Page 93 of Keeping You
“Have you thought about giving Charlotte a sibling?” Greg asked and I beamed up at Chase, and he nodded, giving me permission to break the seal on our secret.
“Well, since you asked.” I reached into my purse and pulled out the sonogram we had done last week. We had already told Tabitha and my parents, but wanted to wait till all our friends were together to tell them.
“We’re having a boy!”
“Ahhh!” Alexa jumped up and down with Lilly, both of them taking me into their arms.
“Congrats, dude.” Max took Chase into a side hug, and Greg and Jack fist bumped him.
“Mommy.” Charlotte tugged on the loose dress I wore. “Can I have Mr. Stuffles?”
“Here you go, honey.” I pulled out the bunny from my bag, handing it to her. She immediately pushed it into Apollo’s arms, who was standing directly behind her. He took it with a huge smile on his face and then they went back to where they had been sitting previously, like nothing had just happened.
“Does she know yet?” Jack asked.
“We told her she was going to be a big sis, but she only asked if that meant Apollo was going to be a big brother.” I looked over at Max and Alexa.
“Fuck.” The word slipped out of Max’s mouth and Alexa just chuckled at him. We were all in way over our heads with how much these children cared for each other, but it felt right. Seeing them show such unconditional love made my heart swell with the possibility of my daughter finding the same kind of love her father and I had.
“Max.” We all turned around to the front door where Max’s sister, Melanie, stood with a small girl holding her hand.
“Melanie,” he exclaimed and rushed to her, taking her in his arms. “You said you weren’t coming till next week.”
“I know, but the house got done early.”
Max moved to the side and placed an arm around Melanie’s waist. She looked different from the last time I had seen here almost six years ago before she left for California. She had gone to be with her husband while he started a new job, but I didn’t see him with her now.
I cast a glance over the people surrounding me and only two looks were different from the rest of our surprised faces. Alexa’s looked sad, like she was hiding a secret only she knew, and Jack’s face was filled with something I had never seen in his eyes before.
It was a stare filled with promise and heat. Like he was ready to charge toward her, but he took a step back instead, bracing himself up against the wall behind him.
I looked back at Melanie, the same look formed on her face as her eyes stared past all of us, directly at Jack. I could see the battle in his eyes as they looked from Melanie to the little girl next to her, like there was a war forming inside of him and these two were the prizes to be claimed.
“Jack.” The one word came from Melanie’s mouth. It sounded like a warning, but the way Jack’s eyes pulsed, it was more of a promise than anything. I watched intently for a few more seconds until Jack broke the silence next.
“Melanie.” The sound of her name solidified the promise I didn’t think any of us were prepared for. The promise that Jack was about to do something about Melanie being here, and we were all about to see the showdown.
