Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Mom made another humming noise. Great. I sought Aaron out, shrugging helplessly at his quizzical expression. But I also caught his silent plea to keep the peace. No problem.
“Can I get you a glass of wine, Mom?”
Her nostrils flared slightly and her mouth twisted in a grimace. “No, thank you.”
“Are you sure? You seem tense.”
“I’m fine.” And with that, she headed into the house with a huff.
Okay, then…
Thankfully, my dad was here. He could take over.
I found him near the dessert table, dabbing crumbs from a mostly demolished plate. Dad and I were roughly the same height and build. We’d even had the same dark blond hair before his turned more salt than pepper. “You look just like your father” was a familiar sentiment, but it was also a funny one since he wasn’t my biological parent.
Dad had adopted my sister and me after marrying Mom when I was little. I couldn’t remember anything about my bio father. He’d never been a presence in my life. But this man…my real dad—had done it all. He’d slayed imaginary dragons, volunteered to coach every sport I’d signed up for, taught me how to read, how to ride a bike, how to drive, how to shave. He was the reason I’d wanted to adopt.
My dad was a good man who’d gone out of his way to love a child who didn’t share his blood. If I could be half the father to my unborn child as he was to me, we’d be okay.
“What’s up with Mom?”
My father squinted in confusion. “Nothing that I know of. Why?”
“She seems…” Angry, edgy, volatile, on the verge of causing a scene. Any of those descriptions fit, but I went with, “A little agitated.”
“She’s all right. If anything, she’s been worried about you and Aaron, and everything you’ve been through with the adoption. I think she’s needed this trip so that she could see for herself that you’re both doing well.”
I supposed that sort of made sense. “We are.”
Dad bumped my elbow. “Good. Parents need a little reassurance once in a while too. You have a beautiful home, lovely friends, and Murphy looks like he might be the happiest puppy in the universe. He should sleep well tonight.”
“Geez, I hope so,” I mumbled, smiling at the bundle of fur still running in circles around the kids. “Did you get enough to eat?”
Dad patted his belly and laughed. “More than enough.”
I put up my hand for a high five and rejoined the party. Since Lena didn’t know anyone, I made sure to include her in conversations and insisted she be on my team in badminton.
“Can pregnant women play badminton? It’s not dangerous, is it?”
Lena rolled her eyes. “Yes, Matt. I can play badminton…and kick your ass too.”
“Ohh, it’s on.”
A friendly, no-stakes game was a perfect way to ease her into our social sphere. We didn’t expect to become best buddies with our surrogate by any means, but we wanted her to be comfortable with us and yes, a barbecue was probably overkill. However, this was technically Murphy’s party so other than my mom, no one else thought twice about the newcomer.
“Nice spike, Lena. And…we win!” Jason held up a hand to Lena for a fist bump before scooping his one-year-old daughter into his arms. “Victory is ours! Mwaha-ha!”
“Such a good sport too,” his wife, Chelsea snarked, holding their toddler son’s hand. “Let’s say good-bye to Uncle Matt and Uncle Aaron. We have some tired kiddos.”
I furrowed my brow. We hadn’t announced our news yet. “Already?”
“Long drive ahead. We need to get on the road and get these monsters ready for bed.” Jason kissed his daughter’s chubby cheek.
“This was fun, Matt. Thank you,” Chelsea added.
“We should get going too.” Trey patted my back. “See you at the office Monday.”
Shit. Everyone was leaving. Well, not everyone, but…the crowd was thinning for sure.
I said a few more good-byes as I made my way to Aaron. “We’re losing our audience.”
He blew out an exasperated breath and scanned the yard. “I know. And your mom is giving ‘weird lady at the party’ vibes. What should we do? Do we just blurt it out and forget the toast?”
I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I don’t know.”
“Ugh, I’m so mad at myself. I’m usually so much better at planning. I should have done blue and pink cupcakes like a mini reveal…without the actual reveal. Then again, I really don’t want to trap our child in traditional color motifs before they’re even in the world. It’s so last century.”
I snickered. “No pink or blue?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I love a pretty pastel pink or a bright fuchsia. And blue is so versatile and—Murphy!” Aaron gasped. “No digging my hydrangeas! Matty…help.”
“On it.”
An hour later, Murphy was out cold, belly up in his crate, overstimulated and overtired. The only guests left were some family and our closest friends—Curt and Jack, Jay and Peter and their kids…and Lena.