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Katie waited for the recognition to hit, and her grin widened. But she was only met with confused stares.
“Is someone from your family coming over?” he asked hesitantly.
“Are we getting a pet?” Ayla asked hopefully.
Katie sighed. This was not going the way she planned. She didn’t realize her family wasthatoblivious. It was a good thing the cake quite literally spelled it out.
She took it over to the table and gestured to the writing on top. Axur and Ayla leaned in to see, and their eyes both widened in shock at the same time.
There it was. That was more of the reaction she had been hoping for.
On the cake, it simply readBaby On The Way!
Her husband whipped his head up to look at her. “You’re pregnant?” he murmured.
She nodded. “I am.”
He was suddenly sweeping her into his arms and holding her like she was the most precious thing in the universe.
“You’re pregnant,” he murmured over and over again like he couldn’t quite believe it. He pulled away from her and kissed with a barely restrained passion. Then, a laugh bubbled out of him. “From the way you were acting, I almost thought you were going to poison us.”
Katie laughed. “Oh, please. I’m going to need all the emotional support I can get right now. So poisoning is off the table.”
Axur cupped her cheek. “I promise we’ll be here through all of it. Won’t we, Ayla?”
A terrible thought occurred to her suddenly. What if Ayla didn’t like the idea of a new sibling? What if she thought she and Axur were trying to replace her? Or what if she thought they wouldn’t love her as much because they had a baby now?
Of course, all of that was ridiculous, but sometimes kids could get wild ideas in their heads.
Katie tentatively looked at Ayla and immediately felt relieved. The girl couldn’t have looked happier.
“Absolutely! I’ll do everything I can to make sure she’s ready to have a baby. I can’t wait to be a big sister!”
When Axur finally let her go, she cut the cake, and they all enjoyed their dessert. There was no shortage of chatter now from any of them as they discussed their new arrival. Ayla wanted to know when she could feel the baby kick, and Axur began planning what room they could make into a nursery.
It was even better than Katie had planned, and she was relieved she could finally tell them. Not that she’d known long, but somehow, twenty-four hours had never felt so long.
They sat around and talked until late into the night. Ayla protested strongly when Katie told her it was bedtime. Her reasoning was that she needed to start helping to get everything for the baby right away. When she was thoroughly assured she’d have time, Ayla went to get ready for bed.
“And you won’t name the baby while I’m asleep, right?” Ayla asked as Katie and Axur tucked her into bed.
Katie laughed. “I promise you’ll get to be a part of the naming process. I haven’t even started making a list yet.”
Not a physical one, at least.
Ayla handed her a piece of paper from her nightstand. “I did, but it’s not done yet.”
Katie burst out laughing. “Well, you’re more on top of it than I am.”
She kissed her head, and then Axur did the same. They quietly walked out of the girl’s room, and her husband took her hand in his.
There was that glint in his amber eyes that she knew all too well. A delighted shiver went down her spine.
TWENTY-THREE
AXUR
Finally alone, Axur knelt in front of her, his hands moving to her waist. In a voice full of awe, he spoke. “You’re really pregnant?” He smiled, staring at her stomach.
