“Not a chance,” she replied, causing more laughs.
Paxton looked back at the group and started where he left off. “Like I was saying, we have things to handle but with all the bad there are some amazing, wonderful things that are happening too.”
Before I knew what was happening, he leaned over, grabbed my hand again and gently pulled me from my chair. Wrapping his hand around my waist, he drew me in tightly next to him. I worked my arms around him and rested my head against his side.
All eyes on us rounded and anticipation settled in their depths.
“We have some surprising news and while we waited a little longer to tell most of you, Brinley excluded since she was the one to figure things out before even us, we still are so happy to tell you now that Capri and I are having a baby.”
High pitched squeals pierced my ears and with everyone congratulating us at once the level of noise in the room could be heard down the block. The ladies swarmed me, pulling me from Pax, and surrounding me in a group hug.
“I wondered why you declined wine today,” Gemma said.
I pulled back from the group and looked at her. She had tears in her eyes, but I could tell they were happy ones and that settled the nerves I’d had all day. I was worried she would be mad Paxton hadn’t told her earlier.
“You’re not mad we didn’t tell you sooner?” I couldn’t help but ask for peace of mind.
“Heck no. I just want to know when you will become my sister officially,” she replied without hesitating.
My eyes widened in shock and I found myself looking over my shoulder to Paxton to see if he heard her. He was surrounded by the guys all patting him on the back and giving him bro hugs but was staring at me.
“Sis, I’m working on that slowly, let me do my thing,” he told her as he beamed a bright smile my way.
Little flutters started in my stomach and I knew he was going to get his way on everything very soon.
“Eek, can’t wait!” Gemma said before throwing her pregnant self at me. “Our babies are going to be close in age, this is so amazing!”
Her excitement was contagious and I found myself practically hopping in place with her as she bounced around, arms still wrapped around me.
When we let go of each other, I looked down and found Embry standing in the middle of all the ladies.
“Someone has got to explain to me where all these babies are coming from because I want one and don’t want to wait until I’m as old as all of you,” she said loudly.
Once again the room went eerily quiet and then her dad, Braxton, boomed, “Oh hell no, not until you’re forty! And we are not explaining how you get one either!”
Embry planted her hands on her hips and stared at her father. “You can pay me for that one later. I’ll use my money and just adopt one like you and mommy did me.”
Braxton’s eyes went soft at the mention of when Embry came into his and Jurnee’s life and he walked over and dropped to his knees in front of her.
“That’s a beautiful idea, Doodlebug. You’re amazing.”
Embry threw herself into her dad’s arms and their hug warmed the whole room.
I looked over at Paxton and he had the same wistful smile on his face we all did.
God, I couldn’t wait to watch Paxton and our baby have these special moments.
ChapterTwenty-Four
PAXTON
I was done waiting.
It was time to turn on the charm and get what I wanted. The thing was, I thought it was what Capri wanted as well, but she was just too scared to go for it.
I’d talked to the guys and they said go big. They’d all had their moments with their ladies and each had their own input. So I’d been planning since Thanksgiving and now that Christmas was in full swing, I was ready.
Each holiday someone else hosted a party and I decided Christmas Eve was mine and Capri’s turn. She didn’t know it yet of course because that was part of the surprise. While we may have been hosting this time around I had a whole lot of help to make this a special day for the most important person in my life.
