AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Levi and Abby are getting married,” she tells her fiancé.
“You’re not mad?” Abby asks as soon as Jaime lets go of her.
“Why on earth would I be mad? This calls for more celebrating!” AJ adds, turning to Sawyer. “We need more shots! Shots for everyone!”
“You’ve had enough shots, my love,” he says, kissing her on the side of the head and whispering something in her ear that makes her giggle and blush.
“Yep, I’ve definitely had enough shots,” she replies.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Abby’s twin says when she offers her a hug. “And where’s your ring?” She grabs Abby’s hand, the ring noticeably missing.
“I didn’t want to ruin tonight so I left it at home.”
“You could never ruin tonight, Abs. If anything, you’ve only enhanced it,” AJ reassures her.
Nick comes over and stands behind me. “What’s going on?” he asks.
“Well, it appears that Abby and Levi are engaged, but she didn’t want to tell anyone.” I answer.
“Why?”
“Because she didn’t want to ruin AJ’s night or make it about her,” I say, casually shrugging my shoulder. It actually doesn’t surprise me at all. Abby always takes everyone else’s feelings into account, and this is definitely something she would do. It’s AJ’s night, after all, so she wouldn’t want to steal any of the attention.
“Ahh,” Nick says, his hand coming up and resting on my hip. The action makes my body start to tingle and warmth flood to the apex of my legs. He looks so damn sexy tonight. When I saw him walk in, it took every ounce of control I could find to act all casual and not go jump on him.
I really want to jump on him.
“Wait, but Abby said Payton was the biggest secret keeper of them all,” Lexi chimes in, leaving the insinuation out there.
“She’s right. Someone else has a secret,” AJ adds. Everyone turns their attention to Payton. Dean comes over looking a little bit like a perp in an interrogation room, under the harsh lights.
“This is AJ’s night,” Payton counters.
“Nope, you’re not getting out of this one,” AJ replies.
“And unless you’re jumping on a plane and getting remarried without telling any of us, we know it’s not that,” Lexi says, referring to the time they hopped on a plane, flew to Vegas, got hitched on the strip, and flew home without any one of us being the wiser.
Payton just stares us down, determined to not say anything. We’re at a standoff, a battle of wills, and between Payton and Lexi, I’m not sure either of them will ever give in. “Oh, come on,” Jaime argues, but it gets no response from the oldest Summer sister.
“Just tell them the bun is finally baking in the oven, Payters,” Grandma says, waving her drink around and sloshing it over the side.
Everyone stands completely still. No one moves. No one breathes.
“You’re pregnant?” I whisper, afraid that she’ll deny the claims. We all know how much Payton wants a baby, but with her PCOS, the likelihood of that happening is very slim. They’ve been going through rounds of Clomid, but the results weren’t successful. I know they’ve been talking about trying in vitro and have even checked out an adoption agency, but I didn’t think they had decided on anything.
Payton looks over at Dean, whose eyes seem to light up. When she looks back at us, her own green eyes are filled with tears. “I’m pregnant.”
Chaos ensues next. I’m pulled into a hug by someone of my size, squeezed to death by someone with a big belly, as we all scream and cry together. My heart is so full for the happiness and love each of my sisters have in their lives. We have three babies on the way, two that should arrive within the next month, and two weddings on the horizon.
“Wait,” Jaime says, wiping tears from her cheeks as she looks at Payton. “You took a shot.”
“It was water,” Grandma says, somehow managing to wiggle herself into the middle of our group hug. Payton gives her a look. “I overheard her order it,” Grandma adds with a shrug.
“Overheard,” Payton snips with an eye roll.
“It was a total accident,” Grandma insists. “And besides, Abby heard too!”
Abby blushes. “It was an accident for me. I was coming up behind you to order another drink. I saw Grandma crouching behind a guy who was standing next to you, and before I could ask her what she was doing, you placed the shot order.”
