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They both gave me nearly identical smiles. “I’m happy for you, sis,” Nora said.
“Thanks. That means a lot.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the emotion in the room suddenly more than I could deal with. “Did you meet him that night? At the party?”
“Brady Martinez?” My mother tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Tall, dark, and scruffy; I should’ve known.”
We all laughed, and I elbowed Ashlyn knowingly. Apparently the family had a type.
As the humor slowed and we all stared at each other through my phone screen, I saw my mother’s face change. I gulped.
“If your father was alive, you know what he’d say?”
I stilled, suddenly frozen in fear. Ashlyn mirrored my concern, her hand hot on my leg.
“He would say how happy he was. How much he’d love another grandbaby to love.”
My gaze leapt to the man behind the phone, his face frozen in time but still more than a memory. The way the phone sat, it almost looked like he was standing over his beloved wife’s shoulder.
She sniffed.
I sniffed.
Dammit, even Ashlyn sniffed.
“Mom, you can’t just say that kind of stuff. My hormones are totally screwed up.”
“It’s only going to get worse. Just wait until the baby gets here and you cry just looking at how perfect he or she is.” Her face grew serious. “That’s how I feel every time I look at you. Even now.”
“So you’re not unhappy?” I had to know for sure.
Both of their faces dropped in shock. My mother spoke first. “Oh no, Cici. I’m happy as long as you’re happy.”
Ashlyn slapped my thigh. “Oh, thank God, because she’s about to go full Cici on this little project.”
“Full Cici?” I said, eyeing my niece. Those hormones I’d just mentioned stirred beneath the surface.
“You know what I mean.” Ashlyn rolled her eyes. She clearly had gotten used to my bark over the years.
I narrowed my eyes. “Maybe I was. But that doesn’t matter now. What matters now is you telling me every little bit of information I could possibly use to get through this pregnancy.” I fluffed my hair. “I’m ready to glow.”
My mother’s laughter filled my chest as Ashlyn whipped out a pen and notepad and waited, perfectly poised, to take notes.
***
Brady
The pan went crashing by me, landing against the stovetop.
“Ma, don’t be like that.”
“You brought that girl, that woman here. You allowed her to charm us. All the while knowing that she’s holding one very important thing right over our heads the whole time.”
“We’d only just found out. It was a lot to digest without you and Katie, or even Lyla, commenting in on it.” I sighed “I wanted to have some room to have my own feelings first.”
My mother’s gaze was bright and shining. “And what did you decide?”
I looked down at my hands as they fisted against my pant legs. I’d driven straight here after work. Cici and I had decided to divide and conquer our families, and I was actually grateful. Because I had more than just my surprise baby to talk to my mother about.
But first, I wanted to tell someone how it felt to suddenly be responsible for a tiny, new life. Overwhelmed didn’t quite cover it. “We got to hear the heartbeat the other day. It was the first time. Everything looks perfect.”
