Page 56 of Dangers of Love

Aline waved. “Nice to meet you too.”

I kept going. Slightly shorter but just as broad was the oldest of us all. “Alec, the old man of the bunch.” It actually was a surprise to find him there since he was the biggest workaholic in the family, and that was saying something. I didn’t mention that, though.

“Austin.” The baby of the family had strawberry blonde hair, and like Aline, the sort of delicate appearance that made us all extremely overprotective. “London’s an actress in New York.” Next to her was one of the twins. They were identical, but I’d never had any problem telling them apart, even when they were together. “That’s Sean.” The musician was next with her honey-blonde hair and ever-present smile. Except that smile didn’t quite look like it was reaching her eyes. I’d have to ask about that later. “Maggie’s the family musician.” And then were the two whose names she knew, though she’d only seen one of them before. “That’s Cory, and I’m guessing you already recognized Fury.”

“She did?” Fury was understandably puzzled. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I know you.”

Aline shook her head. “I graduated from Stanford this past spring.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Fury turned all his attention to her, his dark eyes amused. “I’m guessing there’s a good story about how you went from Stanford to him.”

I interrupted before we could get into that minefield. “Everyone, this is Aline Mercier.” I held up her left hand. “My fiancée.”

Dead silence.

I took advantage of it to drop the second bomb so we could get it all over with at once.

“And we’re having a baby.”

Jaws dropped. The only ones who didn’t look like I’d hit them with a two by four were Austin and Fury. Well, them and my parents. They were surprised too, but they managed to control their expressions for the most part. They were also the first to recover. Austin and Fury were impossible to get reactions from.

“Congratulations.” Theresa’s voice was steady, and her smile was genuine, but her gaze kept darting over to me, and there were questions in her eyes.

“Aye, lad.” Da cleared his throat. “Bit of a surprise, but good news all the way ‘round.” He looked at Aline. “Welcome to the family, lass.”

“Thank you.” Her fingers had tightened on my hand.

“Damn, big brother.” Sean grinned at me. “How’d you manage to snag someone like her?”

“If I knew, little brother, I’d tell you.” I laughed. I should’ve known I could count on Sean to break the tension with some half-asshole comment. “Trust me, I know how lucky I am.”

“I’m just glad we’re finally getting some more women in the family,” Paris said. “Not that I thought it’d be you next. I mean, Alec was a bit of a surprise, but you…”

“Paris.” Mom’s tone held a warning we all recognized.

Paris grinned. “Come on, you can’t tell me you expected this.”

Mom gave Paris a look that silenced my slightly older sister before turning to Aline. “How are you feeling, dear?”

“Good.” Aline’s smile was a little stiff, but it wasn’t forced, just uncomfortable. “Some morning sickness, but not a lot.”

“That’s good,” Mom said. “Mine were all different. With Sean and Xander, it didn’t hit me until noon.” She reached over and tried to fix some of Sean’s hair, even though we all knew it was a losing battle. “Like clockwork with them.”

“Thanks for sharing that, Mom.” Sean rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly the sort of thing I want my future sister-in-law to know about me. Want to share about dirty diapers next?”

“Don’t tempt me, young man.”

Aline laughed quietly, and I wondered if it was the exchange between Mom and Sean, or her remembering what I’d told her about our family’s ‘must-wear-pants’ rule. Either way, it was a sound I liked hearing.

“Do you know when you’re due?” Rose asked.

Aline shook her head. “Not exactly. I think August, but I should know more once I see my doctor after the first of the year.”

I could see a couple of them doing the math, trying to figure out how far along she was. They could figure out a lot of things that way. Like when she and I had started sleeping together, which might lead them to asking about how we’d met.

I was pretty sure the reason no one had asked about how long we’d been dating was because they’d all realized that things were moving fast. After all, I’d been with them on Thanksgiving and hadn’t mentioned that I was dating anyone.

“Have you picked a date for the wedding?” Paris asked. Her face lit up. “Carson can totally design your dress! He’s amazing!”

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