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“Yeah, we have a plan,” he says as he walks over to the speaker and turns down the music. The ladies are laughing and smiling as they move to face him. “Ready, baby girl?” Roman asks Emerson.
Her eyes light up, and she nods. She rushes toward him, and he kisses her softly with his hand on her belly before leading her into the kitchen.
“What’s that about?” Monroe asks. I hand her my bottle of water, and she takes it, drinking greedily. “Thank you,” she says when she’s done.
I take the bottle from her and finish it off. “We were talking about the gender of the baby, and he said they had a plan and walked away.”
She grabs my arm and shimmies around with a giant smile on her face. “Are they finally going to tell us?”
Her eyes light up, and I want nothing more than to kiss her, so I do. I lean in and peck on her soft lips. Everyone here thinks we’re still pretending. I’m not, and I’m pretty sure she’s not either. “I don’t know, gorgeous, but I think so.”
She beams. “Legend! I’m so excited. Do you know how hard it’s been to shop for them, not knowing the sex of the baby?”
I laugh and slide my arm around her waist. “No, but I’m guessing hard?”
“So hard,” she says dramatically.
“Well, I know you’ve all been waiting—” Emerson smiles at her best friend. “—Monroe,” she teases. “We told Forrest and Rome’s parents earlier today, but we also wanted to share with all of you. We went back and forth on having some fancy gender reveal party, and at the end of the day, we just decided to take the easy way out.”
She turns to look at Roman, and he places a small cake on the counter. It’s a round cake with several layers, and it’s decorated in pink and blue and says Happy New Year.
“How did I not catch onto that?” Monroe asks.
Emerson laughs. “I don’t know, but I’m glad you didn’t. We had this cake made, and the inside color will reveal the gender.”
Roman steps behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his hands over their baby. “Ready, baby girl?”
“Actually, I want Forrest to do the honors.”
“Me?” Forrest asks, not able to hide the surprise in his voice.
Emerson nods. “Yes, you.” Emerson nods toward the knife lying on the island next to the cake.
I watch as Forrest clears his throat, finishes off his beer, and tosses it in the trash before going to stand at the island. Roman isn’t drinking in solidarity with his pregnant wife. My wife isn’t drinking in solidarity with her best friend, and me? Well, I’m not drinking because we’re not staying here. We’re going home where I can hold my wife in my arms and scratch our mutual itch, which means I’m making love to her until the sun comes up. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year. Sure, she could have driven us home, but I want to be sober for what I have planned for us.
Forrest, Lachlan, and Maddox are all drinking, but they’re all taking it slow. It's been a chill night with friends, and I can’t think of a single thing I would have rather done, unless you count staying at home in bed with my wife.
Forrest rubs his hands together, leans over, kisses his sister on the cheek, and then picks up the knife and cuts into the cake. As soon as he pulls out a slice, showing a bright pink center, Monroe cheers and wraps her arms around me. I’m already holding her, but I hold her a little tighter. She pulls away, wiping at her tears as she rushes to her best friend and crushes her in a fierce hug.
Lachlan and Maddox shake Roman’s hand while Forrest digs into the first piece of cake. Since he already knew the gender, I’m certain he had his own one-on-one time with the couple to congratulate them.
I step up next to Roman and pull him into a hug. “Congrats, brother.” I’m surprised at the emotion in my voice. We might not be blood related, but he’s my brother. They all are. His daughter will be my first niece, and I’m excited as hell about it. Maybe not as excited as my wife is, but still excited.
“Looks like you’re going to have two baby girls,” I tease Roman.
He smiles broadly. “Yeah. A girl dad.” He laughs. “I hope you and the guys are ready to be the big, intimidating uncles.”
“I’m all over that shit,” Forrest says with a mouth full of cake. He swallows. “She’s going to have an army behind her.”
“Damn right,” Roman agrees.
“Come on now,” Monroe says. “You’re going to have to give her room to make her own decisions and her own mistakes.”
“That’s where Aunt Monroe comes in,” Emerson tells her. “We need to keep these five in check. And when the rest of you get married, I’m recruiting your wives as well.”
I give Emerson a mental fist bump. She’s talking like Monroe and I will remain married, and I could hug the hell out of her for that. We’ve only been married for two months, and with each passing day, I can see a future for us. That should scare me, but it doesn’t. We don’t talk about it, but I can feel it with every touch, with every look we share.
Monroe feels it too.
