Page 70 of Saving You

Beside him stands a stunning brunette. She comes to his upper chest, and her hand rests on her very visibly pregnant belly.

“You must be the woman my brother has convinced to put up with him,” the man says.

I smile because, honestly, there isn’t much to put up with. He’s the one who’s had to put up with a lot of crap since meeting me.

“I think you’ve got that the wrong way around,” I say.

He walks up to his mom and kisses her cheek before holding out a hand to me. “I’m Caleb’s older brother, Max, and this is my wife, Sarah.”

I shake his hand. “Bailey, and over there is my daughter, Charlie.”

I look around Caleb and see she’s trying to hide in his side, and he’s got an arm wrapped around her. Sarah reaches her hand out next.

“It’s so nice to meet you andCharlie. Max here hasn’t been able to shut up about how excited he’s been to meet you two.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the first woman my little brother has ever brought home to meet the family, colour me intrigued.”

My eyes cut to Caleb, and a slight blush colours his cheeks. He never mentioned never bringing a woman home to meet his family before. Sarah walks over to Charlie and crouches down beside her chair.

“Hi, Charlie, my name is Sarah,” she says in a soft, sing-songy voice.

“Hi,” Charlie says in a small voice. This is a lot to take in for her. Sarah, realizing Charlie isn’t going to give her any more, stands and takes a seat across from Caleb. Loraine gives Charlie some colouring sheets and coloured pencils. She quietly says thank you and starts to colour.

“So, Bailey, how did you meet my brother?”

I blush and fidget with my fingers in my lap. I reach for my glass of wine and take a sip before clearing my throat. “He responded to a 911 call at my house.” I can see the shock on their faces, but no judgment. “Charlie wanted to make him cookies after they talked about Thanksgiving at school and thanking people we appreciate, so we made them and brought them to the station. Charlie invited Caleb to lunch, and then a meddling friend of Caleb’s invited Charlie and I to a game, and it kind of went from there.”

I look over at Caleb, and he’s smiling down at me. His arm comes around the back of my chair, and his thumb runs in soothing motions over my shoulder. I relax into him.

“Which meddling friend was this? I think I should send them a thank you cake,” Loraine says.

“Olivia,” I say, taking a sip of my wine.

“Oh, Josh’s wife. How lovely.How are they? How’s her pregnancy going?” she asks.

We sit around the table, and I tell her about how Liv is doing before she makes her way to the stove.

“Can I help with anything?” I ask.

She waves me off. “No, dear, you just sit and relax.”

“So you’re coming here for Christmas dinner. Any other exciting plans for the holidays?” Sarah asks, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her belly.

“I’m planning on taking them to Fly Over Canada,” Caleb answers.

“Oh, that sounds like fun. Do you mind if we tag along? I’ve been meaning to go, but we haven’t found any time yet.”

“That sounds fun. There’s a Christmas market right there I want to go to too,” I say.

“The German one? That would be great. I might need to find a bench to sit partway through and get off my feet for a bit, but I’d love to go.”

“I remember what that’s like. When I was pregnant with Charlie, I swear my ankles swelled to twice their size. I think just before I gave birth, you couldn’t tell the difference between my calf and my ankle.”

“Do you want more kids?”

Her question catches me off guard. I wasn’t expecting it, and Caleb and I haven’t talked about it. We haven’t talked about the future much at all, I realize. I feel his eyes on me, waiting for my answer. His thumb continues its movements up and down my shoulder, relaxing me slightly.

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