"Of course it did. Presentation matters." Gran settles back against the cushions. "I'm glad there were no complications. I was prepared to fly back if those buyers tried anything foolish."
"I had it handled, Gran."
"I know you did, dear. But I was ready nonetheless."
Rachel catches my eye and mouths "brown nose", rubbing the end of her nose with exaggerated emphasis. I respond by settling deeper into the chair with a smug grin that makes her throw another pillow.
"Children," Gran observes, though her lips twitch with barely suppressed amusement. "We're supposed to be celebrating Charles's homecoming, not reenacting your teenage years."
"She started it," I protest.
"I certainly did not."
"Enough," Gran's voice, though softened by fondness in her eyes, carries enough steel to silence us both. "Rachel, don't you have something to tell your brother?"
The shift in the room is immediate. Rachel's playful look softens, and she straightens on the couch with careful movements.
"Charlie," she begins, and her voice makes me go still. She takes a breath, her hands clasped together in her lap. "I wanted to wait until you were here, until we were all together."
Gran reaches over and takes Rachel's hand. I notice my grandmother's eyes are already shining.
"What's going on, Rach?" I ask, though I think I know what my twin is about to announce.
Rachel's face breaks into a radiant smile, one hand moving to rest on her stomach. "I'm pregnant."
The words hang in the air for a heartbeat while I process them. Then I let out a whoop that probably startles the horses in the barn, shooting to my feet with a grin that splits my face in two. Gran smiles serenely, clearly having known the news already.
"I'm four months along," Rachel continues, her voice cracking just with emotion. "His due date is September fourth. Mason and I wanted to keep it quiet until we'd passed all the important tests and checkpoints."
I cross to where Rachel sits, pulling her into a hug that's careful and reverent, and press a kiss to her temple.
"That's incredible, Rach," I murmur against her hair. "I'm assuming it's a boy, then?"
"Yes. Mason is over the moon about it. Evie doesn't quite understand yet, but she keeps patting my belly when I tell her there's a baby in there."
I laugh. "I'll help my niece figure it out. You tell her Uncle Charlie is here to take care of her, and that she's going to be the best big sister this baby could ask for."
Over dinner, Rachel pushes her brisket around her plate and wrinkles her nose. "I can't eat this. It smells like burnt rubber."
Gran frowns. "But you love brisket."
"That was before. Now it's disgusting." She reaches for the mashed potatoes instead and loads her plate. "These are perfect, though. I could eat the entire bowl."
Gran dabs at her eyes with her handkerchief, though she's smiling. "I remember those days. When I was pregnant with your father, I couldn't stand the smell of coffee for six months."
"Really?" Rachel grimaces. "I don’t think I could handle a coffee hiatus."
"Your grandfather thought it was hilarious until I banned him from drinking it in the house." Gran's eyes get that distant look they always do when she talks about the man she loved for fifty years. "He had to sneak down to the barn every morning for his cup."
Rachel laughs. "Mason's already learned not to cook bacon when I'm around. Cody thinks I've lost my mind. "
"What does Cody think about another sibling?" I grin at the image of my fifteen-year-old nephew as a big brother.
"Beyond excited and already planning everything he's going to teach his little brother. He's already picking out names and wants to call him Wyatt or Jesse."
"Those are good choices," Gran says, dabbing at her eyes again.
"We're not naming him after a gunfighter, Gran," Rachel says, but her voice is gentle.
