“We told them this morning. We decided none of you would be able to keep a secret from them.”
“Bah. We can keep secrets,” Blair says. “You’re the one who spills your guts the moment Mum fixes you with her stare.”
“I do not.”
Sophie laughs. “You do.”
“And now you’re all ganging up on me.”
“Makes a change from all of you ganging up on me,” I say. “Congrats.”
I’m the youngest and also the shortest by a long way. Both our parents are tall, so I have a theory that there was no growth hormone left to spare by the time they had me. Not a very scientific theory, admittedly.
“Aww, but we wuve you, Fitzy,” Joe says, rubbing his knuckles hard on my head. “And it’s fun to tease you because you’re so easy to wind up.”
I glare at him and bat his hand away. “Get off.”
“You like it.”
“I don’t.”
“Does everyone else want a beer?” Max asks, getting back to his original question.
Once he’s got everyone’s requests, he goes through to the kitchen.
“Does he need help?” Addy asks.
“He’ll be fine,” Joe says.
Addy shakes his head and goes to help Max anyway. I try to stand, but Joe puts his hand on my shoulder and gently shoves me back down.
He hands me an unopened deck of cards. “Shuffle, shortie.”
I can’t play poker, but I’m always nominated to shuffle the cards. Maybe it’s because I have an innocent face? I don’t know. It’s not like I can do any fancy card shuffling tricks or anything. I break open the deck of cards and start to shuffle them.
By the time Max and Addy come back with beers for most of us and lemonade for Sophie, the cards are shuffled and dealt, and Joe has shared the poker chips out. We play Texas Hold'em, which means very little to me. It’s the only variant of poker my brothers have ever taught me.
“Are you going to find out whether it’s a boy or a girl?” Ana asks.
“We did last time. I’m not sure if we should let it be a surprise this time,” Stephen replies.
“We’re finding out,” Sophie says. “I won’t be able to stand the suspense. Plus, it’s easier to choose a name if we know what we’re having.”
“How can you choose a name before you see the baby?” Blair asks.
“All babies look the same,” Max says with a shrug. “Like little wrinkled prunes.”
Stephen laughs but stops when Sophie glares at him. “Who’s doing something special for Valentine’s Day?” he asks in an abrupt change of subject.
“We’re going away for the night,” Joe says. “So no poker next week.”
“You and Max would have been playing alone,” Sophie says. “Everyone’s coupled up.”
“Erm…” I raise my hand. “I’m free.”
“What about Addy?”
“I have a date,” Addy says. “My sister is setting me up with someone she knows.”
