She smiled and pretended to take a bow from her chair. “Thank you, kind sir.” She cleared her throat and looked at all the faces around the table.
Stone had always thought of Chelsea as the dramatic one. And that made Reilly the theatrical sister. She liked to build up a moment until the air expanded with expectation. Which was what she did, her smile growing wider by the second.
“On with it,” CJ grumbled. “Some of us have plans after this.”
Reilly laughed. “We’re gettin’ married.”
Everyone looked at each other.
“That’s not exactly news,” Donovan noted with a grin.
Her next sentence had even more flair. “We’re gettin’ married … in Vegas!”
“Vegas.” Owen stared at his daughter before shifting his gaze to his future son-in-law. “Really?”
Brady nodded, his expression neutral. “It gets better.”
Deborah chimed in. “How so?”
“It’s gonna be a double wedding,” Reilly announced, her eyes locked on their mother.
Stone waited to see how Deborah would react. With her, it was impossible to predict. She was one of the most laid-back people Stone knew, but there were times when she put her foot down.
The pregnant pause from earlier returned. This time, it expanded until Stone thought for sure the walls would blow out from the anticipation.
“Mom?” Donovan frowned.
Deborah sniffled.
Uh-oh.
Stone was prepared to put his arm around her and console her, but it turned out that it wasn’t necessary.
“That’s wonderful,” she sobbed, a tear leaking from her eye.
“Really?” CJ and Stone said at the same time, twice the amount of skepticism dripping from the word.
“Yes. I’ve always wanted to go to Vegas. Plus, my babies are gettin’ married.”
For the record, the babies in question were Reilly and Tate. For as long as Stone could remember, Deborah had seen Tate as one of her own.
“And why’reyoucryin’?” CJ asked their father.
Owen pretended to wipe away a tear. “Because I won’t have to mortgage the house to pay for it.”
Laughter erupted.
“When’s this takin’ place?” Owen asked when everyone calmed down.
“April sixth,” Donovan said. “We’ll let you all know when we finalize where.”
Stone felt like a bug under a microscope when his mother turned her full attention on him, her eyebrows lifting. “And do you think we’ll possibly get to enjoy the celebration with Stevie and Nico by then?”
His mouth opened and closed. He wasn’t sure what to say to that.
“Maybe you should let him start with dinner first,” Reilly said.
Deborah was still staring, so Stone managed to smile and nod. “Dinner would be better.”
