled at her but didn't comment. I supposed she'd heard every wives' tale in the book from pregnant women claiming to know the sex.

When the image of Anna's belly appeared on the monitor, it was a blob of indistinguishable gray shapes. The technician seemed to know what she was looking at and pointed out several body parts to us. Anna and I looked at each other, then shrugged. Neither one of us was really seeing anything that resembled a human being. But then the spine came into view. It was distinct, defined . . . unmistakable. My eyes teared up as I saw something on the screen that I could relate to. Then a hand drifted into focus-a perfect, five-fingered hand. The fingers curled a little as the technician held the wand still.

"Oh my God, Kiera . . . look at that," Anna murmured, tears running down her cheeks. "My daughter waved at me."

I hugged my emotional sister, a little emotional myself now. After finishing up with the measurements and still shots, including one that was a perfect profile of the face, the technician frowned. "Hmmm."

Panic shot through my body. Was something wrong with the baby? Anna tried to sit up but couldn't around her stomach. The technician frowned more and moved the wand around to find whatever she'd been looking at. "Hold still, please."

"What is it? What's wrong?" Anna's voice had an edge of fear to it.

The technician relaxed her face, then smiled. "Oh, there's nothing wrong, it's just . . ." she trailed off, searching the screen again.

"Just what?" I asked, leaning in to see what she saw. I didn't see anything remarkable. The technician did, though.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm sorry, but . . . you're having a boy."

Anna propped herself up on her elbows. "I'm what?"

The technician cringed. "I hope you haven't bought too many pink things."

"No, there must be some mistake. Check again. I'm having a girl." Anna scowled.

She did, then repeated, "Sorry . . . definitely a boy."

Tears started running down Anna's cheeks again, but for a completely different reason this time. "No, no, no . . . I'm having a girl." She snapped her head to mine. "I was supposed to have a girl!"

I rubbed her shoulder. "It's okay. You'll do great with a boy."

Anna nodded as she sank back to the table. "I know . . . I just really wanted . . ." She bit her lip to stop herself from saying it. I understood, though. Anna was a girly-girl, and she'd gotten her hopes up that she'd have a little princess to dress up. I doubt she even knew where to begin with a boy. But I knew she'd figure it out.

The technician handed Anna a tissue. "Sorry about that."

Anna dabbed her eyes but remained quiet. She remained mute until we got back into the car. Then that fiery hormonal temper that I knew and loved kicked in. Slamming her door shut, she snapped, "I'm going to kill that f**ker when I see him tomorrow." I could only assume she meant Griffin.

Cringing at the harsh way Kellan's prized vehicle was being treated, I gingerly closed my door. "It will be all right, Anna. Little boys are fun." I really hadn't spent a lot of time around kids, male or female, so I wasn't sure if that was true. But that's what you're supposed to say, right?

Apparently not. Anna glared at me. She channeled all of her anger toward the technician, toward Griffin-hell, toward the universe-into her eyes. I was sure my internal organs were starting to boil as she stared at me.

"I don't know the first thing about raising a little boy. And look who's going to be his role model." She directed her stare out the window, choosing to melt the glass instead of my poor brain. "He'll be a self-righteous, womanizing Neanderthal, just like his father."

"I thought that's what you liked about Griffin?" I murmured that, but Anna heard me and redirected her ire back to me. I wisely said nothing further and started the car. Whatever Anna and Griffin had together, it was best to leave it between them.

When we got back to the house, Anna's irritation had dissipated some, and melancholy started to replace it; she even shed a few silent tears. She'd really had her heart set on a girl. Wondering if she would bite me, metaphorically or perhaps literally at this point, I put my hand on her shoulder. "You will love your baby boy just as much as you would have loved your baby girl. And don't worry about Griffin. You know that Kellan, Matt, and Evan won't let him corrupt his child . . . too much."

Anna gave me a blank stare for a moment then her face broke into a tiny smile. And even though her cheeks were splotchy, her nose was running, and her eyes were red, she was still drop-dead gorgeous.

I stayed with Anna for a while after that, making sure she was okay and helping her pack. Even though Anna was only going to be in Los Angeles for the weekend, she packed more stuff than I did. As I wrestled her bag closed, she told me that she wanted to be prepared for anything. I couldn't help but glance at her stomach after she said that. If my sister had been a little more "prepared for anything," she wouldn't be in the situation she was in now-about to bring a mini-Griffin into the world.

A surprise was waiting for me when I got home. Jenny's car was in the driveway, and she was standing beside the open driver's side door, waving at me. When I parked beside her, Rachel, Kate, and Cheyenne popped out of the other doors. I grinned ear to ear at seeing my girlfriends.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Jenny hopped over to me, a spring in her step. "We're here to help you celebrate your last night in Seattle."

I grabbed my head as the perky blonde wrapped her arms around me. "I think I celebrated enough yesterday," I murmured.

Cheyenne ducked back into Jenny's car. "Well, we'll have a much more subdued party." She reemerged from the car with an overnight bag. "We thought we'd all sleep over."

Shrugging, I grinned and indicated the house. "Sounds great."

Jenny, Rachel, and Kate grabbed their bags while I unlocked the front door. As I was trying to wrestle the key out of the lock that was starting to stick on me at times, Jenny came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, was everything . . . all right . . . last night?"

I could tell by the angle of her brow that what she really meant was, Did anything happen with you and Denny? She was nice enough to not say it directly to me, but she was wondering the same thing my sister had-if I'd cheated on Kellan. I shook my head at her, trying not to be irritated. It was my own fault, really.

"Nothing happened . . . except Denny watched me throw up in the toilet all night long."

Jenny cringed. "Ugh, sorry we got you wasted. That wasn't intentional."

I smirked at her. "You don't have to apologize for my bad judgment." I frowned as I remembered why I'd been so quick to drown the evening in alcohol. "Leaving Seattle is much harder than I ever thought it would be." My voice fell to a whisper and my vision hazed with unshed tears. God, was I losing it already?

Jenny hugged me. "Don't you dare start crying on me now! If you start, then I'll start, and we'll both be a blubbering mess all night long."

I laughed as I held her tight. Before long, the rest of my girlfriends enclosed us in a group hug. The moroseness of the moment made me chuckle. "Okay, enough of that," I told them, breaking apart from the circle. "Tonight is about having fun, not wallowing." I looked over each of them as I added, "And I'll be back. Seattle is as much of a home to me as Athens."