**5 weeks later**

Jo’s POV:
You know all those symptoms that women say they get, letting them know that they were pregnant? Well, I have every single one of them. Fatigue, nipples so sore they hurt to even think about touching, random smells that never bothered me before but all of a sudden making me want to hurl, snapping at people and then crying over the silliest stuff. Like I said, every single one of them. Plopping down into the salon chair at my station, I let my head fall back on my shoulders as I closed my eyes. I was so tired that I could go home right now and sleep the rest of the day and all night too but since it was only two in the afternoon, I still had four clients before I was done for the day. The only upside was that my last client was Amber. I hadn't seen her since the day I came back to Nashville, 2 days after the party. I smiled to myself remembering how she’d been walking bowlegged and making sure to sit on cushioned seats after Brantley had gotten done with her that night. I didn’t know what kind of insulation they had in his house, but let's just say when I built my own one day, it was going to use it because as wild as I know things had gotten that night, I hadn't heard a damn peep of it. 

Since I had a few minutes before my next client, I grabbed my phone off my station and facetimed Amber. I waited for what seemed like forever before she connected the call. As her face came onto the screen, I was rendered speechless. I’d seen that look she was currently giving me just this morning when the smell of my deodorant decided that today was going to be the day that it decided to make my stomach churn. I’d had that same look after I’d spent 10 minutes praying to the porcelain gods.

“Ambie, are you okay?” I said.

“Define okay.” she moaned. “I think I have a virus.” she said as she wiped her face with a washcloth. 

“Virus huh?” I asked.

“Yeah. What else could it be?” she asked.

“Really Ambie?” I said sassily. “It really couldn't be anything else?”

“No.” she said and then grew quiet as reality started to sink in. I saw the moment that it all clicked. “Oh my god! You dont think I’m-”

“Hell yeah I do.” I said laughing. “Want to know the reason I think that?” I watched as she slowly nodded. “Well, beacsu this morning, the smell of my deodorant had me looking very much like you do right now. My flipping nipples feel like they are about to rip right off my chest with the slightest graze. And I’m tired. So flipping tired, Ambie. I cry over everything. No joke, I cried like a baby because I saw an older woman walking down the street. Literally just walking down the street. Nothing wrong with her at all, but that didn't keep the tears from spelling over and making me straight up ugly cry in the middle of the sidewalk.” word vomit: engaged.

“Oh my god! It worked! Just wait ‘til I tell B that I was right, that you needed a top-of-the-line baster.” said Amber excitedly, her sickness from only a moment ago forgotten for the time being. Funny how this nausea thing works. “I just knew for sure that you would send me a picture of the test when you took one.”

“Well, see what had happened was-” I said, dragging my worlds out and letting my sentence dangle.

“You chickened out didn't you?” she said knowingly. Aside from Chase, Amber knew me better than anyone. 

“Well yeah.” I said with a sigh. “It's just that everything I’ve been wanting is riding on the results from a 5 minute test. Where I go from here, what I will do tomorrow.”

“Jojo, you know life waits for no one.” said Amber.

“I know.” I sighed. “Are you going to tell B?” 

“Not until I know for sure.” she said. “Which means that tonight missy, after you get done fixing this monstrosity that I call hair, you and me… were talking tests!”

“Okay,” I said. 

Amber and I chatted for a little while longer but I had to get off the call when my client walked in. Standing from the chair, I pushed down the sudden wave of nausea that came over me from standing too quickly and took in the client standing before me. She was yet another bleached blonde small town girl turned city girl trying to be the next Carrie Underwood. There were thousands more in the city just like her. But unlike Carrie, most of them would never find the success they were looking for. To quote Jason Aldean, Nashville was a crazy town with neon dreams. Literally everyone plays and everyone sings. Having talent wasnt enough to guarantee that you made it big.

***

Later that night, Amber and I were standing in the middle of my bathroom, both of us holding solo cups with our pee in them, with goofy grins on our face. Brantley was still at the label hammering out a few details but according to the text that he’d just Amber, he was just about finished and then he would be headed our way.

“Guess it’s now or never,” said Amber, holding up her test so that she could dip it into her cup. I mirrored her, my heart threatening to slam right out of my chest. “On the count of three. One… Two… Three.”  

Dipping my stick into the cup, I silently counted to ten before removing it. Walking over to the toilet, I dumped the cup's contents into the toilet, tossed the cup into the small trash can, and placed my stick on the counter, watching the screen flash as it processed. I was so entranced with the little stick in front of me that I didn't even notice when Amber placed her stick on the counter beside mine until I felt her arms wrapping around me. 

“Now we wait.” she whispered. 

I didn't realize how long 2 minutes were until I was waiting for the test to stop flashing. Two minutes -120 seconds- seemed like a flipping eternity. But when the test finally stopped flashing, it took me a minute to grasp what I was seeing. Just as I’d suspected, it said pregnant. Things happened so fast then. I started crying. Amber hugged me tight. Both of us started bouncing with excitement. Who knew that seeing a simple word on a test would cause this much joy? I mean I knew people were usually excited when they found out they were pregnant, but to feel the euphoria that I was feeling? Was that normal?

“I can't believe it.” said Amber, the smile on her face matching my own. “I can't freaking believe it. B is going to be so excited.” 

“Yes he is.” I said through the tears. “I have to admit though, I am kind of jealous right now.”

“What? Why?” said Amber, confusion written all over her face.

“Well, you got cavemaned and all I got was a turkey baster.” I said, turning to walk out of the bathroom. 

“Jojo, if you would open your eyes, you could get cavemaned too.” said Amber, her brown eyes meeting mine. I knew where she was going with this. And that was my relationship -or lack thereof- with Chase. We’d had this talk so many times over the six years that he and I have known each other that I've lost count.

“Ambie, not this again.” I said with a sigh, rolling my eyes at her as I turned to face her and leaned against the doorway. “Chase and I are just friends. Nothing more. Nothing less. We tried dating, and well, we found out we were better off as friends.” 

“Sweetheart, I love you like a sister but you have got to be the densest person I’ve ever met in my life if you can't see that that man has been in love with you since the night of Braantley and I’s engagement party. Think about it Jojo. up until you decided to have a child on your own terms, how often did Chase drop what he was doing to spend time with you? How many times have you been each other's plus-one to whatever event either you or him had going on? How many times a day did you call him to tell something that happened whether it be good or bad and vice versa?” said Amber, crossing her arms across her chest and giving me the mom look that she had perfected in record time. “You see it. You just don't want to admit that while this baby is one of the things you want more than anything in life, he's the other thing.” 

“Ambie, you know why I can't be with him.” I said, feeling tired.

“I know why you say that you can't be with him,” said Amber, adding extra emphasis on the word say. “He’s not that piece of shit that you were married to Jojo. Yes, they are similar in looks and build, but those two couldn't be more different than oil and water and you know it. Chase does not have a narcissistic bone in his body hun, and if you ain’t figured that out yet, it's because you don't want to see that he is perfect for you. You forget Jojo, I know you. I know who your mind works. I know that as much as you don't want to think that your ex is the reason that you won’t take a chance, I know the real reason is that you are just scared to let someone have the power to hurt you again.”

Before I could try to deny what she was saying, my doorbell rang. 

“That’ll be my husband. I need to tell him the good news” said Amber, moving to walk out of the bathroom but stopping just before she turned the corner in the hall. “Think about what I said, Jojo. You deserve to have it all.”