Page 183 of The Plan

I adjust her so she can look at me. “If you want to go into the pool, you have to ask. No more taking this.” I show her the remote, and she nods.

We walk back to the party, and I’m glad Vidia missed this because she would have yelled at me for not putting the remote in one of the guest rooms like she said, but now I know to just listen to her.

Sage holds her hands out to us, and Mari leaps into her aunt's arms. “Wanna go swimming?” she whispers to my daughter, and Mari quickly tells her yes.

“Mom said no swimming today.” I burst their bubble. Vidia said she didn’t want to be stressed about the kids being in the water, so no pool it is.

Sage tells Mariana she’s sorry when she pouts and pulls her closer, hugging her. “Okay, I know I said there was no hard feeling when you guys made Hazel and August her Godparents, but I’m jealous.” She kisses the top of her head and lets out a sigh.

I honestly felt bad not choosing Sage as Mariana’s Godmom. It was only fair that Vid picked one person and I chose one, and since she didn’t have anyone besides Hazel as an option, it made sense that she was her Godmother.

“Don’t worry, Sage, I’m jealous too.” Lisette leans over and kisses Mariana on the cheek. Of course she was also someoneI considered to be my daughter’s Godmother, but like I said, Hazel was a no-brainer because of Vid.

Jackson was an option for Godfather, too, considering he made Vid and I Isabelle's Godparents, but I of course had to pick August before him. That much was obvious.

Vid comes over to us, and when she gives me a small nod, a smile grows on my face. “You can be our next kid's Godmother,” I say, and Vidia leans into me with a smile.

“Yeah, but that's like what? In two years.” Sage slouches, and Vidia smiles at her.

“Or in a few months.” Vidia pulls her dress tighter around her, revealing her baby bump. Everyone gasps and rushes over to hug and congratulate us.

“Wait, what the fuck, you’re huge. How did you hide your stomach for so long?” Hazel rubs her belly as Vid laughs.

I look down at my wife’s stomach and smile to myself. There were some complications at the beginning of her pregnancy. She was bleeding a lot, and it was all just scary as fuck. Some lady also touched Vid’s stomach and told us we would have a blue baby. Vidia is convinced she gave us mal de ojo and rubbed an egg on her stomach for some reason, but we just decided not to share the news in case anything went wrong. She’s been great, though, and our baby is healthy.

“Wait.” Sage looks like she just remembered something. “So who gets to be the Godmother, me or Lis?” I look over at Lisette, and she shakes her head with a small smile, silently telling me it’s okay to pick Sage.

“Both of you,” Vid says. I know they both can’t be the Godmother, but I’m sure Vid tells them they can so none of them will feel bad, which will make her feel bad. Lisette looks confused but smiles anyway.

“We can’t both be the Godmother. It’s okay if you choose Lisette. I understand you knew her longer, and she’s yourfavorite.” I smile as I shake my head at Sage’s sad tone. I only knew Lisette two years before I met her, and she knows I see them as equal.

“You both can be the Godmother if there are two babies.”Two?My head snaps over to Vidia, and she’s already watching me with tears in her eyes.

“Two?” She nods with a smile as a tear runs down her cheek. “We’re having twins?!” She nods again and laughs softly.Holy shit, we’re having twins!I pull her in for a hug with the biggest smile on my face.

“I wanted to tell you so bad.”

I pull away and kiss her as she cries.

“I was scared one might not make it, so I didn’t want to tell you there were two in case, but—”

“Vid, you—”

“I’m sorry.”

I shake my head and pull her closer. “It’s okay, my love, but don’t ever take on the weight of something like that alone. You don’t need to protect my feelings. We’re in this together.” She nods against me, and I pull away to look at her. As if she can read my thoughts, she goes on.

“They’re both okay. You know it’s a high-risk pregnancy, but they’re both healthy.” She looks down and rubs her belly. “I still think that girl who said they’d be blue gave us mal de ojo.” She sounds upset, but I laugh lightly and pull her in for another hug, holding her incredibly close. “Are you mad?” she whispers against me, but I don’t think anything she can say right now can make me mad.

“Of course not, my love.” I wipe her cheek and then kiss her where her tears fall. “Please stop crying, beautiful.”

“You stop crying.” She wipes my cheek from the tear I didn’t know was there, and we both let out a weak laugh.

“It makes sense why your stomach is so much bigger than when you were this far along with Mariana.” I lean down and kiss her stomach. I think I might actually scream in excitement. My body feels like I’m actually going to burst.

“You said it wasn’t that big when I asked you last night!” She playfully pushes me away from her.

“That’s because you kept crying about it. I didn’t want to make you feel bad.” She squints her eyes at me, and I do it back at her. Our moms come to hug us after we have our moment and congratulate us on the twins.The twins.

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