The second thing that had been playing on repeat was Lizzy saying we needed to talk. She only did that for big things. She’d been looking tired the past few weeks. I’d noticed dark circles beneath her eyes on more than one occasion.
I sat for a moment in the car and took a deep breath. Whatever news she had, whatever she and Ryan were facing, we’d face together. Whatever resources she needed, doctors, help, anything she’d have it.
Before I even reached the top of the steps to the porch the front door flew open and Ryan stepped outside. My stomach dropped as my hands fisted around Hannah’s ballet bag straps. I searched his stare for a hint of how bad her news was on a scale of one to ten, but I couldn’t tell because he had a glint in his eyes like he was about to give me shit for something.
The corners of his lips twitched. “I heard aboutMiss Peyton.”
Relief washed over me. It couldn’t be that bad if Ryan was giving me shit about Peyton.
“Talk about a blast from the past.” He wagged his brows.
“Yeah.” I wanted her to be my future, not my past, but I guessed that’s what she was.
A slow smile spread on his face as he slapped my shoulder. “I can’t wait to meet Totga.”
I nodded and continued into the house, dropping Hannah’s bag inside the front door.
“Lizzy’s in the kitchen,” he said as he closed the door.
On my way I saw Hannah on the couch playing a game on her iPad.
“Hey, Peanut!” I ruffled her hair. “How was school?”
She barely looked up. “Good.”
I knew that those types of reactions were going to get more frequent the older she got. I couldn’t even imagine what she would be like in her teens.
I made my way to the back of the house where the kitchen was located and the scent of pot roast wafted through the air. Lizzy was an excellent cook. She took pity on my bachelor self and sent dinners with Hannah nearly every time I had her. She could cook anything, but the last time I remembered her cooking pot roast was when she was pregnant with Peanut. She’d cooked it several times a week.
“What’s up?” I reached around her to dip my finger in the gravy, but she swatted it away.
“Wash your hands,” she instructed.
I made quick work of cleaning up and turned to find her holding out a spoon with her homemade gravy. I took it from her and closed my mouth around the utensil as flavor exploded in my mouth. My eyes closed as I groaned at the deliciousness.
When I opened them, I found Lizzy smiling from ear to ear and holding a picture of a sonogram as she held one finger up to her mouth, which was the universal parental signal to stay quiet because little ears didn’t know what was going on.
“Holy shit,” I mouthed before pulling Lizzy into a bear hug.
It was then that I realized just how spaced out I’d been. She was pregnant.Of courseshe was pregnant. She wasn’t feeling well. She went to the doctor. She was making pot roast. I’d been so fucking distracted with my own shit I’d totally missed the signs.
“Congratulations,” I whispered against the top of her head.
“Thank you,” she squeezed me tightly then stepped back.
“When are you going to tell Peanut?”
“I wanted to see if you wanted to be there or if you were good with Ryan and I telling her.”
As much as I appreciated her running it by me and that they were willing to include me, they had their own family, I didn’t want to intrude on that. “You guys go ahead. This is your thing.”
She sniffed as she looked at the printout before putting it back in her purse. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
My stomach did, but my heart had other ideas. I needed to go see Peyton. She’d said that we could talk tonight. I was going to head over to her Nonna’s right after this.
“Not tonight, thanks.”
“Passing up my pot roast, does that mean you have plans with Totga?”
