Eden had enjoyed getting to know Rudy's sisters when she worked with them to help plan Kennedy's wedding. They were all friendly and talkative—apparently, Scott was the only quiet one in the family. Despite this, she braced herself, certain, she'd feel like an outsider.
"Oh, Eden, we're so glad you came!" Sheila was the first to greet her.
"It'll be so great to have an extra set of hands." Joy gave her a brief one-arm hug.
Debbie's greeting was less enthusiastic as she pressed a hand to her stomach, mumbled, "Excuse me," then hurried down the hall.
All eyes followed the oldest sister.
Joy looked at the others. "Have Debbie's kids been sick? Should we have scheduled this for another day? I can't afford to come down with something. We're taking the kids on vacation in two weeks, and I have way too much to do between now and then."
"I hope there's not something going around." Sheila shook her head. "We're planning to go out of town around the same time, too. If my kids are sick, I won't dare take them to Mason's Grandma's eightieth birthday party."
Alice came into the kitchen and looked around. "Where's Debbie?"
Three of the five women in the room pointed down the hall, but it was Sheila who spoke. "She just hurried to the bathroom, looking like she was going to puke. Has her family been sick?"
"Not that I know of." Alice shot a concerned look down the hall. "Should I go check on her?"
"Let's give her a minute," Joy said.
"Good idea." Alice clapped her hands. "Okay, who's going first?"
"My recipe has chicken in it," Sheila said, "so we should probably get them made up and in the freezer right away."
The women shifted baskets and coolers around, so Sheila could lay out the ingredients for her chicken cordon bleu casserole. They were almost ready to assemble when Debbie returned to the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" Alice asked. When a pale Debbie nodded, she put an arm around her. "How long have you been sick?"
"A couple of weeks now." Debbie slid onto a bar stool.
"A couple of weeks!" Alice exclaimed. "Why haven't you seen a doctor?"
"I did last week."
"Yet you're still sick? Did he say what's wrong with you?"
"I lied when I asked you to watch the little ones while I went to the dentist." Debbie gave Alice a sheepish look. "I actually went to go see my OB/Gyn."
"Are your ovarian cysts bothering you again already?" Sheila asked.
A small smile lifted Debbie's lips. "No. Turns out it's morning sickness."
All the women in the room gasped except for Eden. She saw nothing surprising about Debbie being pregnant. Sure, they already had a big family with six kids, but if Austin and Debbie wanted children of their own, it was best not to wait, since Debbie was in her late thirties.
"I thought you said you couldn't have kids?" Joy sat down on one side of Debbie at the same time Alice sat on the other.
No wonder they're all shocked.
"The way my doctor in Seattle put it years ago, 'my chances of ever getting pregnant were slim to none.' And after two failed IVF treatments, I believed him."
"But how?"
"That's what I asked my new doctor. He explained that having the cysts and scar tissue removed and the endometrium cleaned out last fall most likely aided in my ability to conceive."
"Did you have the surgery hoping you'd be able to get pregnant afterward?" Sheila leaned across the counter to look at Debbie.
"No. I had the surgery because it had all become so painful I could barely care for my little ones."
