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would be interested in dancing with me.”
    Sherise made a smacking sound with her lips. What kind of man asked a woman to dance this early in the club these days? “We were actually in the middle of a—”
    â€œSure.” Billie got up from her seat quickly, tossing her purse on Erica’s lap. She looked at her. “I’m taking your advice.”
    The truth was, she didn’t want to be at that table anymore. When Sherise and Erica got into it, it was like a world war all over again, and she was always caught in the middle. She was tired of trying to be the peacemaker. They could work this one out themselves. She was gonna dance.
    When she reached the dance floor, which was more crowded than she expected for so early on a Friday night, Billie tried as best she could to let loose. She wasn’t particularly interested in Robert, but he was cute and seemed harmless. Besides, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Porter standing by the bar looking at her with unabashed jealousy. Icing on the cake.
    Â 
    It was only ten at night when Sherise slipped back into her Georgetown townhouse. Climbing the stairs, she knew that Justin would still be up. He would likely be working, but she wasn’t really thinking about him. Instead of heading to the master bedroom at the far right of house, she went straight for the door in the middle of the hallway.
    Quietly opening the door, she tiptoed over to Cady’s crib. She looked down at her baby sleeping peacefully and a sense of calm and warmth crept through her. She reached down and ran her finger softly along Cady’s cheek. She wanted to kiss that teeny little sweet mouth, but wouldn’t dare wake her up. The little demon looked like an angel when she was sleeping.
    Sherise felt so blessed to be able to look at the reason she was alive, the reason her life was worth anything. There it was, sleeping in Winnie the Pooh jammies. Without her career, Cady seemed to be the only thing that Sherise really understood and knew was real. She smiled, in her heart knowing that she was lucky. How many women would be deliriously happy to be stay-at-home moms with a husband earning six figures and a healthy beautiful baby?
    So why wasn’t she? Was it because she couldn’t get pregnant again? She had wanted to wait at least a couple of years between babies, so she could focus on her career before taking another maternity leave. But being so jarred by the horrible mistake she’d made with Jonah made Sherise think differently. Making Justin happy was what mattered. Keeping her family together was what mattered. Having another baby, bringing another person into their wonderful family, had been her goal.
    Now that goal was sort of becoming a nightmare. Every month when she got her period, she felt like a failure. Every month she realized she wasn’t pregnant, she felt closer to Justin finding out that Cady wasn’t his. What if she wasn’t? Looking down at her now, Sherise believed she saw Justin’s nose on the baby, but was she just convincing herself of that in order to believe she was his?
    â€œHow drunk are you?” Justin asked as soon as she entered the bedroom.
    He was looking up at her from his side of the bed, his laptop on his lap as he leaned against two big pillows.
    She smiled at him as she tossed her shoes to the side of the spacious room.
    â€œJust enough,” she answered as she walked over to the bed. She leaned into him and he lifted his head up to kiss her.
    He seemed happy and looked at her with affection for a few seconds more before returning his attention to his computer. Sherise looked down at him adoringly and reached out. She placed her delicate fingers under his chin, lifting his face to hers again.
    â€œWe should all go to Eastern Market in the morning,” she said. “Remember how we used to love that Saturday mornings? Buy some fruit, eat some pancakes, and look at the art. It would be nice .