"I'm pregnant."

Susan gasped. Freeing her hand, she sat straighter. She waited for a teasing smile, but there was none. And of course not. Lily wouldn't joke about something like this.

Her thoughts raced. "But-but that's impossible. I mean, it's not physically impossible, but it wouldn't happen." When Lily said nothing, Susan pressed a hand to her chest and whispered, "Would it?"

"I am," Lily whispered back.

"What makes you think it?"

"Six home tests, all positive."

"You're late?"

"Not late. Missed. Three times."

"Three? Omigod, why didn't you tell me?" Susan cried, thinking of all the other things a missed period could mean. Being pregnant didn't make sense, not with Lily. But the child didn't lie. If she said she was pregnant, she believed it herself-not that it was true. "Home tests can be totally misleading."

"Nausea, tiredness, bloating?"

"I don't see bloating," Susan said defensively, because if her daughter was three months pregnant, she would have seen it.

"When was the last time you saw me naked?"

"In the hot tub at the spa," she replied without missing a beat.

"That was in June, Mom."

Susan did miss a beat then, but only one. "It must be something else. You don't even have a boyfriend." She caught her breath. "Do you?" Had she really missed something? "Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter? Lily, if you are-" She couldn't say the word aloud. The idea that her daughter was sexually active was totally new. Sure, she knew the statistics. How could she not, given her job? But this was her daughter, her daughter. They had agreed-Lily had promised-she would tell Susan if she wanted birth control. It was a conversation they'd had too many times to count. "Who is he?" she asked again.