Page 130 of The Trouble with Flings

“Another little Silver!” Gail says.

Lenore elbows me and says, “A baby works better than a ring, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t try to trap her,” I say.

“Yeah, right.” Lenore winks at me.

I bark out another laugh and look at my wild girl. Her cheeks are pink, and her smile lights up her entire being. God, I love her. The realization lands hard enough to knock the air right out of me. This isn’t infatuation. It’s not just chemistry. It’s love.

Big, terrifying, unconditional, and irreversible love.

I turn around, my gaze skimming over my father, who is standing with the men who have also been like fathers to me, and our three families who have always felt like one, and throw my hands into the air, shouting, “We’re pregnant!”

Silence befalls the group, and everyone looks over.

I sweep my arm around Jennifer, pulling her against my side, and shout, “We’re having a baby!” As I press my lips to hers, madness erupts around us in a cacophony of cheers and laughter, and the group converges on us.

“Holy shit!” Wells yells.

“Yay! Stevie gets another cousin!” Jules cheers.

“The good one knocked up a girl!” Keira smirks. “You’re lucky we like her!”

Everyone laughs.

“And you all have spent years trying to protect my virtue?” Bellamy says. “I knew something was going on at that furniture store!”

“How did you know we were at the furniture store?” I ask.

Bellamy waves a hand. “The island talks, Fitz.”

More laughter rings out, and the girls shoot off questions rapid-fire.

“How far along are you?” Tessa asks.

“Seventeen weeks,” Jennifer answers.

“When are you due?” Keira asks.

“September second,” I say.

“Do you know what you’re having?” Leni asks.

“A baby,” someone shouts, inciting more laughter.

“Not yet,” Jennifer says. “We have another sonogram next month.”

“We need to have a gender reveal party!” Bellamy exclaims.

“What? No. We don’t need a party,” Jennifer says.

“Yes, we do!” Jules exclaims, and the girls immediately talk over each other, going into all the reasons we should have a gender reveal party.

Jennifer looks up at me with a mix of amusement and trepidation. “What do you think?”

I know she doesn’t like being the center of attention, but she deserves, and needs, this outpouring of love, so I frame my response in a way I know she can’t turn down. “I think our baby deserves to be in the limelight every chance it gets.”

She flashes a half smile, half smirk and says, “What did I tell you about spoiling this child?”