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air, he made a split-second decision to hit the gym after his run instead of indulging in an early evening in. He wouldn’t let himself sit around and wonder. He’d just have to deal with the facts when the time came, like he did at work.
     
* * * * *
 
    “So, are you happy with how this piece turned out?”
    “I love it.” Jasmine grinned. She’d practically smiled all the way through the entire last session of her new half-sleeve. She was enthusiastic like that, and a regular client of Abby’s. “I knew I’d love it from the beginning. It turned out just like I imagined.”
    “Glad you like it.” Abby smiled too as she cleaned and bandaged the new tattoo. “You know how to take care of this by now, I’m sure, but Mina will give you an aftercare sheet that you can keep on hand, just in case.”
    “Sure.” Jasmine nodded.
    “Any questions?”
    Jasmine shook her head slowly, then winked. “Not this time. But you’ll be hearing from me again before too long.”
    “Ready for more already?” Jasmine had a lot of ink – a lot of beautiful ink, much of it from Hot Ink – and showed no signs of slowing down.
    “Not quite yet, but my boyfriend hinted that he’s going to finance my next tattoo, as a birthday gift, and I already know I’ll be coming to see you then.”
    “When’s your birthday?”
    “April 17 th .”
    Abby’s heart sank like an anchor, all the way to her toes, as the date set off an alarm bell inside her head. Jasmine’s birthday was only four days before her due date. She might be in the hospital or at home with a couple of newborns by then. “Feel free to get in touch a couple months in advance, and we can talk.” She felt guilty saying it – at some point, she’d have to let her clients know about her pregnancy.
    “Great.” Jasmine smiled again, and was gone, chatting with Mina at the front desk.
    Abby remained in her half-booth and sank back down into her chair. What was she going to do when her due date neared, and after the babies were born? How was she going to work? She hadn’t looked into the price of day care yet, but judging by what she’d heard from her sister and other moms, it wasn’t cheap. Add to that the fact that she was having twins and…
    “Hey, Abby.” Tyler leaned on the wall of her half-booth. “I was thinking of trying to get everyone together for a drink after the shop closes tonight. You up for it?”
    “Sorry, I can’t. Not tonight.” Not long ago, she would’ve been the first to agree – getting together with the rest of the Hot Ink staff outside of the studio was always fun. Fun, however, had been conspicuously absent from her life ever since she’d come home from the grocery store with milk, avocados and a home pregnancy test.
    Everything had changed. Soon, she’d have to let the others know.
    Tyler’s expression fell, but he nodded. “Maybe some other time.”
    Not for a long, long time. Alcohol was out of the question, and in just a few months, she’d basically be saying goodbye to socializing altogether. That was the least of her concerns, compared to pressing matters like how in the world she was going to work to support the new babies. A dull ache flared between her eyes as she contemplated the problem, and as she pressed a hand to her forehead, a small voice in the back of her head warned her that she’d better get used to it.
    Another small voice wondered aloud whether sharing her pregnancy news with Sam on Sunday would mean fewer headaches … or more.
     
* * * * *
 
    Abby wore another dress on Sunday, mostly because her pants were already a little tight around the waist. She wasn’t obviously pregnant yet, but she felt the difference, and besides … Sam had seemed to like the sight of her in a dress, last time.
    Maybe it was stupid that she was dressing to impress him, given that she was about to turn his world upside down with what would surely be unwelcome news. But the memory of the conversation they’d eased into just