He lifts her up off the ground and spins her around. “Oh, my Win. I missed you so much kiddo.”
Winnie’s little face is buried into his neck and Mom doesn’t prickle at being ignored, shockingly. Instead, she’s smiling.
“Hi Mom.” Lauren skips down the steps and hugs our mother with Rhett right on her tail.
“Hi Laur.” She hugs her and then hugs Rhett. “Oh, you two look just so great together.”
Lauren laughs awkwardly. “Thanks mom.”
I go down to Lauren and Mom hugs me too, then she pulls away, her eyes searching my face.
“What?” I ask with an awkward laugh of my own.
Mom shakes her head. “You look good. You look like you got your color back.”
“Well, itissummer?—”
“No. That’s not what I mean. You look happy. Where’s that boy of yours?”
Now I blush and let Paul pull me into a side hug while he continues holding Winnie.
“My girls, all in one place again.” He smiles and kisses my temple, saving me from my mother’s meddling. For now.
The nerves, just like that, almost slip away. There are plenty of moments for that to change, there’s no denying that, but right now, things are okay.
Rhett gives our mom his arm. “Let’s get your feet up with a glass of wine.”
“Oh, I knew I liked you.” She accepts his gesture, and we all follow them inside.
Rhett pours my parents some wine, Lauren and I, a glass of iced tea, Winnie some chocolate milk, and we settle on the back deck where Winnie shows Paul an old dirty plastic pencil box.
“Is this your rock collection?” Paul asks, looking at the box filled with stones.
“Yup.” She nods and brings it to us, setting it on Paul’s lap. “Uncle Rhett and Tan help me.”
I look up at Rhett who’s smiling a big proud smile. “The kid likes rocks.” He shrugs.
Winnie holds up each rock explaining why each one is special. It’s smooth, it’s bumpy, it’s broken. They’re nothing other than normal rocks but she sees them as so much more.
The back door swings open, and we all turn to find Tanner straight from work. I’m glad Winnie makes the greeting because I can’t bring any words to come out of my mouth. There’s nothing special about how he looks right now. But God, he is so much more.
“Hey Fred.” He hugs Winnie back, then lets her drag him over to her rock collection. He shakes everyone’s hands on his way over.
“Hi guys, good to see you again,” he tells my parents.
As he steps by me, he reaches for my hand and gives it a subtle squeeze. My mom catches the interaction with raised brows.
“Alright, what do we have here?” he asks Winnie and sits next to Paul, examining the rocks in the box. “Oh, there are some new ones in here! Tell me about them.”
Mom opens her mouth, but Lauren clears her throat, and we all snap our attention to her. Rhett gives her knee a squeeze.
“I’m pregnant,” she says and then there’s a pause.
Tanner and Winnie look over their shoulders with the same wide-eyed look on their faces, Rhett is watching Lauren, and Lauren sneaks a glance over at me like she did when she was little. Like she’s looking for me to do something.
“Lauren and I are having a baby,” Rhett says. “It wasn’t planned, but we are really excited. There is not a single person on this planet I love more than your daughter. And I know I’m marrying her soon anyway, but I want you to know that I would choose this a million times over. She will always be my first and greatest love, but this baby—” He shakes his head, mouth pinching. “This baby is going to be the best thing we have ever made.”
Winnie looks at Tanner with scrunched eyebrows and crinkled nose. “They made the baby? How?”
