Page 35 of Sunday

“Sorry, Cedar. I forgot to warn you that my mother’s a hugger.”

He laughed. “It’s all good. My mom is the same way, and I welcome hugs. Sunday’s told me a lot about you two.”

“Well, sorry, I can’t say the same,” Daddy stated, embarrassing me with his rude behavior.

“Ray.” My mother could be the sweetest, gentlest woman, but she could turn into a pit bull instantly.

“I’m just saying, Astrid. We haven’t heard a thing.”

“Sorry, Mom and Dad. I didn’t tell you about Cedar because you would have interrogated me endlessly. I wanted to make sure that we worked out first,” I explained.

“Everything’s ready,” Bjorn called out from behind us. I pulled free from my father’s embrace and grabbed Cedar’s hand. I tugged him around my parents and toward where my older brother stood at the dining room doorway.

“I thought I heard your voice, mophead.” Bjorn affectionately rubbed my curly hair.

“Stop that.” I groaned and shoved him away.

“Hey, man. I’m Sunday’s big brother, Bjorn.”

He extended his hand to Cedar, who took it and shook it. “Nice to meet you. I’m Cedar.”

“Can’t believe you finally found someone who would put up with your stinky feet,” a voice called from behind me.

Spinning around, I glared at my youngest brother. “Nils, go back to whatever rock you crawled from under.”

He pulled me to him with a big grin and gripped me in a tight bear hug. “Good to see you again too. This place is called home. You should try visiting it more often.”

I laughed and tickled him, forcing him to release me. “Cedar, this pain in the butt is my younger brother, Nils.”

They shook hands and greeted each other before I led Cedar to the hallway bathroom, where we washed our hands for dinner. When we returned to the dining room, everyone was seated, and my parents served the food.

Everyone asked Cedar questions and got to know him over dinner. Everything went well until we headed to the living room to talk privately with my parents.

We took our seats, and my stomach sank as my father asked, “Did you come to ask me for my daughter’s hand in marriage?”

I glanced at Cedar, whose eyes ballooned, and he swallowed.

“No, sir.”

“Well, what’s the reason?”

“Ray,” my mother called softly and patted his hand.

“We’re expecting a baby,” I blurted.

My shoulders sagged. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized my belly had been tight, I was anxious, and my head had been throbbing. The tension that I felt immediately subsided.

“You said what?” my mother asked.

“I’m expecting a baby in September. I’m seventeen weeks along.”

“Cedar, how old are you?” My father’s question threw us both for a loop, but Cedar’s response was immediate and respectful.

“Thirty-one, sir.”

“You mentioned over dinner that you’d been married once before. How long have you been preying on my daughter? She wouldn’t have done this on her own.”

“Daddy!”

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