“Somehow I doubt there are any ketchup/sauerkraut/chocolate cupcakes on her menu,” Kat said dryly.
“I can accommodate almost any request,” Lauren said, smiling. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up with a new flavor I can use. I’ll call it ‘pregnancy cravings’ or ‘eating for two’ or something like that.”
“I seriously doubt you’d want to sell some of the things Liv has been eating,” Sophie said, grinning. “But you never can tell.”
“We’ll contact you again when we plan the shower,” Olivia promised. “But now I think we should probably go. All this talk about cupcakes has made me so hungry.”
“Liv, you just ate a whole carton of Chunky Monkey!” Sophia protested.
“Right.” Olivia grinned unrepentantly. “And now I want some real food. Who’s up for pizza?”
“I’ve got the ingredients at my place,” Kat volunteered. “As long as you don’t want anything weird on it.”
“Nothing too strange,” Olivia promised. “Just pepperoni and mushrooms. And…”
“And what?” Sophia demanded.
“Well…” Olivia bit her lip. “Does anybody have any black jellybeans? You know, the licorice ones?”
“Black jelly bean and pepperoni pizza?” Kat rolled her eyes and looked at Lauren. “You see what we have to put up with over here?”
Lauren couldn’t help laughing. “I think it’s hilarious. And listen, Olivia, I promise to make any kind of cupcakes you want. Even sardine and pickle or anything else you can come up with.”
Olivia rubbed her stomach. “Mmm, pickles. Has anybody ever had a pickle pizza?”
“Stop!” Sophia sounded horrified. “Please don’t give her any more ideas,” she begged Lauren.
“Sorry!” Lauren laughed again, delightedly. She could already tell she was going to love her new cousins.
Kat smiled. “I think we’d better go now, Lauren. Got to feed the pregnant lady before she gets mean.”
“Bye.” Lauren gave them all a little wave. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Please do,” Olivia said, suddenly serious. “Sophie and I are so glad you’re home.”
“So am I,” Lauren said. “You have no idea how glad.”
Lauren’s mom nodded at the viewscreen. “Good night, girls. We’ll talk to you later.”
“Call us anytime,” Sophia said. As their images faded slowly to a small glowing dot in the middle of the viewscreen, Lauren could still hear them arguing good naturedly about pizza toppings.
“Aren’t they something?” Lauren’s mom smiled. “I swear your cousin Olivia is just like my little sister.” She turned to Detective Rast. “I think we can go now that we’ve informed the Kindred that Lauren is home safely, don’t you?”
He nodded and shifted uncomfortably. “Of course. And I want to apologize for my, uh, argument with that girl—Nadiah. She just rubs me the wrong way but it wasn’t very professional on my part.”
“You don’t think she’s right, do you? That Lauren is still in danger?” Abby’s voice was tight and she squeezed Lauren’s shoulder hard.
“I’ll be fine, Mom.” Lauren kissed her cheek and tugged her toward the door. “Now could we please get out of the HKR building and get home? I really do need to take care of some things.”
Her mom sighed as they walked out into the balmy Florida night. “You’ve only been home a day, honey. Why don’t you take it easy?”
“My business isn’t going to run itself,” Lauren said, lifting her chin. “It’s been sitting empty, making no money for over a month and you know what rent on the Circle is like.”
“I’ve taken care of the rent so don’t worry about that.” Her mom smiled reassuringly. “Seriously, Lauren, you’ve been through a very traumatic event. You should rest. You might even want to think about getting some therapy.”
“Your mother is right,” Detective Rast said seriously. “I have the name and number of a counselor who works with victims who have been kidnapped and, uh, abused.”
“I know what you’re implying but nothing like that happened to me,” Lauren snapped, frowning. “Xairn protected me and he never laid a finger on me.”
“And I’m going to be forever grateful to him for that,” her mom said softly. “But don’t pretend to yourself that this didn’t happen. It did.”
Lauren sighed. “I’m not trying to pretend it didn’t happen, Mom. But I can’t get over it if I wallow in self pity all day. I need to get on with my life. And as for getting counseling, you know baking is always the best therapy for me. Just let me make a few dozen cupcakes and I’ll feel like my old self again.”