“I noticed there are a lot of vehicles in the driveway when I drove by. Are you having a party and forgot to invite me?” Milo laid the garment bag he’d had slung over his shoulder on a club chair and approached the three of us. “You must be Theodore. You have an uncanny resemblance to Anthony Bliss. You’d think genetics gets watered down over the generations, but it’s like Anthony is standing right here.”
“Maegan says I’m fatter than him. Please call me Theo,” he said, thrusting his hand toward my brother.
“Please forgive her,” Milo said, shaking his hand. “She can be so gauche sometimes. Our mother tried so hard with her, but there was no help for it. I’m Milo by the way.”
“Milo, you just happened to be in the neighborhood?” I asked in disbelief.
“Maegan, you act as if we live in a metropolis. Everywhere you go in Blissville is ‘in the neighborhood.’ I came by to get your opinion on the dress for tonight. You know how much I love Dolly Parton, and I mustn’t wear just any ole sequined dress. I notice how you deflected my question. Are you having a hen party of some sort? What are you ladies into these days? Kinky toys? The latest kitchen gadgets? Kitchen gadgets that also act as kinky toys? You know I love all those things too.”
“None of the above, and you can cut the act. You know exactly what the girls are doing upstairs.”
“Oh, is this the day you try to outdo the magnificent nursery Andy and I planned?” Milo snorted. “Good luck with that.”
“I don’t need luck because I’m positive my vision is grander than anything you can comprehend.”
“We’ll just see about that, won’t we?”
“Will we also have a race to see who adopts a baby first?” Elijah asked, drawing disbelieving looks from us both. “Will we encourage knock-down, drag-out fights between toddlers over Easter eggs?”
“Not even we’rethatcompetitive,” I told Elijah.
“We might playfully compete against one another, but we’d never pit our children against each other. Unless there’s serious cash involved,” Milo said.
Theo threw his head back and laughed until tears streamed down his face which was when Vanessa walked into the room to let us know our food was delivered. Milo didn’t miss her tight voice, pale face, and stiff posture as her eyes locked on Theo.
“What’s wrong, Van. You act like you’ve seen a ghost.” Milo’s eyes widened when he put two and two together and came up with ten. “Oh!” Milo looked back and forth between them. Theo looked like he was intrigued to know if Van had talked about him, and Van looked like she was seconds away from skinning Milo alive.
“Well, I should probably get going,” Milo said dramatically. “I’m about to give the performance of my life tonight, so none of you better miss it.”
“We’ll be there,” I assured him. “I thought you wanted help picking out a dress.”
“I lied,” he said, snatching up his garment bag and tossing it over his shoulder. “I wanted an excuse to see what you were up to.” Milo winked playfully before exiting with a flourish.
“Let’s go eat,” Elijah said, rubbing his hands together. “We have plenty of food, Theo. Would you like to join us?”
“I should probably get going,” he said, staring at Vanessa. He didn’t sound a bit convincing.
“Oh, come on,” Elijah said. “Have a few pieces of pizza then Maegan can show you the rest of the house.”
“Okay,” Theo said with a calm shrug. He followed Vanessa out of the room, leaving me and Elijah alone.
“Andy is popping the question tonight, isn’t he?”
“Freckles,” Elijah said in a warning tone.
“Oh, all right. Keep your secrets.” I gave him a quick kiss then headed into the dining room where lunch awaited us.
The tour with Theo thankfully finished quieter than it began. He appreciated the craftsmanship and the way we lovingly restored the home so it kept the vintage feel but with modern twists here and there. After he left, I joined everyone else in the nursery. I stood shocked in the doorway because I hadn’t expected us to get so far in a few hours, but I could already tell Vanessa’s mural would exceed my wildest imagination. I burst into tears, pulling everyone’s attention to me.
“Freckles,” Elijah said, pulling me into his arms. “We can change anything you don’t like, right, Van?”
“It’s perfect,” I said into his chest. “It’s so beautiful it moved me to tears. I have no idea why I’m crying at the drop of a hat anymore.”
“As long as they’re happy tears,” Elijah said, kissing the top of my head.
Later that night, happy tears streamed down my face once more when Andy walked out onto the stage at Queen City Divas dressed as Kenny Rogers to perform a duet with his Dolly Parton in front of both families and all our friends. “Islands in the Stream” had never sounded so sweet, and my brother smiled brighter than I’d ever seen when Andy dropped to his knee after their performance and proposed. Milo had waited for this moment for so long, and my heart swelled to bursting with love on the happiest day of his life.
I curled into Elijah’s side, noting the smug look on his face. I was tempted to torture him with pleasure later to see what other secrets he hid but decided I’d rather not know ahead of time the treasures life had in store for us.
