Page 357 of John + Siena: The Complete Duet

ELEVEN

Usually having his house full of people—even if those people were his family and friends—would put John on edge. He’d find himself balancing between wanting everyone there and at the same time, being two seconds away from snapping at them all to get the fuck out. It wasn’t that he didn’t like having them there, but his home had always been the one place where he hid away from the rest of the world. Even those who cared for him.

A part of him wondered if they came because they wanted a peek at the inside of his life that he kept most private, but he also knew that was just his paranoia making itself known and nothing more. All of these people—at one point or another—had been inside his home for a visit. But not all of them at the same time.

And he did want them here.

Hell, he suggested this dinner to Siena as a way for them to announce the pregnancy to everyone at the same time so that no one felt left out or had to learn late. So, instead of focusing on the negative thoughts poking at the back of his mind—those bastards never truly left; he simply learned to handle it in healthier ways—he put his attention back on the table and the people sitting around it with conversation flowing while they devoured his wife’s food.

That alone made John smile.

He knew how hard Siena worked for this.

Speaking of which …

Beside him, Siena’s hand found his thigh under the table. She squeezed and tipped her head in his direction, shooting him a look from the side. He knew what she was doing—testing the waters, checking on him to see how he was doing with all of this. Crowds were never his favorite thing, and it had a way of spiking his anxiety like nothing else ever did. For her, though, he grinned and gave a wink. Just like that, his wife’s smile bloomed a little wider and she nodded.

“Love you,” he murmured low.

Leaning in close, she pressed a sweet kiss to his lips, replying, “More than you will ever know, John.”

Nah.

He knew.

Better than anyone.

Pulling away from their kiss, Siena asked, “Should we tell them now?”

Apparently, that question wasn’t quiet enough for no one to hear because just two seats down beside his wife, Andino tipped his chin up and demanded, “Tell us what?”

Fucking Andi.

John smirked his cousin’s way. “Mind your business.”

“Tell us!”

Now, everyone at the table looked their way. Another time or day and that might really mess with John’s head. Like crowds, he also didn’t like the attention of many to be on him. But with these people—his parents, cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles and more—he just smiled back for the moment.

They could deal with the rest later.

Surely.

“Siena?” John asked.

Beside him, she laughed. “You say it.”

“Say what?” his father asked.

He did want to tell them. He also wanted to kiss his wife again. So, he did both at the same time. Grabbing Siena’s jaw, he pulled her in for one more kiss and then turned to the rest of the table to say, “We’re going to have a baby.”

The cheers from the rest of the people at the table would linger in John’s ears long after his family had gone for the evening.

John was three hours into a deep clean of their house—not that it needed it between the three-day-a-week maid that came in, Siena cleaning, and him—when all at once, he dropped everything in his hand and stared down the dark hallway of the downstairs. The dinner party was long over, the kitchen and dining room had been cleaned … his house was quiet, and his wife had been sleeping since eleven.

Without him.

Because John couldn’t sleep.