Page 112 of No Place Like You

I take in her tearful state, hoping this sudden burst of emotions has more to do with hormones than an actual fear of telling Hayden they’re going to have a baby. She and I both know Hayden will be ecstatic over the news. Nat might think she’s not ready to be a mom, but I know Hayden’s ready to be a dad. I see it every time we see Carmen and David and Hayden beelines for the newest addition to the Marquez clan, baby Silas.

He doesn’t turn his cheek whenever Silas spits up curdled breast milk over the front of his shirt or when Silas’s poopy diaper demands a change. Instead, he showers him with raspberries to his soft stomach and hours of cuddle time while he naps in Hayden’s arms to give Carmen and David a break. He loves that kid as if he were his own.

I turn toward the door and open it carefully, finding both Dexter and Hayden on the other side looking confused and worried.

“Is Nat in there?” Hayden asks.

I nod. “She wants to talk to you,” I tell him solemnly.

His head jerks back in confusion. “Like, in here?” he asks, pointing his hand toward the door behind me. I nod again, and he looks at Dexter like he might know what’s going on. When Dexter shrugs, he looks back at me. “Is everything okay?”

“Just go in there before she has another freak-out.”

Hayden walks past me, carefully opening the door. I get a peek of Nat sitting at the same spot I left her, and Hayden gently closes the door behind him.

I look at Dexter with a wide smile, and I know the whole shift in my demeanor is confusing. “What’s going on?”

I do a little hop and rub my fists together in front of me. I squeal a little, and Dexter laughs. “I can’t say,” I answer, letting a loud giggle slip.

“What?” he asks with a laugh. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Just then, we’re interrupted by a roaring “WHAT?!” from inside the bathroom. We both glance at the closed door and face each other again.

“Okay, maybe I can tell you now.” I hear both Nat and Hayden laugh, and Dexter’s eyes widen. “I’m going to be an aunt. Well, I mean, again. I’m going to be an aunt again.”

Dexter’s mouth cracks into a smile that matches mine. “No way!”

I nod, and Dexter scoops me up in a tight hug, twirling me until I grow dizzy. We both laugh ourselves silly before Dexter sets me down. Just then,the door to the bathroom clicks open, followed by a proudly beaming Hayden and a timid Nat trailing behind him.

“So I guess you guys already heard the news,” Hayden announces. Dexter rushes to Hayden, the two embracing in a cheesy hug. I can’t help but roll my eyes and smirk. Nat does the same, laughing at her husband and his best friend hopping on their two feet from excitement.

“Are you okay?” I ask, sidling up to Nat.

She nods and rolls her eyes, silently telling me she’s definitely aware of how badly she overreacted five minutes ago.

“We have to celebrate,” Hayden announces. “And I have to call my mom. And your parents too,” he adds, looking at Nat with a wide, blissful grin that hasn’t shifted once since he walked out of the bathroom.

“Should we wait?” Nat asks, tugging at Hayden’s hand. “I mean, isn’t there like a grace period? Or a trimester rule we need to follow?”

“Yeah,” I chime in. “I think Carmen waited until she was ten weeks before she told everyone.”

“What?!” Hayden argues cheerfully, that smile still unwavering. “This isn’t like waiting thirty minutes to swim after we eat. I want to tell everyone!” He reaches down and pulls my sister into a deep, bursting embrace, and I worry a little that Nat is going to pop like a tick from him squeezing her so hard. “I want everyone to know my wife is going to have my baby.”

She smiles at him, and I see her eyes mist over. “We’re having a baby,” I hear her whisper. She giggles, and Hayden follows, crouching down so their foreheads rest against each other.

“Yeah,” he responds, his voice low like hers. “We’re having a baby.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle.”

I pull back my side of the comforter in our dimly lit room. It’s long after midnight, and Nat and Hayden left an hour ago after we drank multiple glasses of champagne and orange juice for Nat as we clinked the glass flutes too many times for us to count.

I reach for the hand lotion at my bedside and squirt a small dollop onto my hand. “Well, technically, no.”

Dexter throws me a wounded look. “What are you talking about?”

I grin slyly before explaining. “You aren’ttechnicallyan uncle.”

Dexter rolls his eyes. “I think my best friend having a baby falls under ‘uncle’ category.”

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