“Well, I’ll just light this to scare off Archer. Most men run at the hint of babies.” Everleigh snorts. “Problem solved, brother.”
Tyler shakes his head, not amused.
The next thing they remove is a tin.
“Cinnabuns!” Gemma immediately takes a bite. “Ohmagawd, these are so good,” she says around a mouthful.
“And cookies!” Everleigh grabs the next thing. “Y’all tryin’ to fatten me up or what?”
“Oh, what cute pink and blue hearts. Did Mrs. Wright make these?” Everleigh asks.
“No, Mom and I did,” Owen says, and seeing his face light up brings me hope that he’s just as excited as we are. “They’re sugar cookies.”
“Mmm...delicious,” Gemma says, shoving half of one into her mouth.
“Are you gonna share with me?” Tyler chuckles.
Gemma glares at him. “I’m already sharing with your child so…” She stops mid-sentence and looks at Katie. “Wait. Baby powder candle, cinnabuns, and pink and blue cookies…”
“Are you pregnant?” Everleigh shouts.
On cue, Owen stands and removes his zip-up hoodie. Underneath is the T-shirt Katie and he made.
“Only Child Expiring Soon…” Everleigh reads in a high-pitched squeal.
“Oh my God, no way!” Gemma jumps out of her chair.
Owen spins around so they can read the back of his shirt.
“Reid Twins coming November,” Everleigh continues as her voice goes an octave higher.
“TWINS? Shut the front door!” Gemma rushes over at the same time as Everleigh, and they completely lose their minds.
Soon, the three of them are teary-eyed and squeezing the hell out of Katie.
“Be careful, my babies are in there,” I tease.
“Congrats, man,” Tyler says.
“Thank you.” I smile.
“You too, Owen. Are you excited?”
Owen shrugs. “Yeah, I guess. It’s probably gonna smell bad in here, though.”
We all laugh.
“I totally called it,” Everleigh says moments later.
“Called what?”
“That you’d be knocked up in no time. The way you two…” She quickly stops herself, remembering Owen is in the room. “Anyway…congrats. I couldn’t be happier for y’all.”
“We get to be pregnant together!” Gemma beams. “How far along are you?”
“Just turned thirteen weeks today.”
“You’re three months?” Everleigh shouts. “You hid this for that long?”
“We wanted to wait until we had our scan and knew they were healthy. Plus, we needed some time to process it ourselves,” I explain.
“We only found out a month ago after the incident when I was already nine weeks,” Katie adds.
“Wow…I’m still in shock you’re having twins,” Gemma says.
“You and me both,” I muse, wrapping my arm around Katie and pulling her in for a kiss. “But we couldn’t be happier.”
“Are you gonna find out the genders?” Tyler asks.
“Yeah, at our twenty-week scan,” Katie says.
“What are you hoping for?” Gemma asks Owen. “I bet you want brothers, huh?”
He shrugs. “Maybe one of each. That way, I can have a brother and a sister, but I guess it doesn’t matter either way.”
Katie smiles at him. “You’ll be the best big brother regardless.”
“For your sake, I hope it’s boys. I grew up with a sister…” I tease.
“And I was an angel,” Gemma declares.
The four of us laugh.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Katie says, smiling at me. “I’m already the happiest woman in the world to have my amazing son and you in my life.”
She has no idea how much that means to me because only months ago, I was hoping to have a place in her life at all. Now here we are—madly in love and expanding our family.
I’ll do anything to keep her this happy and will continue to prove to her how much I adore her and Owen, but my biggest fear is disappointing her. I worry about not being able to get a better-paying job and not being a good enough partner or parent, but I’ll always try my best no matter what. After all these years of wanting and wishing to be with her, I’m giving us my all.
Chapter Fifteen
KATIE
“I don’t think I can hide this bump anymore,” I tell Everleigh over the phone. “Hell, I already need more maternity clothes.”
“I’m shocked no one at work has noticed. Your face is puffy, and you’re exhausted all the time.”
“Wow, thank you.” I groan. “Remind me again why we’re friends?”
“Because I tell you the truth and don’t sugarcoat shit,” she replies, and I can hear the smile in her tone.
“Okay, fair enough. I’m gonna tell them today. Plus, I need to let my manager know about taking maternity leave and the possibility of delivering early.”
“Fifty bucks they already know. Better pay up if I’m right too.”
“And I’m hanging up now.”
“Alright but don’t forget about our plans tomorrow evening,” she says, reminding me about our girls’ date to plan Gemma’s baby shower.
“I’ll be there,” I sing-song.
“’Kay, love you. Bye!”
I hang up and look down at my baggy shirt. I’m almost out of flowy tops I can hide underneath, and at seventeen weeks, it’s obvious I’ve gained some weight. After I told our friends last month we were expecting twins, I’ve kept the news hush-hush at work. But since we’ll be learning the genders in a few weeks, it’s time they know the good news.