Inseparable

“That’s fantastic news.” Dane smiled, shaking Fraser’s hand, who grinned.

“This will be you soon, Hansen.” He joked. I glanced at Dane, wondering if this was the perfect time to tell them. We had planned to wait until twelve weeks before telling everyone, mostly because I was terrified of something going wrong, especially being twins. It wouldn’t be too much longer before I started showing though, and I wasn’t sure I could wait another three whole weeks. Dane shook his head, a movement that caught Kella’s eye.

“What, are you two…Holy shit.” She gasped, covering her mouth, “Lil are you pregnant?” She hissed.

“Shh!” I hushed, taking her hand, narrowing my eyes at her. This is not how I wanted everyone to find out. Glancing around, to make sure nobody was around, I leaned in. “We are nine weeks, with twins.” I whispered.

“Oh Lil!” Kella cried, hugging me. I tried to hush her so as not to draw attention to us, which was proving to be hard. “Shit, Lil, I’m sorry. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” She shut her mouth and shook her head to mimic her silence.

“What’s going on here?” Mom asked curiously, sneaking up from behind me, her arms spinning me so she could hug me.

“Mom.” I grinned, hugging her back, and then hugging Anna. “I didn’t see you guys arrive.” I added.

“I’ve been here for an hour.” Mum replied. “Who do you think helped prepare all this food?” She asked. Laughing, I grabbed a sandwich from a passing platter.

“And It’s lovely.” I said, taking a big bite.

“Your father not here?” She asked casually, glancing around. I shook my head. We had spoken a few times over the last few months, but it felt weird having him here, after what he did to mom.

“Kella, how’s bubs going?” Mom asked, smiling at Kella’s stomach. She eyed Dane and I “I’m hoping these two don’t make me wait too long to be a grandma.” She added, winking.

Kella giggled, rubbing her stomach. “He’s going well thanks, and maybe you won’t have to wait long at all.” I shot her a look, and her eyes went wide. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to me. Mom looked from Kella, to me and then at Dane. Her jaw dropped.

“Lily, are you…” Her voice trailed off as she began putting things together in her mind. Little things, like the bug I’d had for the last couple of weeks, and my sudden ‘detox’ from alcohol. I began to realize there was no hope that this was going to stay a secret.

“Well I guess we should make this a double celebration.” I said to Dane.

“Shouldn’t that be triple celebration?” Piped up Kella. I glared at her as mom squealed next to me.

“Lily are you having triplets?” She screamed, causing several people, including Danes family, to spin around in surprise.

“Mom.” I hissed, my face flushing. A silence had hushed over the room. Sighing, I grabbed Danes hand, leading him to the front of the room.

“We were going to leave this a few more weeks before announcing, but Dane and I are expecting twins.” I said, smiling at Dane. He grinned back at me, leaning down to kiss me gently. Everyone began to cheer, and suddenly we were engulfed by people wanting to congratulate us.

As the crowd and excitement died away, I noticed Steffy sitting alone, smiling wistfully at us. I caught her eye and winked. She walked over and hugged me.

“I’m going to be an Aunt.” She whispered, smiling through her tears.

“You are.” I agreed, squeezing her hand. “You’re going to be a wonderful Aunt.”