“Holy crow! You popped!” I exclaim and grab Zoey in a hug as I walk over the threshold and into the house she shares with my brother. My arms barely make it around her now. “I’m going to have to side hug you from now on. Nugget is taking up too much space.”
“Don’t call him nugget!” I hear Jude bellow from the kitchen at the back of the house. “And why on earth can’t you eat a meal at your own place?”
Zoey rolls her eyes and ushers me into the house. I kiss her cheek excitedly and can’t help but pat her ever-growing belly. I start the never-ending battle against tears because every time I see this woman and my brother—and the bump they created—I get mushy. He had a horrible track record when it came to relationships, and even though I knew he had the potential to be the best boyfriend on the planet, he didn’t know it. Zoey, thankfully, made him see his own potential, and they’ve been madly in love with each other for a year now. The baby was unexpected and sudden, but I’ve never seen Jude so happy or grounded in my life.
I bounce into the kitchen. He’s leaning against the counter in nothing but a pair of sweats, holding what I’m guessing is a piping-hot cup of coffee. I sort of hug him, trying not to bobble his coffee. “Have you had a sip yet?”
“No.”
I wrap my hand around the mug and take it from him. He rolls his eyes but doesn’t fight me. Instead he walks over to the fancy coffee machine on the hutch next to the kitchen table and starts to make another. I smile victoriously as Zoey walks back into the kitchen and sits beside me. She leans forward and pushes the pink box of donuts toward me. “I knew you’d swing by this morning, so I had Jude make sure there were two maple bacon cream ones.”
I flip the box open and groan like I’m having an orgasm. It makes Zoey laugh and Jude shudder. I reach for the sugary, salty goodness. “You are the best.”
“You know bacon and maple on a donut is disgusting,” Jude laments as he lifts a new coffee to his lips. “Zoey is pregnant, so what’s your excuse for eating that?”
“Hush now” is the only answer I can come up with because it’s short, sweet and to the point and I just want to shovel more donut in my mouth. I groan again as I take a bite. Jude looks horrified. “And give me a lift to the arena.”
“Okay.” Jude sighs and pushes himself off the counter. “I’m going to go get dressed.”
He walks toward the hall, stopping to kiss the top of Zoey’s auburn head. She smiles serenely. I take another giant bite of donut. As we wait for Jude to get ready, we talk about the baby. She tells me she’s starting to have trouble sleeping and that she feels like she looks like a baby Beluga whale.
“You haven’t gained weight, you’ve gained baby. There’s a difference,” I remind her and grab her wrist to lift her arm. “Look at those chicken limbs. It’s all tummy and it’s all nugget. Did you find out the sex yet, or is Jude just using ‘he’ for the hell of it?”
Zoey smiles and reaches for her fancy green teapot and pours some more herbal tea into her cup on the table. “He still doesn’t want the doctor to confirm it. He’s just convinced it’s a boy because there are too many women in this family. Apparently he deserves a boy.”
I roll my eyes at that, but I’m smiling. My brother has always acted like having three younger sisters was a hardship, but deep down I know he adores us and wouldn’t trade us for all the brothers in the world, even though we live to tease him.
“So…how about you?” Zoey asks casually as she sips her tea. “How are things?”
I shrug. “Work is great.”
Zoey puts down her teacup. “So how is everything else? Besides work?”
I almost snort at that because there’s no “besides work,” and she knows that. She looks sad when she sees the expression on my face. I pat her hand. “I’m not looking for love right now, Z. I’ve got an empire to build. Between my career and the family stuff, it’s not a good time at all.”
She laughs. “There is no right time.”
“There’s a right and wrong time for everything,” I counter and stand up as I hear Jude’s feet stomping down the stairs.
“Sometimes what seems like the wrong time is actually the right time,” Zoey tells me, rubbing her belly. “Like getting pregnant by your teenage crush less than a year into your relationship.”
“Nothing about us is wrong,” Jude declares as he walks in and right over to Zoey, pulling her into his arms.
“You two are sweeter than this donut,” I reply.
Jude ignores me and turns to Zoey. “You have a full day?”
“Meeting a new client in the morning, paperwork at the office, then an open house later this afternoon,” Zoey replies and he kisses her forehead before using his thumb to tilt her face up so he can look in her eyes.
“Take it easy, okay?” Jude advises. “Text me the location of your open house, and I’ll meet you there afterward.”
Zoey nods and Jude gives her one more small kiss and then turns to me. “Let’s go, kid.”
I grab one more donut from the box and he glares at me. “Road donut.”
He rolls his eyes and takes a napkin from the holder in the center of the table and shoves it at me. “Do not spill those sprinkles in my car.”
“You are such a neat freak,” I declare as I follow him out the front door. “Hopefully your little girl is more relaxed. Like me.”
