“Tell me the truth. What are you hoping for?” I asked as he carried me to the center of the group next to our parents and placed me gently on my feet. He winked but didn’t answer, leaning down to kiss his mother on the cheek before reaching out to shake hands with one of his friends on the force.
“Oh, honey! You look beautiful,” my mother said, swooping in to grasp both my hands in hers. I glanced down at my yellow maxi dress with spaghetti straps and shrugged my shoulders as she led me to a cushy chair and put a fruity drink with a bendy-straw and pink umbrella in my hand.
“I’ll get you something to snack on.”
I looked to my left to see Olivia nursing her new baby, Hope. “You do. You’re glowing.” I leaned over, peeking at her full head of dark hair and adorable button nose. It was hard to believe in a few short months that would be me.
“Do you have any idea what the guys planned?”
“Wait till you see,” Annaleigh said, walking around to pull up a chair beside me. “I mean, I know we’re all in relationships, but there is a lot of eye candy heading our way.”
“Tell me about it,” Addison said, looking over at Simon and giving him a sly wink. “Good thing I’m with the best-looking guy here.”
Simon shook his head and sat down, pulling Addison on his lap with a grin. It was surreal as I looked around, taking in all my friends and family here to celebrate with us. My eyes were getting misty, and my hand trembled as my mom pushed a plate of fruit in my hands. Looking up, I saw Mark making a beeline for me. He knew my emotions were all over the place, but before he made it to my side, cheers and whistling echoed around the pool.
I braced myself on the chair, and Mark made it over to help me up, pulling me tightly against him.
“Wait till you see them. Come on,” he said, leading me to the pool. The girls followed as I saw what was causing the ruckus. I laughed so hard I had to cross my legs and put my hands on my side.
Mark’s brothers were standing by the pool in bright swim trunks. Miller wore hot pink, Magnum electric blue, and Maverick purple. They were stretching, flexing, and showing off miles of tan muscles. Addison was right. All kinds of yummy man candy definitely surrounded us.
“Will the guests of honor please step to the finish line as we prepare to race?”
We walked to one end of the pool and underneath pink and blue flags, and the brothers lined up on the other side.
“Okay. I get the boy and the girl colors, but what’s with the purple?”
“Twins,” Bev said, stepping up beside me.
“What? Twins don’t run in our family!”
“They do in ours,” Bev said with a grin, patting my arm before turning to her neighbor.
“Twins? There could be two in here?” I said, yanking on Mark’s shirt until he looked down at me. I pressed a hand to my stomach, my abnormally large stomach. As my dad held up his hands, the cheers died down.
It couldn’t be twins. The doctor would have for sure said something, right? There was no way an entire baby could be kept secret.
But I was huge, I thought, rubbing my stomach.
“Easy, baby. The doctor would have told us if there were twins.”
I looked at Mark, focusing on the soft laugh-lines around his eyes and the hard plains of muscles pressed to my side. “Three brothers, three options.”
He shrugged his shoulders, and I tried to take comfort in his confidence and not let my mind unravel in a million different directions. A particularly clear image of me holding triplets flashed before my eyes, and my mouth was opened in a half-strangled cry when my dad’s voice cut through the panic.
“When I blow the whistle, the race begins. The winner will reveal the baby’s gender, and the celebration can begin!”
Whoops and cries filled the air, and my heart rate sped up as the brothers stepped to the edge of the pool. Mark put his hand over mine on my belly and chuckled. I felt the rumble in his chest, and he pulled me closer, leaning down to whisper. “Don’t worry. There is one perfectly healthy baby in your belly. Relax and watch the idiots make a fool of themselves.”
He pressed his lips to my temple as the shrill whistle filled the air. Maverick dove in the pool like an Olympian, his arms cutting through the water as he took an early lead. Not to be outdone, Miller cannon-balled and swam after him, catching up easily to match him stroke for stroke. Magnum belly-flopped in the water, flailing around before getting his bearings and darting after them.
I saw flashes of blue, pink, and purple as I followed them across the pool. As Miller took the lead, Magnum wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pushed him under, earning him the smallest advantage. But it didn’t last long because Maverick grabbed his leg and pulled him back, taking the lead.
The purple trunks moved closer to the finish line, and my mind went in a million different directions. Dark eyes and blonde hair. Cupid-bow lips and dimples. I hardly heard the cheers as a flash of neon darted past the finish line and pulled himself out of the water, proudly displaying his swim trunks.
It wasn’t purple!
Eyes glistening, I shook my head, clearing the ridiculous idea of twins or triplets as streamers released and confetti rained down, sticking to our clothes, hair, and anyone standing within a five-foot radius.
