When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark 4)

I laugh, she’s right though, I’m sure they’ll all hate it. The name we picked is … different, but it’s us.

The doorbell rings and I reluctantly pull away from Thea. I just want to stay here all day feeling the baby.

I head to the front door, Prue barking at my heels. I open the door and let Thea’s mom and James in.

“Hey, Lauren. James.” I hug Lauren and shake James’ hand, and then guide them into the house. “Thea’s in the family room.” I point.

Since they’ve arrived I decide to go ahead and order the pizzas, figuring it’ll take at least an hour for them to be delivered.

I make the call and it isn’t long until Rae and Cade show up.

“Hey, man.” I greet Cade with a handshake and fist bump.

Cade and I were inseparable growing up. Always running around, playing football, and getting into trouble. Now we barely see each other. That’s life, though. You grow up and move apart. I married his sister, so it’s not like I can actually get rid of him.

Not that I’d want to.

Soon, everybody’s arrived—Jace and Nova, my parents, and even my sister, Alexis. My brother, Xavier, is already back on the east coast finishing up his last year at Yale. The smarty pants.

“Is the pizza here yet?” Thea calls out. “I’m starving. Growing a human is hard.”

“Should be here any minute,” I call back, opening the refrigerator so I can get everybody drinks.

My mom sneaks up behind me. “Is it a boy or a girl? I promise to act surprised.”

I shake my head. “Nice try, Mom, but you’re going to have to wait.”

“Ugh,” she groans. “I’m your mom. I should have dibs on knowing what my grandbaby is.” She frowns, truly put out.

“Yeah, if I tell you Thea’s going to make me sleep on the couch for the rest of my life.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “That’s a small price to pay.”

“Easy for you to say.”

The doorbell rings again and I go to get the pizzas.

It should be said that ordering enough pizzas to feed this many people is an expensive business. We should’ve just gone out for that amount.

“Food first, and then we’ll pop the

balloon,” Thea tells everybody, pointing to the black balloon I tied around the kitchen chair.

“I think it’s unfair that you guys already know and we’re the ones being surprised. I thought the point of a gender reveal was for the parents to be surprised,” Jace comments, grabbing a box of pizza from the top of the pile I hold.

“I don’t know whether I should be impressed, or horrified, that you know what a gender reveal is.” I chuckle.

Jace shrugs. “I’m full of surprises.”

I set the rest of the boxes on the kitchen island and flip up all the lids.

“Dig in,” I call, and step back to avoid the stampede.

Thea’s the first one to grab a piece, and she’s already stuffing it in her mouth before she walks away.

I finally manage to get a piece. It isn’t long until most of the boxes are empty and we’re all stuffed.

“Can you please pop the balloon now?” my mom asks, vibrating with energy. “I want to know.”