Daddy in Disguise (Crescent Cove 7)

“Pretty sure wigging will be on the table tonight anyway.” I took a deep breath and tapped my fingers on the wheel as instinct took over. “What do you know about babies?”

“You did not.”

I slid a glance at the rearview mirror. “Excuse me?”

“Shut up.”

Now my eyebrows lifted. “You know you’re not supposed to say that, Danielle.”

“Okay, hush up. Really?” She started bouncing up and down, straining against her seatbelt. “When? Soon? A boy? A girl? Oh, oh, oh! Both?”

I had to laugh, mainly so I didn’t start sobbing. I hadn’t even considered twins.

Dear God, I had to spend less time with Vee. What if that shit was contagious?

“I literally just found out. Like this morning. I mean, I suspected, but you know, PMS can be rough.”

A glance back showed Dani was nodding sagely, although she had no clue. But she would.

“So, um, yeah, I took a test. And surprise! I mean, we aren’t even married yet and it’s nice to be before you start propagating the earth. But definitely not necessary, since this isn’t the dark ages. But it’s good,” I added, remembering impressionable ears were listening to my panic babble. “Very good. Marriage is sacred.”

“No one wants to be the size of a moose in a wedding gown. At least that’s what Toby’s mom said.”

Toby’s mom was either a genius or a jerk. I’d puzzle it out later.

“I’m supposed to be the flower girl,” Dani reminded me. “Does this mean I have to wait forever?”

“No. I don’t know. It’s a lot.” I gripped the wheel and focused on slow breaths, in and out. Practicing for when I would eject a small water buffalo from my private area.

Right, there was the thought to calm me down.

“But weddings are fun. You get to dance and get sick on cake. Plus, I’ll have a pretty dress.”

“You sure will, especially since I have an important question I’ve been wanting to ask you.” She went still and quiet as I chanced a quick look at her in the back, still clutching Rudolph. “Will you be my maid of honor? I know you had your heart set on flower girl.”

“No way. That’s like the best job of them all, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much, other than getting married to your dad. Which you can’t do, because illegal.”

She didn’t laugh at my joke, just wrinkled her nose as if she was waiting for the punchline.

Me too, kid, me too.

She still hadn’t answered when I pulled into the driveway a short time later. “So, what do you say? Don’t leave me hanging here.”

“I say yes, but does that mean the baby will be the flower girl or boy?”

“Maybe it’ll be before the baby. I don’t honestly know. Your dad doesn’t even know yet.”

Dani’s eyes grew huge. “Uh oh.”

“What uh oh?”

“You should let me tell him.”

“I should? Why?”

“Because I know how to handle him. He’s special.”