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“Thankfully, it’s not a boy. It’ll save Hailo much stress,” Ross said.
“This boy was a walking heart attack as a child,” Xora added, shaking her head at the memories.
“Remember when they would jump out of the second-floor window onto the trampoline,” Mia recalled.
“Seriously?” I asked, shifting toward Gi, who didn’t see anything wrong with his decision.
“His arm is still jacked up to this day,” His Uncle Everett joked.
“You can’t go telling family secrets like that,” Gianni fussed.
“We’re all family now. There are no secrets,” Xora replied, and I was curious to know why everybody’s eyes roamed around the table. It wasn’t the first time I had been on the outside of an inside joke; ironically, it felt like this.
“At least we hope not,” Sophia muttered as she took a sip of her glass, but I heard her and her smart-ass comment clear as day.
We managed to make it through dinner without any more commentary from Sophia. They were all on their best behavior, making an uncomfortable situation a little more bearable. Gianni left to talk to his father while I remained at the table eating dessert that I didn’t have to hear his mouth about.
“Have you thought about what type of wedding you’d like?” Xora asked in between collecting the left-over dishes.
All the ideas I had were put into my engagement with Marcel. It seemed wrong to recreate the same wedding with a different man, but it wasn’t like any of this was conventional. Rules didn’t apply.
“Time is ticking. You’re pretty far along.” Sophia added, but her tone caused my neck to croon with a raised brow.
“That’s usually how pregnancy works,” I snapped back, noticing her condescending tone.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Sophia replied, but I didn’t buy that one bit.
“You didn’t because this baby is Gianni’s. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here dealing with this.”
“Cut it out, Sophia,” Mia intervened.
Solana eased into the seat next to me, blocking my view of Xora whispering something to Sophia. She picked up on the question I didn’t allow to leave my lips because I wasn’t sure how it would come out. “If you need anything like where to get your hair done. A nail shop. Anything, feel free to reach out.”
“Thank you,” I replied so she could stop nervously rambling.
“We are family and here to help you with anything you need,” Solana smiled, but her eyes immediately caught my attention. She was struggling with something, and it felt like I was in front of a mirror that I didn’t want to look in.
Xora returned to the conversation, further pressing me with questions I had no answers for.
Breast or bottle?
If bottle, what type of bottles I wanted to use?
“Excuse me.” Sliding out of my seat, I couldn’t get away from them fast enough.
I wasn’t familiar with the house and had no idea where I was going until I saw the French doors. Walking outside to escape the gravity of this moment, I could finally breathe again. I’m sure they meant well, but all of this was overwhelming.
“You good?” I jumped, turning around at the deep masculine voice. Mack sat in the chair with a blunt between his fingers, offering a friendly smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t know anybody was out here.”
“It’s all good,” Mack replied, releasing the smoke. “I’d offer you a hit, but you’re with child. You look like you need it.”
“That’s an understatement,” I bulged my eyes, wishing like hell I wasn’t so I could indulge.
“Overwhelmed?”
Swaying with my arms wrapped around myself, I was hesitant to engage, but something about him made my truth easier to reveal. Not that it would change anything, but keeping it together was more complicated than others some days. Today turned out to be one of them.
