Page 137 of Party Favors

Giacomo held up my phone and said, “Di cheese!”

We all said cheese and he took several photos before returning my phone to me. “Thank you,” I said.

I scrolled through the photos and sent one to my mom. Despite the time difference, she responded immediately.

WHAT? TELL THEM I’M THEIR BIGGEST FAN! MOM SEND

She attached a photo that she’d taken last year of her wearing all of her Monterra gear, including her sweatshirt with Kat and Nico’s picture on it, surrounded by her pillows and commemorative plates.

I showed Kat the text. “My mom wants me to let you know that she’s actually your biggest fan.”

Kat laughed and then showed the photo to Nico, who grinned.

“Please tell your mother that she is welcome to visit us anytime,” he said.

“Absolutely,” Kat agreed, nodding.

My mother was going to have an actual heart attack.

Giacomo made an angry sound and we all looked over at him. He was glaring at his phone.

“Are you watching the game?” Nico asked, and the shorter man nodded. Nico went over to see Giacomo’s screen.

“What’s the score?” Max joined the other two men, peering over Giacomo’s shoulder.

“I will never understand the appeal of soccer,” Kat said.

“Me neither. But I still can’t believe I’m meeting you. This probably sounds cheesy, but like I said, I have looked up to you for such a long time. I wanted a marriage just like yours. And while he’s not royalty ...” I glanced over at my husband, who seemed to sense that I was watching him. He shot me a secret smile and went back to his game. “He’s themost amazing man I’ve ever known, and I didn’t know that I could be happy like this.”

I had put my hand over my stomach and Kat understood what this meant. “Are you pregnant?”

I shushed her. I was shushing a queen. “I am. But I haven’t told Max yet. He’s going to be so excited, though. He really wants to be a dad, but we only just started trying. I haven’t been able to decide on the best way to tell him.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” When I nodded, Kat said, “I’m pregnant, too. Three months along.”

“Congratulations!” I said to her.

“And to you! I tried to be creative this time when I told Nico. I wrote it on these little flags that I put on top of cupcakes, but he just yanked the toothpicks out without even looking at the notes and just mindlessly ate everything I put in front of him! I finally had to tell him to read them. He was so happy.”

My first inclination was to find the nearest bakery and do the same thing for Max. He did love sweet things.

But no, I was going to find my own way to tell him, and it would be perfect for us.

I didn’t need to copy anyone else.

Kat reached over to me and grabbed my hands. “Would you like to stay and have dinner with the whole family?”

“The whole family?” I almost choked on my own saliva. “As in, everybody?”

“Serafina’s not home from university yet, but I think everyone else is here. It’s almost Christmas and they all come back for the holidays. Christmas is a big deal in Monterra.”

“We would love that,” I told her, feeling like I might pass out.

“Let me go to tell Giacomo to set a couple additional plates,” she said with a smile.

Max came over and I threw myself into his arms. “They invited us for dinner! This is so exciting.”

He kissed me and then said, “I’m so glad that you’re happy.”

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