“It’s so adorable how you trust my sister not to purposefully set us up to walk in on her and Blake the Snake getting freaky in the living room,” he says, rolling his eyes and following through with the knock.
“We haven’t exactly been any better in front of my brother,” Daisy points out.
“Maybe that’s why he’s always running off to Claire’s, then. He got tired of hearing us put in the work to make this little bean.” Landry slips a hand over Daisy’s belly and kisses her neck, and she grins proudly.
There’s a chorus of gasps among the clatter of a remote hitting the ground when Loren drops it to clutch at her chest. It takes me a second to realize I’m doing the same, torn between the joy I feel for my friends and the ache of my own jealousy.
“She’spregnant?” Loren asks, directing the question at Rowan, and he shrugs and shakes his head in confusion. She looks to Tenley next, who bites her lip and sidesteps to hide behind her husband.
I reach out to intertwine my fingers within Rowan’s, and he turns to smile at me again as he gives my hand a squeeze. But before either of us can say a word, Loren flings the front door open and screams, “YOU’RE HAVING A BABY?!”
A few seconds pass while Daisy stands there looking completelybewildered and Landry glares at his sister in annoyance, then everyone joins in with a disjointed chorus of “Surprise,” “Congratulations,” and “Happy Birthday.”
Daisy’s expression shifts as she takes it all in, and she beams up at Landry. “Did you do this?”
He smirks down at her. “Maybe.”
“La-aan,” she intones and throws her arms around his waist. “Best. Birthday. Ever!” she declares, pulling away abruptly when she hears her voice echoing over the video feed.
“What’s that?” Landry asks gruffly.
“We were watching for you on the doorbell cam,” Loren explains as Blake comes over to join her.
Daisy’s face pales. “So you were all listening to our conversation just now?”
“If you mean the one where you said you’re having a freaking baby, then yes!” Loren cries out.
“Crap on a cracker!” Daisy squeals before covering her mouth with both hands.
“Surprise, I guess,” Landry adds sarcastically, and Loren wraps them both up in a hug as best as her small arms will allow.
Daisy leans down to whisper something to Loren, who glances our way before she swallows hard and nods.
“Oh, goodness,” Daisy says hoarsely and mouths an “I’m sorry” in our general direction.
But I can’t even acknowledge my friend’s apology, not with her brother curling his arm around my back so possessively.
Daisy’s eyes light up. “Wait, are you guys …”
I expect Rowan to look somewhat anxious, but he’s already grinning at me. “Unofficially?” he ventures, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
I shrug. “Might as well make it official-ish after that.”
“Was that a proposal, Claire Bear?” he dips his head to murmur into my ear, and I snort and attempt to push him away. But he brushes his lips over my neck instead, making my cheeks heat andtriggering a rumble of commentary across the room. At least most of the faces currently gawking at us are smiling ones, anyway.
I shoot Loren a look, and I’m grateful when she seems to understand my unspoken request.
“That’s great and all,” she calls out, gesturing in our direction before turning to Daisy, “But can we get back to the part when you said you were pregnant? Or better yet, when we were all forced to listen to your husband brag about your baby-making activities.Blech.” She punctuates it with a nudge in Landry’s side, and he rolls his eyes.
“We weren’t going to say anything for a while longer, but …” Daisy glances back at Landry, who’s wearing a silly smile of his own now.
As if that’s not enough to make my eyes water, Rowan tightens his grip around my waist as he sniffs beside me. I watch as he stares at Daisy and Landry, joy and admiration clear in his features. He closes his eyes, I assume to fend off the tears, but when his lips begin to move, I realize exactly what he’s doing. I wait for him to finish before pinching his arm. He winces and looks down at me questioningly.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, shaking his head and drying his eyes on his sleeve. “Charge it to my man card.”
“Were you just praying for them?” I ask, ignoring the rest. He smiles sheepishly but doesn’t deny it, and I lean up to press a kiss to his lips.
Rowan holds me there, but a light cough keeps me from going back for more. I pull away to find we’ve been surrounded by most of his sisters, as well as his sister-in-law, Naomi.
