He scooted closer so he could feel for himself. JJ watched as he placed his big hands over her stomach, his eyes lighting up as the babies shifted some more.
Baz was going to be an amazing dad. Seeing him like that often made her wonder whether her father had been like that when her mother was pregnant. JJ honestly didn’t know. She’d been estranged from her parents for so long. Since she was a teenager, really. So she’d never had those types of conversations with either of them.
Not that she wanted to think about that now. If she did, it would only sadden her that they were too stubborn to figure it out. Letting them live their lives while she lived hers was definitely easier. As far as she was concerned, they were missing out, but JJ was grateful for all the people she had in her life. Maybe one day, her parents would realize all they were losing out on.
Chapter Eight
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Seven days until the wedding…
Brantley was standing at the kitchen island, finishing an energy drink, when he heard footsteps on his back porch.
Heavy ones.
A lot of them.
Baz, Evan, Slade, Atticus, and Luca stood on the other side of the glass, staring inside as though they needed an invitation to open the door.
“They’re here,” he told Reese. “You ready for this?”
“Isanyoneready for this?” Reese joked.
Brantley motioned for Baz to come in.
The door slid open slowly.
“If y’all even think about breakin’ into song, Iwillkick your collective asses,” Brantley warned.
That earned a few smiles.
Reese spun on his stool to look at them. “Why do y’all look so damn tired?”
Slade stepped around Baz, coming into the kitchen. “Maybe because Baz showed up at our doorsteps at the ass-crack of mornin’. No warnin’. Justboom,there he was.”
Brantley laughed, his gaze shifting to Baz. “That true?”
“We purposely kept it a secret.” Based on the gleam in his bright blue eyes, he found it amusing. “JJ’s idea. She feared one of them would spill the beans.”
“I knew,” Atticus said, raising a hand. “Z told me yesterday.”
“A little warning for the rest of us would’ve been nice,” Evan noted.
“She didn’t even tellyou?” Reese stared at Evan in disbelief.
“Nope.”
“Hope your mom wasn’t busy.”
“She was. Is. Whatever.” Evan waved a hand. “Sophia’s stayin’ with Becs and Carly this weekend. Apparently,theywere in the loop.”
Baz chuckled. “JJ didn’t want anyone to spoil the surprise before she was ready to tell you.”
“Sounds like JJ.” It didn’t surprise Brantley that JJ somehow managed to handle all the little details while keeping it a secret.
“Well, I hope y’all didn’t eat,” Brantley warned. “I looked it up. There are one hundred and five steps at Mount Bonnell.”
He’d had to look it up because though Reese said he’d heard of it, neither of them knew where it was or why exactly JJ had selected that as their first stop on the bachelor party tour. His research told him it was an Austin landmark and the highest point within the city at an elevation of 775 feet. From what he read, the view at the top was incredible. He still had no ideawhyshe chose it, but he was past the point of caring.
