"You absolute jerk, you proposed without telling us first!"
Sarah's voice cuts through Finn's office like a blade through silk, her hand pressed against her chest in theatrical outrage. Tim stands beside her with his mouth hanging open in a way that would be unflattering on anyone else.
The ring catches the afternoon light and I watch Sarah's gaze snap to it like she is a hawk spotting prey. Her expression transforms from indignation to delight in the space of a single heartbeat.
"Oh my God, let me see that immediately!" She crosses the room in three determined strides and seizes my hand, pulling it toward her face with an urgency that makes me laugh. "Finn Howell, you have excellent taste in diamonds. This is stunning, Aubrey!"
"I had some input on the design," Finn says from behind his desk. "The center stone belonged to my grandmother."
Tim moves closer, studying my hand over Sarah's shoulder.
"So this is why you have been impossible to reach for the past two weeks. I assumed you were avoiding my calls because of the quarterly projections, but apparently you were busy planning a wedding."
"The quarterly projections are fine, and you know it." Finn rises from his chair and crosses to stand beside me, his hand finding its familiar place at the back of my neck. "I wanted to wait until everything was official before making any announcements."
The warmth of his palm seeps through the fabric of my dress, grounding me in my body when my thoughts want to scatter in every direction.
This is real. This is happening. You are allowed to have this.
The anxiety threads through the happiness like a dark ribbon through pale silk. I have spent too many years waiting for the moment when good things reveal themselves as traps.
Finn's hand presses slightly firmer against my spine, as if he can sense the tension building beneath my skin.
"Well, congratulations are officially in order." Tim extends his hand to Finn, and the handshake that follows carries the weight of years of friendship. "I have to say, I never thought I would see the day when Finn actually committed to someone. Sarah and I had a running bet about whether you would die alone in that apartment of yours."
"I was rooting for you," Sarah adds, releasing my hand and turning to embrace me instead. Her arms wrap around me, and I breathe in the scent of her perfume—jasmine and something citrusy beneath it. "But I have to admit, I thought the apartment was going to win."
The laughter that escapes me feels lighter than anything I have produced in years. "I appreciate the vote of confidence."
"Speaking of the apartment," Tim continues, settling into one of the leather chairs across from Finn's desk, "have you given any thought to the merger fallout? Richard Henderson has been making noise about renegotiating terms with your father, and I heard through my sources that Gwen's mother has already started planning a sympathy brunch."
"A sympathy brunch." Finn guides me toward the small sitting area near the windows, and we settle onto the couch together while Sarah claims the chair beside Tim. "I suppose that is one way to handle disappointment."
"The Hendersons have always been dramatic about these things."
Sarah waves her hand dismissively.
"Remember when Gwen's cousin lost that tennis match at the country club and her mother demanded they replant the entire rose garden because she claimed the thorns were giving off negative energy?"
"I thought that was about the catering at the summer gala," Tim says, frowning slightly. "Something about the shrimp being arranged counterclockwise."
"That was a different incident entirely, and you know it."
I listen to them volley stories back and forth, these glimpses into a world I am only beginning to understand, and the anxiety loosens its grip slightly.
They speak about country clubs and galas and sympathy brunches like people who have navigated these waters their entire lives. But there is no condescension in their voices when they include me in the conversation.
They are making space for you. Let them.
"There is actually another reason we wanted to tell you both in person," Finn says, and the shift in his tone draws everyone's attention.
His hand finds mine on the cushion between us, and I feel the warmth of his fingers intertwining with my own.
"We are getting married in August because Aubrey is pregnant."
The silence that follows stretches for exactly three heartbeats.
"Pregnant!" Sarah's shriek could shatter crystal. Her hands fly to her mouth, then drop to her sides, then rise again as if she cannot decide what to do with them. "Oh my God, Aubrey, that is wonderful news, congratulations!"
She launches herself from her chair and pulls me into another embrace, tighter this time, and I feel her excitement vibrating through her entire body.
Tim is shaking Finn's hand again, saying words of congratulations that blend together into a warm blur of sound.
The happiness should be complete. The moment should feel like a celebration.
Yet, grief rises in my throat without warning, sharp and sudden and completely unwelcome. My eyes burn with tears I did not invite, and I feel my expression crumbling before I can reassemble it into something presentable.
"Aubrey?" Sarah pulls back, her brow furrowing with concern. "What is wrong, are you okay?"
The question opens a door I have been keeping locked for seven years.
"I had a miscarriage when I was twenty-two." The words tear out of me, raw and ragged at the edges. "I was fourteen weeks pregnant, and I lost the baby, and I have been terrified ever since that I might not be able to carry a child to term."
The confession hangs in the air between us, heavy with all the weight I have been carrying alone. Sarah's face softens into an expression of such genuine compassion that fresh tears spill down my cheeks.
"Oh, sweetheart…" She takes my hands in hers, her thumbs rubbing gentle circles against my knuckles. "I had no idea, I am so sorry you went through that."
I glance at Finn, expecting to see surprise or confusion on his face, and find neither. His expression is steady, knowing, and the realization lands in my chest with a dull thud.
"You already knew," I whisper.
"Daniel told me when I paid him to back off." Finn's voice is quiet but certain. "He was trying to hurt me. But he just gave me another reason to want him destroyed."
The anger that flashes through me is brief and bright, directed not at Finn but at Daniel for turning my deepest wound into ammunition against the man I love.
"Well, Daniel Palmer can go straight to hell," Tim says matter-of-factly, breaking the tension. "And if hell will not take him, I know a few people who would be happy to make his life uncomfortable in more earthly ways."
"Tim." Sarah shoots him a look that carries an entire conversation in a single glance. "Not helpful right now."
"I disagree, I think it is extremely helpful. Aubrey should know that she has an entire team of people who are willing to make her ex-husband miserable, and I am more than happy to volunteer."
Despite everything, a wet laugh escapes me. I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand, feeling the mascara smear beneath my fingers, and Sarah produces a tissue from somewhere without comment.
"For what it is worth," Sarah says, her voice gentle but firm, "my sister had two miscarriages before she had my nephew. You are going to be an incredible mother, Aubrey. I know it in my bones."
The kindness in her words wraps around me like a blanket, warm and soft and desperately needed.
"I am also declaring myself maid of honor, effective immediately." Sarah straightens in her chair. "Tim can be a best man, obviously. And between the two of us, we will plan a wedding that makes the Henderson sympathy brunch look like a sad potluck in comparison."