Swink (Landry Family 5)

“What?” I shout, jumping off my chair as the family erupts. Everyone talks at once, questions shouted from across the room, Sienna and I wearing the cheesiest smiles of our life. “You’re having twins? Oh my God! This is fantastic!”

“Hey!” Ford laughs, motioning for us to settle down. Once we’re quieted, he continues. “We aren’t done.”

“Don’t tell me it’s triplets!” Sienna squeals.

Barrett, his hand holding Alison’s, shoves away from the wall and walks to the front of the room. He tries to hide the shit-eating grin on his face but fails. “Huxley! Come here, son,” Barrett calls out.

Hux strides into the room like a peacock. He’s changed out of his plaid button-up and is now wearing a white t-shirt with big, black letters: BIG BROTHER TO-BE.

“Barrett?” Mom says, her jaw dropping to the floor. “Alison?”

“Great,” Graham groans from the sofa. “That leaves me as the only non-child-bearing Landry man.” Mallory gives him a pointed look that makes us all laugh.

“Alison and I are expecting just a week after Ford and Ellie,” Barrett announces. “We are having the second Landry baby.”

Sienna and I race to Alison, swamping her with hugs and congratulations. She and Ellie both beam, their faces already hosting the glow of pregnancy, as my brothers stand by like they just won a gold medal.

“Congrats, Barrett,” I say, giving him a hug.

“Thanks, Swink.”

“You know you have to move back to Savannah, right? I need my little niece here to spoil rotten.”

“Although it’s a boy,” Barrett laughs, “Alison and I have decided it’s best I don’t make a bid for the Presidency and we’ll move back home after this term.”

“Seriously? That’s fantastic!”

“Where else should we be starting a family than with family, right? And with Ryan here and Ford’s baby coming right around ours, it would be fun for them to grow up together.”

“You’re making me look bad,” Graham says, coming up behind me and pulling Barrett in a half-hug. “Congrats, man. I wish you would’ve put it off a little longer, but I can’t blame you.”

“You need to get in on the action,” I tell Graham. “We need a little mini-CEO around here to keep the next generation in line.”

His brow pulls tight, his jaw clenching. “That’s a conversation for a different day.”

“Fine, fine,” I say, holding my hands up. “No pressure.”

Turning away, I intend to head to the kitchen, but find myself on the back patio. It’s one of my favorite spots on the estate. The view over the lawn, the tree line, the edge of the lake that you can glimpse through the trees, is so peaceful. Climbing onto the porch swing, I feel the warm breeze against my face.

The ruckus in the house is still in full effect, the noise drifting through the windows and walls. An excitement races through my veins for my brothers and their wives, but a little dose of loneliness sits squarely in my chest.

All I’ve ever wanted to be in life is my mother. I’ve wanted a family, to work for charities, to have a fabulous husband and sweet, gorgeous children, and make dinners like you see on the covers of a magazine. As a little girl, I would play in front of my plastic kitchen for hours, making meals for my baby dolls.

I got a degree in liberal arts because my parents demanded we go to college but nothing felt right to me. Nursing, teaching, business—squeamish, cringes, yawns. College was just a filler, something to take the space from high school until I met the man that would sweep me off my feet.

Yet here I am. On a path that looks nothing like that.

Twenty-five years old. Dating—if you can call it that—a man that I have no future with, yet can’t leave alone. The charity work I thought called my name is only semi-satisfying, and I’m left with major holes in what I thought I would be my life by now.

“You’re so stupid,” I say to myself as I pull out my phone. I scroll until I find his name and pull up my texts.

Me: Hey.

Dom:You suppering?

Me: Not yet. My brother is having a baby. Everyone is celebrating.

Dom: Didn’t you know that?