It’s a good thing we are telling everyone about the baby tonight because I’m definitely showing. I’m wearing a simple maxi dress that hugs my every curve. There really is no hiding the small baby bump on my stomach, regardless of what I wear.

Taking the ultrasound pictures off the bed, I place them into my small purse along with my phone and lip gloss before heading out to the living room. Parks is on the couch, and his mouth drops open as he stares up at me.

“You . . . you look amazing.”

“Stop it. You’ve seen me wear this dress before,” I tell him as he comes over to me and cups my stomach. “It’s not the dress . . . it’s you.” Then he kneels and tenderly kisses my tummy, mumbling something I can’t make out, all though I wish I could.

“You look very handsome yourself.” And it’s the truth. He’s wearing a dark gray dress shirt and a pair of jeans.

“Thank you.” He stands and links our fingers together. “Well, shall we?” he asks as he gestures me out ahead of him before grabbing the gift boxes for our fathers with his free hand.

“When are you planning on telling them?” His question is one I’ve been pondering most of the day.

“When they open their gifts.”

“Don’t you think that’ll be when they’re home?”

“Maybe. I guess we’re just gonna have to wing it and do it when the time is right.”

“Okay.” He twists his hands against the steering wheel, and I sense something is bothering him.

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“No way, this is just a really big deal. We’re about to tell our parents and everyone they know that we’re having a baby.”

“Yeah, we are,” I agree, finding comfort in the idea that both our parents will be elated—more like through the roof.

My phone rings and I look to see who it is. “It’s my mom,” I tell Parks and answer it.

“Where are you two?” she says a bit frantically before I even say hello.

“Mom, we are almost there. What’s wrong?”

“Louis just texted me, and they’re pulling up. You two need to hurry.”

“Shit, okay. We’ll be right there.” I hang up and turn to Parks. “We gotta rush, they’re almost there.” He puts the pedal down, making the final few turns and as he pulls into the lot, our dads are already walking into the hotel. I point in their direction, and Parks shakes his head frustrated.

“How are they here before us?”

“You got me.”

“Well, shit.” His response makes us both chuckle. This is not the way we wanted to start tonight. Parks grabs the presents, and we both hurry toward the front door, following in right behind our dads.

Our eyes are on their backs as they enter the ballroom, which erupts into a unanimous “Surprise!” Parks and I jog in behind them, and when our dads turn to hug us, we pretend we’ve been here the whole time. They are both too stunned to notice anyway. My mother is beaming from ear to ear as my dad holds me so tightly it causes my heart to skip a beat. It’s clear that neither of them had any idea this was going on.

“Did you do this?” he asks me, but I shake my head, pointing to my mom, and he hugs her, too.

“Did you know? Frank?” he asks Parks’ dad, who is just as elated and he shakes his head. My dad kisses me and then my mom on our foreheads, and Parks passes me one of the gifts.

“Now?” I mouth to him, and he shrugs, leaving it up to me. I shake my head back to him. This is their time, and I don’t want to cloud that in any way.

Plus, my dad has already been swept away into a barrage of hugs and happy congratulations.

“It didn’t feel right,” I tell him.

“That’s okay.” Parks agrees and sets both the gifts down on an empty table, knowing we don’t want them to get lost in the slew of gifts in the back of the room.

“Should we eat?” Parks asks me.

“Yeah, I’m really craving chocolate.”

He points across the ballroom to the dessert table, which has a huge chocolate fountain on it, and it’s like the second my eyes see it, I can smell the yumminess.

“You start with desserts. I’m going to head over to the appetizers.” I nod, already lost in all the things I can drench in chocolate. After filling my plate with entirely too much food, we meet back at the table to sit and indulge.

“Are you really gonna eat all that?” He’s eyeing my plate with a mixture of concern and amusement.

“Heck yes, I am!”

He rolls his eyes at me, and I begin to enjoy my food. We are interrupted by my mom when she walks up to us and tries to take the presents away.

“Can you leave them?” I ask her around a mouth full of chocolate cheesecake. She laughs and moves to set them back down, but my dad is faster.

“Hey, what are you doing with my presents,” my dad jokingly says, snatching them from her grasp.

“One’s for Frank,” I tell him as he peeks around the tissue paper, trying to get a glimpse at his present. He might be sixty years old but presents still make him as giddy as a child. “Frank!” he hollers for Parks’ dad, and I swallow my food, knowing now is the time.

“Get over here, you old geezer! I wanna see what these kids got us.”

Frank takes the gift that has his name on it, not that it matters considering they are identical, and they both tear into them. My stomach churns as I realize there is no turning back.

Parks holds on to me tightly, probably feeling the same way even though he’s not showing it.

My dad is close to exposing the first signs of the framed photograph when Frank removes the silver paper, my heart thudding chaotically.

Thankfully, they both hold their gifts in their hands at the same time. Parks’ mom is now at Frank’s side, waiting to see the gift as well and Parks whispers into my ear, “I love you.”

But before I can respond, my dad holds the picture high in the air and shouts to the entire room of people. “I’m gonna be a grandfather!”

The look on his face as he stares at Parks and me is . . . priceless. That simple sentence holds so much power, and it sends us into a bombardment of congratulations.