Page 47 of Rejected Heart

“Oh, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it being late.”

“It’s not exactly late,” Wyatt corrected him. “It’s just coming after your birthday.”

My brows pulled together as Cooper returned, “I’m not sure I understand what that means.”

Wyatt and Rhea exchanged excited glances before Wyatt looked at Cooper and said, “Rhea’s pregnant. We’re making you an uncle.”

“What?!” Jules shrieked, shooting to her feet. “Another baby in the family?”

Rhea had tears in her eyes as she nodded. “Yes, we’re so excited.”

The rest of the family got up and moved to congratulate Wyatt and Rhea. I sat there for a few minutes with Rosie until everyone had an opportunity to do so. Then I stood and made my way to my brother and sister-in-law.

“Congratulations,” I said, offering Rhea a hug and kiss on the cheek before placing a hand on my brother’s shoulder.

They were both so excited. “Thanks, Liam. We were talking about it earlier today, and we’re curious if you’re going to wind up being our baby’s favorite uncle, too.”

I smiled at them. “Well, look at the other choices. Of course, I will be.”

“Hey, Uncle Liam,” Skye interjected.

Spinning around, I replied, “Yeah?”

“It’s time for her to take a nap, so I’m going to need to steal her away.”

I could have held and played with my niece the entire time we were here. But I was aware that if she didn’t get her nap, she’d get crabby. So, I gave her a few kisses, listened to her laughter, and handed her off to her mom.

From that point forward, we spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating with Cooper. Skye brought out a monitor, so we could all keep an eye on the baby while playing games in the pool and having a good time with one another.

All throughout the afternoon, I got odd glances from just about everyone in the family. I had a feeling they were all concerned about the same thing.

No doubt they were worried about whether I’d always just be the favorite uncle, because having kids of my own was never going to happen.

I tried to pretend I didn’t notice the way they were looking at me, instead focusing on whatever was happening in the moment. It had worked for a while.

But as the evening began to wind down, I got to the point where I couldn’t ignore what was happening. All day long I’d noticed bits of uneasiness and hesitancyaround me. There had been instances throughout the years when they’d done that. Sometimes, I think they believed I couldn’t handle the things that were happening in their lives, and they never wanted to rub their happiness in my face.

While I couldn’t say it never brought up feelings of sadness for me, it didn’t mean I wasn’t genuinely happy for every one of them. I loved that Wyatt had found Rhea and Cooper had met Skye. I was even relieved that Tate and Ava had stopped dancing around their feelings for one another and that Ivy and Marco finally realized how much they meant to one another.

Had I hoped to have that for myself? Of course.

Was that an option? Not anymore.

And I’d never want them to think they couldn’t celebrate—or that I wouldn’t want to celebrate with them—simply because my life hadn’t turned out the way I’d hoped.

I often expressed this all to them. But it still seemed they were always looking out for how things might impact me.

So, now that I’d had a full day of being with my family and observing how they were reacting around me, I knew something was up. This was more than them simply worrying about me only ever being the fun uncle for the rest of my life.

There had been those odd looks throughout the day from just about everyone, but it was the way I’d caught Jules looking at me several times that had left me feeling the most unsettled.

Had she found someone?

I’d be happy for her. Of course, I would.

But even though I’d been preparing myself for the day when all my siblings would fall in love and get their happy endings, there was the small part of me that still felt a sense of longing.

I thought I was the lucky one. Years ago, I thought I’d found the woman I’d spend the rest of my life with.

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