Placing the finishing touches on the gift for Whitney and Aaron’s baby shower, I set it on the counter and clean up my mess from the wrapping paper. I might have gone a little overboard with the clothes, but they’re too cute not too. The gift bag is full of individually wrapped presents.
“Guys go to these things?” David asks as he enters the room, pulling his black T-shirt over his head.
“Yeah, some do. Depends on the couple. Aaron is really involved, so it’s a co-ed shower.” Not that it would matter. David is the kind of man that if I asked him to be there, he would be there.
He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, placing a soft kiss on my neck. “Is that how we’re going to do it?” he whispers.
“Is that how you want it?”
Sliding his large calloused hand under my shirt, he rests his palm just above my belly button. “I don’t want to miss a single second, so yeah, that’s how I want it. You good with that?”
I turn in his arms, my hands snaking up around his neck. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” On tiptoes, I press my lips to his—just a peck, but that doesn’t matter. Any time my mouth is pressed to his, any time he’s near, my body heats. My desire for him is that strong.
“You about ready to go?” he asks.
“Yeah, I just finished with the gifts. I just need to grab my purse and phone.”
“I’ll take this.” He steps back, releasing his hold on me and grabs the bag from the counter. “Sheesh,” he says, acting as if the bag is too heavy for him.
“Ha-ha,” I say dryly. “I can’t help it.” I stick my tongue out at him.
“You’re amazing.” He kisses the corner of my mouth. “I’ll take this out to the truck.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” I grab my purse and phone and lock the door behind me.
Aaron greets us as soon as we walk through the door. “Glad you could make it,” he says, kissing me on the cheek and shaking David’s hand.
“Where do we put this?” David holds up the gift bag in his hands.
“This way. Olivia, Whit’s in the dining room with her feet up. At least, they better be. McKinley’s better be too. Jamie’s in there enforcing the rule. Well, all the women are actually, except for our mom and my aunts who are fussing over the food.”
“Thanks.” David gives my hip a gentle squeeze before following Aaron to the gift table.
“We were wondering when you were going to get here,” Jamie teases as I enter the dining room.
“I found a couple more last-minute gifts that I had to wrap.” I look over at Whit, who has her feet propped up on a chair just as her husband had said she was supposed to be doing. “How you feeling?”
“Hard to maneuver.” She smiles, rubbing her beach ball of a belly.
“Well, you look beautiful. How was your doctor’s appointment?”
Her eyes light up. “Good, good,” she says, and I feel as though she’s leaving something out. I raise my eyebrows, and she just smiles at me. No doubt she’ll tell us when she’s ready.
“I was showing them the pictures from the wedding,” Jamie says, passing me the photo album.
“When did they come in?” I ask her.
“Today. We were pulling out when the mail lady stopped at the box. I refused to leave until she was gone so I could check the mail.” She laughs.
“I don’t blame you.” I open the album and skim through the pictures. “Wow, these are gorgeous. That photographer got some great shots.”
“He really did. Thank you for finding him.”
“I didn’t, not really. I called the hotel and asked for recommendations. He was highly acclaimed. We got lucky that there was a last-minute booking that canceled. I didn’t ask it if was a wedding because I didn’t want to know. Feels wrong to be so happy when someone may not be.”
“I can see why,” McKinley agrees. “As for the other couple, you just have to worry about you. Maybe they eloped, or she went into labor?” she offers.
“You ladies ready?” Aaron asks, joining us. “Everyone’s here.” He smiles at his wife, bending down to run his hand over her baby bump.
Evan comes in with Walker on his hip, offering McKinley his hand. She’s due any day now with baby number three. “You feeling okay?” he asks her.
I watch as she smiles up at him. “I’m fine, Evan. Where’s Lex?”
“She’s telling Mike and David about her new horse, even though they’ve both already seen him,” he says with a laugh.
Jamie and I stand and follow them to the main living room where the gifts are set up and folding chairs have been added. I take a seat next to David, and he slips his arm around my shoulders, keeping his eyes trained on Lex as she tells him about how pretty her new horse is.
