They looked at me like they hadn’t even seen me quietly losing it all day.
“It’s okay, Shane,” I said, smiling at the boys. “I’m just a little tired.”
“And the baby makes her cry a bunch,” Keller added seriously.
“Oh yeah? How much?”
“Not much,” I answered quickly.
“Found one!” Sage called, rushing back into the room.
“Oh thank God. I didn’t know how I was going to go to the store with him like this,” I said, grabbing the diaper out of Sage’s outstretched hand.
“Big kids, come talk to Dad so Auntie Kate can get Gunner fixed up,” Shane ordered, instantly silencing the rowdy boys.
“Okay, let’s go, monkey,” I murmured, carrying Gunner up the stairs.
After I’d changed our clothes, I trudged back down the stairs with Gunner perched on the side of my belly. I swore I was popping out more by the day. Pretty soon he’d be able to completely sit on it.
“Okay, my time’s up, guys,” Shane announced to the kids, who were all crammed onto one kitchen chair. “Go get your auntie.”
“I’m here,” I called as I raced into the kitchen.
“Love you guys,” Shane told the kids as they blew him kisses and waved. “We still on for tonight, Katie?”
“Yep.”
We didn’t say more than that because, if the kids knew he’d be on Skype again later, I’d never get them to bed.
“Don’t forget to go to the store.”
“Believe me, I won’t,” I groaned, making him smile.
“Bye everyone!”
The screen went blank, and he was gone.
I hated when that happened.
“Okay, Andersons! In the car. We need diapers and milk or we’re going to starve covered in Gunner’s pee.”
* * *
I held the envelope in my palm and forced myself not to open it. I’d been holding on to it for two weeks and the anticipation was killing me. I slid my finger into the small space I’d pried open and jumped as the laptop rang.
“Hey, stranger.”
“Hey yourself.”
We smiled at each other for a long moment. It was so nice to finally see his face without the distraction of four little monsters screaming over one another in order to be heard.
“Bad day, huh?” he asked finally.
“You have no idea. Thankfully, we got a huge bag of diapers so we’re set for a while. I even hid some around the house just in case.”
“Good call.” He laughed and reached up to rub his face with one hand. “You had your ultrasound?”
“Yep, everything looks great. Your monster child is measuring a bit big, but other than that, everything was normal.”
“Good. That’s really good.”
I smiled smugly as he fidgeted. He was working up the nerve to ask me, and I’d rarely seen him so flustered.
“Well?” he finally asked.
“Well, what?”
“What are we having?”
“A baby,” I answered innocently.
“Kate,” he growled back, making me laugh.
“I don’t know.”
“What? Why didn’t they tell you—” He froze as I lifted the envelope in front of the computer screen and waved it back and forth.
“I figured we could do it together,” I said with a small smile.
Watching his face move from disgruntlement to awed excitement was a moment I’d never forget in my entire life.
“You waited?” he asked softly.
“I thought you might want to find out at the same time.”
“Thank you, Katie.”
“Yeah, well, you owe me. This thing has been burning a hole in my pocket for two weeks.”
“You didn’t peek?” He raised his eyebrow.
“I thought about it.” I lifted the envelope and showed him the small tear. “But I wanted to surprise you, so I held out.”
“Really good surprise.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I slid my finger into the tear and ripped the envelope the rest of the way, pausing before I pulled the slip of paper out.
“Do you care? I mean, do you care if it’s a boy or a girl?” Suddenly I was nervous. We were in unchartered territory, and frankly, nothing was solid between us. What if he was disappointed?
“I don’t care, Katiebear,” Shane answered softly, the endearment making my throat clog. “Now hurry up, I’m dying here.”
I gave a watery chuckle and pulled the sheet out, facing it toward the screen first so I could catch Shane’s reaction.
His mouth dropped open before snapping shut, and I watched him clench his jaw as his eyes rose slightly to look at me. He sniffed once and rubbed the side of his face with his palm.
“Aren’t you going to look?” he asked with a little embarrassed laugh.
“No,” I replied slowly, coming to a decision as I dropped the paper to my lap. “I want you to tell me.”
He wiped both hands over his face before taking a breath and then smiling huge. “A princess.”
My eyes widened in surprise, and he laughed at my stunned expression. I’d teased him that we were going to have a girl, but I hadn’t really believed it. After he’d had so many boys, I’d figured Sage was an anomaly. “No way.”
“Unless they didn’t get a good ultrasound…”