She slumped down in her chair, looking wan and shaky.
“You don’t look happy for me,” Salem said. “You look terrible. You coming down with something?”
“Rude,” Jane said as she reached for her glass of water with a trembling hand. Unfortunately, she knocked it over and it spilled.
“I’m so sorry!” Jane shattered into tears.
Mr. Powell handed her a napkin and took her free hand while she dabbed her eyes.
“What the hell is going on?” Salem demanded.
Mr. Powell looked at her. “I thought you of all people would recognize the signs.”
“The signs?” Salem asked stupidly.
“She’s pregnant, you dork,” Hadley said to her twin.
There was another round of silence and then Salem shot her dad a glare. “Pot, meet kettle.”
“What’s up with this family?” Cas asked in shock. “Everyone gets pregnant.”
Muddy started to laugh and then she rose and went to Jane and gave her a hug.
“You didn’t know?” Jane asked, looking up at her.
“Of course I knew,” Muddy said. “I’m Muddy.”
“Wait a second,” Salem said. “Jane is pregnant?”
“Yes,” Mr. Powell said. “And we’re very happy about it.”
“Yeah, yeah. We all are.” Salem nodded. “What I want to know ishow?”
Brooks leaned close to me and whispered, “Should we be here?”
“Yes,” I said. “Now hush, I don’t want to miss anything.”
“You of all people don’t need a pop-up book,” Muddy said to Salem. She moved from Jane to her son and gave him a hug.
“No, I just mean, you got a vasectomy,” Salem said to her father.
“He did?” Hadley asked. “When? And how did you know about that, and I didn’t?”
“I overheard him and Mom talking when I was ten. Then I googled what it was,” Salem said.
“You didn’t tell me,” Hadley said.
“Yeah, we definitely shouldn’t be here,” Brooks said as he scooted back from the table.
“Sit,” I commanded. “Stay.”
“I’m not a dog,” he grumbled.
“Vasectomies fail,” Declan said slowly. “I’m guessing that’s what happened.”
Muddy shook her head. “No. That’s not what happened.”
Mr. Powell raised his brows. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what happened.”