“Thanks for coming, everyone,” Aaron says. “Sorry it’s such a tight space, but it’s easier on my wife being here than having to pack everything home. Before we get started, we wanted to make an announcement.” He looks down at Whitney with love shining in his eyes. “Whit and I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and well, we’re having twins!” he says excitedly.
“How long have you known?” Aaron’s mom asks, wiping tears from her face.
“A while, but we wanted to wait until today and surprise everyone.”
“I’m as big as a house. McKinley is due any day now and I’m bigger than she is,” Whitney jokes. “I don’t think it was a very well-kept secret. You wondered, right?” She looks at me and Jamie, and we nod. None of us is willing to say out loud that she was already bigger than she would be with a single baby.
“The thought did cross my mind,” Aaron’s mom confesses. “But I thought for sure you would have told us.” She pauses. “Twins.” She stands from her chair and embraces her son and daughter-in-law.
Once congratulations and hugs are passed around, we start the games. “How in the hell am I supposed to guess the candy bar?” David asks. “And this is just… gross. Seriously, this is what y’all do at baby showers?”
I throw my head back in laughter. “It’s baby themed.”
“Well, we’re not playing this game at our shower,” he grumbles.
“Really? I would have thought you would want to see Aaron suffer.”
“Maybe,” he says, not really committing as he passes a newborn diaper full of what I think is a Snickers bar over to Mike and Jamie.
The next game we play is the toilet paper game where we have to guess how much toilet paper will fit around Whitney’s belly. David, Mike, and Evan all bowed out, saying there is no winner when you have to guess “how big” a woman is. After a word search, we went to gifts. I volunteered to write down each item, and from whom, so they could write their thank-you notes later.
“Do you have one of these for every kid?” Mike asks.
“No, just the first one. Although, if there’s a lot of time between babies, some have another.”
“Too many rules,” Dave grumbles beside me. “I say have one for each kid. It’s a celebration, right? And from the looks of all this loot, kids need a lot,” he says, looking around the room.
“Well, in this case it’s two babies at once, so all this”—I point to the gift bags, baskets, and piles of gifts—“is going to come in handy for sure.”
“Def—” McKinley starts but stops, placing her hand on her back.
“You okay?” Evan asks her.
“Y-yeah. But I think we need to go to the hospital,” she says, calm as ever.
“Is it the baby? What’s wrong?” I ask.
She looks up at me, her face pained. “Yeah, my water just broke.”
“What?” This has Whitney climbing to her feet with Aaron’s assistance. “You’re in labor? Are you okay? What can we do?”
“Yes, and my water broke.” She looks down at her lap and back up at her brother and his wife. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Whit assures her.
“I’ll take the kids. Go, have your baby. We’ll bring Lex and Walker over once he’s here,” I say, rubbing her shoulder, trying to soothe her in some way.
“We’ll drive,” Mike offers, ushering Jamie out of the house to get the truck.
“You sure you don’t mind keeping the kids? I don’t want Mom to have to deal with them and the shower,” McKinley explains.
“We got it,” David assures her.
“Thank you,” Evan says. Then he yells out for Lexi.
“Hi, Daddy,” she says, hugging his knees.
“Hey, sweetie, Mommy and I need to go to the hospital. Your baby brother is being born. Can you be a big girl and help Olivia and David take care of Walker while we’re gone? I’ll call them as soon as he’s here and have them bring you to the hospital.”
Lexi nods, her little head bobbing up and down. She studies McKinley, who’s struggling through another contraction. “Don’t worry, Mommy. Daddy will take care of you. He’s really good at it.”
“I know, sweet girl. You be good for Olivia and David, and take good care of Walker for us.”
“I will, Mommy.” She skips off, yelling for her little brother, who isn’t old enough to understand what’s going on but she’s telling him anyway.
“Thank you,” Evan says again as he helps McKinley stand. He and her mother walk her out to the car where Mike and Jamie are waiting to take them to the hospital.