Cameron was on a business trip, so Jennica spent most of a week at Keeley's house between rehearsals. She'd landed a decent-sized Off-Broadway role and was thrilled; once it finished, they could start trying for a baby.

Keeley remarked that raising their children together would be fun, and her friend wholeheartedly agreed. Keeley was grateful for the company. With Aaron at work most of the day and Keeley on partial bed rest, she was incredibly bored.

They had movie marathons, played board and card games, and just talked. Spending one-on-one time with Jennica again was wonderful. Lately, their get-togethers always included their husbands.

Not that there was anything wrong with that, but sometimes they just needed "girl time." If Valentina were free, it would be like the good old days when they all lived together. At least Keeley had attended Jennica's baby shower.

Their time as roommates seemed a lifetime ago, even though it hadn't been a year since they'd gone their separate ways. So much had changed.

"Do you feel ready to be a mom?" Jennica asked as they lounged on the couch, eating ice cream straight from the carton.

Did anyone? Keeley had read countless books on babies, child development, and parenting, but reading about it was vastly different from doing it.

"As ready as I can be," Keeley replied. "Mostly, I hope the delivery isn't too painful…and that my babies aren't in the NICU for too long."

"I can't even imagine," her friend murmured. "You must be really stressed. We should have a destressing party!"

Keeley laughed. Jennica always had the strangest ideas. "What exactly would that entail?"

"You know, like an at-home spa day! Aromatherapy candles, homemade facial masks (using online recipes), painting each other's nails. I even have this awesome foot bath machine you can use, once I clean it out. We can listen to relaxing music, too."

Jennica jumped up. "Let's do it now! Today's my day off. I'll run home and get the supplies; you look up recipes while I'm gone!"

"O…kay?" Keeley said, but her friend was already gone.

She scrolled through her phone, exploring various mask recipes. There were so many: oatmeal, honey, and egg whites; yogurt, orange, and aloe; lemon and olive oil; strawberry, almond, and yogurt…

She finally chose the oatmeal recipe because she had all the ingredients. Less than five minutes later, she was drifting off to sleep, soothed by Molly's purrs.

She woke when the doorman announced Jennica Singleton's arrival. She told him to send Jennica up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

When the elevator doors opened, Jennica was carrying a surprising amount of stuff. She immediately began setting up the foot bath and asked Keeley where her nail polish was, dashing upstairs to the bathroom as soon as she knew.

Keeley couldn't move much, so she gave Jennica the mask recipe and told her where the ingredients were while her feet soaked. The swirling water felt incredibly nice.

Jennica had brought two headbands to keep their hair out of their faces while they applied the masks. They applied the oatmeal mixture (avoiding their mouths and eyes) and let it sit for fifteen minutes while they painted their nails.

The aromatherapy candles and ambient music were already set up. Keeley felt herself relax as the water, candles, and music worked their magic.

"Isn't this nice?" Jennica sighed contentedly, painting her nails turquoise.

Keeley sank further into the couch. It was, indeed, very nice.

"You're the best, Jen. I needed this."

"Happy to help! Aaron's great, but he never would have thought of this."

No, he would have sent his wife to a real spa for a pregnancy massage—which he had already done a week earlier after a checkup. Keeley couldn't deny that it had helped, if only for the rest of the day.

She rested her hands on her stomach as her swollen feet soaked. The babies were moving around more and more lately, as if sensing their mother's anxiety.

"I'm sorry, babies," she thought sadly. "You shouldn't have to enter this world under threat."

Her children deserved better. How long would they have to stay in hiding? When they were too young to remember wouldn't matter, but what if it took too long for things to be safe? Would they even have normal childhoods?

Keeley closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. She needed to relax, for her babies' sake.

"What on earth is on your faces?" Aaron's bewildered voice startled her awake.

"Homemade facials? Duh," Jennica said. "I'm helping your wife relax."

"Is that…oatmeal?"

"Among other things," Keeley mumbled, embarrassed. "It actually feels kind of nice once you get past the weirdness."

"Interesting." He sat down beside her, loosened his tie, and leaned his head against the couch. "Have you been doing this all day?"

"No, less than an hour. We haven't done much today."

She was incredibly grateful Jennica was there. It was far less boring than spending her days alone. She almost wished Cameron wouldn't return from his trip for a while longer.

Technically, Aaron could make that happen, but she didn't want to abuse his position. Jennica missed her husband terribly; it wouldn't be right.

"Keeley, do you want me to paint your nails? I'm finished with mine," Jennica announced.

"Sure. We should probably wash this stuff off our faces first, though. It'll mess up our nails."

Jennica frowned. "Could you reach my face? I didn't think of that when I started painting mine."

"Yeah, I can do that."