He bounced both eyebrows. “If you want me to be.”
“Did you say something, Alec?” her mom asked.
He shook his head and handed her a bowl. “Just keeping Brooklyn happy. Here. Have some green beans.”
The food was passed around and around and around. The sheer volume of dishes Alec had prepared was astounding, but this was the first time he’d ever hosted Thanksgiving and he’d wanted to do it up right. It was his hope that next year, he could convince his brother, sister-in-law, and nieces to come as well. They would have both families blended together. And that would be truly lovely.
As bellies started to strain and the meal slowed down, Virginia caught Brooklyn’s eye and they had one of their silent sister conversations. Brooklyn’s side of it went something like this:I’ll tell you soon enough. But yeah. You were right.
Virginia smiled and wrapped her arm around Dallas’s little head, pulling him closer and planting a kiss on it.
“What was that for?” Dallas asked.
“Nothing. I just love you. That’s all.”
“Oh, Mommy.” Dallas rolled his eyes. “If you love me, can I sleep at Alec and Aunt Brooklyn’s house tonight?”
Alec looked at Brooklyn. “Is that on the table?”
Brooklyn nodded. “It’s fine with me. He asked upstairs. I just hadn’t had a chance to talk to you about it yet.”
“I’m fine with it as long as Virginia and Tom agree.”
“Are you kidding?” Tom asked, plucking one more roll out of the bread basket. “You two are all he talks about. It might get him to be quiet about it.”
“That’s decided then.” Alec set his napkin on his plate and sat back in his chair.
Brooklyn saw her opportunity. “If everyone’s done eating, maybe we should go upstairs and figure out where Dallas is going to sleep.”
Alec shot her a questioning glance, but she bugged her eyes at him in response. “Oh. Sure. Let’s do that.”
“Tom and I can get the dishes going.” Virginia started stacking plates. “And I thinkCharlie Brown Thanksgivingis available on demand, Grandma, in case you want to watch it with Dallas.”
Their mom hated being addressed as ‘grandma’ by anyone over the age of six, but she could never say no to her grandson. “Sure. I can do that if Tom helps me with the remote.”
“I’m on it.”
“We’ll be right back,” Alec said, getting up from the table.
Brooklyn smiled and followed him down the hall, grabbing her phone from the front table where she’d plugged it in to charge. As they walked upstairs, her heart was thumping like a happy rabbit. She took note of every sight and sound, every smell in the house. If everything went okay, she would remember this day for a very long time.
When they arrived on the landing, Alec came to a stop. “Okay. You are freaking me out a little bit. Is everything okay?”
She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the bedroom. “It’s better than okay. Come here.” She flicked on her phone and opened the photo, then handed it to him. “I need to show you this.”
He stood in silence, staring at the screen. Then he started to walk backward to the bed, taking long and slow steps before plopping down on the mattress. The whole time, his eyes never left the phone. It wasn’t until he was sitting that he finally looked up at Brooklyn, his eyes welling with emotion. “You’re pregnant?”
She nodded quickly, tears rolling down her cheeks as she shuffled over to sit next to him. She explained her conversation with Virginia, prompted by her pimple from hell. And how she was scared to be disappointed again, but ultimately decided to take the test anyway. “It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?”
“I mean… I felt pretty confident that we’d make it happen one day. But yes. It’s wonderful. It’s the best news ever.”
“Obviously it’s so early. So many things can happen. Or go wrong.” She pulled his hand into her lap. “But it’s nice to feel this happy. Right now.”
“I totally agree.” His fingers rolled back and forth across her knuckles. “When we get a little farther along, we’ll have to decide what to do about the adoption agency.”
“What’s your gut?”
“Honestly, my gut is telling me that we keep moving forward with that, too. I mean, maybe it’s better if we bring two children into our lives in close succession.”
