“No, smarty-pants.” Trinity gives her a teasing shove. “I like to take care of my sisters. I don’t want you to have any stress on your special day.”
Hope’s mouth twists down. “Well, now I feel bad you did all the planning stuff for your own wedding.”
“But it was fun for me.” Trinity slides her gaze my way. “If you want to do it, I’ll step back.”
“No, no, no.” I shoot a quick look at Hope. “Pipe down.”
“Okay.” Trinity glances up and looks each of us in the eye. “How formal are we going to be? Matching rows of bridesmaids and grooms—”
“No.” I bite my lip. “If you guys don’t mind…we talked about keeping it small. Mercy and I have been friends for a long, long time. And Marcel wanted to include my brother…So we were going to ask Mercy, Heidi, Murphy, and Carter to maybe stand up for us.”
“Thank God,” Lilly mutters.
Hope blows out a similar relieved breath but doesn’t say anything.
“Is that okay?” I ask. “You’re sure you’re not—”
“The wedding is to celebrate you and Teller,” Hope says. “If you want to keep things simple, you should.”
“Thank you. Oh! We did want Grace and Alexa as flower girls. And Chance for ring bearer, if you think he’d be okay with it?” I ask Lilly.
“I think he’d love it. Thank you, Charlotte.”
“We want the little guys included,” I explain. “No need to find babysitters or anything like that.”
“I don’t know,” Lilly says in a teasing voice. “When there’s a toddler meltdown in the middle of the ceremony, it might make you think twice about having your own.”
She’s kidding but for some reason, her words hit me like a punch in the stomach.
Hope pins her with a look. “Whose toddler do you expect to melt down?”
“Ooo,” Trinity sings. “Retreat, Lilly. Retreat.”
“Charlotte?” Hope’s alarmed tone seems like it’s a million miles away. “Are you okay?”
Heidi touches my shoulder.
“What?” I swipe at my eyes, surprised to find dampness on my cheeks.
“Charlotte, what’s wrong?” Lilly sits next to me. “I’m sorry. I was only kidding.”
My throat’s too tight to get any words out. Heidi slides her hand over mine and squeezes. I glance up and she tilts her head, sympathy shining in her deep brown eyes. She knows.
“Murphy told you?” I whisper.
She nods. “Not until, you know, everything blew up.” She bites her lip. “I’ve been wanting to tell you I’m sorry for all the when will I be an aunt jokes but didn’t want to bring it up if you didn’t want to talk about it.”
At least I don’t have to actually say the words. The girls all seem to understand.
Hope runs her hand over my back. “When was it, Charlotte?”
I shake my head and blow out a breath. “Right around the time Rock and Teller got their news.”
“Oh, Charlotte.” Hope pulls me into her arms. “I wish you’d said something sooner. I’m sorry.”
Trinity reaches over and rests her hand on my leg, a gentle offer of support.
“I’m having trouble getting pregnant now,” Lilly says quietly.