“About what?”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? The gender, you doofus. You and Nico are still going to wait?”
I laughed. “Yes. We’re still waiting. It’ll be a big surprise.”
“God, you guys are impossible. Where’s the fun in that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think it’s fun.” I glanced toward Sebastian, who was piling his plate high with food. “Whenever you and that one have a baby, you can find out ahead of time.”
Sebastian’s hands jerked in shock, and the food he’d been about to stuff into his mouth tumbled back onto the plate. Behind him, Felipe, Luis, and Diego chuckled and pointed at him. On the other side of the room, Nico let out a huge belly laugh.
Sebastian’s face went red. “Hang on, now. I’m not ready to be a daddy.”
Abi narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh yeah? Well, who says I’m ready to be your baby mama, huh? Besides, before you even think of putting a baby in me, you need to put a ring on this finger first.”
“Shifters don’t do weddings or exchange rings.” His smile grew playful, and he cocked an eyebrow. “We do bite, though.”
“Shut up,” Abi said and threw a pig in a blanket at him. Sebastian deftly caught it in his mouth and grinned.
It was so nice that the two of them had finally figured things out. As much as they poked and joked with each other, they were the perfect match. I was glad my friend had possibly found her person, even if it had taken alongtime to get there. Sebastian stole another glance at Abi as she turned to join the rest of the party. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, looking like he was working up the courage to say something, but Nico’s voice pulled away my attention.
He’d stepped up on an ottoman and held his hands up for quiet. Once the crowd calmed, he started speaking.
“I wanted to thank everyone for coming today. You’ll never know how much it means to Maddy and me to have our friends here at this special time.”
I moved over to be at his side as he nodded to everyone around the room. Donatello stood in the corner with what looked like a supermodel draped on his arm. Tiago and Norman raised their glasses from the back. Even the Alabama lizard shifters had made the trip out to give us their well wishes. Theroom was full of dozens of people, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such a huge extended family now.
“We’ve been through a lot this last year,” Nico went on. “I know it’s been difficult, but I know that there’s no other group of people I would have rather gone through hell with than you all.” Nico cleared his throat as he tried not to get choked up. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you enough. Many of you didn’t even have to help us. You weren’t family before all this, but you are now. If anyone in this room ever needs anything, anything at all, they can count on Maddy and me to be there for them. That’s all I’ve got,” he said.
The crowd hooted and clapped for him as he stepped down. Before the festivities could start again, Sebastian jogged over to the ottoman and jumped onto it. “Hang on, one more speech from the godparents. Get over here, Abi.”
Abi, looking mortified, put her food down and reluctantly joined Sebastian in front of the many attendees.
“I wanted to let Nico and Maddy know that we can’t wait to meet the little guy or girl they’ve got baking in the oven. Abi and I can’t even tell you how surprised we were that you chose us as the godparents?— ”
“Speak for yourself. I knew my girl was gonna choose me to love on that little baby,” Abi interrupted. The crowd laughed.
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Sebastian said. “We want you guys to know that we hope your baby has a full and happy life, and we’ll do everything we can to help with that. I swear on my soul that your baby will be as much a part of my family as you guys are. Now, for other news.”
Instinctively, I could tell what was coming next. The look in Sebastian’s eyes, the way he quickly dug into his pocket… it was all so obvious now. I clasped a hand to my mouth to conceal my squeal. My eyes were already tearing up when I looked at Nico. All he did was give me a knowing smile. I swung my gaze backto Abi and Sebastian. Abi looked confused as Sebastian went to stand before her.
“I have to tell you guys,” Sebastian said. “I can’t in good conscience take on the role of godfather if I didn’t make an honest woman out of the godmother.”
Abi’s eyes popped as Sebastian sank to one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket. He’d been right when he said shifters didn’t do that kind of thing, but Abi wasn’t a shifter. She was human, and like almost all human women, she’d dreamed of the day a man would slip a ring on her finger. She was crying as Sebastian took her hand.
“Abi? Will you be my wife?”
Abi’s mouth dropped open, but she was laughing through the tears, nodding like a maniac. “Yes. Yes, you big dumb idiot, of course, I will.”
The room exploded with cheers and applause. There was barely a dry eye in the house as the two of them embraced after Sebastian slipped the ring on her hand. I was overjoyed for them.
After eating a bit, I went outside for some fresh air. It was getting rowdy inside as everyone was trying to congratulate Sebastian and Abi. Gabriella sat in the grass right beyond the front porch. She was alone and staring off at the setting sun.
I walked over and sat down next to her. I wasmuchmore pregnant now and took my time getting on the ground. How would I get up? Gabriella smiled at me and helped me get settled.
“Oof, this belly is getting big,” I huffed.
“It tends to do that,” Gabriella said.
