"What's wrong?" he asked, his expression saying he was afraid of the answer even as he spoke the words.
"Brody's little girl is sweet and these aren't sad tears," I managed. "Now, go help your wife, dummy. She's got her hands full and you just walked off and left her."
He whirled around and cursed under his breath. "Oh, man, she's gonna be mad at me now."
"You deserve it," I muttered, but it wasn't loud enough for him to hear. Cam and Colette heard though and they both grinned.
"We'll help," Cam said, grabbing Brody's hand and following D.J.
I looked around and realized D.J. was the only one who'd brought his wife. Clayton had arrived with Robert, Corey, and Scott and he was solo. He also looked really sad.
They all came over and gave me hugs before drifting inside. Clayton was the last one.
"Hey," he greeted me with a tight hug. "So, a little girl, huh?"
I smiled and nodded. "Where's Danielle? Is she sick?"
He shook his head and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it. He looked so sad and defeated that I hugged him again.
"She couldn't come," he whispered in my ear as he held me. "She wanted to but we've been trying for a year now and nothing. She's scheduled to go in for tests in a couple of weeks and it's killing her wondering what's wrong and why she can't get pregnant."
My eyes welled up again. "I understand. You tell her that it's okay and I will absolutely not hold it against her."
He released me and nodded, blowing out a sigh. "I told her you would understand, but she was a mess when I left. I was going to call and tell y'all we couldn't make it but she was insistent that I come."
I nodded. "Um, I know you said she's having tests, but what about you?" I asked.
His face just shut down then and all he said was, "No."
I opened my mouth to ask him why not but he was already moving away from me. With a sigh, I followed him into the house.
"Clayton," I said.
"No, Lee." His voice was heavy and final.
"Yes, dammit!" I yelled, shoving his shoulder. "Don't you ignore me!"
The entire room went completely silent.
Clayton faced me, his eyes hot. "It's none of your business."
"Maybe not, but your wife is hurting and I know you are, too. Yet you refuse to acknowledge that the problem may not be hers. That's not going to help either of you."
"I'm not talking about this," Clayton said, disappearing into the kitchen.
I stared after him in frustration but didn't follow. He obviously wasn't going to listen to me.
D.J., trying to lighten the mood, said exactly thewrongthing, as usual. "Damn, J.J., don't knock her up again because she's just as crazy as Mom when she's pregnant."
He was lucky my mother was in the kitchen or his ears would have been ringing when she smacked him on the back of the head.
Robert, however, had to go and screw it all up even worse. "I don't think we have to worry about that. They're not even sleeping in the same bed."
The silence became total then. I don't even think anyone was breathing. I could feel all their eyes on me but no one spoke.
I lifted a hand and jabbed a finger in Robert's direction. "You shut the hell up, you asshole!"
There was a collective gasp from my brothers and Letitia because they knew what was coming.
