Southern Devotion (Southern Heart 4)

“Hard to maneuver.” She smiles, rubbing her beach ball of a belly.

“Well, you look beautiful. How was your doctor’s appointment?”

Her eyes light up. “Good, good,” she says, and I feel as though she’s leaving something out. I raise my eyebrows, and she just smiles at me. No doubt she’ll tell us when she’s ready.

“I was showing them the pictures from the wedding,” Jamie says, passing me the photo album.

“When did they come in?” I ask her.

“Today. We were pulling out when the mail lady stopped at the box. I refused to leave until she was gone so I could check the mail.” She laughs.

“I don’t blame you.” I open the album and skim through the pictures. “Wow, these are gorgeous. That photographer got some great shots.”

“He really did. Thank you for finding him.”

“I didn’t, not really. I called the hotel and asked for recommendations. He was highly acclaimed. We got lucky that there was a last-minute booking that canceled. I didn’t ask it if was a wedding because I didn’t want to know. Feels wrong to be so happy when someone may not be.”

“I can see why,” McKinley agrees. “As for the other couple,

you just have to worry about you. Maybe they eloped, or she went into labor?” she offers.

“You ladies ready?” Aaron asks, joining us. “Everyone’s here.” He smiles at his wife, bending down to run his hand over her baby bump.

Evan comes in with Walker on his hip, offering McKinley his hand. She’s due any day now with baby number three. “You feeling okay?” he asks her.

I watch as she smiles up at him. “I’m fine, Evan. Where’s Lex?”

“She’s telling Mike and David about her new horse, even though they’ve both already seen him,” he says with a laugh.

Jamie and I stand and follow them to the main living room where the gifts are set up and folding chairs have been added. I take a seat next to David, and he slips his arm around my shoulders, keeping his eyes trained on Lex as she tells him about how pretty her new horse is.

“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Aaron says. “Sorry it’s such a tight space, but it’s easier on my wife being here than having to pack everything home. Before we get started, we wanted to make an announcement.” He looks down at Whitney with love shining in his eyes. “Whit and I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and well, we’re having twins!” he says excitedly.

“How long have you known?” Aaron’s mom asks, wiping tears from her face.

“A while, but we wanted to wait until today and surprise everyone.”

“I’m as big as a house. McKinley is due any day now and I’m bigger than she is,” Whitney jokes. “I don’t think it was a very well-kept secret. You wondered, right?” She looks at me and Jamie, and we nod. None of us is willing to say out loud that she was already bigger than she would be with a single baby.

“The thought did cross my mind,” Aaron’s mom confesses. “But I thought for sure you would have told us.” She pauses. “Twins.” She stands from her chair and embraces her son and daughter-in-law.

Once congratulations and hugs are passed around, we start the games. “How in the hell am I supposed to guess the candy bar?” David asks. “And this is just… gross. Seriously, this is what y’all do at baby showers?”

I throw my head back in laughter. “It’s baby themed.”

“Well, we’re not playing this game at our shower,” he grumbles.

“Really? I would have thought you would want to see Aaron suffer.”

“Maybe,” he says, not really committing as he passes a newborn diaper full of what I think is a Snickers bar over to Mike and Jamie.

The next game we play is the toilet paper game where we have to guess how much toilet paper will fit around Whitney’s belly. David, Mike, and Evan all bowed out, saying there is no winner when you have to guess “how big” a woman is. After a word search, we went to gifts. I volunteered to write down each item, and from whom, so they could write their thank-you notes later.

“Do you have one of these for every kid?” Mike asks.

“No, just the first one. Although, if there’s a lot of time between babies, some have another.”

“Too many rules,” Dave grumbles beside me. “I say have one for each kid. It’s a celebration, right? And from the looks of all this loot, kids need a lot,” he says, looking around the room.