Page 67 of The Best Friend Problem
He followed her out of the car to his parents’ front door. She must have already knocked, because the second his foot hit the top step, the front door swung open.
“Pru, Finn, so glad you could both come tonight.”
“Hi, Mom.”
His mother reached out to hug Pru first since she was closer. After a moment in the hug, she pulled back, eyes wide. She glanced down to Pru’s stomach, currently covered by her coat.
“Are you…?”
Pru nodded as his mother reached out to place both hands on Pru’s stomach, rubbing over the fairly obvious bump there. Her gaze swiveled from Pru, to him, to Pru’s stomach and back again.
“And it’s…? You two…? You’re…?”
His poor mother was going to suffer whiplash with all the back and forth.
“Congratulations, Mom.” He smiled. “You’re going to be a grandmother again.”
Good thing no one in the house wore glasses, because the happy, high-pitched shriek coming from the woman who gave him life would have shattered them.
“Oh my! This is so exciting. I didn’t even know you two were— But never mind about that. Come inside, we have to share the good news with everyone. Oh, I am so happy. You have to tell me when you’re due. I have some of Finn’s baby clothes if you want them.”
He chuckled as his mother wrapped an arm around Pru’s waist, one hand still on her belly, and ushered her inside, completely forgetting about her own offspring standing on the chilly porch.
“Come inside and close the door, Finn, before you let a draft in. We can’t have Prudence getting sick right now.”
Now he laughed, a full belly laugh, because of course his mother—lover of all things baby—would focus all her attention on her newest grandbabies.
He followed the women inside, grabbing Pru’s coat and hanging it with his own in the hall closet. Jordan had gone back to school, but his older brothers were there tonight with their families. The roaring noise in the living room quieted to a hushed din as he stepped in beside his mother and Pru.
“Everyone,” his mother announced. “Prudence and Finn have some very exciting news to share with us.”
Finn opened his mouth to speak, but his overly excited mother beat him to it.
“They’re having a baby! I’m going to be a grandma again!”
Everyone stared in stunned silence for a beat or two before the room filled with boisterous noise. His brothers came over to pat him on the back while his sisters-in-law hugged Pru. His father—who sat in his chair, entertaining his current grandchildren with a storybook—lifted his head in congratulations.
Pru, having known his loud and excitable family for decades, still seemed a bit overwhelmed by the enthusiasm.
“Thanks, everyone.” He maneuvered to Pru’s side, resting a hand on her stomach. “But actually, Mom, we’re not having a baby.”
Everyone held their breath, happy smiles dropping slightly. He grinned. Wouldn’t be family if he couldn’t mess with them a little.
“We’re having two. Twins.”
The boisterous noise resumed. His mother smacked his shoulder with a scowl, admonishing him for scaring her. Everyone crowded around, asking questions, mostly about when Pru was due and how she was feeling. After a few minutes, the women went down to the basement to get some baby stuff his mother had been saving, and his brothers went into the kitchen to set up for dinner with the help of his nieces and nephews, all of whom had varying levels of curiosity about their new cousins.
Finn turned to go help set the table, when a motion from his father stopped him. Kurt Jamison was a man of few words. As a retired lawyer, words were his bread and butter, but he never minced them. He made each one count.
“You gonna marry that girl?”
See? Right to the matter at hand.
“Dad, first off, Pru is a woman, not a girl. Second, it’s not 1950. And third, you didn’t marry Mom until Quentin was one. I’ve seen the wedding album.”
His old man shrugged. “True, but I proposed the day she told me she was pregnant.”
Yeah, well, the day Pru told him she was carrying his baby knocked him onto his ass. They hadn’t even been dating—not information his father needed to know—so marriage certainly hadn’t entered his mind.
