“Oh my,” Mom said, her voice filled with awe. “Is this precious little Luka?”
His curious eyes met hers with a frown.
“Hi, Luka.” Mom held out her hand. “I’m Grammie Liana.”
His tentative eyes slid to mine, and I gave him an encouraging nod. “Go on, she makes the best chocolate cupcakes and chocolate milkshakes.”
“Hi,” he mumbled to her shyly. “Can you make me a chocolate milkshake?”
Mom’s eyes welled up as she held her hands to her chest. “Of course. I’m going to make you more than one.”
“It’s my turn,” Wiona’s loud voice thundered through the room. “I want to see him now.” She came to a standstill when her eyes met Luka. “Lan, I think I’m going to be taking this child home instead. I love him already.”
Lan gestured for Luka to come over and introduced him to his mother.
I smiled, watching Wiona fuss over Luka while Lan tried to calm her down. She was already planning on a helicopter ride around the city.
“I can’t believe my baby is having babies now.” Mom softly caressed my full belly. “Twins no less.”
“I’m not a baby anymore, Ma,” I mumbled, nestling to her side. “I’m a grown-ass woman.”
“You will always be my baby.” She patted my hand with a knowing smile. “Give it twenty more years and you’ll know how I feel.”
“What are you guys doing here? How did you even get here together?”
“Wiona called and demanded that I get on the next flight to New York because she couldn’t wait to see her grandson.” Mom shook her head, chuckling. “Honestly, I couldn’t wait either.”
“How’s Dad?”
“He’s good. He sent an ‘I miss you’ note to his daughter, promising he would visit soon.”
“I miss him too,” I mumbled sadly. It’d been almost eight months since I last saw Dad. I made a mental note to give him a call and invite him over soon. “Now that you’re here, can you please make your signature potpie? My mouth is watering just thinking about it.”
“You haven’t asked me to make that in years.” Her eyes roamed over my face. “Now that I think about it, you lookdifferent. Happy, glowing almost. Pregnancy suits you, Katy.” She smiled warmly. “You look beautiful.”
I smiled but didn’t say a thing. There was a lot more to that, Mom. At least I was showing signs of change.
“Gosh, we get to retire a little early tonight, huh?”
“Yep.” I yawned. “I think I’m going to sleep ten hours today.” Since the grandmas have taken over bedtime stories tonight, Lan and I were pushed to bed early.
Luka was having the time of his life with his grammies. It only took him one hour to announce that they were his best friends too. Matty and Sierra came over, and that made Luka run around in glee and a heavy sugar high.
“Tired?” Lan softly tugged the sheets over my weary body.
Ever since the other night, I had shifted all my things to Lan’s room and now it was our bedroom.
Lan and I were back together. It does feel weird saying it because I spent most of my adult life being his girlfriend. It never felt like we were apart, yet at the same time, it felt like we had just gotten together for the first time.
Given how dull and distant I had made our past years, this felt more softer, more passionate, and more understanding. Like I was right here in the present, living and breathing it and enjoying every moment of it.
“Yeah, this pregnancy is making me too tired, and I didn’t do a thing.” I turned to my side to face him and he pulled me closer. “I used to work 24x7 and somehow still had juice to run behind you guys. Now, all I do is eat, drink my shakes, and play with Luka, and I want to sleep for days. But it is the good kind of tired, though.”
“You’re carrying two babies.” His palms softly curved over my stomach, rubbing them softly. “You need all the strength to help them grow.”
“Yeah, it’s the weirdest feeling and the best feeling.”
He tugged me closer, and I yawned yet again as my heavy lashes touched my cheeks.