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“Maybe. It was hanging in the kitchen in work last night. We do a lot of Italian stuff.”
“That explains it,” I say with a smile.
“Oregano made you want to hurl?” he asks with a frown.
“Yes. I hate the stuff.”
“Oh.” He shakes his head and then he takes a seat at the table as Shane takes the jacket out into the hallway.
I take a seat next to Hayden and smile at him. Poor kid looks so embarrassed and I want to hug him again – so I do. Big mistake.
“I can still…” I bolt again as nausea washes over me like a tidal wave. I have never experienced anything like it in my life.
“Fuck, Jessie, you’re gonna give the poor kid a heart attack if you keep doing this,” Mikey chuckles.
“Do I really stink or something?” Hayden asks innocently and I feel so bad for him.
“We have to tell him,” I groan as I stand upright again.
“No.” Liam shakes his head.
“Liam. The kid thinks he has a body odor problem so bad that he’s making people spontaneously hurl,” Shane says.
“What is going on?” Hayden asks.
“It’s not you, kid,” Shane pats him on the back and he and Mikey and Conor start to laugh.
“Then what?” he asks as I walk back to the table and take a seat opposite him instead, in between Liam and Conor.
“She’s just developed a severe aversion to oregano,” Mikey chuckles.
Conor takes my hand and squeezes it gently. “You okay?”
“Yes. Fine now,” I say. “But oregano is banned for the next eight months. Okay?”
“Eight months?” Hayden smiles at me. “Wait! Are you…?”
“Yes. I’m so sorry, Hayden. This wasn’t how I imagined today going at all.”
“Wow! A baby.” He beams at me. “That’s amazing, Jessie. I’m so happy for you.”
“Babies actually. We’re having twins. And thank you.”
“Twins!” he laughs softly and then he looks around the table. “Who is…”
“Don’t even finish that sentence, kid,” Shane warns him. “We all are and that’s all you need to know.”
“Okay. I’m sorry if I offended you,” he swallows.
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell him as I shoot Shane a look. “Our set up is quite unique.”
“Is someone gonna eat some of these pastries I’ve been slaving over?” Mikey says, breaking the tension.
“Yes! I’m starving,” I reply as I take one from the giant pile in the center of the table.
After our incredibly awkward start, we ended up having a lovely brunch. Hayden is funny and sweet. Even Liam joined in the conversation after a while, unable to keep quiet when Hayden mentioned his aversion to tequila following an experience during his first semester of college when he passed out at a party and woke up with no eyebrows and a mustache drawn in permanent marker that took him days to wash off.
It’s late afternoon by the time Hayden is leaving, and that’s only because he has a shift at work to get to. Shane and Conor have agreed to drive him home and I have made them promise to behave themselves.
