“You mean his hair color?”
She nodded.
“Well, it’s early days yet. Your dad and I were born with blond hair that got darker. Sometimes it changes.”
“He’s not a girl.”
My lips twitched. Laurie had been defiant about wanting a sister until Ally had told her she was having a boy, and we all thought she’d come to terms with the idea of him being male. Clearly, deep down, she had not.
“No, he’s a little boy. But boys are fun too.”
She looked at me, her lower lip stuck out. Waiting for evidence.
“Well, how about your friend Wes at school?”
Her expression brightened. “My boyfriend?”
I was just going to ignore that tidbit. “Yes, your friend who is a boy. You like him, don’t you?”
“Yes, we are gonna get married soon.”
I filed that information away to harass Seth with at a later date. Probably when he finally cornered me about Sage, which I expected to be anytime, now that Ally had popped out the kid.
“Does your father know? He must be so excited.”
Laurie put her finger up to her mouth and let out an exaggerated “shh” as if Seth could actually hear her. “Is a secret.”
“Ah, I know how that is.” And I was glad at least the secrecy part of everything was finished. Even if the way it had all come out was horrifying at best.
Method aside, I was still glad the sneaking around didn’t have to continue. If anything was going to continue between me and Sage at all.
“Wes is okay. For a boy,” she added, back to staring at my phone. “I don’t know if my brother will be.”
That she pronounced brother as “bwother” every time was far cuter than it should have been.
“I wasn’t happy with mine either at first.”
Laurie frowned. “My daddy?”
“Yes. I was stuck with him from day one. He was whiny and smelly and I didn’t want him around. Until your grandfather took him to school one day and I had to stay home because I was sick. You know what happened?”
Slowly, she shook her head.
“I was bored and lonely the whole day. I didn’t have anyone to talk to or play with or even to annoy. It wasn’t fun at all.”
“You wanted him to come back?”
I nodded. “And when we were at the same high school and he came back here to come to school with Ally, I didn’t like it then either.”
“Because he’s your best fwiend?”
I wouldn’t have characterized Seth that way—as the wise Sage had once said, I didn’t have many friends—but I supposed it was true.
“Yes.” I swallowed hard and tucked my phone against my hip. “I guess you’re right.”
Laurie screwed up her nose. “But what if they like him better?” she whispered.
“That is not possible. I promise. Though, I don’t know, you do make a lot of noise.” I caught her around the waist and tipped her upside down, making her squeal with laughter.