“Penny’s pregnant.”
“No shit?” I said, and for the first time all day, I felt the weight in my chest lift, replaced by something warm and good. “You’re telling me there’s going to be another one ofyourunning around?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, clearly proud. “It’s gonna be cool as hell.”
“Wait, we were all out last night. Does anyone else know?”
Mac shook his head, smiling. “Penny pulled a page from Theo’s book. Didn’t drink any real alcohol, just mocktails. So no, no one else knows.”
I blinked, stunned. I didn’t expect to be the first to know. Mac and I were close, but notthatclose. The fact he told me before Boone or Rhodes?
It meant something.
Made something bloom in my chest. Felt… damn good.
“I’m so happy for you both,” I said, and I meant it.
“It happened quicker than we thought,” he said, brushing grease from his hands. “We’ve only been official a few months, but… I can’t see myself with anyone else.”
Shit.
Now I was sitting here, staring off while Mac worked under the truck, lost in a tangle of thoughts.
What would it be like to have news like that? To be so over-the-moon in love and know it was returned with just as much certainty?
I craved it. Wanted it more now than ever.
A family.
Tradition.
The kind of love that didn’t falter, the kind that showed up again and again. I wanted to give that to someone. Tomykidsomeday. To give them everything I never had growing up. A safe place. A foundation. A home that felt like more than walls.
“I didn’t think you’d be the first couple to get the ball rolling,” I said, smiling as I looked over at Mac.
“Right?” He laughed, shaking his head. “I figured by now Aspen and Boone would be engaged at least, maybe even popping out a kid themselves with the way those two are.”
“They haven’t even moved in together yet,” I pointed out.
It was strange, considering they were the first couple in our friend group—the ones who always seemed so sure of each other. The ones I’d have bet on to start a family first.
But then again, everyone has their own pace. Love doesn’t come with a timeline or a rulebook.
“Their time will come,” Mac said, tightening something beneath the hood. “Just like it will for you.”
I gave him a quiet nod, standing from my crouched position and dusting my hands off.
Mac dove back into the work. I stayed a while longer. We talked about when he planned to tell everyone, and I promised to keep my mouth shut. Then we slipped into that easy rhythm, reminiscing about old times, shaking our heads at how fast everything seemed to be changing.
But underneath the small talk, my thoughts were turning over.
All this talk of futures and families… it brought something into sharper focus.
If I wanted that life, if I wantedher, I had to stop waiting. Stop hoping from the sidelines.
If I wasn’t willing to go after it, then I didn’t get to complain when it passed me by.
16
