May and Daniel step forward and each hug me, telling me how proud they are of me. The dam splits, and I couldn’t stop the tears even if I tried. I look over at Emmy and Hayleigh,and Emmy bursts into tears and rushes over, with Hayleigh following suit. They both wrap their arms around me.
Hayleigh Mumbles into my hair, “You’re going to be an amazing mum.”
Cas is next. He places a soft kiss on my cheek. “So you’re going to be a sister to us after all, huh?” he whispers in my ear, then gives a slight nod towards Cole. I roll my eyes. I should have known nothing stays secret in this family.
Rafe and Ethan plant a sloppy kiss on both my hands before walking around the bed and pulling their big brother in for a hug.
Nate fists bumps Cole, much to Cole’s horror, and I snigger as he wraps me in a bear hug. “Really proud of you, Lace. This little Peanut is going to have enough love a million times over.” I smile and pat his hand.
“Do you all want to know if Peanut is a girl or a boy?” I look at each of them and notice Archie, in the corner of the room, all by himself.
“Hey, Archie, are you okay?” He’s usually the first one to say anything in the family, but he hasn’t peeped a word; worry courses through me.
He hums a noncommittal sound and nods, but he’s still turned away.
Cole stands up. “Arch, what is it?”
Archie's shoulders begin to shake, and then we hear it – the sob he has been trying to hold in. Cole crosses the room in a few strides and gathers him in his arms, squeezing him tight. Then one by one, each of his brothers joins in.
When they finally pull apart, Archie looks at me, a promise in his eyes. “I am going to be the best uncle that Peanut has. I love you all, I love my family…I love my second chance.” He wipes his nose on his sleeve. “Okay, what is our Peanut?”
I smile at Cole, unable to contain my excitement. “It’s a little girl!” I squeal, and Emmy and Hayleigh join in while the boys groan. “What?” I laugh at them.
Rafe looks to his brothers and nods sombrely. “We’re going to have to beat up a lot of boys when she’s older. We’re here with you, both of you.” He claps a hand on Cole’s shoulder, who smiles in return.
There isn’t a dry eye in the room, even the sonographer is sobbing, “What a beautiful family.”
Yes, we are.
Chapter 17
Cole
At the scan, I thought my family would make a scene when they realised that Lacey and I were together. But are we really together? Sure, I poured my heart out to her the other night, but we hadn’t officially decided that we were together, together.
When she received that message from Ted today, my blood boiled. What kind of man doesn’t want to be in his kids' lives? In some way, he’s like Lacey’s dad. He abandoned her when she needed him the most.
I remember when I first met him; I hadn’t seen Lacey for two days, neither at school nor after, when she would come and knock on my door for us to play. I begged my mum to take me to her house to make sure she was okay.
When we arrived, there was no sign anyone was home. I knocked on that door so hard that I busted open my knuckles, and finally, Lacey came to the bathroom window. She told us that her dad left two days ago and hadn’t been back since, and she couldn’t get out. She was only fourteen. My mum was just about to phone social services when he turned up. He shouted at my mum for interfering, said he’d only been gone a minute, but he stunk like cheap alcohol, cigarettes and body odour that said differently. My mum still made the call, despite Lacey begging her not to, but nothing ever came of it.
As I stand here now, watching her move through the aisle of pink baby clothes, I can’t help but smile at how far she has come. When life keeps knocking her down, she just gets right back up. Little Peanut is lucky to have her…So am I.
“Are you going to stand there creeping at me all day, or are you going to help me pick some of these clothes out?” She sasses me without even looking at me. Busted.
“I’m not very good at styling anything. That’s more Ethan’s gig, but how about this?” I hold up an all-in-one pink suit with a tutu attached, which reads ‘Ballerina in the making’.
Lacey puts a hand over her heart. “That is the cutest thing I have seen; it can go in the basket for sure. Okay, I think that’s enough for today. My feet hurt and I’m starved. Can we go get food now?”
“Sure, Mama, let’s go feed you.” I put my arm around her, and we walk to the till to ring everything up. Before she can pull out her purse, I’ve already paid and taken the receipt.
She looks up at me. “I have money saved, I’ll pay you back.” Her head dips.
“Hey.” I lift her chin. “Lacey, look at me.” When she doesn’t, I kiss her cheeks. “Lacey, you’re not paying me back, and I am more than aware that you have your own money. I’m sorry if I overstepped. I don’t want you to think I’m coming in andstepping on your toes. If that’s what I’ve done, then you need to say so, just like you always would have done before we…you know…” I trail off and wince—realsmooth, Cole.
She smacks a hand at my chest. “Are you saying that I’m expecting you to buy me and the baby things because we did some sex stuff?” Her eyes bore into me, and I panic and scramble my words together.
“What? No! That’s–that uhm, I didn’t– that is not–” I splutter my words but suddenly stop when she doubles over, cackling.
