“In the kitchen,” his voice rang out.
I hung my jacket and purse on the coat rack, slipped out of my shoes, untied my hair from the bun it had been in, and walked barefoot toward the kitchen.
“SURPRISE!”
I clutched my chest, taking several steps back.
“Oh no, we scared her!” a woman said, coming toward me with a friendly smile. I was startled, but I could still easily see her resemblance to Tobias. She was gorgeous and had the same dark hair and gray eyes as him. “It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she said, hugging me as if we were already best friends. “I’m Joanna, Tobias’s sister.”
“Oh! Hi!” I said, hugging her back. She stepped aside and I saw a man standing behind her, holding a beautiful baby who looked around a year old.
“We’ve heard a lot about you, Scarlet. Been dying to meet the woman to get my best buddy over here to fall so head over heels,” he chuckled. “I’m Anderson, by the way. And this is Addison, Tobias’s niece.”
The baby girl smiled at me, and I couldn’t help grinning back at her. She was too adorable for words.
I nodded my head, recognizing Anderson from pictures. He wrapped me into a quick one-armed hug.
Tobias finally made his way over to me. “Hope you don’t mind that I invited company over to celebrate your good news. Plus, it was time for you to meet my family.” He pulled me into a hug and kissed my lips.
“No…No, I don’t mind. I was just caught off guard.”
“Sorry about that again,” Joanna said. “We weren’t trying to send you into an early labor or anything.”
Everyone laughed and Joanna looped an arm around me. “How about we sit down and let the men set the table for us?” she said, grinning.
I looked toward Tobias, my eyebrows raised. “You cooked?”
“I sure did,” he said and then winked. “Good thing you came straight home, right?”
“Thank God, because you know I’m starving. Hurry up and set the table!” I said, causing everyone to laugh again.
“Well, if we’re setting the table, you keep this one then,” Anderson said, passing Addison to Joanna.
“Come on, baby girl,” Joanna said, taking the baby into her arms. “Time for you to meet your new auntie.”
“May I?” I said, reaching for her.
“Of course,” Joanna said, passing Addison to me. And the two of us, plus the baby, headed to the living room, where we sat on the couch, talking and getting to know each other while we waited for dinner.
Once again, everything felt surreal. Joanna was a complete gem, as was Addison. The day had turned out better than I could have ever imagined.
About fifteen minutes later, Anderson appeared in the living room and cleared his throat. “Dinner is served, ladies.”
* * *
“That feels so much better,” I said, leaning back in my seat and rubbing my protruding abdomen. “Tobias, I didn’t know you could cook like this. I probably would have preferred this to all those fancy restaurants you kept taking me to.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. And rest assured, there’s plenty more of where that came from.”
“Me and the crew will be looking forward to it,” I said, rubbing my belly again. I laughed. “I think both of them just kicked.”
“They like their daddy’s cooking already,” Tobias said, standing from the table. “Anderson, help me clear the table so that I can bring out dessert.”
“What’s for dessert?” I asked eagerly. But Tobias didn’t answer me. He just disappeared into the kitchen with a smirk.
I looked toward Joanna, noticing that she seemed to be concealing a smirk of her own. Abruptly she cleared her throat. “Let me go change Addison. I’ll be right back,” she said.
I slid back from the table. “Let me help you.”