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"Sam doesn't have room for us," Andy said. "He has the baby and Ellie.Remember?"
"I'm not interested in those details," Patrick replied. "But if this is the pace we're going, I could walk to Shannon's housefaster."
Andy rolled her eyes while Lauren rocked in silent laughter. "Then you should do that, Patrick. Get out and jog alongside thecar."
I settled into my seat and put the car in gear. "Doesn't get any merrier thanthis."
"White or red, Lauren?"Riley asked, a bottle in each hand as we settled into Shannon's diningroom.
"You know, I think I'll stick with water," shereplied.
Riley chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, that's funny but really," he said. "White orred?"
She shrugged as if she declined wine every day. "I think I'll skip the wine for now. I'll have somelater."
"None of my special holiday creations last night, no wine with dinner," Riley said. "What's happening to you? Are you dying? Are you doing some fucked-up cleanse where you stop eating and drinking the best things in life?" He clutched the bottles to his chest. "Holy Hannah, are youpregnant?"
"Finally!" Judy shrieked and pressed her hands to her chest. "Is it true,Lolo?"
Abby and Dave took this as an invitation to join the shrieking from their side-by-side high chairs, and it dawned on me that our child would be joining them soonenough.
"I knew it," Tiel said with a fist pump. "You little secret-keeper."
"What are you talking about?" Lauren cried. "You guys are crazy. Stop it. I skip drinks all thetime."
Shannon stared at her from the far end of the table. "Never once," she said, holding up a finger. "You have never once declined a drink. Don't you remember the time we went out for dinner and instead of leaving a half-finished cocktail, you emptied Abby's sippy cup and dumped your drink inthere?"
"I don't see the issue with that," Laurensaid.
"Neither do I. It's conservation," Andy added. "The best thing about having kids is the sippy-cup-cocktailroutine."
"There might be a few other things," Nicksaid.
"Hey, Matt," Sam called. "You're gripping that fork damn hard. This might be a good time to think about putting it down, taking a breath,blinking."
Riley reached over and relieved me of the utensil. "I'm gonna look after this foryou."
"I know pregnant boobs," Tiel said with a pointed look at Lauren's cleavage. "Pregnant boobs don'tlie."
When I recovered from the quick snap of shock from Riley beating us to this announcement, I glanced over at Lauren. She had a tight smile plastered on her face and her hand flattened on herabdomen.
"This wasn't the plan," shewhispered.
"It's never your plan,Sweetness."
Her shoulders shook with laughter. "You're always rearranging myplans."
"Hardly." I took her hand in mine and glanced up at our family. "Yes, we are having ababy."
"It is about time," Judy said. "I can't wait. Cannot wait! I'm just thrilled. Let's get somechampagne."
"Yeah, you do that," Lauren said. "I'm having the baby but the rest of you should definitely celebrate with alcoholic beverages while I watch. That makes perfectsense."
"Is anyone else pregnant? Are there any other announcements?" Shannon asked, one hand on her lower back, the other waving at the people seated around her table. "Let's get it all out now. I can't do multiple rounds of this. We can discuss and eat at the sametime."
The collective gaze shifted from Riley and Alex to Patrick and Andy and then Nick andErin.
"Don't look at us," Erin said. "We already earned our big holiday dinner announcement badge last year. We're good on thatfront."
